cgunter78
(Written the Summer of 2005)
Hello. My name is Carol. I am 27 years old. I am a stay at home mom to my son, Michael. I have always been rather large. I was a size 22 at my high school graduation. I tried a lot of diets (Nutrisystem gave me Phen fen at 18) but I didn't lose over 40 lbs and gained it all back plus 15 after I stopped. Nearly a decade later, I am now a size 30/32. I decided to have this surgery after many, many years of trying various diets and failing miserably. I saw Carnie Wilson's weight loss on MTV or VH1 (can't remember which) and thought, "Wow! she looks so great!" That started me looking for information and I eventually decided WLS was a right decision for me.
Things I look forward to when I lose the weight:
1. Shopping at Wal Mart, Ross, Goody's, Old Navy, etc.
2. Not dreading shopping with girlfriends cause they don't have my size.
3. Not having to shuffle down the church pew.
4. Not having to wonder if the restaurant booth will fit me.
5. Going on roller coaster rides again.
6. Riding a horse again.
7. Not afraid to wear a modest bathing suit.
8. Being able to cross my legs.
9. Not hating the mirror or the camera.
10. Feeling sexy again no matter what my actual waist size is.
This is my journey. Hope it doesn't bore you too much.
I started having tests run in March of this year (05). I was ready to go for a May 7 surgery, but at the last minute I was pulled off the books because my surgeon got orders for a tour to Afganistan and Iraq and he was needed to take some "more critical" patients before he left. So that left the post hospital with no doctor that would (or could?---not really sure which) do the surgery. They are really short on doctors so they are not doing any "elective" surgeries for the next year. After much fighting, I got the clinic to refer me out to be seen in town.Tricare called about 3 weeks later and told me I was approved for Dr. Sidney Appel in Atlanta. Apparently all Augusta doctors are booked up for the next year as well (I later found out that BCBH was dropping WLS from coverage and there was a surge of patients locally). I went to the group consultation in Atlanta on July 15, 2005. All I need for them for the next appointment are two things. A pulmonolgy apt and a statement of health.
8/2005 Finally got the last apt. Now I go back to doctor.
9/2005 Second office visit: saw the nurse who went over paperwork, talked about surgery, risks, yada, yada. Told me I needed two more tests. Crap; I have to deal with Tricare again.
9/24/05 I need to have my last two tests completed before I can get a surgery date. All other preliminary testing completed. On
9/27/05, I am having a echocardiogram (I took Phen fen so they want to make sure I'm okay) and on October 4 I have my Upper GI. About a week or two later I go back to the doctor for the "big check up" and set the surgery date for 4-5 weeks from that visit. I'm excited and really antsy. I was originally having the Surgery in May, but my doctor got deployed to Afganistan for 10 months (my husband is a Staff Sgt in the Army), so I had to go back to square one. The mighty Tricare has ever so grudingly let me get referred out to Dr. Sidney Appel of Surgical Weight Management in Atlanta. I'm glad, because they are so much nicer than post doctors (the military doctors and staff are not very sympathetic to big patients). The staff is awesome too. My only complain is that because I got referred out, the only way my insurance will pay for all my testing is for me to have them done on post and then faxing the results to Dr. Appel's office. I've even had to personally get the records office to make me copies of test results to send to them myself! Einsenhower (post) is taking their sweet time about even getting the testing done (I waited over a month just a pulmonology apt). I swear Christmas is coming faster than they are moving. I have to at least keep up my sense of humor through all of this. More to come!!!
10/3/05 Weight 333.6lbs. I called Dr. Appel's office because I hadn't heard whether or not the surgery was approved or not and I found out that my Primary Care Doctor didn't word his referral "just right" and it was denied. The insurance won't approve it until the referral is resubmitted with the proper code. What's the real kicker is that Tricare runs the post hospital, so you think that their employees would know how to properly code their requests. The echocardiogram went fine and I had the results faxed to Dr. Appel's office and I will call today to see if they got the results (I don't trust them; do you blame me?). The upper GI is tomorrow. I'm glad it's the last one. Hopefully I can go back to Dr. Appel's office soon for the pre op visit. I don't know when it will be, but I hope it will happen very soon after I'm done dealing with my primary care Dr and Tricare. Keep fingers crossed and a prayer thought for me. God bless.
