Before & AfterThere are currently no before and after photos for this member. See these instructions if you wish to submit your own Before & After photos. Surgeon TestimonialThomas A. Jones, M.D.I met him 4/5 to discuss whether he'd be able to do my RNY lap or open (I have issues with previous bowel obstruction surgeries). He looked over the previous surgeon's notes, gave me a few thumbs up along the way, then examined my stomach, and said he's pretty darned certain we can do it lap! YAY!!! He was very matter-of-fact, easy to talk to, and told me I'm a perfect candidate for this surgery. (Wait - is that a good thing, or a bad thing?!) The preparation, the nurses and staff, the whole Park Nicollet program is da BOMB! (Oh - and that is a GOOD THING!) Member Interests
- Humor - I'm all for it!
- Cats - We have a beautiful Silver tabby, Belle. She HATES Hazel...
- Dogs - We've got a gorgeous American Bulldog, Hazel. She adds SO MUCH to our family!
- Needlework, Knitting & Crocheting - I love to knit, although I'm not particularly talented at it...
- Adoption - Both my husband and I were adopted, but neither of our kids were!
- Tattoo - I have 3 - my kids' names in hearts, a butterfly, and
- Frogs - Surprised to see this here - Fully Rely On God. I do.
- Country - I LOVE country music!! Big & Rich are my absolute FAVORITE!
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Atlanta on June 24, 2008 12:30 pm
I just returned yesterday from my trip to visit a dear friend in Atlanta. Last time I flew anywhere was last August, to California. I think I was still close to 300# at that time, but I did fit in the seats without an extender.
This time, I had plenty of seatbelt to spare! And seat, too - space on either side. Whodathunkit??? I was even put in a center seat for two of the 4 legs of my RT flight - MN to Chicago, and Atlanta to Chicago. Prior to WLS? There was NO FREAKIN' WAY I'd have survived that with any peace of mind! But I had more than enough room - INCLUDING leg room, which means my ASS was part of the problem with my knees always being mashed up against the seat in front of me! What a fabulous feeling :)
The time spent in Atlanta was wonderful - Mary just went through a divorce and moved into a new house with her 2 year old son. My God, does that woman have a challenging road ahead, I am praying for her daily for peace of mind, patience, and LOTS of help from family and friends. I so wish we lived closer to each other - she even joked about "ONE of us is gonna HAVE to move closer to the other"! But we both have some pretty deep roots where we are, that'll never happen. I guess we'll just have to plan visits every couple of years. Well, she can come to MN when J-Ro is a bit more portable :)
Anyway, travel as a more "normal" sized person certainly was a much more pleasurable experience! Hmmm.. I didn't even buy myself a souvenier tee shirt or anything... what's up with that??? Got stuff for Rich, Mom and the kids.... Oh well, I got to take the trip!!!
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(For Amy) I must be PMSing... on June 6, 2008 2:40 pm
... either that, or I'm an undiagnosed manic-depressive or something along that order. (I no longer have my uterus, so it's a crap shoot as to whether or not it really IS that time of the month for me.)
Last night, I was crabby. No good reason, just crabby. The GOOD thing about me being crabby, is that rather than lash out at my family, I tend to clam up and just CLEAN a lot! (Rich doesn't know how good he's got it!) My kitchen looks FABULOUS!
Today, even tho the weather is really cruddy and the parks are unusually slow because of it, I've been feeling pretty silly. You may have noticed on some of my posts, I don't know...
But someone here just reached in, grabbed my heart and SQUEEZED it good until the tears started pouring from my eyes, and I'm feeling the need to share some thoughts.
In a pm, someone mentioned to me being scared that this whole WLS journey is too good to be true. (here go the waterworks again, dangit!!!) THIS IS NOT TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!!! We DESERVE to regain our health and happiness! We have PAID for the right to FINALLY lose weight with YEARS of blood, GALLONS of sweat, and PILLOWS full of tears!!!
