Sept. 15^th, 2009

Today is my one year “surgiversary”. The last year has flown right by! So today I am going to do a one year update for everyone to show my progress.

Let’s see, I started out a year ago absolutely miserable and depressed. I was not able to care for myself, dress myself, take care of household duties like cooking, cleaning, washing clothes, dishes, etc. I had all I could do to walk through the house. At that time, I was completely dependent on everyone around me, our housekeeper, my walker, cane, wheelchair, scooter and all the other handicap equipment that is spread throughout the house from bars on the walls to raised toilet seats and bath chairs. It was a life that was not any fun whatsoever!

A lot of the above things are a result of the degeneration in my lower spine, but with having major thyroid issues from going from having Graves Disease (severely overactive thyroid) to absolutely no thyroid at all, I gained massive weight. With the back issues, it definitely did not help that I was not active at all. I was completely dormant and stuck in any chair that I sat on and did nothing. When I went to the doctor because of severe swelling and edema in my legs, ankles and feet and found out that I was on the verge of congestive heart failure and diabetes, my family doc really stressed to me how important having gastric bypass surgery was. Because of my immobility, he thought that was the best way for me to go as he had no other solutions for me to lose weight. And if I didn’t lose any weight, the CHF and diabetes would definitely set in along with many other health problems. So he gave me the name of a very highly certified bariatric surgeon.

It took me awhile to contact this surgeon as even though I wanted the surgery and had looked into it in the past and had actually started the process of things that needed to be done prior to surgery while we were still living in Illinois a year prior, I was scared to death to do it. So, I finally contacted the surgeon and went in for my informational session to gather all the information needed prior to being able to actually visit with the surgeon. I did everything I needed to and thankfully I had the hardest part over with already that I had started prior to be approved by the insurance company. After all this was complete, which included a dietician visit, a psyche evaluation, visiting with the surgeon, etc. I was finally approved for the surgery and the date was set!

I had my surgery Sept. 15^th, 2008 in Bismarck, ND. The surgery went well with the exception that I was only suppose to have laparoscopic surgery with 6 incisions, but ended up with laparoscopic plus open surgery. So I was unfortunately sliced all the way down the front. Because of this I ended up having to stay in the hospital for 6 days instead of being able to go home after 2 or 3. At the time of surgery, I started out at 374 lbs.

Since coming home from surgery, I have had many ups and downs and a lot of mixed feelings and emotions about the surgery. I have had constant issues with eating ever since I had the surgery. There are only a few foods that I have been able to eat on a consistent basis over the last year. Those pretty much include homemade soups like bean soup and beef vegetable soups. The only meat that I have been able to eat on a consistent basis is steak and I can eat just about any vegetable only as long as it is steamed. Everything else I have had issues with either on and off or it just does not agree with me at all. And the majority of food does not agree with me at all. I cannot eat any kind of breads, pastas, boxed foods, processed foods, etc. Everything I have eaten has been pretty much homemade. I have done awesome with staying away from sugar as that is a big no no with this surgery as it will make you extremely sick. Once in awhile I have cravings for certain desserts, etc. but it isn’t something that bothers me and I can definitely do without. My tastes changed drastically since I have had surgery. Everything tastes completely different. I have never ever been so picky about my food in my life as I am now. Which definitely makes going out to eat a royal pain. I cannot eat a single thing at any fast food restaurant. The only restaurants I can go to are the ones that serve steak. Oh, and did you know, steak isn’t cheap by any means!!! So as you can see, I deal with many emotional feelings when it comes to eating. I am getting sick of eating the same things over and over, the costs are not fun as I live on steak and fresh produce, the not knowing if I can eat something without getting extremely sick from it, as well as trying to make sure that I am getting enough protein in, as that is top priority with this surgery, with the limited foods that I can eat. About 4 to 5 months after surgery, I unfortunately developed an ulcer at my surgery point. So now I have to deal with that as I am not sure if it will ever heal up or not. I take medicine daily to keep it under control, but when I forget, I definitely pay the price.

Another thing that I am having many mixed emotions about is clothing. It all started that it took over 6 months and losing over 100 lbs. before I could go shopping for new clothes. I went through so many emotions not understanding why I couldn’t go shopping and why my clothes were not getting bigger on me. It was torturing me. But, finally that time came! And so I went out and bought some outfits. Needless to say, that put a huge strain on me and my family financially as the clothes I was finally able to buy, were only fitting for one wearing or none at all, and they would be falling off of me. I went from wearing 4X/5X to a XL/L in a little less than 2 months time. At this point in time, the clothes I am wearing now have been fitting well for a good few weeks and I can actually get some wear out of them. So right at the moment, I am not stressing so much over my clothing.

Ever since surgery, my life has completely changed. I am much more mobile now. I can get around so much better with all the weight gone. I do not use my walker anymore, but I am definitely reliant on my cane. I only use my wheel chair or scooter when we go somewhere that involves a lot of walking. I still cannot walk around in like Wal-mart for instance and have to rely on their scooters, but I am definitely a lot better than I was a year ago! I have since then started doing the dishes on a regular basis again, although I have to sit on a stool as it kills my back to stand. I have been able to help out with the laundry although I can’t carry the baskets as well as helping out with some of the cleaning here and there, certain things. With all that being extremely positive things, I do still definitely deal with chronic pain on a daily basis from my back as well as my fibromyalgia. There is hope that one day I might be able to walk on my own again without the assistance of a cane, etc. As I so much want that to happen, I do not know if it will ever become a reality or not.

Now that I have kind of reflected over the last year, and unfortunately there is a lot I left out, otherwise you would be reading for ages, and I do not want to torture you anymore, I will get on with the actual physical effects of having my surgery.

I started my weight at 374 lbs. and as of today, I am 199 lbs. A total loss of 175 lbs. My ultimate goal is to be at 161 lbs. which puts me right in the center of my BMI for my height and weight. In total, I have lost 78.25 inches on my body!!!!

I am so glad I had the surgery done. I am a much happier and healthier person now. I am still continuing to lose weight, and not sure how much longer it will continue, but was told by the surgeon that most people lose up to 2 years after surgery. But the weight is coming off very slow now, which is expected. I do not know when or if I will hit my ultimate goal or even go below it, but I am definitely satisfied with the results so far. Even though I have many emotions on and off, it was the best decision I have ever made in my life. At this time, I should be having m 1 year check up with my surgeon, but I put it off until Oct. 22^nd as that is most convenient for us to go to Bismarck. At that time, I am sure I will be discussing my surgeon my future of most likely 3 more surgeries that need to be done, possibly 4. These are all covered under the insurance thankfully as they are the result of extreme weightloss. But those surgeries will involve having all the excess skin around my stomach and back removed, a boob job(woohoo, cant wait!!!), the excess skin under my arms removed and I need to talk to him about my rear, as I have so much excess skin there now too that it is becoming extremely uncomfortable to sit anymore. I will update you all again after that visit to inform you of what the next plan of action is, etc. if any.

Just a quick note on my way out: I want to thank everyone who has supported me through this and helped me to cheer up when I was down about this or that. Thank you!!