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Almost 4 months after RNY

Jul 31, 2010

What a ride this has been!!! I am loving every minute of it too.  I have gone from 345 lbs to 266 lbs..  I have gone from a 3X in mens to an XL in womens tops.  A size 28-30 in pants to a 20-22!  I am smaller than I was in High School.  I have people telling me how good I look and I am learning how to say thank you.  I used to put myself down all the time.  I think it's a defense mechanism, but step by step I am learning to reprogram my way of living and thinking.  I have lived with PCOS since my late teens and never knew when I would get my period.  Now, I get my period every 28 days like clockwork.  I am no longer scared that I won't fit into a booth at a restaurant or a chair at a ball game or movie theatre.  I look forward to the future and all the things I haven't been able to do and now I will be able to.  I want to go to a theme park and ride a roller coaster.  I want to go horseback riding and not be afraid that the horse will die under my weight.  I want to go zip lining.  I want to go on a cruise and not eat at every meal.  I want to lose enough weight to carry a healthy baby and become an amazing Mommy someday.  I am enjoying being a better wife and lover.  I have stamina in bed now.  I can walk up stairs and not run out of breath after a few steps.  I don't sweat when I walk outside.  I can walk a mile and not even think about it.  I've had bad days in this journey too.  I am still trying to get in my protein and my water and learn to chew my food good enough so I won't get sick, and I still do sometimes, but you take the good with the bad and I will take this good any day of the week.  Life is good and I am enjoying LIVING!!!
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Surgery

Apr 16, 2010

Sooo...here I am, 4 days post-op and feeling pretty good.  I can't say I feel great, but I feel a lot better than I thought I would.  I will try and keep this brief because I know it's a little bit boring, but I want to get it all down before I forget it all.

April 13th (Surgery Day)!!!  - I got the phone call the day before that I needed to check into Palms of Pasadena at 10:30am.  I guess it was my thinking that I would be in surgery no later than noon, seeing as how I had to take my Emend 2 hours before I left for the hospital.  Anyhow...we left the house almost an hour early, which only normally takes 30 minutes to get there.   Of course, we turn onto the interstate and there is traffic backed up as far as the eye can see.  :-(  At this point I am in a major panic.  I am in my car with Patrick and my Mom and Nana are behind us.  I guess the cause of the back up was that a truck with oxygen tanks had turned over and they had to get hazmat to get out there and clean up.  Anyhow...I decided to pull into the left lane and work my way up as far as I could.  If I had not down that, we would not have gotten there on time at all.   We pull up with less than a minute to spare, and I see my Dad standing outside.  He proceeds to tell me that my surgery is not scheduled until 3:00!!!  So, I figure there must be some kind of mistake, I go inside and check in and ask and they tell me that 3:00 is what they have, but there is a lot to be done in that time.  So...about 10 minutes later I get ushered back to same day surgery, where I met the first of all of my amazing nurses!!!  Anne was her name and her smile would light up any room.  To make a long story short, I had to get an IV started, pee in a cup to make sure I wasn't pregnant (even though I was having my period at the time), pay my co-pay and then wait! I waited from about 11:00 to 2:00 in same say surgery when they made me say goodbye to my family and then took me to pre-op.  Of course there were some tears saying goodbye to Mom, Nana and Patrick.  My Dad had to go back to work, but did come back and wait while I was in surgery.  In pre-op my nurse was April...again, fantastic nurse.  I asked her a few questions and she let me get up and go to the bathroom.  Dr. Rehnke came by to see me and told me it was almost time.  Then my anesthesiologist, Darryl came to see me.  He was really nice, and of course, super cute.  He gave me my pre-surgery cocktail which relaxed me a little bit.  Next thing I know, I am on the way to the operating room.  I had to shuffle my fat butt off of my bed and onto the table.  This is when I got a little nervous.  They had me position myself where my head when hanging back off of this large bump in the middle of my shoulders on the table.  Then Darryl put something in my IV and I remember asking him if it was fire water because it burned like hell and then...I was out!!!  I guess during the surgery they had some problems putting my central line in and called out to let my family know.  Patrick answered the phone and just kept saying uh huh, uh huh, uh huh...of course my Mom was freaking out and must have yelled at him never to do that to her again!  They told them they got it in, but because of that the surgery would take a little bit longer.  I don't remember much, but I woke up in recovery with my nurse Rita or Regina, who kept saying she would take good care of me because her sisters name was Rachel.  I must have gone to sleep again, because I woke up in ICU.  I don't remember my first nurse in there, but my Mom didn't really care for her, but shift change happened shortly after and I got Amy for the evening.  She was another really nice nurse.  I think in the course of the evening I drove her crazy...questions, questions and more questions.  I kept watching my  blood pressure and my stats all night.  I maybe slept an hour that night total.  I wasn't in pain because of the morphine pump.  I just know I wanted to get up and walk that night...it was KILLING me to lie there and not move.  Well, that's it for day one.  I will write more about the rest of the stay later on...I am soooo sleepy right now. :-)
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FINALLY!!!!

