ladyhoosh82
I have struggled with my weight for as long as i can remember. I went on my first diet at age 10. Since then, I had tried everything to lose the weight and keep it off. I did have minor success with diet pills when i was in high school and was able to keep it off until i met my husband. Instead of gaining the "comfortable 20lbs" (when you get comfortable in your relationship) it was more like the "comfortable 40", didn't help that my husband is a great cook!! By the time we got married i was about 220lbs. I already had high blood pressure, I also sustained a back injury from my job as a CNA ( which on compounded the heavier I got BTW). When we decided to have children I was about 240lbs. I took full advantage of the " eating for two" and gained about 40 more lbs. I may have lost 30lbs when we found out that our 2nd son was on his way. When I gave birth to our 2nd son I weighed a whopping 282lbs. This was the heaviest i had ever been, I was depressed. In an honest effort to change our lifestyle my husband and I joined a gym, got a trainer. We were determined to set a positive example for our boys. After 10 hard fought months, we had become accustom to the life style, only problem was had hadn't lost much weight at all. I was very upset,aggravated, frustrated. Somebody my age would've lost double the amount of weight I had. I went to the doctor in hopes he would tell me why i was having so much trouble losing weight and keeping it off. I found out my blood pressure was even higher, I was having palpitations, and my sugar was getting dangerously close to being diabetic. He told me I needed to lose the weight and keep it off and suggested WLS. At the time, i didn't really think much about it, after I went home and did some research on it, seemed like a possibility.
The straw that broke the camel's back so to say was.. I was home by myself with both my boys, my youngest was just learning to toddle around and had made his way into their room. He had tried to climb up the ladder to the bunk beds and fell, he was screaming bloody murder. I had been on the floor coloring with my oldest, which was very painful on my back and by that time I had pain in my knees too. I struggled to get up quick and I "threw my back out" I couldn't move. Thankfully, we lived just a few doors down from my parents at the time. I reached for my phone and called my mom, she came running down, my son still screaming BTW. That was it! it was bad enough i couldn't run and play with my boys or even go on the kiddie rides at the fair with them, now I couldn't even go check on my son. That was it. The next week i went to 4 different info sessions about the RNY surgery.
One of the info sessions was at Southern Indiana Surgery with Dr. Lee. I was so impressed with the presentation I made an appointment that evening. When I went in for my evaluation I weighed a very sad 309lbs! I was heart broken,upset and depressed i had let myself get that big. When I found out my insurance would cover it and i qualified for the surgery I was relieved. With in a few months, after all my tests, the 2 week liquid diet seemed to drag on and on.
The morning of March 15, 2011 was a typical March morning in Indiana. There was a chill in the air, dew on the grass, it was 4:30 am, the sun wasn't even close to coming up. I was nervous,had knots the size of basketballs in my stomach. Good thing I wasn't supposed to eat anything, it would've came back up if I had tried. My phone rang, It was my " Bari Buddie" Karry ( It's a unique program Southern Indiana Surgery has,they assign you somebody who is 2 years post op, for support and questions) She asked" are you nervous?" that wasn't even close to explaining it, but instinctively she knew " you'll be just fine, Dr. Lee will take great care of you, you're new life begins today- you're doing this for your boys" I knew it was the truth, I took a deep breath. Chit chat for a minute and hung up. There was NO turning back now, I was going to this for them!!..the knots in my stomach were still there.
After they'd gotten my IVs started, they weighed me one more time. 294.5lbs. I hadn't lost much...that liquid diet for two weeks and that's it!! After the nurse left the room, my sweet husband said " This time next week you will have lost more" with a smile. I smiled, and let out a nervous breath. As I walked into the OR my knees were shaking, I felt like I was going to vomit. I had never gone under before, the fear of not waking up or something going wrong, and leaving my 2 boys motherless was almost enough to make tell them to STOP! I don't want to do this!! But I didn't , I laid there on the cold OR table almost in tears. The Doctor came over and held my hand " I will take good care of you, today is the beginning of Your brand new healthy life" I closed my eyes.
