Kellie D.

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Having first consultation on Feb, 4 2004 for WLS it's Jan 20th and i feel like I'm miles away from this date and this is only my first consult! I am ahead of the game though, I already have an appointment with my Psychologist booked for Thursday to go over things with her.
There is not a waiting list with my surgeon since I am the first person at this clinic that he has seen. He transferred from Hennepin County Medical Center where he was doing the RNY (open) for a few years. But I am still hesitant until I know more about his track record.

Feb 4th, 2004

My surgeon consult was today. I was nervous because he is new to our clinic and there have not been any surgeons here in our area who specialize in gastric surgery. Well guess what??? It turns out I went to high school with him!!! Isn't that crazy? He was 2 years ahead of me. He was the intellectual type. He went on to study at The University of Notre Dame and then on to the UofM for med school. I was so shocked but has made me more comfortable in a way because he actually knows me as a person and not just a name. I surprised him by having my psych eval in my file already (i had that done 2 weeks prior) and having my dietician appt scheduled for next week. So Iam a head of the game. I wanted to start my lab work and such but he said we should wait until we get insurance approval. I should know before the end of Feb.!!

2/9/04
I HAVE AN ANGEL!!
 

THANKS CHRISTINE W. AND GAIL M. YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE!

Visited my dietician today for the first time. She was stunned about my weight. She said that I didn't carry myself like I weighed 280. It was nice to hear but I feel like I'm carrying 280 and then some. She said she would be turning my paperwork into the surgeon today. Should just be a matter of days before I hear from my insurance co.

I visited the memorials page today, I felt that I needed to do it so I realize that there really is a risk to the surgery and to take it seriously. But I also read them closely to see what I could find out about them and if I fit their profiles regarding weight and age and other problems. I didn't so that made me feel a bit better. Yes I am nervous about having the surgery. I have gotten my 'stuff in order' in case something does happen but I guess I am ready to take this step to better myself and my life.

02/11/04
I got a call from HCMC today. One of the ladies who works in the Bariatric Surgery Dept called me to let me know that she has worked with my surgeon while he was Cheif Resident there. She had so many wonderful things to say about him. That really has helped to ease my mind a bit. I've gotta call him today and find out if all of my info has been submitted to my insurance co.!

02/16/04
Got a call from the clinic today, they STILL have not sent my paperwork into the insurance co yet.!! Do they think I'm patient??

2/17/04
Paperwork was finally sent to the insurance co!

2/19/04
I'VE BEEN APPROVED!!!!!! YEAH BABY!   I go in on the 25th to set up my post-op testing and get my date!!!

02/25/04
I'VE GOT A DATE!
March 22, 2004, wow I'm getting closer and a bit more excited. I don't think I'm scared, just a little nervous. This next 26 days are going to drag!!

03/15/04
Well I'm down to 7 days left until the big day. Am I scared? Hell yeah. Do I want to back out? Hell no! I am so excited to get started on my new life. Not many people get a second chance so I'm not going back now!!!

03/16/04
My PCP office called today to say that he could not do my pre-surgery physical because he would be out of the office on Friday. I wasn't really thrilled with that but I was scheduled with one of his colleagues and he was great.

03/17/04
Happy St.Patty's Day! Today the local news station called me to see if I would be interested in having a story done about my surgery since I would be the first in the area. I called my surgeon to see if he would be comfortable with it. He asked me to wait until I'm back home from surgery before we do anything. His reasoning for this is that he thinks that staff don't act like themselves when they are in the spotlight and he wants us all to concentrate on the task at hand, not worrying about the media. I agreed.

3/22/04
Well, just heading out for surgery, wish me luck!

4/2/04
Hello....Well I don't know exactly where to begin so I'll just start. On March 22, I had my surgery at 9:00am. By noon I was in my room on the open floor of the surgery unit. I was in terrible pain and was breathing heavily. I was given Percocet and was pretty much in and out all day. On the morning of the 23rd, my nurse came in and told me to get out of bed. By myself. I didn't think that was right since I had help after my c-section. So I struggled to get up and once upright I started to pant heavily. With every breath a sharp stabbing pain in my chest. I was in so much pain I could focus on nothing else. I was transferred into a chair and left in my room alone with out a call button remotely close. After the pain became blinding and I couldnt raise my vaise to call out, I starting throwing cups and such out the door to get someones attention. I was able to shake the side table enough to reach my cell phone where I placed a call to my surgeons office. I spoke to his nurse, told her of all the pain and that I have no access to my nurse call button. She hung up and called the nurses station and demanded that my nurse get back to me right away. So my nurse came in and told me that I was going to be in pain and the sooner I learned to start dealing with it the better because I was to be out of the hospital in a couple days. I just looked at her through tears and asked her to please call my surgeon. Within 20 minutes I was having chest xrays and cat scans within another 20 I was back in surgery. 3 hours later I woke up in my room in ICU where I was finally placed in the best nursing care possible. For the next six days I was allowed only to put water in my mouth, swish it around and spit it out. I was on a morphine drip and had an IV line in my neck. It was a blur of voices. On my 6th day in ICU I was transported back out to the open surgery floor. Suspecting my fears, my surgeon assured me that I would not be subjected to the poor care I received earlier. The prognosis was that one of the staples in my upper 'join' malefunctioned and my stomach had been leaking into my chest cavity causing the pain and inability to breath. For the next 4 days I drank water and soup broth. Only to be hit by painful bloating gas every hour. By my last day in the hospital I had finally started to pass this gas and was looking forward to going home to see my family. My first day back home was yesterday. It was a very difficult day but now have found things getting easier. I have not weighed myself. I will at my check up. I am concentrating on getting in all the proper vitimins and proteins that are needed for my body to keep healing. It was a very close brush with death that changed me. Perhaps in a few weeks I will be having a better outlook. Bear with me as my angels have been doing.

