ObesityHelp

July 2001
HELLO, my name is Tania and I have overweight since I was 9yrs. old. I am 34years old now. I have tried most of the diets out there in the big beautiful blue world plus more! After the separation of my relationaship w/ the father of my awesome son we moved back to my home town and that's when my weight started increasing, along with the fact that I was as active as a slug. I have been asking my doctor if I could have a gastric bypass for about 4years and now finally that I am a wopping 280lbs. now she has started listening to me. I also feel I have researched the type of surgeries avail. and am ready now to know what I want!
Later in July2001....
Just had my appt. w/ my family doctor. She supports me getting a bariatric surgery! yippppppy!!!!!!! I told her that I belong to a weight loss surgery group here in Bellingham. The people in our group have helped me with finding a good surgeon, psychiatrist, and the ropes about my insurance Medicade or DSHS as I know it. The day after my doc. okayed the referral I called Dr. Richard Thirlby in Seattle and spoke with a very knowlegeable receptionist Sandiya. She made my consultation appt. w/ Dr. T. for Jan. 21st 2002!!!! That is how far he's schedualed out to. boo'who!

August-December
I have almost 5months until I see Dr. T. Now down to the nitty- gritty. I Called the DSHS Medical Assistance Administration @(360)725-1583 and left two messages for Gail, I think that was her name, and to my surprise she was very nice & helpful. She faxed me a form that the surgeon is to fill out when I see him. I made copies of these papers she faxed me and actually had my fam. doc. also fill out what she knows about me, heck she knows me better that the Dr.T. does anyway. Just having the papers from DSHS made me feel I was incharge now of my destiny.I had to make things happen.
LABS DONE 9/01
DSHS requires you get your blood drawn for the surgeon, but I know Dr.T. will have me do it again before surgery. No big deal, just do it.
PSYCHIATRIST REFERRAL 10/01
This is a requirment of DSHS to make sure that your really mentally prepared for a "life altering" surgery and hopefully won't sabotage the new way you will have to eat after the surgery.
EKG AND ECHO=CARDIOGRAM 12/01
Requested an EKG, just as DSHS requests, at my doc's office. Looks good. Now I'd like to be sched. for an Echo. When I went to get my echo the lady who was preforming it asked me why I needed it. I told her for a surgery. She was nice so after a little while I opened up and told her I was going to get a Roux en-Y. She thought it was great! She, being a chubby sista' herself had been contemplating surgery. Good Luck she says.
January is coming up, finally! I have copies of all the tests, and some chart notes from my own file ready for me to show Dr.T.
I also have some pics of me when I was 175lbs. and people called me FAT back then. Oh, if I could be that weight again.
PHONE CALL FR. DR.T.'S OFFICE
My appt. date has been set back one week to Jan. 28th. *&^%#!!!

JAN. 11, 2002
HAPPY NEW YEAR! Well, after a good six long months, I can finally say things are starting to move along for me. I have an appt. to se Dr. Thirlby in Seattle 1/28/02. I have gotten all my tests that I need done...EKG, echocardiogram, lab tests and phych eval. I am so excited, I feel so positive good things are going to happen for me and my health. I really enjoy the support group I attend here in Bellingham. I learn a lot from the other ladies who have had their surgery and what they can and cannot eat. They all get excited buying clothes and how people treat them now. Saw Dr.T. 1/28/02 he seems very compasionate about what he does in helping morbidly obese people obtain a healthier lifestyle, of course the patient is the main contributer though. The patient has to work at getting healthier too. Walking, swimming, riding a bike, running around with your children! Dr.T. said he had never had a patient as organized as I was that day I saw him. Whether or not it's true or not, it made me feel good. He told me he was going to write the letter of reccomendation for me to DSHS that same day and send it out the next day.
WAITING....
WAITED 2months for an aceptance letter from DSHS, but when I did I was exctatic! Couldn't wait to tell my buddies at our WLS group! You might hear from other people that you should call and bug your surgeon's office to see that they have done their job. I feel that if you are polite and knowlegable w/ the surgeon that they will remember YOU more than if you are demanding and rude. I work in a doc. office and I too deal w/ demanding people everyday. It's the polite patients that have their matters done fast and properly.

May 4, 2002
68 days left until my surgery date! Schedualed for July 11,02' w/ Dr. Richard Thirlby in Seattle,Wa. Needless to say I am so excited! I feel like I'v been waiting forever. When I browse Obestiy Help.com I see everyone that has sucseeded I get more excited about my surgery date.

