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Connie N.
Texarkana, AR, USA
Post Op - BMI: 31.6
Surgery Type: RNY
Member ID: N1077079378
Surgeon: Todd Eibes, M.D., F.A.C.S.

Click here for Connie's surgery support page
Click here for the 09/2003 Reunion Page
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"We've Only Just Begun".......

SW: 475; BMI--74.4
CW: 202; BMI--31.6
Loss: 273# as of 12/21/05

I am a disabled mother of 2, stepmother of 3 and grandma to 12. I want to ENJOY spending time with my grandkids and not just lay in bed all the time because it is so hard to move, I have NO regrets about having my surgery.

I have been heavy since the day I was born, weighing in at a whopping 9 pounds and 13 ounces. It was steadily downhill from that point on for me. Sure, everyone thinks fat babies are so cute and cuddly, but hey, we have this strange habit of growing up. And if we don't nip it in the bud early on, then it can only get worse.

Many times I traveled the roller coasters called "diets". Many times I would actually lose a few pounds but they always managed to find their way back and brought along their friends.

I first heard of WLS a long time ago when a friend of mine had it, when it first came out and it was so very dangerous at the time and she had horrendous problems and eventually died of complications from her surgery. As they found safer methods and doctors were trained better and knew more about obesity and all of the attached morbidities that go along with it, I thought more and more about it.

When I first approached a doctor about having the surgery, I was told that Medicare would not pay for it, they considered it "Cosmetic Surgery", how stupid is that??? I am dying here from being so damned FAT!!! Can't you people understand that??? For several years I was told the same thing, and I simply did not have $15,000 - $30,000 petty cash lying around to pay for the surgery myself.

Finally, Medicare wised up, but I still didn't have the money for the co-pays. One day, my sister called and told me if I still wanted to have it, that she and her husband would pay the out-of-pocket expense. WOW!!! The search was on. Now my problem was the only doctor in my area who did the surgery was now retired, so what do I do now?

One day not long afterward, my brother called to tell me if I wanted to, he would come from Iowa and get me and take me to Dr. Eibes in Grinnell, where my Uncle and his brother-in-law and daughter had the same surgery done. I called the doctor, got an appointment for just a few days later, and my brother drove from Iowa to get me and take me up there. I stayed with my mother from August 16 until November 1 when I was released and headed back to Arkansas. My husband and grandkids sure were glad to have me back home, lol. And I was happy to be here. I was grateful to my Mother and Brother for all the care they gave me while I was there, but it just isn't the same.

I am now well on the way to being a healthy *me*. As of yesterday, 3/8/04, I have lost 133 pounds and the doctor was very pleased with my progress. I have had no complications, no more vomiting from overeating, and I have a lot more energy. I still have a long way to go and since my beginning weight was 475#, it will take time, but as long as I can still see the numbers dropping, I am willing and even thrilled to take that time. After all, I didn't get to that point overnight, I can't expect to drop it all off overnight either. I have a wonderful support system in my family, and they all get so excited every time I report a loss, no matter how small it might be. They are all thrilled for me and are very encouraging and supportive, I don't think I could do this without them.

3/24/04

What a journey this is turning out to be. I can already list a number of things that have changed drastically. I can drive!!! I had not done that in over a year because I didn't fit behind the wheel even with the seat laying all the way back. Now I can drive with the seat completely upright and I couldn't even do that when we bought the van!!! I can wear my wedding rings, yea!!! I hadn't done that in over a year either. I can wear jeans again, hehe. It had been over 3 years since I could squeeze into my jeans. Luckily they were all tubbed up in the shed. Except for one lone pair and I found them in the closet and thought "hmmmm, wonder how long it will be till I can wear them again?"...I decided on a whim to try and lo and behold THEY WERE TOO BIG!!! I had Charles bring that big tub in that very same night and several pair are already so big they fall off, I'm so excited!!!