Mar 24, 2010

 After years of waiting and having jobs with bad insurance and ALMOST giving up it's happened!!! I am now 30 years old and I will be having gastric bypass surgery on April 13th, 2010!!!  I can't wait.  I found out yesterday that I was approved and talked to Dr. Rehnke's office this morning and I got everything set up.  I start on Optifast on the 30th, so I have 5 "normal" food days left.  Dr. Rehnke has us go on Optifast to help shrink the liver some so it's easier to work around, and I am great with that.  This will be my first time staying overnight in a hospital, also my first surgery.  I know if I don't do this though that there will be many more surgeries in my future.  I am now a type 2 diabetic and I have high blood pressure, so this is a wonderful gift and opportunity that I have been given.  I know God is with me and is giving me a second chance at life.  :-)
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frustration finally setting in

Nov 26, 2006

So...it's been a long month and not a lot has gotten accomplished.  I'm trying to get all my past medical records from the past 5 years together for Dr.Rehnke and I'm finding that to be a big fat pain in the ass.  Most of my records are in storage I'm finding out and it'll be at least 2 weeks to get them out (which I'm taking to mean after the holidays).  Then I'm SUPER worried that my insurance is going to deny me.  I have BC/BS and they are great, but talking to Kelly at Dr.Rehnke's office has left me worried that I won't get approved.  I haven't really gone to the Dr. alot in the past 5 years, with the exception of the occasional gyno appointment here and there.  This is the first time in about 7 years that I have been going to and keeping regular appointments with a primary plus my endocrinologist.  So, she said that for the periods of time that I don't have records I will have to write a letter explaining why I didn't go to the Dr. during that period of time.  I'm just scared that my insurance will give me a big fat NO and I'll be back at square one.  Maybe after the holidays I'll have renewed faith.  For now though I'm going to do all that I can and pray for the best.

So, I met the man himself

Oct 26, 2006

I had my actual consult with Dr.Rehnke yesterday and all in all it went pretty well.  My husband Patrick went with me because he wanted to hear what was going to happen and he had some questions for the doctor too.  He's such a great husband and he cares which means the world to me.  :-)  Anyhow, when we arrived we were greeted by one of Dr.Rehnke's nurses, Angie.  She was one of the nicest ladies ever.  She made it so easy to talk and open up about things.  I went over my history with her and she asked me a lot of questions about my health and my family.  I told her that I couldn't help her too much with my Dad's side of the family because I don't know my Dad all that well.  She said that was okay and moved on.  Glad she didn't dwell on that.  So, after she left Patrick and I must have sat there for over a half an hour waiting on Dr.Rehnke.  He's a popular guy.  :-)  He finally came in, went over Angie's notes and said he thought that he could do me laprascopically!!! HOORAY!!! He did say that if there were any problems that he would just switch on over to open and that's fine.  I'd just rather try to have it lap. as opposed to open.  I feel very confident with Dr.Rehnke and feel that I have made a great choice as far as surgeons go.  

