be at 160 pounds near or by Christmas this year.

Category: Health

1 Person

in progress,

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achieved this

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Surgeon Testimonial

John Yadegar
First of all, I have to say that I have, hands down, the BEST WLS team in the world.

I had surgery on 2/25/08 and lost 14 pounds the first week . . . and then nothing for two months. I'd go up a pound, down a pound, up two, down three . . . It was an overwhelmingly desperate feeling.

At nearly my wit's end, I called Dr. Yadegar's nurse coordinator, Liz, to talk with her. The receptionist Joanne said she was gone on vacation to Mexico. I was disappointed, but just left a message for Liz to call me. When I got off the phone, I burst into tears. After almost nine weeks with hardly any results, I couldn't pretend that this stall/plateau didn't bother me anymore. You can only put on a brave face for so long. I had a really good cry.

In the middle of my cry . . . the phone rang. It was the receptionist, Joanne, again! I was SO embarrassed that she caught me crying! She told me that Liz had just happened to call in, and said that she & Dr. Y wanted to see me on Tuesday. She was so sweet and just encouraged me. After I got off the phone with her, the phone rang yet again. It was Liz! Unknown to me, Joanne had called her to let her know how I was feeling.

Now, this just tells you about the dedication of my surgeon's team and why they're the best in the world. Here Liz is, in the airport going on a personal vacation to Mexico, and she calls me in the airport to ask me what's going on! I've NEVER had any doctor or nurse do that on their personal time. I was THAT important to them??

She puts me on hold and calls the doctor to see if he can see me. It turns out that he absolutely can't, but he sends a message to me through Liz to tell me to take a deep breath, it's okay, I'm not alone in this, and to settle down, and we're going to dig until we find the answer to what's wrong. Finally, someone offers me hope!

It was a long weekend, but on Tuesday, I went to see him. He first of all calmed my heart by saying this: "When people aren't losing weight with the surgery, there's always a very simple explanation." That made me feel better immediately. He had the answer, and he was going to help!

After following his new instructions (I need about 150g of protein instead of the standard 80-100g), I lost SEVEN pounds in the following week! I was taking in just enough protein to keep me stalled.

I immediately sent them a note via email this morning to let them know how grateful I was. Liz is a no-nonsense "WLS mom" who tells us EXACTLY what we need to hear. She's going to push you farther than you think you can go, so just be prepared!

And what's special is that she's not just a nurse, but SHE'S HAD THE SURGERY HERSELF. I'm so glad she's actually had her own battles with obesity, because she can identify with her patients. Any other nurse without that kind of experience might have become impatient with me and not given me the time of day to see that there was something else that needed to happen.

Dr. Yadegar has the kindest bedside manner I've ever seen in any doctor or surgeon. And being a military kid, I have lived in both Europe and Asia, on both the East and West Coasts, as far south as Florida, and as far North as Minnesota. Never seen anything like it. That says a lot.

Both my husband and my mother (who came from Texas for the surgery) liked him immediately and commented so many times on how comforting he was. I had nothing to fear. It's too bad that he's just my bariatric surgeon, because I'd make him my PCP (and the PCP of all my friends, too) if I could! :)

I'm so thankful for Liz and Dr. Yadegar's very active participation on my road to recovery, and for listening and caring -- for not just being medical experts, but for allowing themselves to be human as they practice medicine. That's SUCH a huge missing element in medicine today.

They do more than just taking care of us physically; they understand the emotional parts of us that are connected with our physical issues. They see their patients as human, and until you really need it, you don't know how good that feels. The Lord has surely blessed me with the best help I ever could have had as I fight the biggest battle of my life. They've given me the key to my prison, and the ability to walk from under the black cloud of obesity that's followed me my entire life.

Latest Surgery Support Comments

Comment by Shawnna O. on 3/2/08 7:19 pm

YAY Sheryl! Im so happy to have found you on this site! ThanX for telling me about it! Now we can KIT here as well as in person! Im up tomorrow so I guess I will see ya on the flip side!

