2005

Weight Loss:
7-8-05: Pre-Op: 316 lbs
8-8-05: 1 Month: 284 lbs, -32 lbs
9-8-05: 2 Months: 270 lbs, -14 lbs (46 lbs total)
10-8-05: 3 Months: 260 lbs, -10 lbs (56 lbs total)
11-8-05: 4 Months: 246 lbs, -14 lbs (70 lbs total)
12-8-05: 5 Months: 237 lbs, -11 lbs (79 lbs total)
01-8-06: 6 Months: 227 lbs, -10 lbs (89 lbs total)
02-8-06: 7 Months: 212 lbs, -15 lbs (104 lbs total)
03-8-06: 8 Months: 206 lbs, -6 lbs (110 lbs total)
04-8-06: 9 Months: 199 lbs, -7 lbs (117 lbs total)
05-8-06: 10 Months: 189 lbs, -10 lbs (127 lbs total)
06-8-06: 11 Months: 179 lbs, -10 lbs (137 lbs total lost)

07-8-06: 1 Year! 173 lbs, -5.6 lbs, (142.8 lbs total lost)

8-8-06: 13 Months: 164.4 lbs, -8.8 lbs (151.6 lbs total lost)

9-8-06: 14 Months: 158.6 lbs, -5.8 lbs, (157.4 lbs total lost)

10-8-06: 15 Months: 150.6 lbs, -8 lbs (165.4 total lost)

11-8-06: 16 Months: 147 lbs, -3.6 lbs (169 total lost)

12-8-06: 17 Months: 143.8 lbs, -3.2 lbs (172.2 total lost)

1-8-2007: 18 Months: 141.6 lbs, -2.2 lbs (-174.4 total lost)

2-8-2007: 19 Months: 138.4 lbs, -3.2 lbs (177.6 total lost)

5-1-05: I'm a 43 yrs old woman, I'm 5'6" and have been morbidly obese for over 15 years. I never had a weight problem until I got pregnant at 27. I developed gestational diabetes and went from 140 to 253 in six months. I have followed every diet and exercise program out there & have only been successful at gaining an additional 60 lbs, all the way up to my current weight of 316 lbs. I started looking into WLS 5 yrs ago but kept thinking the "next diet will work." With the exception of high protein diets, they always did, but not permanently and the older I've gotten, the less the diets work. So I officially started the process in Feb '03 just as I turned 41. I was denied by Cigna six months later and then they changed requirements. I have been trying to meet those requirements ever since. I finally received my approval letter on 4-27-05 and the surgery is set for 6-7-05!! I keep pinching myself; I don't think it's really sunk in yet: 36 days and a wake-up before I begin again. All glory and honor to God!!! Thank You, Thank You, Thank You.

If you are interested in the details of my journey, please read the following rather long narrative, otherwise, just skip down to the next date entry.

I started my "journey" in February 2000 when I began taking phentermine as my 12 week diet that was required by my insurance company. The problem was, I did really great on phentermine for six months so by the time I got into see the surgeon in April, and he scared the hell out of me, I chose to stick with the phentermine and I quit pursuing the surgery. I lost 80 pounds by August 2000. Then the darn pills quit working. The physician's assistant (PA) at my primary care physician's (PCP) office tried for six months more, taking me off them, putting me back on them but they just wouldn't work for me any more. I weighed 220 pounds. I could reach my feet, ride a bicycle, and many other things I hadn't been able to do for the past decade so I figured that if I could just stay at that weight, I'd be okay. No need for surgery. Besides, at 220, I wasn't 100 pounds over weight anymore so WLS wouldn't be approved. Over the next year my weight started to creep back up. By July 2001, I weighed 235. Since we were going on vacation, I decided to wait 'til we got back, then I would start Adkins. My husband said that maybe it hadn't worked in the past because I gave up after only six weeks of not loosing any weight. Maybe, he thought, I needed more time. So I promised to stick to it religiously for 12 weeks. At the end of 12 weeks, I had lost about 6 pounds!!! So I quit. I accepted the fact that I was just going to be fat! Unfortunately, when I stopped the high protein, the weight just started to pile on. By February 2002, I weighed 306 pounds (my highest to date) and I asked for a consult for WLS. Before Adkins, I had averaged a weight gain of one pound per month, after Adkins, it was more like one pound per day. I was totally out of control & I couldn't figure out how to stop it. My body went racing back to the 300 pound mark plus just a little, for good measure.

I got the referral but I couldn't get into a seminar until May. Once there, I was on my way. I had to see the psychologist, nutritionist and others that I can't even remember. By the time all of these requirements were met and the package was submitted to Cigna, my "12 week, monitored weight loss program within the past 24 months" was too old. Cigna didn't count the six months we were trying to get it to work again. There was nothing I could do, it was August 2002. I "quit" and sulked for about a year. Finally I accepted the fact that the only thing that was going to work for me was the surgery.

Cigna, in the meantime, had changed from requiring 12 weeks to requiring 6 months, so I joined Weight Watchers (WW) in June 2003: I weighed 305 lbs. By October I had lost 18 lbs but had hit a plateau. The next month, I found out that Cigna now required six months with a DOCTOR only!! None of the WW counted. Luckily, I have a friend who has had WLS and she told me about her wonderful Endocrinologist, Dr. Hanson. This doctor had had WLS herself and supports her patients in their pursuit for surgery. I waited until after the holidays to call for an appointment but I shouldn't have! When I called in January 2004 I found that she was booked to new patients and I couldn't get in until March 2004!

