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Cathy G. Ft. Mitchell, KY, USA Post Op - BMI: 22.5 Surgery Type: RNY Member ID: D1082714925 Surgeon: Trace Curry |
Click here for Cathy's surgery support page Click here for the 11/2004 Reunion Page Click here to print Cathy's cards (You can print your own cards, and if you're good at it, you can help print cards for your friends as well!)  Obesityhelp.com Sponsor Click here to view Cathy’s friends. |
 
May, 2004 Perhaps it will only be a fantasy to be able to live a normal life, but I will keep on wishing! When you wish upon a star Makes no difference who you are Anything your heart desires Will come to you If your heart is in your dream No request is too extreme When you wish upon a star As dreamers do Fate is kind She brings to those to love The sweet fulfillment of Their secret longing Like a bolt out of the blue Fate steps in and sees you through When you wish upon a star Your dreams come true May 12, 2004 Well I went to another seminar with a different surgeon. I think this one is better suited to my needs, even though he is a further distance from where I live. He does the Lap RNY and a quicker recovery time sounds idea to me, not to mention less of a scar. Not that is a major consideration, but why have more then I have to? I received my information in the mail today and have to fill out paperwork all over again. The letter stated that this particular surgeon has had 9 out of 10 patients denied coverage due to improper paperwork. I'm going to try and have all of mine in order when I have my consultation with the doctor on June 1st. My primary care physician isn't to thrilled about this surgery. Of course she has never had a weight problem her entire life. Amazes me how people think that all you have to do is close your mouth and you will lose weight. I am like most people who have tried countless diets most of their lives, and found that the loss of the few pounds was frustrating at best. I'd give anything to be able to hold my niece's kids on my non-existent lap! I don't think that you can make people who have never been overweight understand the trauma that you live your whole life with. Seatbelts don't go around you, you have to have a seatbelt extension on an airplane, and god forbid that you can't get a seat by yourself and have to squeeze in next to someone else! Not to mention trying to carry anything up a flight of steps! Its kinda hard to breathe, carry and walk at the same time. And just once before I die, I want to be able to walk into Walmart and buy underwear! I'm lucky that I have found someone where I work who had the surgery 3 years ago and completely understands how I feel. My family is supportive but yet worried about going through a surgery. I can understand their concern, but I would rather take a chance at a normal life then 50 more years of wondering what a "normal life" would be like. I guess all I can do now is wait until I meet with the surgeon and see how it goes. That and pray that some overweight insurance person will get my claim and approve me on my first attempt. Cause I sure intend to be a pain in someone's butt until I get the approval for this surgery!!!  5/21/04 I had to go today for an MRI for my knee which has been giving me fits for the past 3 months. I was glad to be finally getting somewhere with it and though I wasn't looking forward to be lodged in a machine for 45 minutes, I was glad to be getting it over. When the tech attempted to slide me into the machine, she stopped and said, "your stomach won't let you in". I didn't know what to say. Another tech in the room said there were other places that had open MRI machines and she started giving me names of them. I was so embarassed that I wasn't hearing a word she was saying. I think she realized it. I was preparing to leave and wondering how I was going to tell my doctor about it, when the 2nd tech stopped me and said she was going to make a phone call to find a place that could accomondate me. This woman went out of her way to call another center and tell them in the nicest way possible about my needs. Within 5 minutes I had another appointment much closer to my home for the very same day. I will be forever grateful to this woman who spent so much time with me and making sure that I was mentally okay before I left their office. This is just another reason that I will add on when I make my final plea with my Primary Care Physician who is not so happy about my decision to have this surgery. Thanks Nancy at Glenway Imaging for being so kind and helpful to me today!  May 26, 2004 I went to dinner tonight with a friend of mine and we were discussing the bypass surgery when a lady from the next table d turned around and began telling us that she had just had her first consultation last week. She was angry that the therapist told her that she was not going to write her a letter because she thought that she had unresolved mental health issues stemming from her being molested as a child. This lady was livid and said that 40 years ago, children were not taken for therapy for these things, and since I am her age, I can agree with her. She said she was going to a different therapist and seeing what the next one said. She felt like the first one was just trying to build her practice and not that concerned about her mental well being. So I had a great dinner and made new friends, because as it turned out, she was there with 20 other women who had formed their own support group because they liked a more relaxed atmosphere to talk and be themselves. I got a contact number for them and I plan on meeting with this group throughout my whole process of this new journey that I intend to take. Who says things aren't planned out for you in advance? I think that I was there for a reason and the reason turned out to be to meet a whole bunch of women who are going or have been through the whole thing. There were even a couple of women there who decided not to have the surgery and they still come to the meetings because they are accepted for who they are and the decisions that they made.  