Weight Loss Surgery Directory

By Location By Map
Before & After

There are currently no before and after photos for this member.

See these instructions if you wish to submit your own Before & After photos.
Surgeon Testimonial

David von Rueden
My first impression of Dr David Von Rueden was that he was a very person and he seemed very caring. He answered all my questions at the informational session. I was very happy that he took his time to answer all my questions without even rushing me out of the door. The office staff is wonderful and very friendly. DVR stressed about all the risks of the surgery he did not sugar coat anything and I was very happy with the time we spent talking. Then I met with him the day of the consult and he was exactly the same. Very kind and compassionate and did not rush me out of his office. He knows his stuff and I feel very comfortable with him and I know I have chosen the right doctor for my surgery. The aftercare program he has is well structured and just right for my needs. He has a wonderful bedside manner and he is competent so I am 100% satisfied. I would recommend him to anyone.
Member Interests
  • Birds - I Have a love bird that is 8 years old and his name is Lyle
  • Cats - Misty is 7 years old
  • Dogs - Lucky is 9 years old Jack Russet Terrier mix
  • Parenting - Love to meet other moms with children the same ages as mine 4 and 22 months
  • Scrapbooks - I would love to meet with a couple of ladies to learn how to scrapbook
  • Grandchildren - Janiyah Born 06/22/06 Emmanuel Jr. Born 08/05/06
  • Computer and Internet Surfing - Love to spend time on the internet
  • WLS in your 40's
  • Reading - Love stories, crime stories and mysteries
  • Secret Pals - Nothing makes me happier than to bring a smile to a friend

Latest Surgery Support Comments

  • Comment by cheide on 3/16/07 12:25 pm
    Hey Cira, I hear you're back in the hospital and not feeling so hot. I'm thinking of you and sending prayers. ~Coleen
  • Comment by prechrgrl on 3/7/07 8:05 pm
    Hi Cira, been a while sence I've been on and I just seen you had surgery. Congrats to you. You are always a support to so many others. My prayers are with you now and for a speedy recovery. Blessings Tammy
  • Comment by cheide on 3/6/07 2:12 pm
    Hi Honey!! Just checking in. Been praying for you but didnt' get in to post before hand. Wanted you to know you were on my mind and in my prayers. ~Coleen
Click here for the surgery support page
negra266's Blog
negra266's Blog


Weight Loss log
on April 25, 2007 7:08 am
03/06/07       pre op       245.5
03/26/07   3  wks post op  225  
04/24/07   6  wks post op  214  
05/06/07   8  wks post op  208
05/20/07   10 wks post op  203
06/06/07   12 wks post op  196.6
06/20/07   14 wks post op  192.4
07/06/07   16 wks post op  189.4
3 comments | Leave a comment.

You Know you've had Weight Loss Surgery...
on April 10, 2007 7:43 pm


* I have a date" does not mean you're going out.
* You have baby food in the house and no baby.
* "I'm a loser" is a good thing.
* "Welcome to the other side" doesn't include death.
* New clothes fall off in a week.
* You get excited about hand me downs.
* The scale at Wal-Mart no longer says "one at a time please".
* Going bald and getting wrinkles is a good thing.
* "Just water for me please".
* When your rear end no longer looks like a mudslide.
* When you get excited that your incision was "only 4 inches".
* When the word lap has nothing to do with a strip club.
* Other women are calling you names behind your back.
* When you are glared at in the plus size department because you don't "belong there".
* When you really don't have a thing to wear.
* You have to prove you are the person on the driver's license.
* You start being in the pictures not behind the camera.
* You want to hug everyone fat and hand them your surgeon's card.
* You are never parted from a bottle of water
* When you order a doggy bag at the same time as your meal.
* Being too small for your britches.
* When the only way your nipples are where they belong is to roll them up, position them with your bra and secure with a ponytail holder.
* When you go to the mall and take the first available space instead of circling 20 minutes for one closer to the door.
* You truly are a "cheap date".
* When one drink makes you flipping floozy!
* When you run to the door and don't hear a flapping sound.
* You flip your shirt to show complete strangers your scar.
* Vitamins feel like a meal.
* You go from a 56DDDD to 32AAA in a year and didn't have a breast reduction.
* You've just lost 100 lbs and run into a high school friend who asks "did you change your hair?"
* You can cross your legs... both of them
* Instead of a Wonder Bra you need a Wonder Where They Went Bra
* When your obsession from food turns to your scale.
* They no longer call 911 for the Jaws of life to extricate you from a turnstile.
* No more Velcro shoes
* When your Stairmaster is no longer used for drying your fine washables
* your mother says "You don't eat enough"
* When your doctor looks you in the eye and says "I know you will have success with this."
* Having sex your husband complains that your hip bones are poking him.
* You can wear corduroy pants without igniting a fire
* When you wave and your upper arms wave back
* You safety pin your underwear
* Someone phones and thinks your husband is sneaking around with some skinny mistress
* Cannot blame the cat/dog for shedding
* Cancel your Lane Bryant Credit Card
* 3 Lean Cuisines a week and that's your total grocery purchase
* The kids wonder what happened to the cake and cookie god...did he die???
3 comments | Leave a comment.