It still takes a long time for new patients to get in to see her but it is sooo worth it! So I see Dr Hanson and explain what I wanted and why I wanted it and she's fine with it. She told me to make my appointment for next month and we'd be on our way. Unfortunately, she was already booked through April. So I made the May appointment. In May, I tried to make the June appointment and again found her full. So this time when I scheduled the July appointment, I also scheduled the August appointment. In July, I made the September appointment and so on through December making each appointment two months in advance. Even though I made the six consecutive month requirement in December, I didn't stop. I didn't want to get caught again when and if Cigna changed the rules. I continue to see her to this day and she will see me even after the surgery. I'd like her to be my PCP but she has a booming practice and doesn't want to deal with PCP kinds of things. That's okay, she's great & I'll continue to see her as long as she'll let me. My PCP is a jerk and the only reason I stay in his office is because I can see the NP or the PA and they are both terrific ladies. They do not have as much knowledge about WLS as Dr. Hanson has, so I'll stay with her, like I said, as long as she'll have me.

So now I have met Cigna's requirement & I call back to Dr. Blackstone's office (the WLS surgeon) & find I need a new referral from my PCP because my original one is too old. So I made an appointment with my PCP, who doesn't really support this surgery anyway and he doesn't want to give me the referral because Cigna "no longer covers WLS." So then I talked to the NP and told her that maybe in general, Cigna doesn't cover it but it is ultimately decided by the benefit package of the employer. I work for the City of Phoenix and they DO authorize this surgery if it's determined to be "medically necessary", whatever that is! So she wrote the referral but told me not to complain to her when Cigna won't accept it. Obviously, it didn't come to that!

Because of PCP appointments, I got back into Dr. Blackstone's office by the end of February. I took my letter of necessity from Dr. Hanson (endocrinologist) plus all of the monthly visit notes. I had to redo and pay for the psych evaluation again and some of the other things but I didn't care. I had made up my mind to have this surgery by the end of the year and was willing to pay the whole price if necessary. So compared to $25,000, what's a couple of hundred? Anyway, after completing all of the appointments again, they finally submitted my package on the last business day of March and I received the letter saying I had been APPROVED one month later!!! I couldn't believe it. After all of the set backs, policy changes and frustrations, I was finally approved!!!


And now...the rest of the story!

5-8-05: A week has passed and it hasn't sunk in yet. I was supposed to receive some paperwork for labs and a list of each appointment between now and the week after my surgery. I have spoken to a couple of my friends and am asking some rather pointed and personal questions. To you two friends, I thank you. I really know this is the only thing left for me so at least I'm not waffling back & forth but it's nice to have someone willing to open their lives to my questions.

5-15-05: I had a rather strange weekend. I was supposed to enroll in my third of four semesters for my Master's of Education degree. But since I finally have a surgery date after trying for over two years, I decided to skip school and concentrate on doing this program properly. So I'm taking a break after over 3 years of working full time and going to school part-time (what am I going to do with all of this spare time??!!??) Well, today my hubby & I took my tuition money and went and bought a new treadmill from Costco for only $899!! And it's heavy duty enough for me to use right now; I don't have to wait to lose any weight, woo hoo! A treadmill in Phoenix is almost required. We hit 100 degrees today and it's only going to get worse (I hate the summers here but the winters are great, so we all put up with them).

5-30-05: This time next week will be the eve of the big day. It still doesn't feel real. It still feels like just another day. This weekend when I was doing laundry, I kept thinking; four more work days and I'll never have to wear these clothes again. At least that's my hope. I'll have to let you know how it really goes. A few years back, I got down to 220 using phentermine so I have clothes from size 30 all the way down to size 18. I need a new bra at my current size but I've been refusing to buy one because I only need to wear it four more times. I have leisure bras for non-work days so I can make it!! By the time I return to work on the 7th of July, I should be able to wear one of my smaller bras and if not, again, it shouldn't be too long.
I have been making the changes in preparation for the big day. I've been getting my 10,000 steps in every other day and have been going to Curves three times per week. I haven't had any of my diet orange soda in about two weeks. I ran out and just decided to stop now. I gave up diet Coke two years ago when I was first denied. I gave up coffee last week. I've been drinking water, Crystal Lite, and yesterday I bought some Minute Maid Light lemonade and limeade. The only one I've tried so far is the limeade (I love limes!) and I was rather disappointed. I squeezed �????�???�??�?�½ a lime into my glass and it was much better! I don't know how I'll be able to handle lime juice after the surgery; that's just one more question for the nutritionist. I've stopped all caffeine as of last Monday and I've even been taking Tylenol for my headaches instead of Excedrin. I've given all of my Motrin to my husband and now I'm off all meds. Today is the last day my doctor wants me taking anything including vitamins.
My pre-surgery diet begins tomorrow; lean protein, plain vegetables and fresh fruit until Saturday, then I switch to liquids for the last three days. You know, at this point, they could almost tell me to eat cat food and I would do it if it meant I was going to get this surgery after all this time. I read all of the posts on the message boards about the people who give up after six or eight months trying to gain approval from insurance. I've been trying for nearly two and a half YEARS and the insurance company changed the requirements on me twice. Each time they changed the rules, I changed what I was doing. Finally, I jumped through every hoop they put in front of me and I've finally gotten to the end of the journey (at least with them), now the real journey begins. I can't wait!!!


