Heather K.
I am 32 years old. I have not always been obese. In fact, before the weight gain started, I was quite athletic. The weight started piling on when I was in my mid-twenties. I started having pain in the upper right quadrant of my abdomen. I would go to the ER and tests would be run on me with the doctors thinking that my gall bladder was bad. After two years of this same scenario, I was finally diagnosed with NASH (Non-alcoholic Steato Hepatitis). Which is essentially a fatty liver that causes scarring in my liver.
I had survived a couple of bad marriages and was bound and determined to never marry again. Until I met my best friend, Kyle. Slowly but surely we started dating, all the while he kept proposing marriage. Why I kept turning him down, I will never know. I guess I felt that our relationship was great the way it was. We laughed together, cried together, played together, and most of all, he accepted and loved me for who I was.
In 2003, I was at my all-time weight of that time...265lbs. It was that year that we finally tied the knot. May 14, 2003. We were never able to take a honeymoon. But I honestly feel like every day is a honeymoon, because 3 years later I am happier and more in love with him than I was when we married.
By the end of that year, I was fed up with my weight, so I asked my doctor about going on Phentermine (an appetite suppressant). My doctor agreed and I was immediately started on it. Along with the Phentermine I followed the Body For Life diet. After approximately 11 months, I managed to lose 90lbs. I felt great and was starting to look like the stranger within myself that I had once knew. But, sadly, my blood pressure started to creep up and that caused for the removal of the Phentermine. I had also been losing control of my blood sugars on the diet method. Now since I have the liver disease, I couldn't be placed on oral diabetic medications. So immediately I was placed on insulin. The most devastating news I could get. The insulin very quickly brought back the return of the weight. And by the beginning of 2006 I had returned to the previous weight, but also surpassed it to a whopping 284lbs (the most depressing day of my life to see that number!).
My husband and I had been talking about the possibility of doing WLS, but never acted on that thought, until now. I contacted Dr. Brent Steward, a local surgeon that has performed a previous surgery on me. Where they informed me about the requirements necessary to do this procedure. Little did I know that this was going to be an emotional rollercoaster.
Dr. Stewards office informed me of how much the surgery was going to cost. I was to get a psychological evaluation. And then I had to wait until we found out if my insurance was going to cover it. Well, as soon as I hung up the phone, I called my insurance. Only to find out that my husbands company had dropped the weight loss treatment rider on our plan when it was renewed. Crying, I called my husband to tell him the bad news. Who immediately encouraged me to apply for a loan with our financial facility, which I did. We were told that it would take a couple of days to get back to us and review the situation. A statement that I understood to be bad news. A few days later, I received the best news I can remember. I can honestly still feel the weak feeling I had in my knees. I called my husband immediately, then called my parents to tell them the good news, and finally I called Dr. Stewards office to tell them to get the show on the road.
I took the liberty to get my psychological eval completed on my own, to speed the process up. I also attended the informational seminar that was required. My consultation appointment was scheduled for 4 weeks after I called. So now the waiting game began. My consult was scheduled for May 5, 2006. I was told by Dr. Steward that I was a perfect candidate for WLS. It was then that I decided that I wanted to get the lap band placed. My pre-op appointment was set for June 9th, 2006 and my surgery date was set for June 19, 2006.
The pre-op liquid only diet was very hard to adhere too, but I did so in the long run because it was something that I wanted and needed. My main goal with this surgery was to get off of the insulin and the hypertensive medications. Looking back, the liquid diet was just a blur. It hardly seems to have affected me. I was on the low glycemic liquid only diet for 10 days pre-op and I had lost a total of 20 lbs. This liquid was meant to shrink any swelling in the liver. My weight on the day of surgery was 264lbs.
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