Shannon R.
Well here we go...I will be one week post op as of tomorrow Dec 21, 2011. This has been a long time coming for me and well this is where I will keep up with my progression and hopefull succession. When I started the Bariatric Surgery process well over a year ago I weighed in at 386 lbs and was 5'7". I have several health issues that also prompted me into this direction some of which are discoidal lupus, fibromyalgia, DDD, DJD, osteoarthritis, PCOS, GERD, hypothyrodism, depression and of course the morbid obesity. In 2006 I was diagnosed with the DLE and fibro and at that time was to the point I barely was able to motivate..not only physically but mentally. The Depression had set in and because of the cocktail of medications they had me on trying to control the fibro and lupus (26 pills per day) I was literally a walking or sitting zombie.
With several physical moves from state to state due to my then husbands retirement from the military and his constant job changing depression set in moreso and my health declined more and more by the weeks and months. I had decided at that point that I would have to have some sort of bariatric surgery to assist me in losing the weight as my body physically wasn't able to exercise and one thing led to another keeping me from doing what my body needed to lose any weight regardless of the diets I did try I think everyone on the market...none worked it seemed I still gained the weight of course some of the medications didn't help in that process either.
To make a longer story shorter lol, in 2010 I had finally made my final move back to NC to be near family and friends knowing I would need support from them after having the surgery. During the 4 month process required by my insurance as preoperative tasks my husband and I were having alot of difficulties in the marriage which were adding to my stress levels at home as I was not able to work still and was at home all the time. It seemed he was leaving me in the wind to drift away and die and his life was going on in the opposite direction. Support he did not give emotionally and then finally he no longer gave the physical support. I was at 3 months in to the process and had to have a cardiac stress test and since I couldn't do it on the treadmill was going to have to be out of town for the two day process for the nuclear med version. My husband then decided he wasn't going with me it was more important for him to be home and take a "friend" to and from work instead of being with me in the hospital. So I made the 2 1/2 hr drive by myself to Asheville NC and didn't talk with him once the whole time I was there...after the procedure I drove back home only to find he had packed what clothes he had and a few other item and left. He had moved into an apartment in town and to my surprise had his so called friend move in with him...(yes it was another woman) but according to him they were just friends. Talk about shock...I was in it..
For the next week I was so depressed and hurt and my health just went down the drain. I kept having chest pains and shortness of breath thinking okay this is it I am finally going to die. I ended up in the ER and then admitted to the ICU unit for 3 days for observations and monitoring because initially they though I had a mild heartattack...well with all that going on...and my health where it was..with him leaving he put me in not only an emotional bind but a financial one as I had no income, no money saved, and had no way to support myself or my travels out of town for the bariatric program and surgery...I ended up having to stop after spending the money up front for everything up to that point and all the time and effort....Depression had hit me the hardest and well I really didn't care anymore whether or not I lived...
However I had a male friend that had become my best friend...although he lived in Indiana at the time and me in NC we talked several hours a day online and on the phone and he constantly gave me encouragement just to make it through he bad days....after several several months...it was decided he would move to NC to help me and possibly us work towards a relationship...to this date we are still together amazingly which has now been over a year. Which leads me to my next part of my story.
With my husband leaving and making him at least keep insurance on me until I got some of my own. Then I started having more and more bone and joint problems and pain. I was losing the use of my left arm and hand. After several tests and MRI's it was found that I had severe bulging disk in my neck and it was pinching the nerves that ran down my arm...I was put immediately in a neck brace and sent for immediate surgery to keep me from the chances of having paralysis from neck down....I had that surgery in April 2011.....after healing from that pretty well....I was cleaning house one day and bent over to lift something and bam down on my knees I went...Now keep in mind I had already had a previous lower back surgery in 2000 but I knew right then and there something had gone wrong. After being unable to walk for 3 days I decided to go to ER and had tests done and MRI's to show that I had another section of my lower back that had damage to the disks..however because of my size other medical conditions...the surgeons said we really can't risk doing another surgery on your low spine with this weight looming over you as it will only happen again and again...when he said that I started crying and got upset and then the icing on the cake was because of my knee damage, the neck and low back injuries and everything else mentioned above he said what no one wants to hear...he said that if I didn't get the weight off I would be an invalid within 6 months to a year...talk about knocking you over with a ton of bricks...
It was at that point I decided hey I have the insurance do it now because this will probably be my last chance...after much talking and discussions with the same bariatric facility from before...they worked their tail ends off in helping me back into the program. without having to go through all the hoops again, I started back in October 2011 and figured ok earliest I can have surgery will be at least Jan or Feb of 2012...then we found out that my insurance was going to expire in Feb 2012 and that got the ball rolling...after discussions with my insurance and doctors and everyone involved....I made a few appts got some necessary tests done and over with in a two week period...then bam all of the sudden I get the phone call...can you start you liquid diet tomorrow because we have you scheduled for surgery on Dec 14...WOW OH WOW....I was so shocked and excited but knew this was it..it was no or never..
Needless to say my beginning weight this time around was 356...after the two week liquid diet prior to surgery I had lost down to 335. My height had also dropped down to 5' 5.5" ......so the day of the surgery approaches...keeping in mind that I live over 100 miles away from the hospital where I am going to have the procedure...so all my family has to drive almost 2 1/2 hrs to get there not only that so do I. With no money to stay in a hotel overnight on the night before....I am NPO after midnight on the 13th and have to be up at 4 am to hit the shower again and then be on the road by 5 am to be at the hospital by 8 am next morning. Surgery was scheduled for 10:30.
I get there get prepped and ready for the life changing surgery and start rethinking everything... I wasn't nervous or scared which is so not me lol but realized this was it...so in I go and surgery took about 1 hr and 40 minutes...however I was in recovery for several several hours as my BP wouldn't stabilize...but finally got up to my room around 6 that evening...was dying for something to just wet my lips because it was so dry but they do not even let you have that...so I basically slept most of the night and let my pain meds and fluid do the trick...later that night around 11:30 I got up for the first time and walked down the hall and back to my room...I didn't sleep for more than an hr or two at a time but with the air stockings they have on your legs afterwards to prevent blood clots was starting to bug me and I was having sweats and started itching like crazy at that point I started clawing myself leaving welts, blood and gashes in my legs and arms and backside...finally I was given some benedryl to stop that itching all over. But boy did I have crazy bruises and cuts all over me till do lol.
So here we are up to date today December 20 and I weigh 331...I lost 4 lbs since yesterday...woohoo...and I pray for my continued success....Now that I have rambled on and on...I should stop for now but wanted to get this started.