6-4-05: Well, I wouldn't say that the time has just flown by but here I am, three more days until I finally get my surgery!! Everyone keeps asking if I'm nervous. Well, I'm NOT. I started looking into weight loss surgery (WLS) FIVE years ago. What I heard back then scared me to the point that I didn't even want the surgery. But nearly 2.5 years ago, I accepted the fact that this was the only thing that was going to work for me and when I went looking the second time, I met Dr. Robin Blackstone. Not only does she have a wonderful, caring disposition, she described the RNY procedure which is completely different from the duodenal switch (DS) that I had been offered in 2000. I like the whole idea of this one so much better. First, it has far fewer incidents of complications, second, and more importantly, it is reversible if necessary. Not that it will be but it's nice to know that if 30 years down the road, I get cancer and have to have part of my intestines removed, I still have 100% of what God gave me. Cancer of any type is very prevalent in my family. Of my four grandparents and the two great-grandparents I know about, all but one died from cancer, but never the same one. My dad has had prostate cancer and my mom had pre-cancerous cells which resulted in a partial hysterectomy when she was 32 and just last summer at the age of 61, they had to remove one of her ovaries for the same reason. So yes, I do worry about cancer. I want this surgery to reduce my chances of getting all of the terrible diseases that go along with being morbidly obese. When I started this journey in February 2000, I didn't have any of the co-morbidities. Now, I suffer from GERD (my grandma died at age 76 from esophageal cancer after a lifetime of acid reflux) and I am insulin resistant (my sister, mom, aunt, & maternal grandpa all have/had diabetes). Until told to stop for the surgery, I took metformin and Prevacid. I am praying that I'll never need those meds again.

There are so many things that I'm looking forward to. The pain and discomfort that will be an inevitable part of the surgery do not worry me as much as the pain and discomfort of remaining fat. My feet hurt if I walk for more than five minutes. Since I have to walk and especially since joining Curves, my feet hurt most of the time. If I sit too long, my butt hurts and it's hard to get up. When I lay down, my fat rolls pile on top of each other and it feels like I'm sleeping on top of a log. I have 5 pillows that I use to prop myself up plus a little pillow that I hug to support my arms. No matter how I lay, my arms feel like they are being pulled out of the shoulder socket because of the distance from the socket to the bed. I can't sleep on my stomach at all. I haven't been able to lay flat on my back since I was pregnant 16 years ago because it feels like someone is sitting on my chest and I can't breath. If I lay on my side for more than a few minutes, the arm on which I'm laying falls asleep. So mostly, I sleep in a reclined position with lots of pillows. My husband has learned not to complain too much but I know I take up more than half of our king sized bed. Sorry honey, that's how big I am. It should get better after WLS!

I also am looking forward to taking a shower and not being winded. I want to be able to brush my hair without breaking out in a sweat. I want to reach every part of my body to be able to shave, scratch or pop a pimple! I hate asking my husband to help and only do it when I can't stand the irritation anymore. I want to get into the spa without displacing so much water that it goes over the sides! I want to be able to reach my feet!!!!! I only cut my toenails when they get so long they hurt and it's still so hard to do. My husband will NOT cut my toenails for me! I have to pop a pimple on his butt but he thinks cutting my toenails is gross!!! Men! I want to be able to insert a tampon properly. I just can't reach anything!! I hate it.

I want to be able to sit in a booth at a restaurant without filling the space so completely that my boobs sit on the table! I want to be able to climb in and out of a pickup truck, up and down from bar stools. I want to go dancing and roller skating. I want to learn how to roller blade and ice skate. I want to learn how to snow ski. I'm so tired of sitting here watching life go by.

I have kept my mind busy regardless of my weight. I completed my Bachelor's degree in December of last year and started working on my Master's of Education. I get to retire in six years when I'm only 49 and a half! I want to teach English as a Second Language (ESL) in Europe or Asia as a second career and I can't do that if I don't lose this weight. I'm going to lose weight and get healthier and happier. I will have plastic surgery if needed so that I will look as good as I know I will feel. I am not a quitter! If I were, I would have quit so many things years ago. I would not have worked for the government since I was 18 and I would not be looking at retiring after 31 years of service when I'm only 49. I would not have my husband and wonderful daughter, if I had quit. It took us over three years of a long distance relationship before we got married. I would not have my beautiful home; I would not be on the verge of becoming a millionaire because of investing in a 40 acre parcel of bare desert land more that a decade ago at $895 per acre that is now worth $18,000 per acre!!! So many wonderful things have come to me because I am not a quitter. But soon, I'll be a loser!! I never thought that would be a good thing!

Okay, bring it on! I'm ready.

6-7-05: Sometimes it doesn't matter how ready we think we are, God has other plans. I woke up at about 1:45 a.m with frequent, painful urination and blood in my urine. I kept hoping it was just nerves but in the back of my mind, I knew exactly what it was. I called my doctor's overnight service and spoke to the surgeon on call. She advised that I go to the ER and confirm that there was a urinary tract infection (UTI). I ended up checking into the emergency room at 3:30 am and two hours later, my fears were confirmed. I have had only one UTI before in my entire 43 years of life. What are the odds that I'd get one now? Anyway, I called back to the surgeon and was told what I already knew; they would not be able to operate on me while I had an infection, duh.

So here I sit, the evening of the day that was to be my new beginning and I am so disappointed. They can't get me back in until July 8th. I just want to cry but what good is that going to do? So I'll plug on. It will happen when it happens and nothing is going to make it happen any quicker. I can pray for another cancellation but I won't hold my breath. I know that God is looking out for me and I need to stay positive but right at this minute, it's so hard.