Pre-op Measurements & 1 month post op results
on April 9, 2007 7:39 am


   03/05/07                         04/06/07

Neck       15 1/4             14        -1 1/4
Bust        48                  45        -3
Waist      47                  42        -5
Hips        50                  46        -4 
Rt Arm     20                  17 1/2   -2 1/2
Lt Arm     19                  17        -2
Rt Thigh   26                  26        -0
Lt Thigh   27                  25 1/2   - 1 1/2
Rt Calf    19                  18         -1
Lt Calf    18                  18         -0


Total inches lost    20 1/4
1 comment | Leave a comment.

1 Month Post Op
on April 7, 2007 6:26 pm
can you all believe that I can finally say I am one month post op! I am happy to report that this week has been a bit better. I am not at 100% yet but lets say maybe at 80%. I am thankful that I have been able to eat some chicken breast nice,soft juicy 3 oz with a little mashed potatoes. I was so scared to get sick but I didn't so I am so thankful for that. Because on Sunday I tried refried beans with sour cream and a little spagetti sauce (less than a teaspoon) I think I dumped for the very first time with that. Never again Yuck! lol

I haven't done too good with exercise I still get winded and it still hurts a little to take a deep breath but it is better not like before. So when I get on the treadmill I do 5 minutes, then when I get on it again I do 6 minutes and so forth until I can do more. I bought these stretch bands to do some exercise for my arms but man after I tried it I had to take a 2 hour nap! I was exhausted!! lol I also bought these dvd called Yoga booty something cause my butt has left the building! lol So I started to do the yoga part and soon hopefully soon I can start toning up some.

I am sleeping on my back without being propped and I am happy to be able to sleep on my sides for the last 4 nights. This is progress for sure!

I updated my profile and tomorrow I will post 1 month photos since today Gino was to busy to take pics of me before he left to work.

Thanks to everyone that has supported me through this difficult past month. I am finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel. Praise God!

Hugs to all.

Cira
3 comments | Leave a comment.

Complications after WLS
on April 6, 2007 1:02 pm
After having my JP drain tube taken out I thought I had felt major relief.  But little did I know that the pain in my belly had started to get worse and I was suffering from major gas pains. I was chewing gas x but it really didn't help.  March 13th would be the second night or even day that I coukd not lay reclined in bed.  I could only sit but I would pace and pace to try to get rid of the gas.  The pain became excruciating because whenever I would take a deep breath my lower left side on my back would hurt really bad.  I had been exhausted and all I wanted to do was sleep. I took the rocking chair brought it close to the edge of my bed propped some pillows there and laid my head on the pilllows on the bed and I slept there in that position for like 1 hour onky to get up with more back pain and a very stiff neck.  I tried chamomile and anise tea for gas and nothing I even took mylanta but nothing would take away the pain. By the morning of the 14th I was miserable in so much pain and I had not slept a wink all night. I told my husband at about 6 am that I felt like I was going to die and I really couldn't believe anymore that this was gas pains. 