May 27, 2004 Well I got good news today. I was seen by the orthopedic specialist for my knee today and I don't need surgery. Bad news was that my diagnosis of arthritis in my knee that will not get better unless I lose the weight. Good news is that he was very willing to write me a letter that he thought the surgery would be beneficial to my longterm health. Bad news too was the shot that he gave me in my knee!! OUCH!!! I also saw my primary care physician who wrote my letter of medical necessity for my visit with the surgeon next week. I think that I have all of the paperwork required for my visit with him. I'll be double and triple checking before I make my trek to Lexington to have my first consultation. I am so looking forward to getting started on this path to a healthier life. June 2, 2004 Well I had my first visit with Dr. Bolar and his staff. They are very nice people and seem to want to assist you in getting the approval for the surgery. I am a bit discouraged that I don't have 6 months of documented proof of attempted weight loss. Who would have thought that you would need to save those cards? The nurse assigned to me said that they would help me all that they could. I need to get all of my medical records faxed to her, so that she can scour them for documentation. I also have to have a sleep study, a complete physical and of course the mental health exam. I'm determined to have this done no matter what I have to do. I met some very nice women that day who were all there for their first visit too. I was surprised at the distances that we all drove to meet with Dr.Bolar! I've already made an appointment with my primary care doctor to get a physical and a referral for a sleep study. I was told that if I have sleep apnea that I may not need the 6 months of documented weight loss. We'll see how that goes! So if I have to wait this out for 6 months before we can try the approval process, I guess that is what I am going to do. At this rate, it will be December or early next year! I want to thank all of you who have written me words of encouragement! They mean alot to me. Oh and since some of you asked about my personal life....I am 49, soon to be 50? Where did the time go? Not married, no children. I do have some nieces and nephews that I am absolutely goofy over and I spoil them as much as I am allowed. Sometimes more! :) I work full time for the post office as a supervisor. Oh and I am obsessed with Scrapbooking! I use as much of my free time as I can working on new pages. Currently I don't have any pets, but I am thinking that it is time for a new cat. I lost my last one in December and haven't had the heart yet to get another one. I've been thinking quite a bit about a new furry friend though. I'll post more as I learn where I am in this process of gaining a new healthier life!  June 18, 2004 Well I made the trek to Lexington to have my psyhc evaluation done. It seemed to go okay. I had to fill out a 280 question evaluation before I saw the doctor. I was wore out before he even started his little session. I thought that I would see him for about 20 minutes but it lasted well over an hour. He really got on me about smoking(like I didn't know it was bad for me?) and told me that I need to quit or the surgeon would not do the surgery. That will be a struggle! I know that I need to quit and I have cut back considerably. I don't smoke more then half a pack a day but its all bad. I have my sleep study scheduled in 2 weeks and my doctor had ordered a stress test because of some problems that I had earlier in the week. So I have that scheduled too. One good thing is that my primary care doctor seems to have come around on the bypass surgery. Maybe she's just tired of arguing with me. Or the fact that my last run of prednisone forced me to eat like a starving rat and gain 15 pounds! Like I needed more weight! The physc doctor got hung up on the fact that according to my test results I seemed to have issues with interpersonal relationships. Gee, ya think that I didn't know that about myself?? That and the fact that my overeating was a form of rebellion that my mother couldn't control. The more she nagged me, the more that I ate. I found that interesting. He suggested that I find another outlet to be rebellious. Anyone have suggestions? I'm to old to start a life of crime, to tired and unmotivated to become a loose woman and to busy to start any protests against the war! There must be something that I can rebel against! :) He also told me that I'm a loner by nature and that can be a bad thing. I like my own company and I adore peace and quiet. I'm content to sit and scrapboook for hours and not become bored. I do realize that I need more of a social outlet, but its not easy being this big and finding outside interests that I feel comfortable doing. I don't have enough drama in my life without worrying about finding something to be rebellious about???? He should talk to my boss who wishes that I would be a little less vocal and keep my opinions to myself. Wait until I tell my boss about that! All in all I found the visit to be informative and interesting as well as a bit entertaining. He was very nice and I liked his straight forward approach, although I have to admit that his question of "can you wipe your butt" kinda caught me off guard. Fortunately I still can! It gave me plenty to think about on the 90 mile drive home! I'm assuming that I passed whatever it was that he was looking for because he didn't tell me that I was nuts! He did in fact tell me that he found me a very interesting person. