corinnaq
7/21/06 I've been heavy my entire life and am done with it. Plus I am hoping to be a professional opera singer. I know, most people think weight shouldn't be an issue, after all I get plenty of comments along the lines of "oh you look like an opera singer" when people find out, but I've discovered that even the opera world is not as accepting of the fat soprano anymore. So I'm hoping to have my surgery as soon as possible. I'm one of those lucky (or unlucky depending how you look at it) ones who doesn't have to go through insurance and I'm hoping it can happen fairly quickly. I've really enjoyed reading other members' profiles who have kept them updated, so I'm going to try and keep my journey updated too.
7/28/06 So I attended Dr Chebli's seminar yesterday and have scheduled my first consult for next Wednesday. I'm so excited to get started. Of course as any of Dr Chebli's patients know I have to loose my 5% so as of Wedesday I'm truely going to be starting anew...can't wait!!! The seminar was great and I really like him. I have gone to two others so the information wasn't really new but I felt like he really was down to earth, funny, aware of him limits but very confident in his abilities. Plus his staff is wonderful. Lisa answered all my questions and was super friendly and helpful.
8/9/06 I had my initial visit with Dr Chebli last week and it went well. He explained all of the steps very thoroughly and answered any questions I had. I've since had several of my necessary tests done and am working my way through the list. I've lost 8 of the 14.6 pounds so I'm getting there. I'm getting excited!
8/12/06 I'm down 10.5 lbs. Only 4 left to go. Yippee. Of course I'm having people ask me, why would you do the surgery when you can lose weight this way. I try to explain as best I can but I don't think most folks understand. Yeah, I can lose weight it's keeping it off that I'm singularly unsuccesful with. *sigh*
8/21/06 Well, I'm having a little set back which is a bummer. Dr Chebli is in the process of becoming a Blis surgeon. Blis is this awesome insurance that you pay a one time fee and they cover any possible complications that occur within the first year. As a self pay patient with and insurance company that will NOT cover complications from WLS this could be invaluable in the event of major complications. As we all know complications are a real threat with WLS. Unfortunately, NW hospital is sending the deal through their legal department (legal departments usually seem to move VERY slowly) and they don't think it will be in place until the end of September. I've pretty much lost the 14.6 lbs but since I have a little longer to wait I gave myself a day to cheat and had pasta (that's the thing I've craved the most on this low carb diet) so I probably put back on a pound or two but I'm not too concerned about it getting them back off quickly. They are optimistically saying the end of this month for Blis but we'll see. I've done all of my tests. Just have a follow up for my sleep study on Wed, my psyc eval on Friday and one more nutrition visit. My nutritionist said I'm obviously well informed and have done all the research. Amazingly she said many people come in and have no idea what they are getting into, haven't started their low carb diets and have no clue about nutrition. Anyway, hopefully sites like this will help those folks get the information they need.
For those interested you can check out their web site www.bliscompany.com.
9/3/06 I'm still waiting for Blis to come through. They say the end of September but I'm hoping for sooner. Keeping my fingers crossed. They have been very nice to me even though I bug them every week with "any news yet???" e-mails. I had finished everything except my final nutritionist appt (which I don't do until right before my surgery) when I found out I have to get a silly cpap machine. I'm rather annoyed with it as I'll never use it but Dr Chebli wants me to get it. So that means a couple more appts with the sleep clinic and I think even another sleep study which I hated. I don't even have obstructive sleep apnea but they feel it's close enough that it should be treated. So fine, obviously I have to do it but I'm not happy about it. Other than that I'm just in a holding pattern and not being very patient about it. I keep reading other profiles and that helps me get things into perspective when I read that some people have to wait for more than a year from the time they are approved. I think that might drive me NUTS!!! But it gives a few extra minutes of patience that I need.
I'm being pretty good with the low carb thing but getting SICK of it. I give myself little cheats here and there so I'm staying steady just at my required weight loss goal. It's super tempting to just say, screw it, since I don't have my date scheduled and don't even know when I'll be able to but I've stayed strong so far. And I do feel better even just down 15 pounds.