My hair was falling out pretty bad, which is a normal and thank God temporary thing after having this surgery I'm told. So...I went yesterday and had it cut short. I was letting my hair grow to donate it to Locks of Love anyway, I just wish it was thicker, but I now have a 16" ponytail to donate to them, so I hope that helps someone, and it really does make my hair not look so thinning to have it cut short and surely will be much easier to take care of.

I have lost 140#+ now and I am definitely more energetic. My sleeping habits have completely changed. I used to be up very late and get up midmorning or later. Now I wake up by 7 am every day and can't keep my eyes open past midnight now. I miss watching Third Watch from 2 to 3 am, but if it gives me more energy to get up and moving early, so be it.

3/28/04
I am so shocked and thrilled!!! I even had to get off and back on the scales 3 times to make sure, lol. Heck, I even went so far as to slide the weights all the way to the left and check to make sure someone hadn't messed with my scale, but it was exactly balanced...I lost 8 more pounds this week!!! Wild thing is, 7 of it is since yesterday morning. I knew I was retaining some fluids, so I took a Lasix yesterday, guess it was a LOT of fluid. Either way, I'm a happy camper this morning.

I still have a long way to go, but the barriers are beginning to fall a little at a time. Now, if only my clothes would quit falling off, lol.

4/12/04

Who would have ever thought I would be proud to say I am now Morbidly Obese???!!! LOL, but considering I started out with a BMI of 74.4 and as of yesterday, my 7 month anniversary of my surgery, it is now down to 49.3, moving me from Super Obese to Morbidly Obese. That is an ugly word though, so I hope I get through that one quickly, lol.

We had a wonderful Easter, celebrated our Saviour and our family. I cooked for my kids and grandkids and husband with NO HELP!!! I was here alone, but they all pitched in and cleaned up afterwards. I have not been able to cook like that for a very long time, it was really nice to be able to do it even if I was exhausted and my back was killing me afterwards, but what else is new and different. I did it, that is the important thing!!! And it can only get better.

5/2/04

I did it!!! I did it, I can't believe I did it. When I weighed in last Sunday at 311# I told Charles I was DETERMINED that I would get below 300 by this week. Some people on the weight loss surgery support boards were skeptical as the weight loss normally slows down this many months out from surgery, but everyone was still very wonderful and supportive. I even shocked myself when I stepped on the scales this morning and I had lost 13 pounds this week!!! (My granddaughter pretended to faint on the floor again, lol) I know it is hard for some of you to imagine being excited to weigh 298 pounds, but trust me when I say, I feel like a completely different person.

I now weigh less than I did when I met my husband, and and as soon as I lose one more pound, I will weigh less than my brother for the first time in our entire lives!!!!! When I was telling my grandkids and Charles that, I started crying again, lol.

Just wanted to share my joyous new goal met. My next goal is to get below what I was when Charles and I got married, which was 278, hopefully that one won't take long.

Charles and Bailey were whispering about what my reward would be for getting below 300. He said he would buy me a new outfit at Walmart, but they were conspiring something else too, guess I'll find out later what that was all about, lol.

8/27/04

I've gotten a little lax about updating this page. I can finally get out a go places and that is exactly what I've been doing!!! Where do I begin???