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Who knows? I have it done and I am one step closer to getting all of my paperwork completed! June 24,2004 I went for my sleep study consultation today. The doctor says he is 99% sure that I have sleep apnea so after the first study is done, they will schedule me for another one with a CPAP. I scheduled it for this Sunday night after I get off work. I asked them about coming in later since my normal going to bedtime is usually 2-3am.. They said not a problem. They showed me the rooms, kinda like a hotel but without windows and a bathroom. They told me that I am going to have to call for them to come and disconnect me everytime that I need to go to the bathroom. Hope they have their running shoes on!! I asked about taking a sedative that night and they advised against it. Now all I have to do is worry if I will be able to sleep at all. June 27, 2004 Well I had my first sleep study done. Its not bad if you don't mind being plugged in and wired up like a kid's science project. I didn't think that I would sleep at all but I managed to. The techs kept coming in and waking me up and telling me to breathe because my oxygen level was low. When I asked to be disconnected this morning when I woke up, the tech asked me if I could sleep for another hour. I tried but it was no go. What a relief to get all of those wires off of me. I was told that I would have to come back and have another one done with the CPAP on. I'll have that one scheduled as soon as the I see the doctor next week. Tomorrow is my chemical stess test and I am really worried about that. To many horror stories from well meaning people has me scared to death. July 5, 2004 Did my second sleep study with the CPAP. It wasn't to hard to sleep with the mask. It was all of the wiring that they hook up to you to monitor your progress that drove me nuts! I brought home my new "bed buddy" and hooked him up. I figure that as long as I am going to be sleeping with this machine, it may as well be a him! Slept well the first night home and it looks like my "buddy" and I will get along fine. Tomorrow is the dreaded chemical stress test. I'll be glad when its over!!!  July 8,2004 Had the dreaded stress test today. Wasn't as bad and scary as I thought it was going to be. I was there for a total of 7 hours. Most of it sit and wait. So I was thrilled when they finally told me that I could leave. I'm gonna hit the bed for a nap with my "sleep buddy, CPAP!" July 23, 2004 Well I think that I finally have all of the information gathered that my surgeon requires to submit for insurance approval! I had my physical today and asked them to mail my medical chart to the surgeon who is 90 miles from where I live. The bad news is that I have gained about 12 pounds! I think it may have to do with my recently having quit smoking. I swear sometimes you just can't win! My PCP was happy that I have stopped puffing and told me not to be to unhappy about the weight gain. Easy for her to say, she weighs about 80 pounds! So I'm hoping to hear from the surgeon's office next week to see if they have everything that they need! Fingers crossed!! July 28,2004 Had a call from the surgeon's office. I was hoping that they were going to tell me that they had everything ready for submission for approval. NADA! Now they want more bloodwork and they needed a couple of more things from my PCP. Is this ever going to happen? August 19, 2004 YEA! YEA! YEA! I finally have all of my paperwork completed and have faxed it all to the surgeon's office! I am so relieved!!! Now all I have to do is wait and see if the surgeon wants anymore paperwork before they submit it to my insurance company. The wait is on and suddenly I am very nervous about it. I've had the paperwork sitting on my desk for about 6 hours and finally decided that I had come to far to chicken out now! So I took a deep breath and faxed it on!!! Happy me!!! August 27, 2004 Well the wait is on after several weeks of gathering all of the information that my insurance and the surgeon requires. The surgeon's office told me to be prepared for a denial. So the wait is on! My stuff was sent to the insurance company today. I thought that I would be estatic about it, but now it seems very real and suddenly scary. I am second guessing all of the decisions that I made about this. Then again, everytime that I stand on my knee, I know that I have made the right choice. September 1, 2004 I went shopping with my niece for her daughter's birthday gift tonight and I thought that I could actually walk around and have a good time. I even popped a vicoden when I got there to try and dull the pain in my knee. I knew within 30 minutes that I had made a mistake in trying to go shopping. I kept looking for places to sit or lean on to get some weight off of my knee, nothing seemed to work. By the time that I got home, my knee felt like it would break. I almost wish it would! Nothing seems to help it and even though I took another pain pill when I got home, its 3am and its still trobbing! So here I sit, reading posts and getting more annoyed by the minute. I don't know if it is the vicoden or that I have read so many of the same things that I am tired of it. I told my niece today that if and when I get approval, there are somethings that you will never see post! Sorry but the "Who pooped today" and the "what did you eat today" get on my nerves! Most of the posts I like to read, but when something is titled,"Bathroom question" I move on! If I have those problems, I'll call my doctor! Think that I better go to bed, before I rant so much that they pull my profile! September 22, 2004 Well after all of the testing, paperwork and the million other details, I get a call from my insurance company telling me that the surgeon that I had chosen was out of network! Now why didn't they tell me that when I had called and asked them! I was so pissed! I remembered reading about Dr Curry on the OH community page and immediately called his office for an appointment. I liked him. Very nice and knowledgeable. I am so frustrated with this whole process that I have lost my excitement about it. Sorry I am just not ready to do a happy dance. So I guess I am back at square one! I was also told that I have to have another physical. Go figure! I just had one in July and considering my PCP isn't to happy about this whole thing frustrates me further that I am going to have to ask her for another one so soon! Not to mention the expense of this whole process! I've seen more doctors in the past 5 months then I have in my entire 50 years! Those $15.00 copays really add up, not to mention the dollars that my insurance doesn't pay for the CPAP and other things! I just want some good news out of this. Hopefully Dr Curry can find it for me. October 16, 2004 Woo hoo!!! I got my insurance approval in the mail today!!! Happy Happy ME!!! October 20, 