6/28/05: Well, I guess the countdown begins again. This Friday I have my preoperative appointment with Dr. Koler at Dr Blackstone's office. We'll discuss the causes of the UTI and how it can be prevented this time around. Then it'll only be one week to go. I'm not going to get excited, I am praying that I don't get another disappointment. I still haven't accepted that it's really going to happen. I just pray that it does.



7/2/05: Finally made it to July! Surgery is only a week away. I saw Dr Koler yesterday. She's the poor lady who got woke up the day my surgery was scheduled last time. When she walked in the room I asked if she had forgiven me yet for waking her up at 3am? She said "no" and then laughed. She was so wonderful. I consider myself very blessed that the Lord has put me into the program at Scottsdale Bariatric Center. I haven't met a single person there who was not wonderfully caring! I told Dr. Koler about my fears that something else will happen to prevent this surgery. She told me to stay focused on the positive. Think only good thoughts. Keep drinking my cranberry juice up until midnight before my surgery. She agreed that the UTI I suffered was probably due to the nasty diahrea I got after taking the laxitive for the bowel prep. She suggested that I rinse myself everytime I go potty this time around. I was hoping to work the day before surgery but will have to stay home so I do this properly. I DO NOT want any problems again.

This five week delay has just about killed me. I have been in a funk ever since the postponement. I'm not nearly as excited or upbeat as I was. I'm just worried something else will go wrong. The closer I get to the new date, the better I feel when I'm awake BUT I've started having dreams every night that something happens at the last minute to stop the surgery. One dream was that I was in for prep and they felt a lump in my abdomen, decided it was cancer and cancelled the RNY! In my dream, I was trying to talk them into ignoring the cancer. Just do the RNY & we could worry about the cancer later! Can you believe it? In my dream, this surgery is more important than taking care of cancer!! The dream last night was where I went in for the surgery and I had to give them a urine sample. And wouldn't you just know it, I had bacteria in my urine!! So they cancelled me again! I just can't seem to quit worrying. It's just too funny. I'm not worried about having the surgery, I worried about NOT having the surgery. Oh well, leave it to me to worry backwards!

7-6-05: Thirty-six hours and counting. I'm really scared to do the darn bowel prep again. I've been reading profiles and seeing what everyone has had to go through. I know it will be worth it, I just pray that I get there! Tomorrow I get to drink the wonderful (not) magnesium citrate and see if I can NOT give myself another UTI. I have been doing the low fat diet and have been enjoying the fruits and vegetables. I know that my doctor's program limits them almost completely for the first month so I've been trying to get them out of my system. Luckily, I don't think I have any serious food addictions, just all food in general! Time will tell though and I'll keep y'all posted.

7-7-05: My last meal was at noon today. I had baked, breaded fish, an apple and a nectarine. Then I took the magnesium citrate like I was supposed to and it hasn't had nearly the effect on me that it had last time. It's had almost no effect at all. At least we won't have a repeat UTI, huh? I have had a terrible headache all day and now I am getting a stomach ache. I KNOW it is just nerves. That is what I do. I have been struggling with a rash on my face for the past couple of weeks; another stress indicator. After tomorrow I won't have this anticipatory kind of stress but knowing me, I will just find something else to stress over.

Okay, I sent my hunny to the store and I got a brand new bottle of the yummy stuff. I only drank half of it and it sure is working now. The one we got from Safeway was kind of flat, not fizzy at all. I'm thinking it was old and had lost it's effectiveness. I'm doing really well now. Still pushing the cranberry juice. Hopefully, I'll get some sleep what with the nerves, lots of water & juice not to mention the laxitive. Oh well, I can sleep while I'm in the operating room, right?!

I've been here before but here we go again...I'm ready, bring it on! See y'all on the losing side!

7-11-05: I was released yesterday and got home at about 11 a.m. I mostly slept from then until about 9 a.m. today. I feel much better now that I've caught up on sleep!!! You really can't get any quality sleep in the hospital regardless of how comfortable the recliner is.

I take my pain meds every 5 hours or so and drink water all the time. I keep a bowl of ice chips by my bed to suck on & an ice pack against my abdomen. Tomorrow is the appointment with the nutritionist where I will eat my first solid food. I'll let you know what happens after that.

7-12-05: Wow, I did it. My first meal today at the doctor's appointment consisted of 1/4 of a hard boiled egg, & a couple bites of refried beans and cottage cheese. For lunch later I had more refried beans (they really tasted good for some reason), some more cottage cheese & 1/2 cup of vanilla yogurt. For dinner I had beans & cottage cheese again, the other half of the yogurt plus a "turkey roll-up" (turkey lunch meat with spreadable cheese). Everything has gone down very well. I'm surprised at how full I am. I use a timer to remind me to take a sip every 5 minutes and today I started my chewable multi-vitamin. I'm still in pain but today was a long day. The dr. appt was an "educational" session that lasted from 7:45 until 1:30 and that doesn't include the one hour trip each way. Otherwise, I'm doing very well.

7-16-05: -8 days, -7.8 lbs: I'm pissed off right now. Why do I always have to be the one with so much damn drama in my life. I can't ever be the one who has no complications, I always have to have something happen!! I had a very hard lump behind the left side incision and ended up calling the dr's office at 6 in the morning the day of my 11 o'clock appointment. I was in a lot of pain and the PA, Randy, asked me to come in at 9 when the office opened. When I got there he said it was a "seroma". A seroma is a fluid build-up & that required that the incision site be opened. It now has to be filled with a gauze strip until it heals from the inside out. Unfortunately, the hard lump is still there 2 days later, the drainage from the open wound is minimal which implies that perhaps the seroma hasn't been reached. I am taking an anti-biotic and still taking lots of pain meds. While all of this is happening, I'm having "sticking" problems with food. I've committed to eating nothing but liquids for the next couple of days since anything solid feels like it's stuck in my chest. I have no idea if the seroma and the sticking are related but I can only deal with one thing at a time. If I don't have significant relief by Monday, I'll be back on the phone with the Dr's office.