10/4/05 333.4lbs. Got the Upper GI done today. Last test completed. I also got in touch with the doctor and he called Tricare and gave the right wording for the referral. Now I hope the GI will be faxed by this Friday and I will go back to Atlanta for pre op appt. by next Friday, Oct 14,2005. I will know my surgery date then if all goes well. God bless.
10/7/05 Got a call today from Dr. Appel's office! I'VE BEEN APPROVED FOR SURGERY!!! I go back to his office on October 19th. I get my surgery date two days after the visit. Coolness! Also, I'm done with my PCM and Tricare's part of the process. Now only the doctor's office visits stand between me and the surgery! Wish me luck. I'll keep you posted. God bless.
10/20/05 The Pre Op Appt went great. "I'm okay to go!" I saw Dr. Steinberg. He's taking over Dr. Appel's client's because Dr. Appel retired last week. Dr. Steinberg was very nice. He didn't mind us bringing my son into the appointment. I was very grateful for this, because my husband had his own questions that he wanted to ask. I think it helped to relieve his worries. On another note, my husband came down on recruiter duty and is scheduled to leave at the end of the month. He might be able to postpone it if we can get a letter stating my surgery date. They are supposed to call me today or tomorrow with my surgery date and will fax a letter of surgery to my husband's unit at that time. I'm really frustrated because it's taken me 7 months to get to this point and I don't want it to be delayed any more. I can understand if they need him for Iraq or Afghanistan, but for goodness sake, they want him to be a recruiter because they aren't getting enough people to join up! DUH!!! There's a war going on with no forseeable end, and they just released a study that one in four soldiers have either died or been injured. Is the Army offering better benefits or more money to intice new recruits? Oh no; that would actually make sense. Instead, they've cut bonuses and benefits and decided to increase the number of recruiters that the Army has already. It sucks. I'll keep you posted. God bless.
10/21/05 336.2. I've got a surgery date! It's December 1st! I'm so glad cause that means I've got four months to lose weight before my 28th birthday on April 9th! I always go home about that time so no one will really see me after Christmas until my birthday! I've got plenty of time to shock my family when they see the new me! Sorry about all the exclamation points, but I'm really excited.... I just want to shout " Woo Hoo!" all day today. God Bless everyone.
10/31/05 I've had some minor setbacks. George's leave was declined, so he had to go to the recruiting school. I ended up changing my surgery date from December 1st to the December 20th. But that means that hubby will be here for the surgery, so yeah on that count. I just hated that I had to delay to surgery.
11/6/05 Hubby got sent back home from the school. The surgery got delayed for nothing.......UGHHHH! I guess my Christmas this year is going to be a fun, drugged one.....lol. I've been preparing for the surgery, trying to avoid "credit carditis" by periodically browsing the local GoodWills (i live in a well off town; anyone hear of The Masters?...lol.) for plus size finds. I've been lucky so far; I've found six pair of 20, 22, and 24 jeans of my favorite label Venzia by Lane Bryant. They all looked like they were hardly worn. You can't beat finding 49.50-59.50 jeans for 4.50 a pair. My personal goal is to get down to a size 16, but I'd be happy with a 18 or even a 20. I haven't been a 16 since I was 16 years old. I was a 20/22 when I graduated high school. I've also bought some ISOPURE for the two week clear stage after surgery in all colors except red or purple. I wonder why we can't have it in those colors? . I'm also about to buy some stuff from the OH website (vitamins and stuff). I'm getting close. I'll keep posting. God Bless.
11/9/05 Just twiddling my fingers. I'm addicted to cruising OH messageboards. LOL. I'm also trying to finish all Christmas shopping since I won't remember this one.... LOL. Seriously I think this is the "bestest" Christmas present I could ever give myself. Maybe I'll get lucky and get a lot of gift cards or certificates to clothing stores..... Is it wrong of me to drop hints? LOL.... I'm just kidding (well, maybe 80% kidding 20% serious). Anyway, God bless.
