Sarah M.
Hi everyone. Well, it's December 18, 2008, and I'm scheduled for the DS in less than 36 hours.
My name is Sarah, I'm 38, live in Nashville, and work for Comcast in customer service. I'm single, with no kids. I'd like to have kids someday, but I've never conceived (to the best of my knowledge). I was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA...which is simply the best place on Planet Earth.
I weigh about 420/425. My highest weight was around 490. I'd lost some additional weight in 2008, but was unable to maintain the loss. My co-morbidities include type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol. Not to mention slowly creeping up blood pressure. And foot pain! Hmmmm, anything else...Wait, won't that DO? *Sigh*
I had been researching WLS for a few years, and decided on the DS. The problem was that for a long time, I was very sick and depressed. I was in a constant state of exhaustion. So, I didn't work. So, I had no health insurance. Now I am a lot better. Comcast decided to hire me (those fools!), and so now I am professionally Comcastic. And I have Comcastic health insurance (BC/BX PPO, Baby!). And the DS is NOT excluded by my policy. YES!!!
I've always eaten compulsively, but lately the compulsion doesn't seem to be what it once was. Binges may go on for a few hours, a few days, or even a few weeks. However, they are no longer a life sentence, going on and on for months and years at a time. This is the primary reason I think I will be able to work the DS well. My goals for the DS? Get rid of the diabetes, get the blood pressure and cholesterol back down, and lose gobs and gobs of weight. My dream weight? 145 or so. If I get to 170, I'll be perfectly happy. If I get under 200, I'll consider myself okay. I do not have a naturally small body, so 145-170 would probably do me just fine.
My non-numerical goals? I want to wear jeans again. I want to ride a roller coaster. I haven't ridden a roller coaster since I was 17. I want to ride a bike. I want to try some kama-sutra style ultra-exotic sex positions! I want to buy a piece of clothing becaise I like it, not because it fits okay. I want the energy to pursue my dreams of managing to live some way other than in near poverty. I want to go to a club, get on the dance floor at 10:30 and not stop dancing until closing. No slow songs please! I want a normal sense of balance (I am disporoprtionally belly-heavy to the point where my balance is drastically affected). I want to walk with strides, and not a shuffle because my belly interferes with the movement of my knees and lifting my legs. I'd like to fit, with reasonable comfort, in an airplane seat. I want to...
Well, I'm sure you get the point.
For some months I had been debating having the Duodenal Switch here in Nashville with Dr. Spaw, or back in Philly with Dr. Bonanni, but then Dr. John Husted came back to the Mid-South, and that was that. Months of testing, of being poked and prodded, months of seeing my GP every month for a weigh-in all came to fruition. We submitted to Blue Cross back on December 1st, and the approved me on December 12th. It is now 1:09 am CST on Dec 18th, and I am scheduled for surgery at 7:00 am on December 19th.
So, that's me. Welcome to my world, and wish me luck!