In other news, I am so stressed out right now that I can hardly breathe.  My husband just got scammed on E-Bay and totally SCREWED by Fed-Ex.  It's a long, boring story, but if any of you want the details (which I doubt) message me and I'll give you all the details.  I have a case open with the FBI as of right now and I am getting the better buisness bureau involved too.  Besides that I am having a little trouble with the friends my husband and I are staying with at the moment.  We pay a decent amount of rent to them for staying there, enough to at least cover all the electirc and water bill (and there are 4 of us living in the house).  Well, the bills are going up and my friend blames it all on my hubby and me.  We both work nights and sleep all day.   How could be possibly be responsible? Again, I'm not saying that we aren't to blame for some of the problem, but I don't think we are the whole problem.  Well, my friend has been going behnid my back complaining to other friends about my husband and I.  I'm 27 years old and this is something that would have gone on in High School.  I've told her time and time again that if she has a problem with me or my husband that she should come to me and stop talking about me behind my back.  So, that's yet another source of my worries.  On top of trying to get my surgery planned I feel like I am about to break under the pressure right now.  UGH!!!!!  Well, that's enough ranting for now.  Until later.  Ciao.  :-)

Almost There (Hopefully!!!)

Oct 22, 2006

Well, I am yet another step closer to my goal...I hope.  I had to attend a support group meeting/gastric seminar this weekend with Dr.Rehnke.  He requires that you attend 2 meetings.  1 meeting you listen to Dr.Rehnke talk about the benefits and risks of the surgery and then the next meeting you go and sit in the back of the room and listen to some of the patients who have already had the surgery done talk.  The next meeting will be November 18th and I will be there too!  This Wednesday I go and meet Dr.Rehke for my consult.  I am sooooo excited!!! He seems like such a nice, caring man.  His patients there couldn't say enough nice things about him.  He said something that made me so happy and proud at the same time.  See, I have been a smoker now for the past 10+ years of my life.  I'm not saying it was a pack a day this whole time, but it was pretty damn close.  I had tried to quit probably about 50 times over the years and always caved in around day 4 or 5.  NOT THIS TIME!!! I am over 3 weeks now without a cigarette and without wanting one!!! Dr.Rehnke made the comment that people who stop smoking are the ones he knows will do good with the surgery because they have the will power and drive to succeed.  He also said trying to quit smoking cigarettes is like trying to kick a heroin habit.  So YAY me for quitting in order to get healthy.  I'll post more after my appointment Wednesday.  :-)

Gastric orientation

Oct 18, 2006

So, I went to the gastric orientation yesterday and left feeling GREAT!!! Better than great actually.  Dr.Rehnke's nurse Susan headed up the meeting by talking with all of us there.  There were only 8 people, including myself there.  Susan is very knowledgeable because of her nursing background, but also because she has had the surgery done herself.  I asked a few questions (which I normally don't do because I am pretty shy), but she took the time to answer them and was honest with her answers.  I also found out the GREAT news that my insurance, United, is the only insurance that does not require the 6 months of supervised weight loss attempts.  That's the only puzzle piece that I was worried about.  That means I don't have to worry about going on butterbean's (that's my new name for my primary) Meridia.  I'm going to the psychologist in the morning.  All I've heard about him is to be brutally honest.  I guess in that field they are pretty keen at picking out the liars huh? I plan on being honest though.  I want him to tell my what I can do to change some of my bad habits.  I have quit smoking though!!! It's been ALMOST a month with no cigarettes now.  I am sooooo proud of myself.  I've smoked at least a half a pack a day since I was 15, so that's 12 years now and I just stopped cold turkey!  I know the key to my success is me giving up the things that are bad for me.  Smoking was no exception.  Why would I put myself through this surgery to live longer and then reverse it by smoking which in turn is shortening my life.  Strange thing is, I don't miss it.  I had tried to quit about 50 times over the years and each time I relapsed, but this time I am confident that  I am not going to.  I feel better already just cutting out the cigarettes.  I'm determined to get healthy!!!  Oh, and today I got the info that they are planning our high school reunion for next September.  If all goes right with insurance, I am hoping to have surgery in January, that will give me 8 months to lose weight before I face all the critics from my graduating class.  Even more motivation as far as I'm concerned.  :-) 