11/22/2005 I seem to have delevoped nesting syndrome. I want everything super clean, like "pulling off the oven door and taking it apart to get it shiny".The more I start thinking about it though, there are a lot of similarities between the two experiences. I know it will be painful, but I'm not sure how much pain it will be cause no one's experiences are exactly the same (diff. hospitals, staff, doctors, some have good pain meds, others don't.... you get the idea). I also know the pain will be temporary and it will fade with time. Anyway, so that's how I'm approaching it-just like a birth of a child. So I keep asking myself, "What did you do before you had Mikey?" ---- I prepared. So now I'm looking around for clothes (comfy PJ's and strechy pants are a must), books (half.com is a great site), buying supplies like vitamins, queasy pops, and little things to help me feel better, like a mirror, hairbursh, and no rinse shampoo (if you can find it), and some quick fix food items that follow my doctor's plan. I also found ISOPURE at GNC which should work for the clear liquids stage along with broth, jello, etc. I'm also reading a great book called the Doctor's Guide to Weight Loss Surgery. It's really good. It's helping to ease a lot of my worries. Anyway, I'm about to head off to Alabama to see all of our family so they all can dote on their grandson....LOL. Who cares about the kids anymore once they have grandkids? (Just kidding---LOL). Happy Thanksgiving everybody!
12/12/05 8 Days until Surgery. My home scale tells me I'm 331 so I've lost 8lbs from my highest weight. I go tomorrow to the pre op testing at the Dekalb Medical Center in Atlanta. The surgery is 8 days away! Wow. I've been so busy. My home has kept me on my toes. My dishwasher broke last month and I'm waiting for my new one to come in. This Saturday night the toilet overflowed and flooded the house. Fun Fun Fun! Well it's been kind of funny cause it made my hubby help me this weekend to clean the carpets and at the same time, the house as well. My house is shiny clean......lol. I just wish I could close the windows but I want to make sure the house is dried out. We got the fungicide for the floor sprayed down and everything but I'm not taking chances. I have the fans going full force and windows open.... Just keeping sweats and jackets on today....lol.
12/15/05 Just a quick update before I become a "loser". I'm going to my in laws for recovery and won't be home till the first week of January . Since they have no internet, I'll be offline till I get back. My house has come back in order--the flood has been abated...lol. My Christmas shopping is done and I'm ready for this be finished. Wish me luck. God Bless.
12/26/05 6 Days Post-Op. I had a roux- en-y gastric bypass at 1pm on Tuesday afternoon at Dekalb Medical Center in Atlanta GA. I was in my room by 7pm. I released on Thursday afternoon. I spent 49 hours and 30 minutes in hospital from time of actual surgery to release from hospital. I'm doing fine and pain is very mild. Took pain meds 1X yesterday and so far none today. I just wanted to let everyone know I'm okay and doing good. I'll post more later. God Bless and Merry Christmas.
1/1/06 12 Days Post-Op. At my one week checkup on Wednesday I was 321(a loss of 14lbs). I weighed myself yesterday on my dad's scale and I was 313 (a loss of 22 lbs in 11 days). I'm so glad for the results. I've seen a lot of posts where people don't lose the first week because of fluid build up, so I was pretty shocked that I had lost anything. I'm handling all foods pretty good but I'm craving meat. No sweets, just meat. I have 9 more days of liquids then 3 weeks of pureed foods. I'm being good and following all doctor's orders. I only had one complication from the surgery. One of my openings didn't close. It looks gross cause you can see the skin layers down to the muscle. It doesn't hurt, though. The doctor says it's pretty common and it will have to heal from the inside out.
On another note, this is my last day of family visits and I will be home tonight. I will give a more detailed version of hospital events then.