The end of July I took Bailey and Jon, two of my grandchildren, and we loaded up and left on a 2 1/2 week road trip. After not being able to drive for over a year, this was quite an accomplishment. We took 3 days, with a stop to see our youngest grandson along the way and drove to Iowa where we stayed with my brother Steve and visited almost daily with my mom at the nursing home. My youngest sister and her two kids came down from Chicago for a few days and we had a blast! They were all pleasantly surprised at my new appearance of course. We even went to Adventureland in Des Moines, Iowa where I reverted back to my childhood and rode a bunch of the rides. Just nothing that goes upside down or is a roller coaster I told them, lol. There was only one ride that I wanted to ride and couldn't because the bar hit right in the middle of my biggest hernia, but I rode all the rest and it was FUN. On the way home we took 5 days getting back and did a lot of sight-seeing along the way. The highlight of the trip had to be the 9 1/2 mile drive through Exotic Animal Paradise in Springfield, MO. We had deer, llama, oxen, goats, burros, zebra and even a big Brahma all practically crawling right up in the van with us!!! We all had such a great time feeding the animals. We went to the petting zoo and the kids got to go right in the pens with baby llama and goats, a baby camel, baby Brahmas, the cutest little baby pot-bellied pig, it was so much fun!! We went through 4 BIG bags of feed and it was worth every crumb. I am still finding pieces of it in my van, lol.

I am still taking water aerobics 3 days a week and swimming some of the other days, just not as much as before we left and the classes have ended now, but I'll still continue to work out as long as the weather holds out.

I have an appointment with a plastic surgeon in Little Rock that I found on this site on September 30 and I am soooooo hoping he will agree to go ahead with my plastics now. I am 117# from goal now and the bariatric doc thinks they will remove anywhere from 30 - 60# with plastics so I would be less than 60# from goal then and it would be so much easier to lose the rest if these stupid hernias were repaired!!! I HATE HERNIAS!!!

I have just about shrunk out of all the clothes I bought the beginning of summer. Have gone from 8x and 10x clothes almost a year ago to the 1x and 2x stuff I'm wearing now, yipppeee!!! If I didn't have a football sized hernia in my stomach, maybe I could get out of these x's for good! Think good thoughts and say a prayer for me that I get to start on the plastic surgeries soon.

Hope everyone is having as good a summer as I have had and I pray that you all have a mild and fun winter!

12/13/04

I celebrated my 50th birthday last Tuesday. I sure don't feel like I am older, I probably feel about 150 years younger this year!!! As of this morning I have lost 225 pounds since September 11 of last year and although I still have 100 pounds left to lose to make the goal of 150 pounds that the doctor set for me, I feel so MUCH better than I did a year ago.

I now have an appointment with the plastic surgeon in Little Rock, Dr. Kris Shewmake, on January 11 to start getting set up to begin my plastic surgeries. With luck he will start with my stomach and arms and then when I am healed from that (he says just a few short weeks), I'll have my legs and breasts done. My stomach is the most critical, I have mounds of skin hanging down and flapping against my legs and it causes boils and rashes and I just want to be RID of it!!!

1/3/05

Happy New Year!!! And what a joyous year it is. I have my life back and I enjoyed the holidays so much with my family and friends, something that has not happened much for many years, since I had become almost immobile and couldn't cook holiday meals or do the shopping for each of them I love so much. I outdid myself this year, lol...and our pocketbooks can prove it too, .

The wonderful volunteers have posted my photos at the bottom of this page so you can see my progress thus far. The first was taken in the fall of 2001, I gained about 75# after that one was taken before my surgery. The second was taken in October of 2004 and I have lost 36# since it was taken. I hope in a few months after my plastic surgeries I can add an even better one and have Before/During/After shots.

Have a wonderful 2005 everyone!

1/25/05

Can anyone spell EXCITEMENT???!!!

I wasn't able to work things out with a PS in Arkansas, so I contacted Dr. Eibes' office where I had my RNY. I found out he has also been doing the reconstructive surgery that goes with it all along and he was totally willing to do mine, so I started packing for another trip to Iowa! My brother met us in Joplin so my hubby could use his car while I'm gone and we brought my van up here.

I saw the doctor this morning and I have a date! He is going to do a belt lipectomy on me next Thursday, Feb. 3, plus will remove the huge fatty tumor under my left arm along with as much skin as he can too. He said I would be in surgery for about an hour and a half for both, WOW. I am sooooo ready to have this huge mound of skin GONE from my stomach and butt!!!

