1 Year- Goal and a brick to the head

Jun 25, 2011

Where to begin....
So many wonderful things. First, I LOVE my RNY Gastric Bypass. While the surgery (to ME) was very painful, I had no complications, healed rapidly and as the old comedy sketch goes...I look FABULOUS dahhhlink! (Yes, photos will be coming in a day or two)

Pre-Op, I went from wheelchair bound, with active autoimmune diseases and a service dog and morbidly obese with a BMI of 50...To now being an amateur female bodybuilder. I LOVE the gym, I LOVE lifting (And no, I don't look "manly" but lean and mean and defined) and more importantly I LOVE life and living.

I have always been "good" post op...Watched my carbs, ate my protein (TONS of protein) took ALL my vitamins religiously including injecting myself with lovely energy boosting B vitamins 2 times a month; playIng with my family and dogs and being more happy than I have when I was 21 and active duty in the Air Force! (Hooo yaa!)

I am one of those rare (or maybe not) people who got morbidly obese from 2 things...
1) Heavy duty medicines to control my autoimmune diseases and cancer (High doses of prednisone, methotrexate, enbrel, cyclosporin, tons of narcotics, etc)
2) Being wheelchair bound and doing NO, absolutely NO exercise at all....Even just STANDING was excruitiating.

Overeating a ton of food, eating sugary snacks, or whatnot was not my "poison" in fact my favorite foods were (and still are!) Steak (Extra rare please!) meats of any kind, and salads with just vinegar, some thnly sliced avocado, olives and tomatoes.
And lets not forget a huge dish of FRESH strawberries, blueberries and raspberries. Oh, and Oatmeal or Malt-O-Meal with all the fixin's for breakfast (or a 2-3 egg omelet).

Of couse now-a-days I only have a 1 egg omlet with cheese and meat in it, or some pork rinds...I still LOVE my salads and fresh fruits (with Stevia, no sugar) and I still love my roasts, meats and raw salmon and escolar (sashimi!) But now I am fit and trim with very little loose skin. Not bad for a 47 year old woman who was severly disabled!

When I decided to have this surgery (RNY) a year ago, I was told by my doctor that my Adrenal glands were screwed up, I was borderline diabetic (in addition to my autoimmune diseases-dermatomyositis and Mixed connective tissue disease). I already knew I was on a fast track to my grave...There fore I had NO fear going into the surgery. I figured, if I was going to die from the WLS, then it would be ON the table while unconscious (and what a peaceful and quick way to go...I mean afterall...We ALL die, do we not?) or, two...It would be from rapid and early complications. Either way, the surgery would WORK, or it would not. 

It worked. I learned to read nutrition labels. I keep my calories at around 1200 or under per day, my protein at around 70-100 per day, Carbs under 10 grams per meal, and sugar UNDER 4 grams per meal (unless it is LACTOSE/Milk sugar which is fine, it doesn't count technically At least not for me...)  I have never dumped and can eat anything.   I often said (jinxed myself) that if I even had 3 MONTHS of happiness from my surgery--- That it would be a sucess.... And it has been...AndI jinxed myself.

I have recently discovered from lab work that my liver is failing. It is not an easy thing to type, because the last thing I want is pity and head shaking and people feeling sorry for me. Let me be perfectly clear..My WLS/RNY had NOTHING to do with my liver problems.

My liver problems were/are caused by all the years of toxic chemicals that have been in my body from fighting cancer and autoimmune diseases....All the prednisone, cyclosporin, enbrel, high doses of methotrexate (a very hepatoxic chemotherapy agent) and a ton of other meds I need not list here.

The damage was done though. It was my own vigilence that noticed my AST and ALT on my labs skyrocketing every 6 months. I am sure that taking tons of tylenol over the years (sometimes as much as 3500 mg a day for years on end) has not helped at all.

I fought ovarian cancer and won... I fought 2 autoimmune diseases and severe disability and won... (Got my butt up OUT of the wheelchair and walked...No, powerlifted my way to happiness...) I fought morbid obesity and won. It get's very old to me always having SOMETHING pop up. Have I not proven myself? Have I not gotten up time and time again when life had knocked me down? It's hard to get up. It's tiring. I love my WLS. I truly do. I HATE my liver...I hate that I had to go through so much medical bull-hockey to fight to a healthy state only to have it snatched yet once again from me.

In august I meet with a top rated Hepatologist in St. Louis. We will see what he says. I am sure I will be doing many MRI's/Cat Scans/ Blood work and probably a liver biopsy or two... But it is getting harder and harder to get UP off the floor each time I am knocked down.

Good luck and good journey to ALL of you my friends and "Losers". Each of our journeys are our own, and I hope your WLS journey is a good one.
Warmly.
Jackie

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