marsh76367

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I had a few frustrating months where I was not losing much weight at all.  I also got very busy at work, busy with family and kids, and would skip a week of exercise, then exercise a week, then skip a week.  I stopped journalling as well, so the reasons I stalled are pretty clear.  I have been enjoying shopping though!  
I had my 15 year high school reunion and bought a beautiful blue dress outfit and felt fantastic going to that reunion.  I cannot tell you how much this surgery has opened up my personality, given me self-confidence, and made me generally a happier person with myself.  
Weight wise, I am finally seeing the scale move again.  I am hovering around 220-225 on any given day, sometimes up to 229.  It is weird how the weight fluctuates.  I am fitting nicely into 14's and 16's.  I definitely see the need for plastic surgery in my future.  The skin is getting in the way, it is saggy and it kind of flops over to the side when I lay down.  It is gross and my thighs are really saggy.  I do water aerobics, and it is embarrassing to see my skin kind of flopping along in the water.  
I go see Dr. Warnock at the end of the month.  At my last PCP visit, I mentioned I thought I had a hernia, and she confirmed it, so I'm sure that will have to be taken care of if I get the TT or LBL.  
I am able to cut my high blood pressure medicine in half, and soon will be off of it completely.  If nothing else, the health benefits and taking less medications have been a blessing.
For anyone pre-op reading this, you will feel so much better after the surgery and the weight starts coming off!  Go for it.
Last, but not least, the hormones are raging and I have been, to keep it clean, "high energy" and DH is not used to getting so many requests for his company.  Ah well, the sacrifices we all make for the sake of weight loss, right??  ha ha.  He is not complaining AT ALL!!!

Whew.  Five weeks with no weight loss.  I was getting pretty darn frustrated.  Finally, I went on the liquid pre-op diet to get the scale moving.  I lost about 5 lbs, then when I started back on regular food, I gained it back.  I also stepped up the exercise.    Finally, the scale is moving in the right direction again.  I'm down to 238 or so, which is 160 lbs off my heighest weight.  I'm thrilled.  When I hit 199 I go see Dr. Warnock again for a consult on getting the excess tummy skin removed.  I'm so excited!  I'm wearing 16's bottoms and 18 tops.  I can wear XL shirts.  Me, XL?  I used to wear 4xl and 5xl. 

The surgery is fantastic, I could not be happier with the results.  

Now for the negatives:  I've been puking so much lately.  It is awful.  I'm having a scope done to see if it is the start of a stricture or not.  I wish there were some other way they could tell if that is what it is without having to do the endoscopy.  take care, and good luck on your own journey.

Pre-op, at my psych eval, the therapist told me that " a lot of people have trouble adjusting to all the changes after WLS".  I thought she was full of crap, really.  She looked to be about 110 lbs and I really didn't think she had a clue what it meant to walk in my shoes.  Especially since I was so uncomfortable at the time, couldn't physically do a lot of things and sick all the time from diabetes and back pain.  

 I thought I'd be happy just getting the surgery and the chance to lose.  Losing 150 lbs, no way?  who wouldn't be thrilled with that?  Boy, was I in for a rude awakening.  I  have read it here so many times-that the surgery just works on our stomachs, etc. etc.  It is true though. We talked about how I am obsessed with food and my weight.  She said that wouldn't go away.  I really felt like it would.  How many times have people posted they forgot to eat, or they were never hungry and had to make themselves eat?  

I find myself at 6 months out, able to eat more than I could.  I still mostly stick to healthy choices, but I continue to eat even when I am not hungry.  (head hunger, or just compulsive eating??)  I don't know.  I continue to eat, evan after I am satisfied, just because it tastes good.  Granted, things have changed dramatically, there is no way I can fit in the volume of food I used to.  I bet I was eating 3,000-5,000 calories a day then, and see-sawing on my weight, up and down, all the time.  I can eat about  1200-1500 calories  daily now.    I have come a long way, but there is still a long way to go.  I find that I cannot have chips in the house, at all.  Even when I buy "healthy" baked chips, I cannot stop eating them.  I can graze on them through out the day.  I cannot have candy or chocolate in the house.  It is gone before I even know it, and any stomach upset I have is not until the next day.  (is that even dumping?)  

I have hovered around the same weight for about 4 weeks now.  I had a very minor surgical thing done, and haven't been able to exercise for the last month or so, so that may be why the weight loss is at a standstill.  I have taken some steps to get a handle on things though.  First, I made an appointment with the counseling center where I got my psych eval done.  The counselor said if I had problems post op, to come back and talk to her.  Well, by golly, I'm going to.  I have researched, and there is no one in this area who specializes in eating disorders.  So, the next best thing is someone who deals with a lot of WLS patients.  I also put myself on the pre-op diet phase my surgeon gave me,  to get off this blasted plateau I'm on.   (it is basically the protein drinks, plus you can have 2 small protein bars-- 11 g protein and 150 cals each-- daily).
So far today I have had 2 protein drinks (cinnamon hot chocolate) 2 sf jellos and beef broth.  I've also gotten in 64 oz of water so far, and it is only 1:00.  

I get so obsessed with the scale moving.  I need to step...away...from...the...scale.  But I can't.  I go through this every couple of months, lose for about 4-5 weeks in a row, then 2-3 weeks of maintaining, then another couple of weeks of losing.  I have no patience at all for the maintaining stage, and it is hard to wait it out.