I decided to posted on the main board about what I was feeling. Everyone gave me different advise but most of all to call my doctor if it continued.  One of the MD girl named Tia saw my post and sent me a personal message immediately and told me to call DVR. 

I called DVR and he told me that this didn't sound like gas pains and he wanted to see me in his office as soon as I could get there. 

My husband drove me to Baltimore and all I can say is that I was in tears and screaming in pain.  That ride to GBMC was pure hell to me and I just coukdn't breathe much.  I could only take shallow breaths and my husband was really afraid for me. Gino was speeding like a mad man to get me there quickly.  It is a 35 minute ride and I think we got there like in 25 minutes to me it was torturous so it felt like an eternity. I am suprised that we did not get stopped for speeding.  God was definitely watching over us, the traffic and the cops!

I was in tears throughout the time I was in his office he immediately checked me and did all the calls and paper work for a direct admit to the hospital which is in the same campus. In the mean time DVR had me get on a wheel chair and wheeled me over to get my blood drawn at the Quest lab, then she took me to the radiology department and told that from here I would be taken to a room after I have all the tests I needed to have done. I waited for like 35 minutes and they finally brought me in so that I can change to a hospital gown. They did a leak test and all looked fine there but the radiology doctor wanted to take a delayed film that would show that the liquid when through my intestines just. I had to wait  20 more minutes for the delayed film and it was just torture because I could barely breathe and I was in so much pain. Once he saw that x ray he told me he wanted another delayed film so I had to wait another 20 minutes. By this time it was 3:40 in the afternoon and all I wanted to do was just die. I was miserable as heck, in tears and super exhausted.  Then the radiologist told me it seems like you might have pneumonia or something else going on in both of your lungs and your Leak test is perfect no problems there. I was totally relieved about the wls being ok...  I was taking in only shallow breathes and I could barely sit in the wheel chair by the we were done.  So then they take me back to registration thinking I would have a room by now but unfortunately there was NONE available!  By 5:00 pm I was screaming in pain because at that point I could not take much of a breath in without yelling.  In the meantime I am trying to pace around in the lobby area in a hospital gown and my poor hubby was so worried for me he didn't knw what to do for me. At one point DVR comes along and I beg him to please do something to give me something for this pain that had me so miserable. He had a very concerned look on his face and told my husband Gino that they were ruling out pulmonary embolism and looked as of something was there like fluid but I needed to get a contrast CT scan to make sure what is going on.  He promised me that I would get a bed soon but since I was in so much pain he was going to bring me into the ER so I can get and IV and pain medication. By 6pm they wheel me over to the ER and I waited for like 15 more minutes to see the triage nurse.  When she checked my vitals she became very concerned when she checked the pulse oximeter and my level was 84 so she brought me in to the ER and put me on a stretcher by a little corner on a hallway.  There were no beds available but since I was lacking oxygen she brought me in to give me oxygen and get my IV started. The nurse was really nice and compassionate and apologized to me for having put in that corner but she wanted me to get that pain med asap.  I totally didn't care where I was put as long as I got something for that blasted pain I was having. Then like 20 minutes later they give me a pain medicine that is called dilotted it gave me a funny feeling while the medicine took affect and I was able to recline back a little and I think I fell asleep for like 40 minutes.  Then the nurse had to do an EKG so she woke me up.  By the time the EKG was done the pain had started to come back with a vegence. The nurse told me I can get son in another hour. This medicine only last very little and it did calm the pain down and helped me breathe without having this excruciating pain.   They took me to have the contrast ct scan and I coukd not lay flat so they had to call the nurse to come and give me another dose of dilotted so I can have the test done.  Finally I am ble to lay flad and guess what happens when they started the contrast it blew my vein, so they had to stop it.  I was taken back to the ER area by that time I had a room so they put me in there and sent a nurse to find another vein.  I have always been a hard stick so that was a major challenge. The second nurse that tried finally found a better one and told me that soon I was going back to CT scan to get the test done.  The nurse gave me another dose of the medicine before going to ct scan and so they were able to lay me flat on the scanner. The test found I had fluid in both my lungs, my lower left lobe of my lung had collapsed and I had a huge hematoma that surrounded my spleen ( a big sack of blood) It was pushing up in my diaphram irritating everything, not letting my lungs expand and giving me that huge pain to breathe.  It was a relief to know that it was not a pulmonary embolism, I really thought I was not going to make it.  They finally took me upstairs to unit 48 room 4848 at about 11pm. I was mainly drugged up often siince I coukd barely make it the entire 2 hours I needed to wait for the med. I was on oxygen all the time while I was in the hospital. It got a little scary when DVR told me that my H&H was going low and if it would not level out soon they would have to do surgery to stop the spleen from bleeding. I was getting blood drawn every 4 hours.  By the 2nd day being there my blood level had leveled out and I didn't need to have surgery.  DVR told me this complication caused Pneumonia (fluid in the lungs) the collapsed lung and the major pain to breathe.  I was also feeling a lot of pain where the spleen is located but that pain I was having to breathe was overpowering that other pain was definitely secondary at the moment.