2/27/05

Well, it has been 24 days since my Belt Lipectomy and removal of a lipoma from my left arm. Surgery all went according to plan and the doctor came in my room the next morning with a big grin on his face, saying my surgery went so perfect, he was absolutely pleased with how everything went. The top part of my stomach was swollen to the point I couldn't even SEE my belly!!! It was sooooooo flat it actually sunk in a little, amazing!

I had surgery on Thursday and came home on Monday with 4 drain tubes, a binder and about 200 staples!!! I would have set off alarms at the airport, that is for sure! And don't let anyone lie to you, IT HURTS!!! This surgery was way more painful than my RNY was, and it still is. I got about 1/2 the staples out 12 days after surgery, including all of the ones in my arm (26). The drains were still running too much to take any of those out. When I went back the following week, on the 22nd, the rest of the staples were all removed (it hurt a lot worse this time because they were starting to be irritated), and the right back drain and left front drain were removed. Would have made life a lot simpler to remove both on one side or the other or both front or both back, but oh no, my body has to be uncooperative, sheesh. Anyway, just getting 2 out helps to find at least a 1/2 way comfortable position to get some sleep. The binder is a nuisance, but tolerable. At least it is latex free and not making me break out like my last one did, so that is a blessing.

My brother is taking excellent care of me and we have gotten along beautifully. It is kinda lonely here though, he spends most of his time in the basement when he is home, where he stays, and I am upstairs. He pops in to empty my drains and check on me from time to time, but otherwise it is very quiet. I thought I was going to be able to use my new cell phone with free long distance to stay in touch with family and friends and that didn't work out either because I can barely get a signal from here for some reason, there is a tower about 4 blocks away, guess maybe it is TOO close. So if anyone is reading this and wants to email me, FEEL FREE!!! It is lonely up here without my family and church friends.

I go back to the doctor on Tuesday, still praying that these last 2 drains slow down enough to come out, but at the rate they are going, I'm not too hopeful at this point I'm afraid. He said last week he is absolutely pleased with my progress and thinks when all the fluids finally get out and all the swelling goes down that I will be too...right now I am a little disappointed because although he removed 17 pounds of skin and left-over fat, as of this morning I still only weigh 4 pounds less than I did the morning of my surgery, so that is a little frustrating, but I was warned ahead of time, so I'm not panicking, just disappointed a little. I am NOT a patient person, and I am ready for the entire process to be over with so I can get on with my new life!

We are still waiting for word on whether Medicare is going to pay to do my thighs. Dr. Eibes is optimistic, as they are really bad with huge mounds of skin flapping against each other when I walk, creating rashes and sores, plus dozens of little rolls of skin hanging down the back of my legs that pinch like fire when I sit down, causing blood blisters, so he thinks they will approve it, it is just a matter of waiting for the powers that be to go through all the info and get the paperwork done. We are already making plans to appeal and he said he would help me every step of the way to get it approved, as it really needs to be done. Not that I am anxious to be cut open again, mind you, I'm just anxious to get rid of all this flapping skin!

4/2/05

I think I might just actually be well on my way to being healed at what seems like long last. I certainly feel a lot better today than I have felt since I started getting infections from my surgery, and the swelling seems much less today, I might actually be able to wear my "little" clothes when I get rid of this pesky binder, lol.

I had developed infections that turned out to be worse than the doctor first thought, I just spent the last week in the hospital. I had Cellulitis and a bad Staph infection that settled under my stomach muscles, making it difficult to get to with a syringe to drain the fluids. I was admitted Tuesday of last week, when I went in for my regular every Tuesday follow-up and was put on mega doses of IV antibiotics.

They did a CT scan the next day and drew out 2 HUGE syringes (I call them turkey basters) of fluid off my right hip and back, but it was amber colored and clear, just serous fluid that had built up. They put a drain tube in the front under my belly button where it was so very swollen and pulled out a huge syringe of yukky chocolate milk looking stuff from the abscess that was up under the muscle. They hooked up a JP bulb to it and it filled up almost immediately, and after that it started getting clearer and by the time I came home Tuesday afternoon it was pretty clear too and they did another CT scan Monday and pulled some more fluid off my right hip and back but said that was the only pocket of fluid left and the infection is cleared up.

