Kim.B
I am 25 years old and at my heaviest weighter ever, 303. I have a three year old daughter, Kaylah, and a wonderful husband of 4 years, Curtis. I have been heavy most of my life, but am the heaviest ever right now. I have constant back pain, leg and knee pain, I have a bone spur in my foot that hurts so bad. I have been seriously considering having the surgery because I want to be around for my daughter, to be able to play with her and do things with her without getting out of breath and without sweating and having to stop every few seconds and sit down. I am only 25 and should not be living this way.
I had my initial seminar on April 10, 2006 and have my computer test and psych eval scheduled for May 3, 2006. With the insurance that I have, I was told that surgery for the morbidly obese (such harsh words) is covered if I have a BMI of 40 or more and at least 100 punds over weight. Well, that's me!!! My doctor's office said that once they receive the results of the psych test and computer test, then they would submit my information to insurance and that they normally get the approval with just a phone call.
Congratulations to everyone on here who had either had the surgery or are waiting to have surgery. I look at this website everyday and cry at some of the stories. This site is a true inspiration to me.
Wish me luck and I will update soon. If anyone has any information that they would like to share, please e-mail me. 
May 1, 2006
Well, only two more days until I go for my psych test and computer test. I am getting so anxious and excited. I can't wait to know if insurance is going to approve me. I know I have to be patient, but I've never been good at that. hahaha. Well, it seems like whenever I eat now I am getting full really quickly, like after 3 or 4 bites. Then I seem to get a pain in my stomach. I'm not sure if it is psychological or if something is really wrong. My hubby seems to think I am getting myself ready for surgery and that it is all mental. I'm just hoping so. I will update after the tests on Wednesday!!!
May 4, 2006
Well I went for my psych test and computer test yesterday with Dr. Reese. She was so wonderful and so nice. She said that she didn't see any problems and would have her report to WLSC by that afternoon and she would call me. I hadn't heard from her so I called WLSC this morning and was told that everything was a go and they had submitted my stuff to insurance. So now it is a waiting game from here. I just have to remain patient and hope for those beautiful words (You're approved!!!).
On a lighter note, today is mine and Curtis' anniversary. 4 years already. Where does time go. It still seems just like last week. I guess that's a good thing. I don't think we are doing anything special tonight. I may cook steaks or something.
I will update once I know something. Until then.....
May 10, 2006
Well, talked with the Dr office on Monday and was told that my paperwork is with Cat, the person who makes sure that everything is together and submits to insurance. But, there are 7 people ahead of me so I was told that I should hear back from Cat by the end of the week if not next week. I am so anxious, nervous, etc. I have a good feeling that I will be approved but you never know. Keeping my fingers crossed............
May 10, 2006
I GOT A DATE!!!! June 20, 2006. I am so excited and ready to begin my new healthy life!!!! Too excited to type. I'll update later.
May 15, 2006
Received all of my paperwork on Friday with all of my appointments that I have to attend. My first appointment is the 3 hour educational class on June 6. Then I get to meet with my surgeon on June 12 and then attend a 1 hour nutritional class and seminar on June 14 at the hospital. Everything seems to be moving fairly quickly. Only 5 weeks left till I am on the losing side. I am getting a little nervous but mostly excited. I guess that is to be expected. I will update as things progress. :)
May 24, 2006
Hey everyone. Last night I went to Sentara Health and Fitness Center for my tour and consult. It was nice. I received a lot of information that I believe will help me with exercising. They have a great discount program too if you join. I'm thinking about it. My hubby wants to join another place so we have to talk it over. I want to join the same place as him that way we can exercise together.
The next stpe for me is my bloodwork, EKG and chest x-ray. That is scheduled for June 5, 2006 at the hospital. Everything seems to be moving along so smoothly, it's kinda scary. hahaha. Only 27 days till my second chance of life!!!! I'm so excited!!!
June 7, 2006
Well, only 13 days to go!!! Had my blood work, EKG and chest x-ray done on Monday. I must say that reality really set in when I got to the hospital. My heart was racing and I was shaky. It was just the fact that the serious things were starting to happen and it seems more real now. I told the nurse to hold off a few minutes on the EKG and let my heart rate go back to normal. I am also a BIG BABY when it comes to needles and the nurse thought she had a great vein and what happens next? STICK AND MISS. My vein was rolling around and she was trying to catch it. Not too pleasant!!! Oh well, she finally got it from my hand which wasn't too bad.
I went to the 3 1/2 hour educational class at WLSC on yesterday. I must say that the class was very informative, although at times during the class, I was asking myself why I was doing this. But it only lasted for a second or two. I know that this is the best decision that I am making. I also had the chance to meet some people who will be having surgery the week before me and the same week as me. Everyone seems so wonderfully nice and excited about starting their new life. I am looking forward to keeping in touch with people after surgery.
