- Username: mittenfarm
- Location: County Line, MI, USA
- Member Since: 5/24/2007
- BMI: 22.8
- Post Op
- Surgery Type: DS (10/19/07)
- Surgeon: Paul Kemmeter
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Surgeon TestimonialPaul KemmeterCan't say enough about Dr. Kemmeter and the staff at Grand Health Partners in Grand Rapids, MI. He is such a great person and an excellent surgeon and very thorough in everything. The Bariatric program at GHP is very structured and complete. All aspects of care are done there as well as all testing. They have their own nutritionists, exercise physiologist, psych evals, and all foods needed for pre- and post-op. They do all their own endoscopy, sleep studies, gall bladder scans, etc. They have a very strong emphasis on after-care and are not there just to do your surgery and then let you go. rnI would definitely rate Dr. K as a 10 out of 10! mittenfarm's JourneyClick Here To View
Describe your behavioral and emotional battle with weight control before learning about bariatric surgery.Endless diets over the last 40 years. I can lose weight but cannot keep it off. I had finally gotten to the point of not even being able to make myself diet anymore because I knew I would fail at some point. I had thought about bariatric surgery for years and finally decided to do it. |
Dec. 29, 2009. Another year almost gone! on December 29, 2009 4:58 am
Time for my last post for the year. It has been a year of ups and downs, which is pretty much the way every year is, I think. But I am in good health again after a couple of months of weird medical issues that I posted about in Oct. and Nov., followed by a fall in Dec that racked up my knee and back. But all is better now, and the knee and back are almost back to normal. We continue to deal with medical issues with Dale's elderly parents. We are really hoping they will be able to manage at for by themselves for at least the winter yet, but I don't know. She is in rehab in a nursing home and we are hoping to get her back home by the weekend. He has had endless prostate problems including surgery and a lot of problems since needing frequent trips into GR to see the urologist, but I think things are finally better in that department too. They are 87 and 91 and mentally well, but the physical issues are really bad this winter and I think if having her home does not go well we need to talk to them about finding a care facility that they can be together in. Dale is their only child and with us both working,even though I am only part time, we cannot manage their care on a full time basis by ourselves. But we are hoping that if they get back home together and things cannot be managed they will realize the need for other living arrangements. We knew these times were coming, but didn't realize how overwhelming it would be until we were in the midst of it.
I am doing very well and have managed to put a good 10 lbs. back on after the ghastly weight loss following my 2 hospitalizations, and I think I look much better. I am staying around 130 lbs. now which I like and puts me at a BMI right around 20, so that is OK. My appetite is back so I have been eating as much as possible and trying to keep it healthy, although the holidays have kind of ruined that. I have eaten more crap in the past week than I did all year! Peppermint Crunch Hershey Kisses are my latest downfall. I should just throw the whole bag of candy in the trash. We have a last Christmas party tonight, and maybe I'll take it there and hope someone finishes it off!
I have to go to Lansing Saturday for the Michigan Sheep Breeder's weekend conference and banquet. I have to model my wool outfit I made for the Make It With Wool competition I did in Oct.(see pix on my profile). I am planning on staying overnight because it is always snowy/bad roads that weekend and I don't feel like crawling home at midnight on bad roads all the way from Lansing. Hubby has to stay home and feed the sheep and the wood furnace and the dogs, so I am going alone, but I am looking forward to a relaxing stay in a hotel after all the mess I have been dealing with here with his parents lately. I also have a $50 gift certificate that I won to a yarn shop in Lansing, so I am going to find the place and see what I can spend it on. I just started knitting again a couple of days ago(I have to be in the mood) and am making myself a cable sweater that so far is turning out well.
Today I have to go to the Dr. for a follow-up on all my medical issues. My son and his GF are going with me and after the Dr. we are going to attempt Christmas returns at the mall and go to AT&T and see about cell phones as both his and mine have died. I know nothing about cell phone usage as I have only had a prepaid one for a few years, so I need them to help me from getting ripped off as far as a plan goes. I am hoping they can give me some sort of a bundle deal with home phone, internet, direct TV and cell phones. We'll see.