June 12, 02'
Hi everyone! I know it's been awhile since I last wrote, but I don't want to bore everyone with my same old anxious self. I only have 28 DAYS LEFT!!!
I did have a little acident at work and slipped on a cement floor. We were having some carpet being put down by one of our doors and I forgot the person had put WET GLUE on the part where the carpet was going. I walked through the door and WHAM!! Down Tania went! It was hard to stand up cuz' the floor was so slippery. I had sticky glue all over my pants, shoes, my top and my right arm. The funny part was I made it home and when I got into my place I couldna't take my clothes off! They were stuck to my body! I finally managed to take em' off, take a shower, and return to work. The bad thing is that the next morning my body and neck hurt. I filled out my L&I form and now have been home 2 days resting my body. I should be good to go into surgery by then.
I have been taking supplements for about 2months now just to give my immune system an extra boost for after the surgery. I have been taking my multi-vitamin, Ester C, Calcium + Vit D, Bitotin (cuz' I love my hair and don't want to lose it all! If you knew me you'd understand how much I luv my hair.ha,ha), and Milk Thisel to give my liver an extra boost. I plan to stop taking all my vitamins before surgery of course cuz' I don't want to get my surgery posponed.

On June 19th I have to go to Seattle w/ my angel Annie and get my pre-surg. tests done. I'm excited for that! I have to get an abdominal UTZ, meet the anethesiologist, see Dr. Thirlby again, and get some blood tests done.
Has anyone tried to diet before surgery? Sometimes I give up sweets cuz' I have only a short time before surgery, but then sometimes I say "What the hell! I have to say "good bye" Haagen-Das Ice Cream, bye-bye Red Robin food, bye chocolate eclairs, ect.ect.. Is that crazy or what?! I also have been eating salads for lunch loaded with tomatoes, avocado, and good stuff. I have been eating more veggies, fruit and yogurt so I am being kinda good.

SUN.12MIDNIGHT JUNE 23rd 2002
HOLY MOLY ONLY 18 days left!!! June 19th PRE-OP DAY.
Saw Dr.T. at Virginia Mason, had an abdominal ultrasound done, found out I stillhave an enlarged fatty liver. DR.T. will prob. do a liver biopsy when I have my surgery JULY 11TH. Met w/ a dietian at Virginia Mason Hosp. she was very knowlegeable and helpful regarding the roux-en-Y post diet. Had my blood tests done, and met w/ the anesthesiologist.
Good news, I kicked my habit of drinking coffee, mochas, lattes, and pop. It's been almost 2 weeks! Mochas were my "friend" for so many years it's weird not to walk into work without my "friend" in hand. Food has been my comfort. An escape from the world. Just me and my food, my couch, my T.V. I hate buying clothes. I have had the same nice blacks slacks and linen blouse for almost 3years, buy quality if you want it to last. I am wearing it right now. It's summer time and I should be wearing shorts! I did the other day. I was walking into the grocery store and caught a glimps at myself wearing shorts. I was discusted w/myself! Instead of buying comfort food that day, I came out w/ a bunch of fruit. I felt aweful. I wanted to cry. Why and how did I let my self get so BIG!? ***I pray to God that my surgery goes well, to take care of myself, and to play with my 10 year old son very soon, outside and running around. I told my son that next year, God willing, that we will go to Disney-Land and have lots of fun.

June 29, 2002
ONLY 11 DAYS LEFT!!!!!! I am so ready. Today I cleaned my house and made it comfortable for when I return from my surgery. I hope all goes well. I will probably read a lot this summer while I am at home recovering. My suitcase is still not packed, but thank goodness to all the people on this site I have gotten some great reccomendations on what to take with me to the hospital. On Monday we have our WLS meeting here in Bellingham. This will be my last meeting pre-surgery! I am so giddy! Everybody on this site w/ before and after pics look so great! I wanna have a pic. up soon too.

Happy Fourth of July!!!!
Only 6 days left until the big day! Today I celebrated my last fourth of July as a very big gal. Next year I will actually go out and celebrate w/ friends and family. I hate going w/ my extended family (aunts,cousins,ect...) I always have felt that they do not care for me because of being obese. They look at me w/ discust, I swear! But next year..........WOW!! Will they be surprised!

TUES. JULY 09, 02'
WELL....TOMORROW IS THE BIG DAY BEFORE THE BIG DAY!!!! TOMORROW ME AND MY ANGEL ANNIE GO DOWN TO SEATTLE AND WAIT FOR JULY 11TH. I AM SO EXCITED, OBVIOUSLY! TODAY AT WORK WAS AWESOME. WE HAD A PRE-SURGERY-VACATION-GOOD LUCK PARTY FOR ME. EVERYBODY I WORK WITH IS SO SWEET AND SUPPORTIVE. WELL......SEE YOU ALL ON THE OTHER SIDE........Tania

JULY 23,2002
Greetings fr. the other side. I will be 2wks post-op this Thurs.
Well, the day of my surgery went well. I was at the hospital by 8am. I was not too nervous thank goodness. There was too much going on for me to get nervous. I went into surgery around 11am and was finally awake in my room at 5:30pm. I was not in alot of pain at the beginning. I did not like the NG-tube in my nose, but at least I only have 1 scar down my abdomen and it's not all messed up. I have 36 staples down my tummy. The insision is about 7". Tomorrow I get my staples out. I stayed in the hosp. for 4 days. I got to eat a lot of ice chips at the beginning which was pretty nice. I felt dehydrated after the surgery. I was not as hot as other people mentioned they were after surgery. On day 3 I finally felt hot. I have been hot though ever since I'v returned home, (of course it's also been very hot in the U.S. right now.) so I keep my fan on all day.

