ObesityHelp

June 23, 2003
Two more days. I'm still a little scared but I feel calmer now than I did a couple of days ago. I want to say Thanks to everyone who has had me in their thoughts. Please keep me there and in your prayers for a while longer.

Waiting, waiting. I'm still expecting a phone call to say it was all a mistake or that something was wrong with my bloodwork and I can't do the surgery right now. But I'll keep waiting and hopefullly it will be over soon! Hopefully I'll be on my way to a smaller version of me!

July 10, 2003
Fourteen days post-op and I'm having more pain now than in the beginning. I go see my surgeon today to have my staples removed and I'm hoping that will give me some relief. These things are a bother! I'm not sure about the weight loss yet - I really don't know how accurate my scale is. I've always stayed away from it in the past! When I come back I'll post to say if I've lost any weight.

October 18, 2003
Wow! It's been quite a while since I've posted. I knew it was a while but I didn't realize it was this long! I'll back up a little! From my last posting - YES! I got the staples out and that helped soooo much! The only problem with that was the top section of my incision should probably be left a little longer but that was the section that was giving me the most pain! Now that it's been 3 monhts I have a nice fat worm looking scar at the top and the bottom looks wonderful! Just a thin pink line that will most likely fade completely away like my other scars. Oh well! At this point I don't think I would trade it.

I think the reason I've not posted is because I've been so leary about this whole thing! I've lost around 54 pounds at this point - 16 1/2 weeks out - and even though everyone is different I feel that it's been a little slow. I've kind of been blaming that for the slump that I'm in. I lost my job the week after I came out of the hospital and have been having trouble getting another one. I think the added activity of a job plus the fact that I would have more "gumption" would speed up my losing. ANYWAY . . . another reason I've been so leary is because I have been able to lose this much before, but only this much. I've been able to get down to 195 to 199 - just under 200 - and then I slowly "ounce" back up. I think once I get below the 200 mark and continue to lose I'll feel so much more excited. I've only about 10 lbs to go and don't you know . . . I've hit a plateau. I so wanted to be below the 200 mark when I went to the surgeon. October 30. Can I lose this in 12 days? We will see. . . . . . . .

October 30, 2003
I didn't lose the 12 pounds. I weighed in at 211. My surgeon said I was doing fine - not losing too fast or too slow. I told him I thought I had been losing slow. I have hit another plateau and am trying like crazy to break it.

November 1, 2003
I went to GNC to get my protein powders and they have a scale there. I usually go about once a month to stock up and weigh myself each time. Still 211. I looked at my slip from the last time (Sept 3, 2003 - I skipped October) and I was 226. What is going on here? 15 pounds in 2 months. That was discouraging. So I bought some Keto Diastix to check my urine to make sure I'm in ketosis - because I've been trying the h#$l
to get there again. In the morning when I check I have moderate levels of ketones present in my urine, which I expected because we burn fat during the night. In the afternoon I barely have trace amounts present. So now I'm pushing to get the levels up a little during the day. I'm not without fault here. I have been slipping up; mostly because I've been so depressed with this plateau. I've discovered that I can build up a tolerance for sugar. I haven't done it a lot, but if I have something with sugar in it - just a little - I feel bad; then if I have it again the next day I don't feel qutie as bad and so on . . . Anyway, with Halloween I've really been hitting the homemade caramel corn! So I got rid of it and am determined to not let any sugar into my mouth for quite a while. Then maybe if I do I will dump and be afraid of it again.

November 15, 2003
I've finally broken that awful plateau! I dug my heels in and pushed - increased protein and water intake, watched any and all carbs, and even threw in a little exercise. I dropped about 5-6 pounds.

I've been having some odd twinges and even a little pain the past couple of days. Mostly it's been on my left side, like a little pinch on the left side of my pouch area. This happens when I eat. Not when I eat anything but when I eat enough to make myself feel satisfied. Not overfull just satisfied. I'm so hoping this is not a disruption in my staple line. If it continues I'm going to asked to be scoped. The other pain, which happened to be quite intense, was on my right side. Just about where everyone says they have pain when they have gallbladder problems. Lovely. I didn't have mine taken out when I had surgery because Dr. Garber said it looked fine. There were no stones or anything. Could I have developed stones in less than 5 months? I'm going to just watch everything I eat, eat very little (uh - how much is very little now? Next to nothing!)and try to stick to my protein shakes, V8, and softer foods for the next week or two. If the pain persists then it's off to the Dr. I go!

March 20, 2004
It has been quite some time since I have updated my profile! I look back and wonder what excuse I can give for not updating sooner and all I can come up with is holidays, moving, and the winter doldrums!
I am five days shy of being nine months out and I have lost about 85 lbs. and 40 inches. I am happy about it but a little disappointed that I am such a slow loser. I think if I had been working (outside of the house) for the past 9 mos. I would have lost a little faster.
I'm not a fanatic about what I eat. Maybe I should be. I do eat sugar although I'm careful. I don't eat it every day and I don't eat it in large quantities. If I want a piece of cake I have one but have to remove most of the icing as I have discovered that it is much too much for me. I don't truly dump from sugar - just feel sort of 'yucky' for a while afterward. I also feel that way after I have something too fatty. I had an experience that I never hope to have again! The first time since I had surgery my family went to Long John Silvers. Never again! I didn't eat there ofter before surgery because I was very aware of how un-healthy it was and I would walk away feeling a little gross because of all the fat I had consumed. Anyway, we went one night because it was quick, I had one piece of fish with some of the breading taken off, about three fries, one hushpuppy, and a bite of chicken. I left feeling - gross. We stopped at Wal-Mart to get some diapers- which took about 5 minutes - and went home. About 30 minutes altogether. On the way home I needed to use the restroom and even though told my husband to hurry I still wasn't feeling too terrible. When I got home I rushed to the restroom where I proceeded to DIE!!! By the time my bottom hit the seat I was so incredibly sick I thought I was going to die. My body from under my arms to the bottom of my butt seemed to be contracting, trying to force out the crap that I had just eaten. I had diarrhea, cramping like I've NEVER experience before, and was fighting the urge to vomit.