I was discharged on the 18th of march and when I came home I had zero energy it was hard to breathe and it was still very painful to take deep breaths.  I could barely walk from the bed to the bathroom without being totally exhausted.   The pressure on my belly from the spleen had been makng it difficult to drink enough fluids so I had also been dealing with trying to not get dehydrated.  

For the next couple of weeks I was only able to sleep on my bed propped up high. I could not lay back or even lay on my sides.  it was very hard on my butt it felt as if I was going to get a bed sore. Gino bought me a 4 inch memory foam for my bed and that really helped a lot but I coukd not stand the nasty smell of it.  Ughhhhh everybody assures me that the smell will go away.  Yeah ok!!!  lol 

I am so thankful for my wonderful support WL sister that came to visit me.  Heather Modispaw and Heather Modell they brought me a beautiful angel card and a scratch off game!! Then Heather Modell came over again with Kelly to visit me.  
Aime B can to visit me and brought me some pretty daffodils to brighten my day. I had a lot of people calling me wishing me well and being so concerned for my health.  I am just so blessed to have wonderful friends to help me through these hard times.  

I have to thank Judy R (my soul sister) for being there for me and for praying so hard for me to get better.  She had surgery on 02/05/06 originally one day before I was suppose to get my surgery. She went through complications and I was there for her through hers.  But God knows everything and knew that I would need her there for me through my struggles so my surgery had been postponed for 1 month exactly later.  Everything happens for a reason and I know that if we both had had surgery 1 day apart we could have never been able to support each other through our time of need.   Thank you Judy for everything!

Today is my 1 month surgiversay and although I am not at 100% just yet I am feeling a lot better. I am still struggling a lot with my fluids. But I am doing pretty good with my pureed stage. Next Tuesday I will be able to re introduce solids and I am getting a little apprehensive about that.  

I started sleeping on my sides now for the past 4 days Yay! I was able to take like 4 pillows off the bed and lay back without much pain.  I still feel a little pain when I take a deep breath but it is bearble.  Thank Goodness.  I am finally able to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I want to thank my husband Gino for staying strong and being my rock. When I cried and said to myself over and over what the heck have I done to myself he held my hand and told me that this was going to pass and soon I would be very happy. I know put him through a major scare and he had some doubts at first but he has never left my side and has always reminded me how well I am doing each day.  

 I thank God for all the blessings! I know that everything will soon get better and I will be able to enjoy my new life!

I saw DVR on March 26th for a follow up visit. He made it to me my 1 month visit. I had lost 20 pounds with clothes on. He said he was happy with my weight loss and that all he wanted me to do was to concentrate on my protein intake, liquids and getting my strength back.  He had Nicole give me a Vitamin B-12 shot and I had to get blood drawn. he told me he will see me in 2 months.  

So here I am 4 weeks out and I have lost so far 26 pounds. I have alos lost some inches and I will post that a little later.  I will also post 1 month photos later tonight.

Thanks for all the support I have received from everyone on OH you are all wonderful.  


Love you all!
Cira
 
4 comments | Leave a comment.



Archive

Tags
  • None