Okay, I think I've ranted enough for one posting.
10/19/06 Finally I have my surgery date. Unfortunately Blis has not come through. Northwest Hospital has it sitting in their legal department and show no signs of actually getting it done. *sigh* So I'm going to take a dive and pray that all goes well. There have been a couple of posts lately about people having complications which worry me even more but there are just as many that don't, in fact more that don't, so I'll keep my fingers crossed and my thoughts positive. So I have three weeks tomorrow until surgery. I have my pre op appointment next Thursday. I have to get back on the low carb thing hardcore to shrink that liver down.
10/26/06 I had my pre op appointment today. It went great. Dr Chebli is wonderful and took the time to answer all of my questions. He went through the whole procedure again, what to expect when I arrive at the hospital, what to expect each day I'm at the hospital, what I'll be hooked up to when I get out and how long I'll be hooked up to that stuff, just everything. I've lost 22 pounds which he was very happy with. Just have to stick to the low carb to shrink that pesky fatty liver down. So I've got two weeks and a day left.
11/17/06 (258 lbs) Well, I've finally done it. Surgery went really well, no nausea, manageable pain, wonderful hospital staff and amazing surgeon. I was home in three days and feel noticably better each day. The liquids are a little hard to get all in and I tend to swallow a lot of air when I drink so I've had to be careful of that. Burping hurts. I'm off pain pills completely and had my staples removed yesterday. I weighed in at 261 the morning of surgery, 270 two mornings later (all the liquids they pump into you) and 258 yesterday. Sleeping is a bit of a challenge as I don't like sleeping on my back but really can't handle sleeping even on my side for more than a few minutes at a time. But again, getting better everyday!
11/25/06 (247 lbs) two weeks post op and feeling pretty darn good. I still get tired fairly easily but it's getting better. I have to make myself quit weighing so often. I had it down to every other day but I think I need to do the weekly weigh or maybe just twice a week (simply because I don't think I could hold out an entire week). I was a little disappointed to get on the scale this morning and see it only have moved a 1/2 a pound since two days ago but that's silly. I'm also trying to not set goals for myself. Like that I'll be down to 200 by three months out or something like that because I've read so many profiles where people did that and were very disappointed when they didn't get there. So I'm going to go a day at a time and do all the stuff I'm suppose to and see where it leads. Already many of my clothes are hanging on me that were super tight before. I'm enjoying my pureed foods right now but probably still not getting quite enough water. I'm getting more everyday but it's just not quite enough I don't think. Well I'll probably wait until my one month anniversery to do another update. Until then...
12/23/06 (232 lbs) Well I'm 6 weeks out and have lost a total of 60 pounds. I'm just thrilled. All of my clothes are falling of me which I love and hate since I really loved some of my clothes and can't quite justify buying a bunch of new stuff since I'll be out of it fairly quickly. I'm back at work full time and my energy level is great. I'm still very rarely hungry. The funny thing is that sometimes I can eat a full 1/2 cup of something and the next time I can barely get down half of that of the same item. Not sure what makes the difference. The protien and vitamins are hit and miss. Happily it's more often hit but there are days when I'm lucky if I get any of them. Water is much easier now and I feel like I can drink fairly normally although I still have to be very careful about air or it makes me miserable. Haven't had any vomiting yet, thank goodness. I tripped on a rug about a week ago and was really sore for several days around one of my incisions. I'm not sure what happened but I think I might have just pulled some scar tissue away which isn't a big deal. We've been super busy at work and I'm on my feet everyday all day so I haven't started exercising yet. But after the holidays and we slow down a little I'll head to the gym. I'm actually looking forward to it. I haven't been this small in so many years that exercising should be a breeze compared to before. I've noticed some saggy arms and right at my upper inner thighs but nothing major yet. Well, I think that's it for now. I'm SO glad I did this!!!! I can eat my little bits of food and actually feel full and totally satified. I LOVE IT!!!!!
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