In the meantime, my activity level is very minimal. Everything requires a lot of effort so basically, I don't do anything. I'm still trying to drink the water, take in at least 40 grams of protein and my multi-vitamins. I just want to get better. It's just a little bump but I'm tired of always being the one with the bumps. No matter how positive my attitude it, I always have something happen to bring me back down to earth. Oh, well...I'm going to go take a nap. Next week this will all be behind me and I'll be laughing about it.

7-23-05: 15 days, 18 lbs: Lots of other people loose a lot more than that in their first two weeks but I'm tickled pink with that loss. I've been a lot better for the past 4 days. I've been going places, wandering around stores and even went to a mall once. I went to a support meeting today, then out to lunch with one of the other members. It's amazing how much common ground we can find with others who have walked in our shoes.

I've been having a problem choking down fluid and food but that too seems to be getting better. I have had 3 pints of water so far today. I had an egg for breakfast, turkey salad and French onion soup for lunch and fish and pinto beans for dinner. I am going to try to eat as much of my protein as possible since I haven't found a protein powder that was tolerable for more that 2 or 3 times.

All in all, I seem to be settling down. Now I need to start getting on my treadmill. It is just too darn hot outside right now and will be for the next three months or so. I HATE PHOENIX SUMMERS!!!

7-24-05: 17 days, -18 lbs: Every day I move farther away from my surgery, the better I feel. Last night we had a desert monsoon thunderstorm that was all over by 9pm, so I grabbed my hubby and two dogs and headed out for a walk. The air was much cooler after the rain, plus there was a soft breeze that felt wonderful! As we headed out, I just knew I could walk forever. I walked from one end of my street to the other end (one cul-de-sac to the other) which was about a quarter mile and I knew that was enough for me. We turned around and came back home. We were gone about 20 minutes and all we did was a half mile!! I can't wait to get my speed back up I used to be able to walk between 3 and 4 miles/hour. I know I'll improve as the weight comes off and I heal from surgery.

I really feel great in short spurts. We went to church today, stopped by the store before church to buy snacks for our fellowship time afterwards, spent about an hour chatting after church and then went out for lunch. We went to a restaurant that has mesquite grilled fish and "lard-free pinto beans". I ate 3 bites of beans, 4 bites of fish and that was all she wrote! After my hunny finished his lunch we went to Sam's Club and wandered around and had spent over $100 by the time we left! That was an expesive walk, lol. On the way home, I reclined the seat and rested. It really was a lot of activity but I still feel great.

I hope it rains tonight so I can go for another walk outside, otherwise, I'll have to hit the treadmill. It's time to start doing what I am suppose to be doing. I thank God everyday for bringing me to this place where my life will get better & better.

7-30-05: 22 days, -19 pounds. During my 3rd week I only lost 1 pound and was really upset. I saw my surgeon the day before my 3rd week "anniversary. According to her scale, I've lost 11 pounds in the two week period from my previous appointment and of those 11 pounds, 9 was fat and 2 was water. My muscle mass has stayed the same. She told me not to worry. The weight will come off. I sure hope she's right. My biggest fear is that my PCOS will prevent me from losing. I pray I'm wrong. Time will tell.

I found a protein drink that works great for me. I mix two scoops of Nectur Fuzzy Navel with 16 oz of water and then add that to 16 oz of orange flavored Crystal Lite knock-off. I put it in a 52 oz cup with lots of ice and sip on one all morning and another one all afternoon/evening. It gives me 92 grams of protein and 100 oz of water/fluid! If that amount of protein and water don't get my weight loss going again, nothing will.

My seroma is nearly healed and I'm going back to work on Monday. My only fear is that I'll be tired. We will just have to wait and see. That's about it for now.



8-12-05: 5 weeks, -25.6 pounds: Wow! Here we are in August already. Five weeks have gone by, not really fast but they've gone by anyway. After all of my worries and "issues", I'm doing great. My seroma incision is completely healed. I worked Monday & Tuesday of my 1st week back to work. I took Wednesday off because I over ate (I had 3 oz of tuna!), got sick, had a coughing fit that ended up straining the muscles in my chest. I went back to work on Thursday & Friday and have worked all of this week. Today I'm a bit tired but every other day was fine. I've been walking during my breaks so I get a little bit of exercise throughout the day. It adds up and it's easier on my feet, knees and hips than if I were to walk for an hour straight.

I had my one month appointment yesterday. I was a week late because of the seroma thing. I have lost 18 pounds from week 1 until yesterday. Of those 18 pounds, 16.5 was fat!!! I'm very pleased with that. My labs are really good except I'm a little low on iron so I immediately went across the street to Sprouts and bought a bottle of chelated iron tablets that are small enough for me to take. I just hope they don't cause constipation. I paid good money for a non-constipating, chelated iron but that capsule is too big for me to take right now. They added new items to my diet, which include peanut butter, a few vegetables, plus most fruit if it's peeled. Although that sounds good, with the 3 bites of protein to 1 bite of anything else, it's hardly worth it to eat anything but protein since I'm still eating less than 4 oz per meal. It depends on how moist the food is, but generally, I eat between 2 & 3 ounces. Soup, chili, stew type things, I can usually eat 4 ounces, maybe a bit more but not much.