I am still on antibiotics for a week just to be sure, but feeling much better. Obviously the fluids have gone down significantly because I finally lost the rest of the weight from what he removed when he did my belt lipectomy! As of yesterday morning I was down to 215# for a total loss of 260#!!!!! I had to get off and back on a couple of times to make sure, lol.

I still have to wear this awful binder for probably another month, but at least he did have the nurse remove the drain tube before I was released this Tuesday, thank God. It wasn't doing any good and the sutures had pulled out of my skin and the tube was falling out and being held in with tape, which meant I couldn't shower and bed baths just don't cut it. He also put me back on Premarin short term even though neither of us wanted it, but I have started having horrendous night sweats, I assume from Menopause, joy, joy. I've had a complete hysterectomy, but they said even though we don't go through the hormonal changes at this point we don't usually avoid the sweats, so I was changing my nightgown 2 or 3 times a night...not fun, and certainly not very good timing.

Anyway, I am back home (well, at my brother's, still not "home"), and we still have not heard anything from Medicare if they are going to approve to do my legs or not. I think it has been way too long.

I did get some very disappointing news though. My precious surgeon who has worked miracles for me is leaving the practice here. He may be moving to either Des Moines, Chicago or Kansas City. I am NOT a happy person about this, I wanted him to do the rest of my surgery even if we had to pay for it ourselves if Medicare doesn't come through. He will let me know where he is I am sure, but I wouldn't have anyone to stay with if he moves away from here, unless he ends up in Chicago so I can maybe talk my sister into "babysitting" me and providing Illinois Medicare is as cooperative about paying for my surgeries as Iowa has been so far anyway. I tried to talk him into moving to Texarkana, but he said his wife doesn't like the South...hmpfffff, lol. Can't blame a girl for trying.

Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update. Future Update.

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Member Interests:

Books & Literature - My favorite authors are V.C. Andrews, Patricia Cornwell and Mary Higgins Clark

Needlework, Knitting & Crocheting - I'm an avid crocheter, mostly make up my own patterns.

Crossword & Word Games - I love word games of any kind, online and offline.

Collectibles - I collect antique bells, cups & saucers, a few dolls, antique miniatures.

Christianity - I am a member of the Southern Baptist Church & hope to get active again soon.

Cruises - I would LOVE to go on a cruise & that will be my gift to myself at goal.

Grandchildren - We have 12 Grandchildren and enjoy every moment spent with them!

Horses - I LOVE horses and hope and pray I can ride again one day.

Country - I am an avid country music fan & met alot of the stars in Branson.

Click here to see interests of other ObesityHelp members.

Surgeon Info:
Surgeon: Todd Eibes, M.D., F.A.C.S.
As a surgeon, he is tops, I would recommend him to anyone considering having WLS. As a person, he could use a course in better bedside manner. We had some misunderstandings, but seemed to work things out by the time I was released to come back to Arkansas. His office staff is wonderful and there is seldom much, if any waiting time before getting in to see the doc. 2/27/05...Update on my experience with Dr. Eibes. My opinion has GREATLY improved with my second trip to Iowa and my first round of reconstructive surgery with him. His bedside manner and his mannerisms in general are awesome and he takes the time to listen and answer all questions now and in general has become accustomed to small-town living I believe. He is an amazing surgeon and a very nice person. I would recommend Dr. Eibes to anyone needing WLS and the reconstructive surgery that almost always is necessary to follow.
Insurer Info:
Medicare
Apparently I was the exception to the rule. After my initial consult the doctor said it would be up to a month before we heard anything. Medicare approved my surgery the very next day!!!