Happy New Year everyone!
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December 15, 2009 on December 15, 2009 5:13 am
Well, life just gets better and better(NOT!!) On the 3rd of Dec. I took a nasty fall slammed down onto the pavement and mucked up my left knee and my back. It is a long story involving sheep and a live nativity at our local Christian School. Then on the 4th my MIL ends up in the hospital with severe pneumonia and on the 7th my FIL had kind of emergent prostate surgery! They are 91 and 87 and still live at home, but needless to say this all has put a huge wrinkle in that. My hubbyis an only child, so 99% of all the stuff with them is falling on me, as I am still off work since all my medical issues since mid-October. And one of us HAS to work! She is now in rehab in a nursing home and he is back home and managing on his own, but I have to drive him to see her every day as he is not up to driving at this point, and that is about a 40 minute drive each way. She of course is not happy there even though it is a beautiful place with excellent care. But typical of old people, she just wants to go home and can't seem to realize that she needs to get stronger and he needs a little more recovery time before she comes back home where he does most of her care. I hope I drop dead someday before I get to the point of putting my kids through what we have gone through over the past few weeks!
I haven't even put up the Christmas tree yet although I did pick one up and it is setting outside by the back door. We have a big party this Sat. with my family that I have to make a lot of food for, so I have to plan all that to fit in as well over the next couple of days. I did get my lighted village put up(Elfland) and got the nativity set out as well on the mantle and it looks nice. I got a fresh wreath for the front door and two lighted topiary trees to set there as well, so at least there is a little Christmas going on here! But I usually go all out for Christmas, so it is a little pathetic this year. I'm hoping we can get his parents squared away at home by the end of the year as I am going back to work the first week in January(hopefully).
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December 1, 2009 on December 1, 2009 4:17 am
I can't believe it is already December!! The past 6 weeks have kind of been a blur with all the crap I've been through. But I wanted to update where I'm at now. Once I finished the wretched antibiotics, especially the Flagyl, it took about 7 to 10 days to completely get my appetite back and get rid of the awful metallic taste in my mouth from the meds. They clamped the drain after the antibiotics were completed, and that went well also. So last week, just 2 days before Thanksgiving, they took it out after checking again with a contrasted cholangiogram to make sure everything was working as it should. Eating is going much better for me and I have managed to put about 8 lbs. back on, although my ankles are swollen now, and I think some of the weight is just water retention. I don't know if it is too much sodium and not enough liquids, or if it is the result of not enough protein over the 4 or 5 weeks I was so sick. I have seen others post that low protein levels can cause this. I had lab work done last week but haven't heard back from my Dr. on that yet. She wanted to check my protein levels as well as my bilirubin and LFT's and also did a vitamin D level. So today I started writing down all my liquid and protein intake to make sure I am getting enough. I hate swollen ankles!! I'm off work until the 17th and am hoping that I will be able to tolerate an entire shift of work by that time. My energy level has improved a lot, but I still am dead by 6 PM and pretty much sleep in front of the TV off and on until about 10:30. I hate this, because then I am awake at 5 AM and done sleeping! I have been doing some Christmas shopping hoping to get done before going back to work, but about 4 hours of that kind of finishes me off for the day. But I'm in much better shape than I was 2 weeks ago, so I am thankful for that.
We have my hubby's work Christmas party Friday night, and I am looking forward to that-I hate being holed up with little social interaction- that just isn't my style! And they always have a lot of really nice gifts/door prizes. It is a Vegas gambling night and we each get $75,000 to play with and then can use our winnings to "buy" prizes. It's a lot of fun and good food. Last year there wasn't much there I could eat, but my hubby got to help pick the menu this year and he knew to put protein items on there. I was so proud of him-after 2 years I think he finally gets what I need. I'm always hollering about protein, so I guess it finally sunk in.
Well, I guess I'd better go whip up an omelette for breakfast and get busy with that protein intake!!
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