Click here for the surgery support page

Sheryl_Williams's Blog

Creeping Along
on July 5, 2008 1:11 pm

Well, it's been almost two months since I posted my last entry in my blog. My current weight is 236.5, which is only an 8 pound loss in the last two months. Things are REALLY creeping along.

I've lost some inches, though. I'm still in a Size 18, but my hips are finally starting to come down. As of April 2 my hips were at 54 inches, and I'm now at 51. My waist was at 42 and I'm now at 39. My arms seem to be the only thing that are totally resisting any shrinkage! They've been 17 inches forever.

Yesterday was the 4th of July and I wore a white sleeveless dress. I can't even tell the last time I wore ANYTHING sleeveless. My husband complimented me the entire day, saying how nice I looked in my "summer dress."

Trying to really concentrate on inches and shift my focus from the scale to the inches right now. When the scale moves, it's great. When it's not, I whip out the tape measure to see what's going on there. Things are still going a lot slower than I expected, but Rocky, who had surgery the same day as I did, is also at 236, so I don't feel so bad. My hips have fallen an inch in the last two weeks, which is awesome. I thought they'd NEVER go down!

At one point I did get down to 233 something, but am back up to 236 and holding steady.

One thing I started doing was not eating breakfast. I have a protein drink for breakfast instead, and use that as a meal. Also trying to be more and more sensitive about when I'm full -- or rather, when I've had enough. It doesn't take much, and I love that about the surgery.

I'm feeling a little sleepy right now -- I took Drixoral for my plugged ear. It worked, but I'm sleepy! And I have a lot to do this afternoon, so I'd better wake up!

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My Story

I've been overweight since I can remember. My weight began escalating as a child, when my parents, who at the time were young and struggling financially, began to force me to eat or I could not leave the dinner table. Because it was so long ago, I can't say I know the exact moment when I began to rely on food. Somewhere in there, food became an enjoyment instead of a necessity.

I am so thankful and SO blessed to have a husband who has never said one degrading word to me about my weight, and who has never treated me any differently because of it. He loves me for me, and THAT, I think is what I needed ~ all support and no criticism ~ to have the courage to step out and do something for myself.

There have been efforts to lose the weight over the years, but I was never able to lose all of it, first of all, and second, I was never able to keep it off. I moved to Lancaster in September of 2005, and one of the first things I did was check into whether my new insurance would cover bariatric surgery. I was overwhelmed to find that it did! In March of 2005 I visited my new PCP. I was a little discouraged to find that I would have to be under her care for a year before she would refer me, but I looked at it this way -- a year was going to come and go anyway, so I might as well just go along for the ride!

In February of 2006 I went back to see her, and she made a referral. I ran through the battery of tests, and my BMI was just short of 50. It had to be over 50 to qualify automatically, but under 50 I had to have at least two co-morbid conditions -- which ended up being edema in my legs and PCOS. I was finally cleared for the options class in March. I could have started the class right then, but I would have had to drive to Panorama City, which I really didn't think I could do. So I waited until August for the new class to start in Palmdale.

I started my class on August 6, 2007 at 308 pounds and wearing I size 28. In those six months I lost the required 10% (30 pounds) on the last day of class, February 4, 2008. Exactly three weeks from the last day of class, I went in for surgery at Lancaster Community Hospital. Today I'm weighing 242 pounds and wear a size 18! It has been YEARS since I've worn anything without a 2 in front of it!

In eight more pounds I will be halfway to my goal!

It has been an incredible journey, and I'm looking forward to seeing the new me at my goal weight of 160 pounds! My husband looks at me with renewed spark -- and that, my friends, is worth every pound and sweeter than any bite of junk food could ever give me!

This is new, uncharted territory, as I haven't been at this weight since I was 14 years old! My God is GOOD! I won't ever know this side of Heaven why food and weight was the "thorn in the flesh" He chose for me in this life, but I know this: His strength is made perfect in my weakness. Only then can the power of Christ rest upon me, and I want that more than anything!