My husband and I went for Thai food tonight. I had roasted chicken breast with a peanut sauce. It was fabulous! I wasn't even tempted to try the rice. I did have a TINY bite of a Thai egg roll. If you've never had one, you don't know what you're missing. They are very light & crispy, not at all like Chinese egg rolls. Anyway, one tiny bite didn't hurt me at all. I also ate one slice of yellow squash & half a slice of zucchini. The chicken was so good though, that I wanted to save my space for it!

I'm not having any problems at all (that I can think of). I do manage to drink 2 quarts of water, I drink at least 40 grams of protein and I take ALL of my vitamins, calcium, iron, and sublingual vitamin B-12. The only one I HATE is the multi-vitamin but I bought 2 months worth and they were too expensive to throw away, so I eat them. I took the non-chewable multi-vitamins to the dietician yesterday to see if I could start taking them. Unfortunately, they are capsules and are still too big. Oh well, they'll keep.

Finally, I want to list the things that have changed/improved since surgery. I don't ever want to forget how horrible it has been being as heavy as I was when I had surgery. The 1st thing I noticed was that I could lift my leg and put it on my knee without having to pull it up with my pant leg. Also, I can hold it there long enough to put my sock & shoe on without panting. Next, I am able to wear my wedding rings again. I hadn't been able to wear them for the past year or so as I gained above 300 pounds. I know they will fall off in another 50 pounds but it's nice to wear them for a while. Next, I have been able to wear different bras! They are still the same size as before but these don't have any stretch to them and the others were ALL stretch! Of course my clothes are no longer tight and pulling but I'm still wearing most of the same ones. Again, the things that are not stretchy fit much better than before but so much of my clothing is stretchy that it will take a lot more weight lost before I can't wear them any more. Last but not least, I no longer have any symptoms of GERD. I haven't taken a Prevacid since the day before surgery and I haven't needed them!!! This one improvement has been worth the surgery. I suffered discomfort at best, terrible pain at worst every single time I ate, regardless of what I ate, now... nothing!!!

As I said, it's only been 5 weeks. My victories right now are small but I'm enjoying them. I'm going to keep track of my small victories because I believe they do add up. I don't want to forget a single thing, no matter how small.

Glory and honor to God, He has truly blessed me!

Future Update





11-24-05: 20 weeks, -71 lbs. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! I have sooo much to be thankful for, this has been a banner year for me, I can't imagine a better year other than winning the lottery! First and foremost, I got approved for surgery, then I had a successful (relatively uneventful) surgery, plus the 70 pounds I've lost. Then I'm thankful for my new job! I got a promotion into a different department, away from a section that I was growing to hate more everyday. My new job is great not only because of the increased income, challange and responsibility but also because my hours are so flexible. I have plenty of time to walk and I start earlier so I can leave early to go work out at Curves. And who can forget the property value! We have it listed for sale with an asking price of 1.5 million dollars!!! We paid less than 36,000 dollars eleven years ago. It was definitely an investment of a lifetime. I don't think we'll ever get another opportunity like that one.

My weight loss has been slower than some but faster than others. I have had few problems, an occasional dumping episode here and there on both fats and carbs so I'm learning to eat less of both. I dumped on three pieces of sugar free candy and had the same reaction on 3 pieces of regular candy. One day I ordered a biscuit with gravey and ate one half of it. 30 minutes later, I had the worst dumping ever. I had abdominal pain, dizziness and fatigue that lasted about 90 minutes. Since then I haven't had any high carb meals. So dumping really is an effective tool! I don't dump on small amouts of anything, it only happens when I have too much so I will try my best not to over do it.

So far, I'm not into new territory with my weight. I'm still higher than I was at my lowest when I was on phentermine (220) but it's very different. This time the exercise I've been doing has made a difference. I'm wearing the clothes now that I was wearing at 220, it's very strange! I ordered two pairs of jeans in a size 22. When they arrived last week they fit perfectly, this week they are already getting loose! I'm looking forward to all of the new clothes I'll get to buy. That's it for now, I think I'm all caught up.

 

2006

 


Future Update
4-2-06- I'm nearly at the 9 month mark. The weight loss has really slowed down since February. I had a really bad cold or flu and lost lots of weight. After that, I regained a little and have really struggled to get it going again. My goal has been to average 10 pounds per month. To stay on that path, I'll need to be under 200 by Saturday. I'm only a couple of pounds away from that but I don't seem to be in any kind of control right now. It doesn't seem to matter what I do or do not eat. I continue to walk a couple of miles 5 days a week and I've started to go to a regular gym instead of Curves. I haven't made it often enough yet for it to be a habit but I'm not giving up. My doctor wants me to get down to 150 pounds. I would certainly be happy with that but I'd really like 130 pounds. At this point, 199 would be nice! I'll just have to wait & see and keep doing my best.

4-7-06 - Tomorrow is the actual date of the ninth month since surgery but since surgery was on a Friday, I weigh and record my weight every Friday. Today I weighed 199.0 pounds!!! This is actually the first milestone that I've truly been excited about. Everything before was good but not good enough. As of today, I don't have to tell people that I weigh "over 200 pounds." Not like I tell everyone anyway, but the doctor's office doesn't have to slide onto that 200 spot and I'm extatic :o) :happydance: So here's what I did this week to have a 4.6 pound weight loss: I entered everything I ate onto FitDay.com. I cannot say enough about how important it is to keep track. Every single day, I thought about what I put in my mouth. Yesterday, I didn't get home until eight o'clock so I didn't enter dinner until this morning. Not knowing exactly how many calories I had had, I skipped dessert. When I entered the info this morning, I found that I didn't even eat 700 calories. I could have had that little brownie. Oh well, I don't need it, right? So if you're struggling, write it down (or put it in FitDay), keep your protein up, drink all of your water, take your vitamins and exercise. That's what I have to do, so I thought I'd share. God bless everyone reading this and all those you know.

