Stephanie R.
Hi all. I am one of those people that was morbidly obese as an adult after having a child. However, I also developed other issues as a result of my weight that having the DS should correct; such as sleep apnea and insulin resistance (or pre-diabetes). I had tried everything I could think of to lose weight from Jenny Craig and Atkins to pills prescribed by my doctor. I even managed to gain weight with Meridia. Go figure. I had been trying pretty much since my daughter was born and she's going to be 10 in November. Finally I decided to talk with my PCP about WLS. He is one of those doctors that will give you the information that you need to make an informed decision about your options and then lets you make that decision and helps you get the outcome you want. I love my PCP. Anyway, working with him for 2 years on other weight loss plans didn't work out and so we went forward with the WLS idea. First I had to prove that I had sleep apnea. So, January 2009 I had a sleep study. Guess what the recommendation was to cure my mild sleep apnea....WEIGHT LOSS. Too funny right, but just what I needed documented. Then it was on to checking my cholesterol (220) and insulin levels with glucose level (which showed resistance to my body's own insulin). The next thing I was in the hospital with diverticulitis the last week of February 2009. Boy did that hurt. I was out of the hospital for one day and was at St. Vincent Carmel, Indiana for my surgeon consult with Dr. Inman. BTW I had just quit smoking the week before and was in the hospital for a week. She said I didn't qualify for the DS because my BMI at the time was only 36. Well, let me tell you when I quit smoking I gained another 21 pounds in 2 1/2 months. I called my PCP for a weight check, which he sent to Dr. Inman. I then contacted Dr. Inman's nurse and asked for the doctor to reconsider doing the DS on me. She said yes. I got the approval at the end of April and my surgery date at the end of May. I was to have surgery on 7/21/09. I was excited and scared. More excited at that point because I was going to be making a change to be healthier and have a new outlook on life. Of course, the morning of surgery I was scared out of my mind. I'd never had surgery before in my life and was about to have 2 in 1. They were taking my gallbladder too, possibly my appendix, so 3 in 1. However, Dr. Inman calmed my fears of surgery by saying that the anesthesiologist that I had for my surgery was one that her daughter had for her's (I don't think it was bariatric in nature). However, I figured that if she trusted him with her daughter I could trust him with my life. Came out of surgery fine, but work up in pain and panic'd. This of course made the pain worse. However, I survived...had some buyer's remorse the day I was to leave the hospital. However, now I am happy that I had the surgery. I do get frustrated sometimes, but the wonderful responses to my blog and message board post has made me realize that this is something that happens to everyone. So, I will keep on keeping on and doing what I need to do. I will get to where I want to go as far as my weight loss. I will be posting pictures as the time goes by. My mom had her RNY in 2005 and wishes she had kept taking pictures of her progress, which she didn't. So, she has decided to keep a picture progress report of me. It's ok by me. I like to see the changes in my body.
I am PROUD to be a DSer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