2004 I have a date! I have a date! November 16th, 2004!! Woo Hoo! I have a date! November 12, 2004 My niece reminded me that I needed to update my profile so here I am! I am very excited about having this surgery and I am so blessed that my niece is there for me. I have had my worry meltdown, conquered my fear of dying, and am ready to do whatever it takes to get myself healthy with a quality of life that I am now missing! My surgery is 4 days away and I just want it done so that I can recover and lose this fat that almost makes me housebound! I've become such a recluse and my computer has become my buddy. I did almost all of my Christmas shopping from it last year because I just couldn't walk the malls anymore without it causing my legs to spasm all night. I think that I have done everything that I need to do to get ready for my surgery. I composed my "just in case" letter for my niece, it was very hard for me to do, as I never want to cause her any pain, but yet I felt it was something that I had to do. I can't wait until next year when I can hopefully go to all of the craft shows that I have missed and spend lots of money on things that I don't need! I truly feel that this is my last chance at a normal life, and if I don't make it through, at least I will have tried and not spend the rest of my life wishing that I had at least attempted to go for it! I have confidence in my surgeon and I look forward to starting my life over again! And I won't as my sister keeps telling me, become a bleached blonde loose woman!!! LOL November 20, 2004 Home and recovering after my surgery! I am so happy to be home. My truly wonderful niece stayed with me my entire time in the hospital. I wasn't very impressed with the care given to me when I was finally awake enough to see that I was not being given the care that I should have. No one offered me anything to drink until late in the day after my surgery. No one would tell my niece if I could have ice chips for my dry mouth. The technical staff were great, but the nursing staff left alot to be desired. One of the nurses told my niece that she was going to get me a can of Sprite! I have nothing but good things to say about my surgeon and his staff, but the hospital needs to either have more staff available or stop saying that they have dedicated professional people to take care of you after the surgery. Not once was I offered water to take a sponge bath, when I would call for meds late in the night, it would be the day nurse who brought them to me. Thank goodness that I had my niece to look out for me. It causes me worry to think about people going in who are not going to have anyone with them the night of the surgery. I told a friend of mine today that she needs to get her daughter to stay with her the entire time that she is in the hospital. November 24, 2004 Had my first post-op appointment with Dr C and my blood pressure is normal and I have lost 14 pounds. I feel so tired and I think it is because I can't get enough food in. Everything tastes bad and I don't want to eat. Hope that gets better soon! December 20, 2004 I'm down 40 pounds and today is the first day that I feel like I have any energy! For the past few weeks, I thought that I was going to be an invalid the rest of my life. Guess the protein and vitamins are finally kicking in. Last week was not good. I had some kind of muscle spasms in my side for a solid 24 hours. Thank heavens for the percoset! :) Hopefully I am finally on the mend. Now if I could just get my taste buds to kick back in, I would be so much happier! :) January 10,2005 Well I am getting stronger although not as quickly as I would like. It seems like forever and I still don't feel my best. The upside is that I am down 60 pounds and my BMI has dropped to 45.8 which makes me morbid obese instead of super. Food still doesn't taste good to me and I have a hard time eating. I am not eating like I should. I still get dry heaves all of the time but the medicine that the doctor gave me helps with that. I went back to work after being off for 7 weeks and I still feel weak. I try not to overdue it but no one did my job while I was away and the backlog is huge! I need to get it caught up as I am having another surgery in April or May for an unrelated problem to my gastric bypass surgery. It feels great to have lost what I have and I am anxious to see where I get to be! :) Happy me but not dancing yet! February 6, 2005 I went to see my niece today and she took some photos of me to compare my old self to my present self. Wow! What a difference! Its hard for me to see the weight loss but I sure could when we compared the two pictures. I am amazed and astounded! I am down 2 blouse sizes and I can now buy things that don't remind me of old lady clothes. I am one happy woman and my niece got to see the happy dance out of me! :) March 8, 2005 Well I am now an official scale hog! I never should have bought one. I am constantly stepping on it to see where I am. Odd behavior for a woman who refused to own one for 30 years! I've lost 74 pounds since my surgery and am very happy about it. I still feel like the woman I was and am constantly amazed at the things that people say to me. I've met a couple of women here at work who have had the surgery and never told anyone, so now they come to chat when they have time. Me on the other hand, I told everyone. The women who think no one knows that they had it should hear the whispers about them! LOL I feel so much better these days! Happy Me! March 12, 2005 My little great niece and I spent the day together doing some of our favorite things. Went to Build a Bear, she couldn't make up her mind so we got 2! Then we went to see the new Robots movie. It was cute and I love hearing her laugh. Then we went to the toy store where we really got into trouble! I have to learn to say no! But we had a great time and I left to go home feeling like a million bucks. My legs didn't hurt, I had energy to spare and I felt like I could do it again right then. People really don't understand how you miss those little things until you can't do them anymore. I can't wait for spring so I can walk around the neighborhood and take in everything