Vickie Miller
Hello everyone! To tell you a little bit about me....my name is Vickie Miller, I am 50 years old, and have been battling with my weight since giving birth to my first child 28 years ago. I was born and raised in Fairbanks. I have two boys ages 28 and 23. I moved to Anchorage in 1997 after going through a divorce of almost 20 years of marriage. My husband, Don, and I have been married 10 years. I gained 70 pounds after I got married and was not able to do the things I use to or wish to. I am so ready to start doing things again. I love the outdoors, gardening, taking road trips, and shopping! I am very grateful to have found Dr. Todd.
3/13/03 - I had my first office visit with Dr. Todd today. I was nervous, but excited too! I felt very comfortable and at ease while speaking with Dr. Todd for the first time. I had already attended a few group meetings, so I felt as though I knew him already. Going through this change is going to be a lot easier if you have a good doctor/patient relationship. :)
3/14/03 - Made all my pre-op testing appointments today. I should be done with everything in the next two weeks! Yay!!!
3/28/03 - All my tests are done. Thank goodness! Everything up to this point has been fairly easy and I was able to get all my appointments done in one week. I am now awaiting the results to come in and to wait for authorizations for my insurance companies.
4/23/03 - Had my pre-surgery appointment today. Have one authorization under my belt and am hoping to have my other insurance company send their approval by my surgery date of May 2nd.
5/2/03 - It's surgery day! I'm nervous, but very excited!
5/9/03 - It's been a week since my surgery and I'm slowly getting used to eating, moving around, just about everything. It's a whole new experience, not easy, just different.
6/18/03 - It's been six and a half weeks now since my surgery. I am feeling so much better and close to 40 pounds lighter. I no longer take my diabetes medicine and I no longer have terrible headaches. I am learning how to eat and take care of myself. It's a whole new life!
7/7/03 - Went in for a checkup and down 56 pounds. This is remarkable!
9/4/03 - Down 75 pounds! And feeling wonderful!
9/17/03 - Have lost another 8 pounds, so that's 83 pounds so far. It's the hair loss that is worrying me... which is probably making my hair fall out more! I feel great, and have been trying new foods.
10/14/03 - Down 90 pounds, still having hair loss, but have decided to chop it off! I am using the Nioxin products now, so we'll see how that goes. I feel good, no complaints here!
10/23/03 - Down 95 pounds! Got my hair cut so that it wouldn't look so thin and that worked... so I'm happy!
11/18/03 - FINALLY! Down 100 pounds and thrilled beyond words!
12/3/03 - Have lost a total of 106 pounds!
12/30/03 - My hair has been slowing growing back, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I'm certainly glad that it didn't get any thinner. I'm down 112 pounds now. Happy New Year!
1/31/04 - Yep, the holidays slowed me down a bit as far as the weight loss, but I'm down 119 pounds.
4/8/04 - It's been awhile since I updated this. I seemed to be on a plateau for a few months, but the weight has started coming back off now. I'm down 130 pounds as of today!
9/13/04 - I've lost about 10 pounds through the summer, not as much as I'd hoped, but I'm still working on it. I seem to have stabalized at 175-180 pounds. My surgery is considered a sucess at this weight, but I'd like to lose about 30 pounds before considering tummy tuck surgery. I'm feeling pretty great these days. What a wonderful thing I did for myself. It's probably the best thing I've ever done for me! Patient #372, 314/175/145
6/3/05 - I had a tummy tuck on April 26th. It's been 5 1/2 weeks and everything is going great. I still have quite a bit of swelling in the afternoon, but subsides in the evening and by morning. I'm just thrilled with the results. Dr. Sarah Troxel is a wonderful plastic surgeon and I would recommend her to anyone.
2/14/06 - It's been awhile since I posted. It's been 10 months since my tummy tuck and all is well. I have a couple of spots where the scars are raised, but nothing that can't be fixed. I am going in for a consultation the end of the month to see about a breast reduction/lift. I have gained about 5-7 pounds over the winter, but back on track with my exercise and eating protein first.
10/5/07 - Okay, so I don't post too often as you can see. To bring you up to date, since my tummy tuck in April of 2005, I had a breast lift last year this month, October 2006. Wow... a year already! The breast lift was great. I had a revision or I guess you would call it some fine tuning to the breasts in February of 2007. My PS also fixed my dog ears from my tummy tuck.
The plastic surgeries that I've had have been more than I ever imagined. What a difference. I feel much more confident in myself since I've had the surgeries. I think for the time being, I'm done. I would like to have the thigh surgery, but I'm afraid to have it done. It's going to take me awhile to get my nerve up. I would like to have my backside lifted and my arms done. If I don't have those surgeries, it would be fine.....but if I did, it would definitely be a bonus.