4-21-06: I lost 3 pounds this week & 3.2 pounds each week for the 2 weeks prior. I continue to keep my protein high but have been having a terrible time with constipation. My weight loss has been great, however, since I started on the increased protein program. I have started adding Benefiber to my protein drinks and I've been taking colace everyday. I'll have to let you know how that works for me. I haven't been doing it long enough to tell yet. Like I've said before, my personal goal has been to lose 10 pounds per month. In the past 3 weeks I've lost 9.4 pounds. This gets me ahead of my goal. My month isn't up for 2 more weeks. At this pace, I'm going to be a very happy camper indeed.

Next Friday my hubby & I are going to the "Spring Fling" dance. It's being put on by the OH support group over in Chandler & I can't wait. It's been years & years since my husband & I have been to a formal function. I bought 2 new dresses and just need to decide which one I want to wear. When I started this "journey" I wore a size 30/32. One dress is a size 16 and fits well, the other dress is an 18 and is a bit large. It's a full skirted formal so a little large won't be noticable. It's just amaizing to me that I'm even doing this. For so many years, we just sat home. I didn't want to go out and I surely didn't want to go shopping for a nice dress. I just can't wait to see how wonderful everything will turn out. Not just with the dance but with the improvement in my life. I'm so excited!!!! And the journey continues.



5/29/2006: 180 lbs: Time sure flies when you're having fun. I stay entirely TOO busy, so don't get to my profile as much as I'd like. I can't believe that I am approaching the 180# mark! I haven't weighed that in years! I continue to lose a little every week though some weeks are better than others. My goal is 10 pounds per month, my "month" begins on the 8th (my anniversary date) so I should be below 180 by the 8th of June. Last Friday (May 26th) I weighed half a pound over 180!!! I'm so happy about that. I still run into people who haven't seen me in months who say things like "have you lost a little weight?" Duh, like 135 pounds is a little weight!! But I guess "OMG, you've lost a ton!" would probably be rude, huh?

My only problem to date is constipation. The more protein I add to my routine, the worse the problem becomes. My PCP told me to drink 16 oz of prune juice!! Besides all of the sugar & calories, it didn't work as advertised! All I did was cramp & make really loud noises from the backside! It was terrible. So I stopped that & am still looking for the correct solution for me. I know that I can NOT reduce the protein intake. That's what is keeping my weight loss going. In the meantime, I'm having to take a laxitive twice a week just to keep things moving (as it were!).

My daughter & I went shopping together. We can now wear the same size clothing. She's 16 & I'm 44 so we don't always wear the same style but we can share some basic items! It's really cool for me but I don't think she's overly thrilled with it. I gained all this weight during my pregnancy with her so she has never known me to be thin. She's 5'10" & I'm 5'6" so I should be smaller than her. I just don't think she's used to that idea just yet. She is very supportive of me though & my weight loss has inspired her to lose some weight. She was at 215 last summer and currently weighs 185. Her goal is to lose 25 pounds this summer. I sure hope she does. She is so beautiful: tall, long blond hair, big blue eyes, pale alabaster complexion. She already knocks socks off. To be at her normal/healthy weight would be so great!!

New things directly related to weight loss...My husband went dancing with me for the first time EVER! We have been married for over 17 years & he doesn't like to dance. I went to a nightclub with a girlfriend and had such a wonderful time that he decided that he should go with me. So the next weekend, my girlfriend & I went again but this time my hubby tagged along. It was SO cool to dance with my very own sweetie. He kept telling me that I was the prettiest girl at "the ball." I'm glad he thinks so. I know I'm happy with my progress. I weighed about 150 when we got married and I always felt bad for the way I turned out due to pregnancy. I'm glad he thinks he's getting his "trophy wife" back! ;o)

Until next time, All Glory & Honor to God!!! God bless you all.


August 8th, 2006: 165 lbs: Here I am at my 13th month anniversary and it’s been a while since I’ve updated. That’s because I stay soooo busy! If I feel well, I’m out socializing. If I’m not out socializing, I’m not feeling well. When I’m not feeling well, I don’t even want to sit down at the computer. Lately, it’s been a combination of both. I continue to try to deal with the constipation. I’ve been to the GI doc and she tried to do a colonoscopy but was able to get past the first sigmoid (right at the beginning). So she stopped trying to kill me and ordered a barium enema. The radiologist was not surprised that she couldn’t get in. Apparently I have diverticulitis pretty badly. I am not able to see the GI doc again until the 16th of August so right now I’m still self-medicating. I try to leave it alone until I get so backed up that I can’t stand it; then I take a laxative for a few days until I get things moving again. Then I go back to doing nothing again for about a week. It’s not my choice of a way to live & hopefully the GI doc will have a solution I can live with. In the meantime, my weight loss has all but stopped. I need to exercise more but with this darn heat, it’s all I can do just to go to work. I just keep reminding myself that I have only 5 more years until I can retire and leave the “Valley of the Sun” which I think is just a euphemism for “convection oven.”

To date, I have lost 152 pounds. I am not complaining! I need to lose 15 more pounds to get to the WLS surgeon’s goal for me & I have every intention of doing it. I was doing really well until just the last month or so, so perhaps once the heat goes away & I can go back to walking 3 to 4 miles per day, things will start moving again.