Primary Care and Seminar

Oct 17, 2006

Okay.  What is it about Dr.'s that just annoy the heck out of me? Maybe the fact that they don't LISTEN!!! Yesterday I went back to my primary for the results of all my bloodwork and EKG.  He came in the room after just seeing me 5 days ago and acted like we had never met.  Now, I know he's a busy man and all, but come on...I'm 6 feet tall and 345 lbs. I'm pretty easy to remember.  Anyhow, we sit down together and he goes "I'm not gonna bullshit you, you need something done.  When were you going to meet the surgeon about your lap band?" . WHAT?!?!? Lap Band?!?!? We discussed in detail the week before how I had chosen the route of RNY for me and he agreed then that that was a good choice.  Now yesterday he tells me that he doesn't understand why I would want a huge scar and to spend all that extra time in the hospital recovering when I could have 3 small incisions and be out in less than 24 hours.  Then he proceeds to put in my notes, pt. counseled on lap band.  NOTHING IN THERE ABOUT RNY!  Ugh!!! So, we go over my bloodwork results and he says "Yep, your a diabetic, so we'll start you on glucophage".  Again, WTF?!?!?!   I went over with him that I have been on Met now for over 6 months and then he says, "Oh, yeah, you did say that huh?".  So then he tells me that all in all I'm fairly healthy except for my cholesterol being a little high, but he'd like to start me on Meridia.  I've taken diet pill after diet pill and this one is $100 per month that insurance won't cover.  He said I could expect to lose a pound a week on it.  So $100 a month for 4 pounds?!?!?! Good God!!! Then in talking to my best friend who is MAYBE 20 lbs. overweight at best, she told me that she went to the same Dr. a month ago and he prescribed her Meridia too.  She threw the prescription in the trash.  He must get money from Meridia and Lap-Band for endorsements.  He never did go over my EKG and I forgot all about it, I was so frustrated with him at that point I just wanted out of his office.  

Anyhow...today I have my gastric orientation with Dr.Rehnke (or his associates, not sure who does the seminar).  It's at 9:45 this morning.  I have just enough time to go home and change and get there. ( I work nights, so this works out perfectly that it's early in the morning, I don't have to call of work for most of my appointments!!!).  

Tomorrow I meet with Dr.Baum who is the psychologist.  I'm SUPER nervous about that.  I'm afraid he's gonna tell me I'm nuts or deny me for one reason or another.  We'll see though.  

Finally, I meet with Dr.Rehnke next Wednesday!!! Then man himself!!! We will go over the RNY surgery, not Lap-Band.  :-)  Please don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the lap-band and I'm sure that for some people it works great, but I don't like the fact that 2 women I know haven't lost but maybe 20 lbs. in 6 months on it because they can eat and drink ice cream, milkshakes, pudding, etc. .  I want the restriction of knowing I will dump if I eat something like that so I won't be tempted.  

Okay, that's more than enough for right now.  Wish me luck today and tomorrow!!!

So far...

Oct 15, 2006

 


 

 

 


 

09/13/06 - This week feels like the beginning of a brand new me.  First off let me start by telling a little of my story.  My name is Rachel and I'm 27 years old.  I've been overweight for as long as I can remember.  I think I really started to put on weight around the age of 9.  I remember going to private school where they didn't have gym clotes big enough for me, so I had to wear the biggest size they had and look like 10 tons of potatoes shoved into a 1 ton sack.  Anyhow...I've tried every diet and exercise program imaginable.  I loved Phen-Phen because on that I got down to my smalles of 190 in the 10th grade.  Then I put on weight going up to around 280 by my senior year.  I did weight watchers back in 2001 and lost almost 100 lbs. on that, only to put 150 back.  Needless to say my highest weight got up to around 365, I'm somewhere around 345 now.  I also have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome which contributes to me being overweight...oh yeah, almost forget I have type 2 diabetes too.  I'm married to a wonderful, wonderful man who actually likes big women.  He's SUPER supportive of my decision though because he wants me to be happy and healthy.  Also, with my PCOS right now it would be impossible for us to have a baby, which I eventually want deperatley.  This week all at once it came to me.  I'm ready to make a change!!!!!! I'm ready to give up the things I've had my whole life to get healthy.  Sure, I love food, but I've had it for 27 years now.  I can live without the sweets and carbs.  Frankly I am sick of them anyhow.  I want to get better for me and my husband and future children.  I want to live my life to the fullest and be happy and healthy.  Watching the TV this week I came across a special on 9/11.  Call me cheesy, but I was moved all over again at the people who lost their loved ones that day.  Those people didn't have a choice who died that day.  I have a choice, but yet I am killing myself.  Why??? I don't know, but I'm ready to use this surgery as a gift to turn my life around.  It will be the tool I need to put my life back together again.  I'm SOOOO READY!!! I am taking the first step this Thursday 9/14 be attending the seminars with the surgeon I have chosen.  He works out of the same hospital I work out of.  I have read numerous testimonials on him that say how wonderful he is and talked with people who have had their surgeries done by him.  I have a long ways to go, but I am motivated and NOTHING is going to stop me now.  Wish me luck!!!