that I have sat on the sidelines for so long and missed. Life just keeps on getting better! April 14, 2005 I have lost a total of 92 pounds since my surgery in November. My BMI has dropped from 54.6(Super Obese) to 39.4 (Severly Obese). One of these days I might just be near normal. Still trying to get approval for an injection that I need for some surgery. The damn shot costs $1600 and my insurance doesn't want to pay for it. So I'll probably just have to bite the bullet and pay for it myself. I feel so much better these days, although I still have some days where food just doesn't want to sit right. I tried to drink some regular pepsi the other day and it tasted just awful! That was a very good thing, because had it tasted good, I'd be drinking it right now. I don't think Dr.Curry would be liking that to much! :) I have more energy now and today on my way into work, one of the guys told me that I move faster then I used to! I told him that there was less of me to drag around! Tomorrow's TAX DAY and I am looking forward to being the postal person in charge for once! I intend on hauling myself to every corner where we collect mail and having a good time, instead of as in the past, where I knew that I would be miserable halfway through the day. I'm happy that I did this for myself. :)  May 12, 2005 Whoo Hoo! I got my "lost a hundred card" posted! Happy happy me! I got a nice surprise from my niece on Mother's Day. New jammies! May not seem like a big deal to most people, but this is the first time in years that anyone has given me clothing as a gift. Its wonderful that now someone who loves me can shop for me and not wonder where to get clothes that big! It absolutely made my day, and I love my new jammies. Have my 6 month check up with Dr.Curry tomorrow and am looking forward to stepping on the scales at his office. I am constantly amazed at the things that I can do now. The other day my little nephew wanted me to sit on the floor and play a game with him. I used to insist on sitting at the table. Not that day. I plopped my butt on the floor and we had a great time. He cheats. Its still a little hard for me to get up but I managed to! Its these little things that make me so very happy. July 20, 2005 I haven't updated for a while and now seems like a good time. I've done really well with the weight loss, from 328 to now 172. I think that I've lost enough. I had to have surgery in early June for a hysterectomy since my surgeon discovered a fibroid tumor the size of Rhode Island in there. The surgery went fine but a week later I began havin gawd awful pain in my stomach area. Two trips to the ER for pain meds and the doctors telling me that I had an infection. On the third trip to the ER, I was admitted and had about a million tests done. Now they feel like I have ulcers. I am seeing my surgeon on Friday and hopefully he can tell me what they are. I wouldn't wish this kind of pain on anyone. I can't wait to feel better so that I can go shopping to see what size I am. I think that I am still fat and maybe knowing the size of my clothes will help me realize that I am smaller. Hopefully I will be well soon. My sister and I are planning a summer trip to Myrtle Beach and I want to try parasailing!! Whoo Hoo! :)
What Season Are You? created with QuizFarm.com August 4, 2005 My sister and I went to Myrtle Beach and had a blast! I fit in the airplane seat without a seat belt extender and the tray came down and I could sit my drink on it!! Happy Happy ME!! It was great fun to play in the ocean and to swim in the pool. I can barely believe that I could do those things again. First vacation in 30 years for me and longer since I dared to put on a bathing suit. Shopped till my sister nearly killed me with it! Happy with the photos taken of me. I plan on going again next year and trying the parasailing!! Whoo Hoo...happy so happy!!!
Name Acronym Generator From Go-Quiz.com August 14, 2005 What a great day that I had. My sister and I took her grandchildren out for mall shopping and Build a Bear. Then she and I went shopping alone. Oh my goodness but my sister now tries to dress me like a hooker! Skimpy tight tops and cut down to the navel! We had a great time. Bought lots of new clothes and the gift certificate that my niece gave me for my birthday went for my first pair of size 14 shorts!!! Happy dancing me! It's a treasure that my sister and I can get along so well after spending most of our lives fighting about everything! If someone had told me a year ago that my life would have changed this much, I would have thought that they were nuts. Now all I do is thank God that I had this surgery and live my life like most people. I've been off work all summer do to illness and surgery and am starting to get antsy about going back. I'm taking another 2 weeks off just to make sure that I am well. I still have some back pain when I do to much but even that is getting better, although I still need a pain med at times. My niece and I are going to go to the Obesity Conference on the 20th for a couple of hours, and I am anxious to see the faces of the people whose postings that I have read for the past 2 years! August 24, 2005 My niece and I went to the OH conference on Saturday and enjoyed it. I wish the schedule would have been more accurate. I wanted to hear Dr.Curry's session on the lapband. It was nice to see familiar faces from the boards and see how far everyone has come. I hope the conference becomes a yearly event. My doctor has given me the okay to return to work after being off for 12 weeks due to a hysterectomy and some problems with infections. I now have an ulcer which is today kicking my ass again! I go back to the doctor tomorrow and plan on telling him how hard keeping anything in my stomach has become. Hopefully he will give me something to help, because the med that he has me on now is not doing the trick. I'm excited about going back to work, mainly to see the reactions from my co-workers! I was still in a size 22 pants when I went out on leave and now I can wear a 16! I don't care if I don't lose another pound because I feel smaller! I'd be content to be right where I am for the rest of my life. Happy Happy ME!