 I'm starting to feel good about myself and feel like I look decent (in clothes!)  out of clothes is a whole different story.  I'm working on some "cosmetic" things that never would have been on my radar screen before losing weight, such as fixing the ugly vericose veins in my legs, some moles removed, skin treatments etc.  Who'd have thunk it?  The formerly 400 lb woman is VAIN.  ha ha... There is something to be said for feeling good about yourself.  I KNOW I still have a lot of weight to lose, but there are things I can do at my current weight to look and feel better, so I'm doing them now.  Kind of getting my legs and body in better condition for summer shorts and hotter weather.  Do you know that I NEVER wear shorts in public?  As a 400 lb woman, I just hated showing my fat legs to the world.  I don't even wear skirts that are knee length, all are calf length or longer.  I was looking at myself the other day and started thinking, you know, I could get away with some shorter skirts these days. 
To anyone reading this on the pre-op journey, please don't give up.  It is hard when you are waiting for insurance approval, or appealling the denial, but keep trying, IT IS WORTH IT!!!

I have lost 148.5 lbs off my heighest weight, which was about June of 2005.  I lost approximately 30 lbs with the doctor prescribed Byetta, which controls diabetes and also suppresses the appetite.  I lost the rest after consulting with Dr. Warnock, about 15 lbs on the liquid phase of the preop diet, about 104 lbs since surgery.   

I don't know if it was the Byetta or my own health problems, but I was extremely sick prior to WLS.  I'd go to the doctor to find out what was causing the problems, and they would tell me it was either the gallbladder, or a hernia.  So, they tested both, and couldn't find the problem.  I was already looking into the RNY surgery, so I decided to wait to have gallbladder surgery until the RNY was approved.  After meeting with Dr. Warnock, I was approved in about 3 weeks, and scheduled surgery one month after my initial consultation.  I had researched WLS for five years, and knew that it was the right thing for me.  

My health was so poor prior to surgery, I honestly felt like if I died on the table, at least I wouldn't be so miserable anymore.  I had uncontrolled diabetes, was taking two injections a day of Byetta, about 10 different medications to treat high blood pressure, diabetes, etc.  I was too tired to do anything with the kids after work.  I would get out of breath just walking from the parking lot to the building I worked in.  I would get chest pains walking up one flight of stairs.  My feet hurt, my back hurt, I would sweat, and let's face it, as a super morbidly obese person, personal hygeine was an issue.  No matter how diligent I was about using lotion, deoderants, perfume, powders, I still would sweat like a pig and stink!  It was very embarrassing to me.  

Energy wise, I was like a 70 or 80 year old.  I would come home after work and take a nap for an hour or two, just to muster up the energy to cook dinner or do some housework. 

 I would convince myself that for a fat person, I was pretty active, taking the kids to the park or to the amusement park.  But in reality, the kids had to ride by themselves because mom and dad were too obese to fit in the ride.  I was so embarrassed and I know I embarrased my little girl one time at Six Flags.  I got on the roller coaster and thought I could lock the bar under my fat gut.  No matter what I did, and believe me, I tried hard to shove that bar UNDER my fat roll, or on top of my fat roll, it would not close.  The whole train car saw the attendant come over to try to help me, and he couldn't get it to lock, so my little girl and I had to do the walk of shame and leave the ride.  My husband and I took, for us, a dream trip from TX to Orlando, with our little girls to Disney.  At Universal studios, we stood in a long line for about an hour waiting for the "Mummy" ride, which I had really wanted to go on.  I'm a big fan of the movies, and the ride looked AWESOME.  I get up to ride, and cannot fit in the harness.  I had to leave and wait for the rest of the family, and it absolutely sucked.

 So, back to the WLS.   When Dr. Warnock did the RNY on me, he took out the gallbladder (which was not the problem, by the way) and discovered a strangulated hernia (an intestinal loop that was twisted and pushed into a tear in the abdominal muscle wall.)   I can't help but believe that Dr. Warnock saved my life.  Had I continued on like I was, I would be dead of a heart attack, stroke, or have body parts chopped off due to diabetic neuropathy.  As it is, I am feeling like a new woman, and I look like one too.   I feel like I can do anything.  I am completely off insulin shots, my medications have decreased by half, I exercise 4-6 times per week, and I am very active now with my husband and children.  I have gone from an all time high size of 32/34 to now wearing 18's easily, and this weekend, comfortably wearing size 16 jeans.  I still have a lot to lose, but I am working hard at losing it and making healthy choices.  If you are on this journey, researching WLS because you are having health problems, or just suffering with morbid obesity and it hasn't impacted your health yet, this surgery can change your life and be a wonderful thing.  It is not easy, it is not without side effects, but it is SO WORTH IT!!!!!

I'm not much on blogging, but I do want to encourage any of you out there who are pre-ops.  I had open RNY on 10-11-06.  I have lost a total of 131 lbs off my heighest weight.  91 lbs of that since the pre-op diet started 2 weeks before surgery.  I am off all insulin, and have no more foot and back pain.  I can exercise now without hurting and being out of breath.  A lot of people say this surgery gives them their life back, because they get back to a weight they were before-- such as when they got married, or their pre-pregnancy weights.   This surgery has given me a life I never had before!   I do not ever remember in my entire adult life being this weight and size.  After a year of weight watchers and struggling with the pounds, I was about 20 lbs heavier, and that only lasted about 5 minutes and I quickly gained back all the weight.   In fact, I am only 70 lbs heavier than I was in 5th grade!!! (and I'm 32 now).  It is amazing to me, and wonderful.  I truly believe you have to work at it, you cannot expect the surgery to be the magic pill that cures you.  I log everything I eat into a food journal I bought at the surgeon's office.  I track my protein grams, water, and exercise daily.  I exercise 4-6 times a week.  Before this surgery, I would never have been able to do this.  It has truly been a blessing for me to have this done and have it be so successful in a short amount of time.  I am halfway to my goal weight, in less than 5 months out from surgery.

good luck to you pre-ops!!