1/5/06. Ahh, I'm home! I missed my bed! LOL. I promised to tell what the surgery was like, so I'll do my best. I went in, got prepped for surgery at about 11:30 on Tuesday. It was nice cause they even had plus size gowns that actually covered my backside...lol. My surgery was at 1pm. They knocked me out really fast. I don't even remember being in recovery(about 2 hrs). Once I got into my room, they set me up on a morphine push button thing. It was nice....lol. I can only explain the pain is that it's not exactly searing pain, it's more like you've had a ton of bricks put on your chest and it doesn't feel too good. Don't worry about not eating, cause you don't want to.... all you want to do is sleep that first day. Wednesday morning they came got me and made me do the GI scan for leaks. I didn't even mind the nasty chalk. What I DID mind is the laying flat on my back. OUCH! It made the weighted feeling 10 X worse. I was all clear and put on a liquid diet. I did have a lot of gas pains. So I walked and it REALLY did help. I ended up walking four times down the length of the hospital floor on the second day. The walking helped because it helps you to burp or pass gas if you need to. I was off the drip by the end of the second day. My must bring items that I was so glad that I had were: Chap Stick, a set of my own PJ's (it feels so much better than the gowns), and No Rinse Shampoo and Body Wash to help with feeling fresh. I walked a lot Thursday and the nurses kept asking me why was I still there....lol. The doctor had morning surgeries and wasn't able to come and release me until that afternoon on his lunch break. He was proud that I was doing well and told me that all the nurses were bragging that they wanted all their patients to be like me.... I blushed...lol. So I went home. The nurses were amazing. They were so attentive. They were very kind and gentle with me. They all had wonderful bedside manners. I am so glad I had my surgery done there. Dekalb Medical Center is the name of the hospital and Surgical Weight Management (www.lapband-atlanta.com) is Doctor Steinberg's practice if anyone is interested. I'll keep you posted! God Bless.
1/10/06 I'm doing pretty good. I start pureed foods today. It was so nice to have a scrambled egg this morning. I was so happy. I blended up a can of chicken with a little fat free mayo and a tsp of relish for lunch and I was in heaven! I went to Curves twice last week and went yesterday and will aim for 2 more times this week.
1/18/06 I ended up pulling a muscle so I haven't been to Curves in a week. I'm going back tonight cause I feel better now. My one month appt is Monday,the 23rd, so I will give my official weight loss then.
2/10/06 At my one month appointment I was 308 but now I'm 296. I'm so proud.... 40lbs gone forever. I've gone from 30 pants to a 28 and even a few 26's! I've gone from a 30 (4X) shirt to fitting in a 26/28 and even getting into a 22/24 without looking really horrible (I don't like to wear tight clothing!). I'm on solid foods now. I cannot have bread.... it hangs, even toast. I can do a SMALL amount of pasta if I have a sauce and lots of meat with it. I also have problems with pork and steak. I can do well with chicken if I really take my time and chew, chew, chew. I love all fish. It's been my lifesaver. I'm struggling with vitamins. I hate the liquid B complex... Yucky. I'm going to try to find sublingual tablets and hope that helps. I'm going to GNC today and see. I'm also working on getting water in as well. Overall I'm pretty pleased with myself. I can't wait for my family to see me again! My dad's birthday was the 8th and my brother's is today so we decided to buy Georgia Aquarium tickets for the four of us and meet there on the 23rd. I hope they like it. We are going to dinner after so it should be nice.
2/18/06 Hey all! I know I haven't been posting in a while so I've got to fess up. My scale this morning read 284! That's 50lbs from my surgery weight of 334 and 55 lbs from my highest weight of 339!. I'm so amazed! It's not even been two whole months yet (two days left....lol). I found out that I do so much better when I keep a food journal. I use www.fitday.com or a google search to find the nutritional information for similar foods and write it down. I actually couldn't find a online food journal that included water and all the vitamins that WLS'ers have to take, so I made my own. **If you read this and are interested in the journal, please feel free to email me and I will send it to you** I showed it to one of my mentors, Craig T (www.renewedreflections.com) and he really liked it and is thinking about putting it on his website! That is so cool to contribute my idea! I am really glad things are going well. I can't wait for family to see me again! Best wishes!
2/21/06 Well ladies (and a few gentlemen), I've done it. I officially cleaned out my closet yesterday. I've lost 50lbs since surgery and a grand total of 55 lbs. What started it all was this...... On Sunday I went to church, same as always, in my favorite black shirt and khaki pants (we go to comtempory service). The pants were ones I hadn't been able to wear in a while but the shirt was my nice, favorite shirt. During greeting everyone came up to me, hugged me, and told me that I looked really good and kept commenting on how smaller I looked.... After service, four of my friends came up to me to talk. One of my friends said "I'm sorry, sweetie, but that shirt is waaayyy to big and it's gotta go!" Of course, I'm stuck in denial. No way.... i'm not small enough to get rid of old faithful......lol. She actually has to pull on my shirt to show me that I've got about 10 inches of extra material. Yesterday, I actually went through my closet and got rid of my 5X stuff and most of my 4X stuff and now my closet is full of 26/28's. While I was sorting it, I kept having to try stuff on because my HEAD kept saying, "NO way that you are small enough for this yet!"......lol. Some items were snug, but others weren't......lol. This has been such a nice feeling.......lol.