August 25, 2005 The doctor put me on the meds that Dr.Curry said that I should be on for this ulcer. I went to see my Uncle Bill and Aunt Betty! You should have heard Aunt Betty holler!! Course she tried to feed the animal and I let her send me home with blackberry cobbler which I dropped off to my sister. Uncle Bill asked me if there was anyone that I wanted to see me and I said I hope that my Mom does. He's so sweet. He said she sees ya and she's proud and loves you. Almost made me cry. Aunt Betty and I did a happy dance when we were hugging and she said that my cousin who always teased me about my weight is bigger then ME! When I saw my sister she was telling a co-worker about our shopping trip a couple of weeks ago and she reminded me of something that I had said. It made me think of things that I never thought I would say or hear. 1. Do you have this in a smaller size? 2. Miss...you need to go to the junior department! 3. Do you know that I have a space between my legs? 4. What do you mean I need a padded bra? 5. I wish that lady would move her scrawny ass! 6. Look, I don't need a seat belt extender! 7. Yes you can wear those bright colors! And the list goes on...... Happy ME! September 13, 2005 What a ride this weight loss has been! I finally went back to work after several weeks off and I was so pleased and surprised at how many people didn't know me! The comments were wonderful as well as the hugs from people that I know that are honestly happy for me. I've been on a shopping frenzy and can't get over being able to fit into size 12 pants! I don't ever remember wearing that size! And the energy level is surreal! Last Friday I worked all night, slept for 3 hours, went to my niece's birthday bash, stopped at a work related picnic, and then went shopping for almost 4 hours! A year ago, I would have been lucky to make the party! I do more in a day now then I used to do in a month. I'm hoping that the weight loss is complete but with this ulcer, it's hard to keep food down. On the days when my belly is being good, I put everything in it that I can manage! My personal goal was 158 and I've met that. My aim was not to be skinny but to be healthy and being able to get out and live my life like it was intended. My next goal? To work up the nerve to get my angel tatooed on my shoulder. Feels kind of bony up there and I'm terrified of the pain. I wouldn't want to end up with a half done angel. Happy Happy ME! September 22, 2005 Been working on my scrapbook about my weight loss and its been a challenge! It makes me so sad to see that miserable woman that I used to be. It makes it difficult for me to do the pages that I want to do. The upside is that I still see people everyday who don't reconize me when I see them. I went to see my best buddy Chuck last night and he got teary when he saw me. He told me how good that I looked and told me that he had never seen me look so happy. I was glad to see him too. He's been very ill and I was worried that he would look bad but surprizingly he looked pretty good. He and his wife were celebrating their 25th anniversary and their kids asked me to bring the cake. I never realized how heavy a sheet cake was and thought at one time, I could have put a serious dent in that thing. Last night I had one small bite and that was enough. I can't believe how happy I am with the new me! October 5, 2005 I am constantly amazed at the narrow mindedness of some of the people on these boards. You express an opinion on a posting and some of these people act like you took an ax to their child! I thought the board was supposed to be a place where you could voice an opinion. I get so tired of reading this one woman's posts who does nothing but whine and complain. So I posted my opinion and she loses her mind. Lies on the board about what I said in an email and I can just see the big ole crocodile tears welling up in her eyes! Honestly, women like her give the rest of us who fight for every right we have a bad name! I'm angry at myself for being drawn into the argument with her. Maybe I'll get lucky and run into her at a conference and just tell her how I feel up close and personal, the way I like to confront disagreements. I'm not surprised that she lied about the email. I've blocked her from sending any more emails to me. On the upside, I know that my head is in a better place then hers' and I definitely know that I am a better person for not being a priviledged princess all of my life! November 1, 2005 Went to my niece's house to do the halloween thing. Had a great time and the kids looked adorable! Nearly froze my butt off, it seemed so cold to me. Such a different life this year from the last one. Maybe next year, I'll walk with the kids instead of passing out the treats. This weekend, I have a day out with my little niece. We'll be building a new bear I think. I'll have to pick her little brain about Christmas while I have her out. I love my new life! November 11, 2005 Took the kids to see Santa at the mall. We had a wonderful time, or I did! I am so happy with my new life that I sometimes think that this is all a dream. I've not forgotten my old life and I hope that I never do. I want to be grateful and remember forever how much my life has changed. Below this posting is an email that I wrote to a new member who was recently denied surgery. The law should require insurance companies to cover this surgery. No one should have to live a life of being overweight. Dr Curry's number is : 513-559-2545....I am so sorry that I gave you the wrong number! I can relate to how you are feeling. I had my surgery last year when I was 50 so I feel like I spent my whole life sitting on the sidelines and not enjoying my life. My knees are also shot from carrying all