I meet with Dr. T for the first time on Monday June 12 and am looking forward to that. Then I have to go to a nutritional class and support group meeting on the 14th and thats it for me until the 20th.
I think that I am most nervous about the way I will be able to eat after the surgery. I am always a very thirsty person and LOVE cold water. The thought of not being able to drink it like I want to, meaning drinking in gulps and fast, really scares me. Maybe I can subtitute with ice chips or something. I know I will be fine though.
Well, this is long enough for now. Time to do some work, hahaha. Take care everyone and I'll update again soon.
June 13, 2006
Took with a cold this weekend. I was so nervous that Dr. T wouldn't do the operation with a cold but he insured me that he would as long as I am not running a fever. He also told me that if I was feeling no better by Wednesday to call him and he would phone me in an antibiotic. I thought that was really nice of him to offer that.
I met with Dr. T yesterday for the first time. I feel SO comfortable with him. He took the time to answer my questions and offered a lot of helpful information. I feel really at ease with him. He told me that for my height and big bone structure, a good range of weight for me would be 180-200. That would be a 75% loss of excess body weight. He said that that was the goal that he gives everyone and anything more than that is certainly achievable. I like 180 better than 200 but anything is better than the 303 I am at now. I am going to make a temporary goal of 180 and work from there. I would like to be 160-170 but I won't be picky. He also said that my bllod work, chest x-ray and EKG all looked great and that he would see me on Tuesday at 8:00 a.m.!!!!!
I also talked to Stephanie Hines last night. She had her surgery yesterday and seems to be doing great!!! I am so happy that everything went well with her. She is on this board so if anyone gets the chance, please join me in wishing her a speedy recovery.
Well, just 6 more days till my time. I only have to complete the nutrition class and support group meeting tomorrow at Sentara and have a blood type and screen done tonight. I can't wait!!!!
August 29, 2006
Wow, it sure has been awhile since I updated here. Well, I had my surgery on June 10, 2006. I cannot say that this has been any easy road for me. Where to start..... Everything went fine with surgery. Text book perfect. But man, the second day, I thought I was going to die. I had sooooooo much pain and so much gas. I was light headed, dizzy and the nurses made me walk to floors by myself, no help, even after I told them that I felt like I would pass out. They told me that they were short staffed so no one would be able to walk with me. That was just one of the MANY problems I had while in the hospital. To save some reading, I will not go into anymore detail except that the nurses were terrible and I could not wait to go home.
When I was released to the puree diet after 2 weeks, the nausea began. Everytime I ate something, I would get so nauseous that I wanted to die. I was vomiting, or dry heaving for hours at a time. I ended up back in the hospital after 3 weeks dehydrated and very low potassium. My doctor also ordered an emergency upper GI to check my pouch to make sure it was ok. That came back fine. I was dillusional, couldn't remember the drive to work, nothing. So after some fluids and potassium, I went home. The nausea continued. I returned to work 6 weeks after surgery and I have missed a lot of time from work since because of being sick all the time. But my doctor reassures me that this will get better.
The nausea is getting better somewhat. Not everything that I eat makes me feel sick but I have had many a moments where I eat and go straight to the bathroom to vomit, but yet nothing ever comes up. I do not understand that.
To date, I have lost 53 pounds and I can tell a big difference in looking at my body. My knees still hurt really bad but the swelling is gone in my face, hands and feet. I actually do have ankle bones and a collar bone, lol.
Tomorrow is my 2 month check up with Dr. T so we will see what his scale says and how he thinks I am doing. I am actually more than 2 months post op (10 weeks to be exact). I have been weighing myself everyday since surgery and I have to stop doing that because it is driving me absolutely nuts!!!!! To see a weight gain is depressing and to see that I have only lost 1 pound in 2 weeks is also depressing. So a good piece of advice is DO NOT WEIGH YOURSELF EVERYDAY!!!!
I will try to keep everyone posted better than I have. Thanks for everyones support and thanks for reading. Till next time.....
September 12, 2006
First off, thanks to Erin for jazzin' up my page!!! Not too much to update. I saw Dr. T on August 30 and weighed in at 254. Not bad for 2 months post op. (was 303 day of surgery) I weighed myself this morning and the scales said 243!! I was ecstatic!! That is a 60 pound weight loss in 12 weeks. Not too shabby, lol. I find that foods are getting alot better each and everyday. I have only had 1 sick incident in the last 2 weeks, which is good. I ate a chicken sandwich with wheat bread and should have known better. Thats all I will say about that one, lol. I also find myself munching alot during the day. And I am extremely hungry in the mornings, and nothing seems to satisfy me. I don't eat too much for dinner because I just don't have an appetite anymore in the evenings. Well, I will update soon. My next checkup is on October 4, 2006. Take care!!!