May 6th, 2004
Well since my last post I have been in and out of the hospital 3 more times. It turned out that since the stomach bile leaked into my chest cavity I aquired an abcess behind my pancreas that required a drainage tube and many, many antibiotics. I was in the hospital twice for that and then the last time for a thing called "C. diff". This is where the good bacteria in your intestines that help digest your food gets destroyed by all of the antibiotics that have been pumped in. It feels like a severe case of the flu except you have diharea about 30 times a day. (burn baby burn) I was released on May 5th and hope to stay out of the hospital. I have lost 40 lbs total but am still not optimistic about WLS yet. Give me time compadres......

May 21, 2004
Well tomorrow will be my 2 month milestone. I'm feeling a better but I really have to get used to this eating pattern. It feels like I'm hungry at least every hour. I went through a bout of nausea for about 2 weeks after I got out of the hospital the last time but now things are slowly getting better. My energy level is still a bit lacking, but I think once I keep walking it will come back. I'm down 54 pounds. My shirts are pretty huge for me now.



July 12, 2004

Well I'm down 64 pounds and am feeling great. The weightloss has slowed some so I have myself on a strict diet. No more than 1100 calories per day and no more than 20 grams of fat per day. It is pretty easy and I still feel full. I loose about 3 lbs per week. My energy has really gotten better and I am able to lift things alot easier. My goal is to be down 69 lbs by July 22nd. I've got about 5 lbs and 10 days to go, it shouldnt be a problem. However, my long term goal is to be down 90 lbs by September 22, my six month surgery anniversary.


SEPTEMBER 10th 2004:
Well here I am just 2 weeks short of my 6 month anniversary and have went from 289 pounds (size 26W) to 215 pounds (size 18W). Although I didn't hit my goal of 90 pounds by the end of September, I'm still very happy with my progress but yet really worried now that it has started to slow down. I'm loosing only about 4 pounds a month. I know it's nothing to complain about but it's like an addiction, once you start loosing, you want to keep on doing it. So I'm starting to really pay close attention to what I eat and am trying to get out and exercise more. I'm wanting to start swimming laps over my lunch break at the local YMCA but hoping that the hour I get for lunch will be enough time! I have my 6 month check up with my surgeon and my Internal Medicine Doctor (who I might add is HOT) In a couple weeks and will discuss some strategies with them. Check in with you all soon!
 
October 6, 2004
Well here I am bouncing between 210 and 212 ARRGHH! It's frustrating for sure. I still have not gotten to the YMCA on a regular schedule yet but go as much as the schedule will allow. I sure find myself doing way more stuff than I used to do so my days are filled with alot of activity. I found out back in September that my surgeon stopped doing the bypass surgery. I am very sad about this but I also see his side. He had another person have a leak but worse than mine and this guy has been in the hospital for almost 3 months. Since he has only done 10 of these surgeries in Mankato it makes his percentages look bad. My Internal Medicine doctor hopes that he will change his mind and hopefully will start again. He said that every surgeon goes through this kind of a stage even surgeons who do routine surgeries. I do hope he changes his mind. Even though I went through all of the problems I did, I know it wasn't his fault, shit happens to the best of us and it was my turn!!!
My new goal is to be at 199 by New Years Eve........13 lbs to go!
 
NOVEMBER 11, 2004 I'm weighing in today at 205 it has taken me almost a month to loose 5 pounds. It's still coming off but a whole lot slower. I'm in a size 18 reg jeans a size 16 if they are the stretchy kind. The good part is that I can get these sizes in the misses department of stores NOT in the plus size department! Whoo hoo! I've started belly dancing classes...okay when you are done laughing I'll tell you that it has been the hardest exercise for my midsection, thighs and arms that I have ever done. I think that is why I'm still loosing clothing sizes versus weight. I love the class, it is alot more fun than I thought it would be but boy am I sore the next day! 6 More pounds till my first major goal.....I want to GET OUT of the "200 Club"!!!

It's been a while since I've written: It's October 17,2005 and I'm at 185. Still loosing but slow going. I'm in a size 14 jeans which is nice but I have so much extra skin that wearing tight shirts is still out of the question. I had a consutation for plastic surgery but they said that I had too many scars and plastic surgery would compromise my blood flow. That sucks!

HELLO June 15, 2007 Yes, I'm still alive. I am feeling wonderful and still look great too! Once I get these pictures working you'll be able to see. I lost a total of about 120 lbs but just recently gained back almost 20. Kinda scary so now dieting. This far out after surgery you forget that you can't eat everything and sometimes slip back into old habits. Don't ever forget that WLS is just a tool not a permanent fix. I also wanted to add that I am on a diet..... YES a die-it! It's called Kimkins.  It's sort of like Atkins but a bit more strict. I've had good results. 10lbs in 14 days. I never would have been able to stick to it pre-surgery, that's for sure.

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