The first 4 months seemed like all I was doing was Eating,drinking,taking my supplements and going to the gym. That's because I was! It was July, I had lost 70+lbs, I had energy for the first time in my life. I was thrilled to be able to play with my boys, have water fights, play in the parks with them. Then the fair came around, for once I could get on the kiddie rides with my boys!!! I was SO excited I had tears in my eyes, the ride attendant looked scared when coming to check our belts, i blamed allergies. LOL.
Month 7/8 well, was the MOST interesting by far.. I had begun to get sick. I vomited everything up, even water. I tried eliminated things to see if this or that was the problem..nothing worked. I couldn't figure it out, even my Bari Buddie was stumped. Then one day I had a pain around the area of my new stomach unlike anything I had ever felt in my life!! I was doubled over, Bawling, couldn't even get myself up off the couch, my husband had to carry me to the car. He rushed me to the ER, I felt like i was going to die and of course they took their sweet time and didn't even give me any pain meds. When the doctor came in, she had a puzzled look on her face and said " Your urine test came back Positive for pregnancy." I came back with " I can't be my husband has been fixed TWICE" and very cocky put my arm out and said " Here take my blood, I'm NOT pregnant..can I get something for my pain PLEASE!!" she left the room and sent the nurse in, who drew my blood and gave me something for pain FINALLY!.. About an hour goes by, yeah, like i said ,they took their sweet time. I will never forget this or the doctors face for as long as I live, The Doctor comes back in and cocky with a smirk on face " Fixed huh? well blood test came back you're in fact pregnant dear, guess it didn't take." She closes the file " Well we can't do and Xray BC of the pregnancy so here's some Fenergan,and you're going home," she turns and leaves abruptly. My husband and I are about as white as ghosts, jaws on the floor, the room is spinning. We look at each other with out saying a word for a good ten minutes. My husband had his vasectomy done twice!! We were surprised to say the least. My mind is running a mile a minute with questions. "how is this going to affect my Gastric? is it going to ruin my gastric? I'm supposed to be losing weight not gaining!?!?!? Am I going to gain ALL my weight back!?!? IS the baby going to SURVIVE!?!? After a very sick majority of the pregnancy I delivered a very Healthy baby girl. I am over joyed to be a mother again.
This brings me to the present. this has been my second summer being healthy and skinnier. I was again able to run and play with my boys, ride the fair rides, even getting up with our new Little girl wasn't as bad this time around! I have lost the 12lbs i gained from pregnancy, fit back into all my pre pregnancy clothes, something I have never been able to do before my surgery. I now have 3 children and I can keep up with all of them, with out heavy breathing,pain, or worry. I am happier now than I've ever been. Do i still have my bad days, yes. Do i eat things I shouldn't? yes. Do I miss certain foods? oh yeah! when I make bad choices, I pay for them. Then I start again the next day. For 95% of the time I follow my diet, supplements, and exercise. I am NOT the poster perfect child of this surgery, but I think I am pretty normal.
I have inspired some family members to take the step toward a healthier life. My husband had his RNY done August of this year, Dr. Lee also did his. He is doing great with his also. it is nice to have my husband join me in this journey. Now we are working on creating healthy habits for our young children, in hopes they wont go down the same road he and went, But if they need to and God willing Dr. Lee is still doing the surgery, I will definitely send them to him and his wonderful team at Southern Indiana Surgery. My husbands' cousin is looking into the surgery with Dr. Lee also.
With all this being said, and If i haven't bored you to death by now you've probably figured out that I am a definite supporter of RNY, Dr.Lee, and His wonderful Team. Would I do it all again, YES of course. This surgery has changed my life for the better in so many ways. to Date, 18 months post op. I have lost 126.5 lbs. I went from a miserable 309lbs, high blood pressure, arthritis in my back and knees, major depression, size 26 pants. I am now 168lbs no high BP, arthritis is very minimal, depression is much better and now in a size 10/12 pants!! Although I'm not at my goal, I'm still working hard to get there.. and I will, I know I will. It's SO nice to know that this tool is going to help me for the rest of my life. As long as I stay on track , I will not gain ALL the weight back, I do not en tend to...I do NOT want to be that heavy,unhappy ever again. Am I going to gain some weight back, probably, but I know I have an entire team behind me to help me. I also have my Bari Buddie, who has become one of my best friends and my husband together, we WILL be successful,happy and set a good example for our children, for they are the reason I started this journey in the first place.