We have put up with SHIT from people who aren't WORTHY of our giveadamn.
We have suffered humiliation at not being able to fit in restaurant booths, amusement rides, airplane seats, you name it. We have ALL been mortified by how our obesity has embarassed us.
Most of us have suffered some serious health-related issues because of our weight, I know I don't need to bother listing any of them here.
We reached a point of DESPERATION deep enough that we researched the possibility - and the RISKS - of having our bodies cut open, surgically rearraged and/or having a foreign object put in place, in the last-ditch hope of finding that magic answer to our prayers - SUBSTANTIAL AND LASTING WEIGHT LOSS!!!
I'm not done.
We had to jump through a plethora of hoops to find a surgeon, meet insurance requirements, go through all the pre-requisite assessments and appointments to make sure our surgeon believes we're truly ready for this. Some of us had it relatively easy, some of us fought with all we had for many months, even YEARS, to convince some doorknob sitting at a desk in some insurance company's HQ that WE NEED THIS. OUR VERY LIVES, and frankly, your BOTTOM LINE, DEPEND ON IT.
We struggled with whether or not to tell our friends, and we dealt with how THEY reacted to the news that we were planning to put ourselves through such a procedure. Some of us have seen long standing friendships fade because they just didn't get it. (With friends like that, who needs enemies?)
Then one day, for most of us, the magic "I've Been Approved!" and "I've Got a Date!!" posts appear. And all of our new friends here CHEER and CELEBRATE with us, because WE DO GET IT!
We suffer the LD's if required, we go through the actual surgery, and we suffer through the buyer's remorse, the full liquids, the puree's, and the JOY of finally being able to put REAL FOOD in our mouths once again!!! WOO HOO!!!
Is that it? Is it all over?
HELL NO!!! We have to fight this battle for the rest of our lives! Head hunger. Dumping, if we're lucky. Getting stuck when we're not careful. Losing our coping mechanism for life stresses we face unrelated to our weight or our surgery.
What's the moral of my lengthy babbling???WE HAVE EARNED THIS!!! WE DESERVE EVERY FRICKIN' POUND WE LOSE!!! HERE'S TO US ALL!!!  I love you all very much - for all the support, through the occasional drama and everything, I don't know what I'd do without all of you and this place to keep me fighting!
(And I swear, I just saved myself hundreds of dollars in therapy by letting all this out!)
**WHEW!!!**
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Just had to document this - on June 2, 2008 10:35 am
Sunday, June 1st, at Jodi's place in Zimmerman, I RAN! Not fast, not far, but I RAN alongside her horse Zoie as Travis rode! He wanted to trot, and of course that meant I had to trot! But it felt GOOD! I swear, I haven't done anything above a power walk in - well, probably decades! So THAT was a big moment! I did it about 5 times, leading various people around on Zoie's back.
Have I mentioned I LOVE horsies?
Also today, I received the following from a co-worker. I had sent her the picture of me & Travis together in my pre-op jeans -
Holy Buckets!! That picture is awesome. Thank you so much for sending it to me. It is one of those pictures that should be on the cover of People Magazine...And everyone that looks at it says "Wow" doesn't she look amazing....I am so proud of you. I know you don't believe me, but I have struggled with my weight my whole life. I finally figured out what I need to do about twenty years ago and have been religious about it since then. I watch everything that goes in my mouth and exercise at least every other day. But I feel so good that it is worth the hard work. I know you will stay successful at this as well. I wish you all the strength and will power that you will need. Keep telling yourself that you love how you look and feel and it will help. Congratulations and continued success. You are such a beautiful woman. I am so proud to know you and call you my friend.
How cool is that? The comment about me not believing that she's had a struggle with her weight? That would be because she has always been the MOST thin, the MOST fit woman in the Park District! And dresses to show it off. She looks fabulous - but I DO believe her, because she has been over-the-top excited for me ever since the first time she noticed my weight loss. So it has to be an issue for her, to be that excited for me!
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