3/25/06 Well I'm just over three months out. I'm doing pretty good. I'm now 272 lbs. I'm fitting in to 26's and some 24's. I can't even begin to tell you how much has changed in my life. I can wear clothes I haven't worn in over four or five years (Yes I kept them..lol). I cried the day I found out that I could cross my legs. I cried the day I found out I could wear a size 24. (But a good kind of crying......lol) I'm starting to have curves. Wow, who knew? I'm still big, but I feel so much better about myself. I'm starting to feel sexy again, which is nice. I want to look good, which is a big deal for me because I have depression issues which have almost disappeared since the surgery. On a more somber note, my hair is falling out and I've got acne like a teenager. I knew about the hair, but the acne was a surprise. I've heard that it will get better in a few months, thank god. I went through enough when I was a teenager and I don't want to do it again.....lol. But I feel it's a fair trade off for the weight loss and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
4/4/06 Well I'm weighing 260 for a total weight loss of 79 lbs. I couldn't be happier. I found a Gazelle type exerciser and bought and exercise ball a few weeks ago. I'm getting better about exercising. I started a Church mission and we are making knitted hats for infants in intensive care as well as for deployed soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. I hope to expand to make hats for the elderly and homeless as we get more established. I love knitting on the Knifty Knitter looms. It's so easy! God Bless!
7/25/06 234 lbs (105 lost)I'm sorry that I haven't been updating. I guess I fell into the "too busy with living" category. I've seen some things in the news recently that made me want to update my site. First, lets talk about Mrs. STAR JONES. Oh yes, girls, I'm going there. She FINALLY admitting to having surgery on the Larry King Show after the whole fired by the View fiasco. I don't even watch the view but knew who she was. I was upset by the fact that she was so hesitant to say that she had had the surgery. It's people like that are the ones that bother me. He#$, I'm yelling off the mountaintops that I've lost 105 lbs and the surgery did it for me but I'm working hard to keep it going!I'm not telling people I did it by yoga. I do tell everyone that I'm on an "Atkins-type"diet but I can't have fat either (so people can understand that I don't eat sugar or starches). Secondly, MY GIRL, CARNIE WILSON, is going to be on CELEBRITY FIT CLUB starting next month. I'll be there every episode to cheer her on! Last she reported, she was 186 lbs (after having a baby). To me that's still a damn site better than over 300 lbs, but if she really wants to be under 150 then best of luck to her. God Bless everyone! Keep up the good works!
7/27/06 I just wanted to add that I have had to travel back to my home state for a while( Hubby is Army-- we came from AL). My grandfather wasn't doing to well and had to be put in a nursing home and my grandmother was neglecting herself (so she could sit by him) to the point of wrecking her health. I had been traveling 4 1/2 hours each way to see them as much as possible to help my mom out. My grandfather passed away last week, and my grandmother (his wife) was admitted in the ER twice while he was in the hospital for the final time. It's been rough. My son is still in therapy (he's was born preemie with seizures and some delays---Praise God they are all mild!) but they just determined that he can go for 3 times a week instead of 4. He's caught up enough with speech to go from 2 x to just 1x, plus OT and Behavioral Therapies. I'm trying to get a job, but i'm having a hard time of it right now. I'm also heading a church mission where I teach loom knitting and we make baby hats for preemies at the Medical College of GA,. Our group has made over 200 hats, 10 bootie sets, and 34 hats to deployed soldiers, and 40 hats for the homeless. I'm currently making a scarf/shawl to go to an elderly lady for a nursing home.
As far as my looks....lol. I'm in a 20/22 shirt and am wearing very baggy 24's. NO MORE LANE BRYANT----I can use Wal Mart now......lol... But I DO like LB for the sexy outfits....heh heh. I think the major change is my face, especially with the short hair cut (which has grown out for about 6 weeks now). I did it because I was afraid of the hair loss.
Future Updates!
12/15/05 BMI:54.7 339lbs
01/23/06 BMI:49.7 308 lbs
02/18/06 BMI:45.8 284 lbs
03/25/06 BMI:43.9 272 lbs
04/04/06 BMI:42.0 260 lbs
07/24/06 BMI:37.2 234 lbs