of my extra weight for those years. Dr Curry saved my life literally. Dr Curry specilizes in bariatric sugery and is one of the best in the country. He is the most caring and compassionate doctor that I have ever encountered. Not only does he take care of the physical part of you, but he never makes you feel less of a person for being overweight. When you call his office for advice, he calls you back very quickly if he is not available to talk to you right away. I saw many doctors before I chose him and believe me, there are many out there who are great, but Dr Curry is one of a kind. I don't know how many surgeries that he has done but there are probably hundreds. I weighed 330 pounds when I went to see him and I was wearing a size 32 pants and a 5x shirt. Today I am in a size 10 pants and a small/medium top! Life is something that I never knew people had. I used to sit at home and do everything from my computer and cry my heart out because I knew I was missing so much. Food was my best friend and I miss it dearly. I've never been an outgoing religious person but since my surgery there is not a day that goes by that I don't stop and thank God and Dr Curry for giving this life to me. It would take days for me to tell you all of the things that I can do now that I never could before. I don't have any children of my own, but I have a niece who is my best friend and allows me to kidnap her children anytime that I want. And believe me, I kidnap them as much as possible. Friday I took them to see Santa and I think that I had a better time then them! There is so much that I want to do that I don't think I have enough time to do it all! Try and stay strong and positive on this. I'm sure that you will find a way. These insurance companies ought to be more willing to do this surgery. It will save them millions in the long run. I don't take any of the meds that I used to have to take and it must be saving my insurance company a fortune! Email me anytime that you need to or want to. I'll continue to keep you in my thoughts and prayers. November 20, 2005 Happy Anniversary to me on November 16, 2005! I saw Dr Curry on my anniversary date and he was pleased with my weight loss. I've lost 94% of my body fat according to him, which is 190 pounds less of me then there used to be! I can't believe my new life. I have energy, I can buy my underwear at Walmart, I can work all day and go home and make sure my home is spotless! I can take the kids out all day and not worry for a minute about being in pain later. I even went yesterday and had my picture taken with Santa! December 4, 2005 Last night was my work Christmas party and I decided for the first time in over 30 years to wear a dress! I thought I looked pretty good and it was wonderful to see people that I hadn't seen in for a long time. People didn't know me and it was great to see the expressions on their faces. A man who used to work in my plant came over and started flirting with me. This man used to call me a fat ass everytime that I had to meet with him. I don't like him, and still don't, he's so arrogant! He kept asking me my name and where I worked, was I married or involved or did I just fool around! It was all I could do to be civil to him. Finally he asked the woman sitting next to me what my problem was. She said, "maybe CATHY GABBARD and her fat ass are just not interested." He turned to look at me and I thought that he was going to fall out of his chair! I said she's right, Cathy is just not interested! I've waited all of my life to say that to one of the pretty boys who thought it was their god given right to make fun of me. When I was leaving, he came up to me and apologised for his rudeness to me for the past 20 years. I didn't say a word. All I could think of was that he had no idea how his words used to cut through me and how I was always so embarassed when I ran into him afraid of what he would say next. I left there feeling very sad for him. I am so grateful to be who I am today. I hope that I never forget how far this surgery has allowed me to come. And I loved my new dress! Happy Happy dancing ME! December 29, 2005 Christmas was wonderful. Baked and made cookies and had a great time doing it all. Shopped like crazy, went to every store that I could get to and had a wonderful time. Spent the day with my niece and her family and got beautiful pajamas and other nice things. Got to see another niece who I hadn't seen in a long time and was surprised at how grown she is getting. We went to the zoo's Festival of Lights and I was thrilled to be able to walk all over the place without any pain or fatigue! Whoo Hoo! This new life is such a blessing and I am so grateful for it.Of course I ate to many cookies and junk stuff so I am happy that the holiday is over with that temptation! Back on track and eating better food and making healthier choices. Sugar just zaps my energy level but at least I don't dump from it. One is as bad as the other though. To much sugar and I have to take a nap. At least its a short one. Fifteen minutes or so and I am ready to go again! :) January 29, 2006 I took my little nephew to the mall on Friday to do our weekly mall walk. He's a nut about elevators and escalators, and the day is not complete unless we ride everyone of them at least twice! If one of the elevators or escalators is down, he worries until the next time we go and see that it is fixed. He also tells everyone that he sees which one is broken. On Friday we went in the JCPenney store only to find that the down escalator was broken and the maintenance men were working on it. Ethan was yelling down the escalator asking the men how long it was going to take to fix it because we needed to ride on it. One of the men told him to