I am having a hard time drinking. Nothing much sounds good, I feel too lazy to drink. That's probably why it's also taken me so long to up-date my file. I don't like Boost nor Ensure. It's a struggle to even eat 20g. of protein in one day. Drinking is hard but I did find a flavored water product that is relativly ok to my taste buds. My starting weight at surgery day was 287lbs. and now it's 265. It feels weird losing weight and not really working at it. No exercise, no strict dieting, just no eating. I have always had to work at losing even 1lb. so this is really weird for me. I want to start working out soon so I don't lose too much muscle mass and become too weak. Right now I'm still recovering though.

My hospital stay was good. The nurses and their nurses techs. all took very good care of me. Thank you to them all. Dr. Thirlby was great. I would see him only once a day, but also saw his other two doctors in residecy.

Now that I am at home and recovering I take naps! I started taking two naps a day. One at 9am & at 4pm. Didn't get much sleep while at the hospital. Now I only take one nap a day. Listen to your body and do nothing. It's hard at times when you feel you are going stir-crazy, so get out and walk around outside for a little while.

Drinking is hard sometimes. Just now while writing I took two BIG swigs of my drink. I forget sometimes to sip! It hurts!!!! It's so hot outside and I want to chug-a-lug my drinks!! I wouldn't change this surgery for anything I just miss being able to eat and drink normally. I really miss it. I hope it gets easier soon.

August 16, 2002
5 Wks.post-op as of yesterday. I have lost a total of 29lbs. I know this sounds funny,but I think I'm on a plateu already! I have stayed close to 260lbs for 2weeks. I even started going to the gym everyday for 2wks now. Haven't lost much! I can't even eat and I'm still not losing weight! I know, I know... be patient. This is discouraging.

OK enough whinning! Working out has given me a lot of energy which is good, I guess. Felt kinda awekward workin' out w/ all the "hard" body people, but who cares.

Finally it's gotten easier to drink water and milk. I can still treat myself to a latte sometimes, but I only finish half of it. A friend heard I was having a hard time drinking the Protein drinks and gave me this new Protein Powder called Aria. It tastes great! I like to even eat the powder by itself.(not that I eat just like that) Thanks Barbara!

SEPT. 29TH 02'
HELLO ALL!! I am feeling so good! I feel a little lighter, but much healthier. I am still exercising at least 3to4 times a wk. During my lunch hour I drive to the gym and walk the tread mill fast.
On Thurs. I got a letter fr. DSHS saying that as of next month I will not be recieving a medical coupon. It's ok. But then I thought that if I lose a lot of weight and have a lot of excess skin then I'm pretty much screwed. No surgery for me. SO... I thought that if I continue to go to the gym and work out like a mad-woman that maybe my skin might not be as saggy. So I'm praying for.
Today at the gym I weighed myself and I am now ofically 246lbs. YIPPY 246!!

OCT. 27TH, 2002
Hello again. 4months have almost passed. I can't believe how much energy I have! I'm still going to the gym almost everyday. It's very addicting. I find it's very hard to sit still. At work I am constantly running around and picking up anything on the floor. I am not sufering to bend down anymore. It's pretty neat being constantly asked from patients(I work as a nurse)"Wow, have you lost weight? You look good." I am sharing info. about my surgery w/ the patients. I also tell them about the support group in B'ham. Well, as of today I weigh 236lbs. I feel like my weight is coming off slower than most people, but at least it's coming off!!!!!!!

JAN. 11,2003
Happy New Year! It's been awhile since I'v written. Nothing much been happening. I am still exercising during my lunch time. It seems to be going slow for me to lose weight, but I am very happy with my results so far. Drinking water is still a big struggle. I can drink my latte in the morning though. (smile)
I now weigh 220. I feel great. I don't have a big wardrobe right now which is a bummer. I always wear the same ol' stuff. Hopefully soon I can start adding new clothes to the wardrobe.

WEIGHT LOSS FOR ME
SURGERY 07/11/02-293LBS.
JULY 23rd---- 10lbs.
AUG. 16th---- 29lbs. (5wks. after surgery)
SEPT.29th----47lbs.
OCT. 27th----57lbs.
JAN. 11th----73lbs.