With the weight loss, I have started doing lots more. My husband celebrated my 1 year anniversary by buying me a little pink scooter. He wants us to start doing things together and this is his choice. It meant that I had to get a learner’s permit for a motorcycle & that took a bit of time. Just this weekend I finally found a helmet that fit properly so now we’re ready to go. Again, we just need to find a cool day and an empty road. Another new activity is ice skating. My daughter & I have signed up for and gone to a couple of lessons. We are supposed to go on Saturday but I keep having other things to do, so that means we have to do the “make-up” lesson on Wednesday night. After the lesson, we are allowed to stay for the public skating session but on Wednesday night, all I want to do is go HOME!! That means that we are not taking full advantage of our cost but I just feel so stressed about having so many things to do and so little time to do it. And still another new activity is dancing. My husband & I have gone to a nightclub 2 or 3 times in the past couple of months. It doesn’t sound like that much but until now, we have not been out dancing since we first dated back in 1980/81. Back then he was too self-conscious to enjoy it so we didn’t do it very much and when he could get out of it entirely, he did! Now that he’s older, and he knows that I really enjoy it, he has decided to go with me. He even says that he is enjoying it too!

On July 29th, my husband & went to Dr. Katzen’s presentation regarding plastic surgery in Las Vegas. I was able to do the “free consultation” and was pleased by the results. I will need to have a circumferential lift and an inner thigh lift. That will take care of my abdomen and butt, my outer thighs and my lower back plus my inner thighs. Everything from the waist down should be perfect for the low, low price of $17,385!! For those of you who have not looked into plastic surgery, this may sound like a big number but having made just a few inquiries, I find this price to be competitive. He may not be the absolute cheapest surgeon in the world but his reputation and skill make the price worth every penny. Of course I’ll have to report back once I’ve had the surgery but so far, he’s the one I want. I would like to have the surgery over the Christmas break so that my daughter could be home with me for a couple of weeks but only time will tell. I need to lose these last 15 pounds and then hold my weight steady for 3 months. I don’t want to be in a state of flux if I’m paying nearly $20,000. After that first surgery, I’ll schedule the top half of the process. I’ll have my breasts lifted, no augmentation, and my arms done. I will have to have an incision from arm pit to elbow because of the amount of excess skin but I’m not too worried about that because I don’t scar too badly and I figure if I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it right!!

Beyond all of that, I’m doing very well. The WLS surgery was the best thing I have ever done. I had tried for 15 years to lose the weight I gained during one pregnancy and then managed to increase by another 65 pounds by virtue of dieting! It was obvious that no amount of dieting was ever going to help me lose the weight and I was starting to decline physically more & more rapidly as the years went on. I am now 44 years old and I feel as good as I did when I was 27, before I got pregnant. My husband couldn’t be happier! He teases me that he is no longer considering trading me in on a couple of 22 year olds!! He says he finally has his “trophy wife” back. He is so happy with my results that he is even going through the process to see if we can get insurance to pay for his RNY!!! We have the initial seminar this Sunday and he’s had 4 months worth of doctor’s appointments. Our insurance requires 6 months worth so he is really getting close. He wants to lose 130 pounds. I think 100, maybe 110 but not 130. That’s okay, I wanted to lose 186 and it looks like I’ll be happy with -166. He wants to get down to a weight he was in high school!! He’s a big man and I think that at 6’3”, 180 pounds is too thin but again, time will tell. He is on 3 medications for high blood pressure and the doctor just put him on Lipitor for high cholesterol. He currently weighs 312 pounds. He lost about 15 pounds once he started seeing the doctor but has been stalled for the past 2 months. I didn’t realize that men start finding it more difficult to lose weight as they get older too, but he is living proof that it’s true. I would just like to see him get off the meds. I do NOT want to lose him before he’s about 90 or so! He’s only 45 and has been on meds for high blood pressure for 3 or 4 years already. They give him more and stronger meds just to keep it under control. He really needs to lose weight to control things better.


2007
February 6th, 2007: 138 lbs! Wow, what a difference 6 months makes! I am 3 pounds above my personal goal and 12 lbs below my surgeon's. I pointed that out to her and she said she wanted to be conservative...I just wanted to be "average." At 5'-6", 150 lbs is at the very top end of the "normal" range; 135 is in the middle. It's taken several months to lose the last 12 pounds. I have only been loosing 3 or 4 pounds per month but it's okay with me. I wear a size 8 mostly with some 6 mixed in. I don't ever remember wearing a size 6!! And I was a normal sized person until I got pregnant when I was 27 so I'm quite thrilled with 138 pounds and size 6!!!!

My husband had RNY yesterday!!!! He's doing great & should come home tomorrow. I stayed at the hospital all day yesterday & got home at about 12:30 am. Today, he's awake, alert, and busy, so I took the opportunity to come home. I hope to get caught up on my sleep so I can be useful tomorrow to bring him home.

All is well, I stay busy so don't update this as much as I would like to but if you're reading this and you ever have any questions, please feel free to send me an email. I would be honored to share my experience with you.

Until next time, Praise God!







March 2007




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2008


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About Me
Goodyear, AZ
Location
22.2
BMI
RNY
Surgery
07/08/2005
Surgery Date
May 01, 2005
Member Since

Before & After
rollover to see after photo
Just before surgery in July 2005
316lbs

Friends 18

Latest Blog 5
2.75 years Post-Op
2 years post-op
April 27 & Finally surpassed my Goal!
Finally trying to figure out the new system.

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