come down and see what they were doing. So off we ran to the elevator so Ethan could help! The man was so nice to him, explaining everything that they were doing and even gave him a wheel gear to take home! Ethan was just beside himself as the man explained what they were doing. We spent a good 20 minutes watching and learning about repairing the escalators! The rest of the day while we were there, my little buddy talked about it. We even had to go back and check on the men before we left the mall. I don't know if that man realized what an impact he made on Ethan but I know one little boy who was thrilled beyond belief! It made me think about how I used to dread outings like that because my legs would hurt so bad. Now all I can do is think about how grateful that I am that I can walk and run and sing with Ethan at the mall and not worry about bringing attention to myself! Nothing like a 4 year old yelling up at you on an escalator that he LOVES you! He may forget in time about how much fun we had together and there will come a day when he won't want to mall walk with me, but I will forever remember those special times that we shared. And I shall be grateful until the end of my life, that I finally had one! Thank you Ethan for sharing your joy of life with me! October 8, 2006 Its been a long time since I updated my profile page and I thought I should do it! Life is wonderful and I was thinking this morning as I wondered around the house how different my life is now. I don't need as much sleep. I have tons of energy. I am a much nicer person, and my patience level has increased dramatically. I do everything now that I just used to dream about. I went to Kings Island this summer for the first time in 30 years! I walked all day and felt great. I take my niece's kids out and can run with them and not keep asking if they are ready to go home! I wonder sometimes where I would be if I had not had the surgery. Would I still be here? I can't imagine life getting any better then this! Walking, swimming, shopping...all of the things that I used to dream about are right here NOW! People keep asking me if I am going to have my excess skin removed. Its not something that interest me and I tend not to worry about it. If I were 20 years younger, I'd probably be in the "sign me up for everything" frame of mind. At this stage in my life, I am just truly happy to be who I am. Saggy skin is not going to deter me from enjoying my life! I regained about 20 pounds, but I think I needed to. I was looking kind of bony and unhealthy. My doctors are pleased with my weight loss and I am beyond thrilled. Just to know that I can tie my shoes without putting my foot on the coffee table thrills me! I got a new kitty, mean as he can be! My little nephew named him Cory but sometimes I think "Wee Mean Kitty" suits him better! He makes me laugh and smile though, so there is some good of him being in my life! Crazy cat! I missed having a pet and there is a reason that he came into my life. I'm looking forward to the holidays and have to remind myself that I don't have to buy everything! Halloween is soon and I am very excited to watch my niece's kids do their candy thing. We have shopped for costumes and they are adorable. Courtney is going to be an angel and Ethan will be Buzz Lightyear. I love doing the Halloween thing with them and every year, I get to get costumes for them. Today is Ethan's 5th Birthday Party and I am excited to go! That little boy goes straight to my heart! His big sister is as sweet as she can be, and I am ever so grateful to have them in my life, even though their Daddy thinks that I spoil them to much! :) Lucky me to have my niece who is the joy of my life. Sweet and kind and so good to me. Yep I am one lucky woman who is thrilled to FINALLY have a life! November 16, 2006 Two years have passed since my surgery and I am 200 pounds less then I used to be! I love my life! I am truly happy and miraculously blessed. I am still in awe when I see pics of myself and have to look to see if that is really me in the picture! Happy Happy Dancing and Singing ME! :) February 14, 2007 Wow it has ben ages since I updated my profile. I check in with the Ohio Board occasionally but I haven't checked my profile in ages! LIFE is wonderful and I am enjoying it everyday. I feel great and I get out more then I ever dreamed about. I have a new kitten, Cory, who was supposed to be a boy but it turns out HE is a SHE. Fine with me, I love her just the same. I missed having a warm little body to snuggle with. She delights me as much as she terrorizes me! I call her WMK~wee mean kitty! I'm planning a trip to DisneyWorld with my niece and her family in the fall. My niece's hubby might as well be prepared for me to kidnap the kids and spoil them even more rotten then they are now! :) I am very excited and can't wait for the arrival date of the trip. I have lots of energy now and I can be on the go all day and not get tired and achey like I used to. This surgery has been a blessing that I am grateful for everyday of my life. Volunteer For The HTML Team of Obesity Help To have yours spruced up please contact someone from the HTML Team dental office marketing Photos
Hospital Reviews Member Interests: Click here to see interests of other ObesityHelp members. Surgeon Info: Surgeon: Trace Curry I had my first meeting with Dr Curry and found him very informative. I liked his direct approach and I am hoping that my insurance will approve my surgery. Insurer Info: United Health Care, HMO I didn't have any problems with UHC. In fact, I expected to be disapproved on my first attempt. I couldn't have asked for a more speedy answer to my request! | ||||||||||||||||||||
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