 

09/14/06 - Attended both of the seminars required to begin the process to have my surgery.  Some good and bad things.  Bad thing is that I have to go on a 6 month medically supervised diet before I can procede any further.  I could have used the year that I was supervised on phen-phen but the Dr. I had is no longer in town and I wouldn't know how to get ahold of my charts.  Also coming up with almost $1100 is gonna be tricky too.  On a brighter side though, my surgery should take place around March or April of next year.  It's not too far off and we'll be getting our tax return back around that time, so that will help with me having to take between 4 and 6 weeks off of work.  Also...I'm not bragging by saying this, but I was really surprised to see that I was one of the SMALLER people in the seminar group.  A lot of people with BMI's over 60.  I'm blessed with being tall or mine would be way up there too.  I'm going to make my first appointment with the nutritionist tomorrow and hope to get in next week.  I'll update more as I learn more.  :-)

 


October 8th, 2006
Okay, so a few things have changed since the last time I posted on here.  First off I have decided to go with a totally different surgeon.  Not that I didn't like the surgeon I had originally decided on, but a few other factors weighed on me.  I work at the hospital that I would have originally had my surgery at.  I am a really private person and try and keep my work and personal life seperate.  I didn't want everyone here at work to know all my personal buisness and working in medical records I was paraniod that they would.  Secondly the surgeon I have chosen is A LOT closer to home.  I will only be about 15 minutes away as opposed to an hour away.  It will make the transition home a lot smoother.  Both hositals are centers of excellence in bariatric care, so I know I will be in good hands either way, but I have chosen Dr.Rehnke out of Palms of Pasadena hosital.  I am soooo excited about this.  I have an appointment with my promary care doctor this Tuesday too, so I can get his approval.  Then I will have to do Psych and Nutritionalist appointments, but they should be fairly easy to get.  I am really hoping for a December or January date!!! Wish me luck!!!


October 11th 2006
Soooo, yesterday I had my appointment with my primary Doctor.  It started out a little rough but got better.  I didn't know if I was going to like him or not at first.  He looked at my chart and said "So, your 6 feet tall and 336 lbs.?  You are a BIG lady".  NO SHIT!!! I was a little offended by that.  It's not anything that I don't know, but that was why I was there, to get help for being a BIG LADY!!! I guess he saw that I got a little hurt so he started being nice to me after that comment.  We went over my health history and weight loss attempts and everything like that.  He told me that he thought I was a perfect candidate for the RNY.  He works with the surgeon I have chosen, so he said he'd run the tests that I would be asked for ahead of time so I can take them to my surgery consult appointment.  I had an EKG done today too.  It wasn't bad, I just hated having to wear the paper t-shirt...open in the front, that didn't even cover my boobs.  It was over in less than 5 minutes though.  I am fasting right now and will go in to have my blood drawn in the morning.  Then I will go back for the results of everything next Tuesday.  He already gave me the heads up that my EKG was fine though.  He said he believes that with the surgery that I will be able to get rid of my diabetes and my PCOS and eventually have kids!!! I'm not getting my hopes up just yet because I haven't been approved for the surgery, but I feel so close now.  It's all moving so smoothly that I am almost afraid that something is going to go wrong.  We'll see though.  More to update later though.  :-)

About Me
St Petersburg, FL
Location
33.1
BMI
RNY
Surgery
04/13/2010
Surgery Date
May 31, 2006
Member Since
Friends 46
Latest Blog 9
frustration finally setting in
So, I met the man himself
Almost There (Hopefully!!!)
Gastric orientation
Primary Care and Seminar
So far...
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