Billie Fields
I am 305lbs, up and down all my life. I would finally like to be free of the roller coaster ride. I have 4 children, 3 boys and 1 girl. After having her, there was no weight lose success at all. She is almost 4yrs old now. I think that is long enough to carry the weight left from it. It's time to get my life back. I am ready for that. It's time for me to see the world and the world to see me.
11/28/06
I attended the seminar with Dr Clark on Nov. 14. I completed the computer test Nov. 20th. I got a call Nov. 22nd from the Surgery Center saying I am a candidate for surgery.
Lucky for me my insurance only requires a referral. They go along with anything the surgery doc says is needed next. Which happens to only be a computer test. It has 165 questions. The test goes with the next thing you have to do, an appointment with the Psychologist. They want to make sure you are ready to commit to what you have to do before and after the operation. And I had my appointment today. It will take about a week to find out whether or not the Psych Doc gives me a go.
If I get a go from the Psych Doc they will give me an appointment with the Patient Scheduling Coordinator - Cat who will give me a surgical date and start the process. A 3-1/2 hour educational class to prepare for surgery and post-operative period and visit with fitness trainer and I think a dietician but I am not sure.
The process is going pretty fast and I hope it continues that way. I would love to have the surgery before the middle of Jan. I hope that isn't wishful thinking.
12/11/06
I called the WLSC today. They informed me they received the Psychologist report. She gave me a go. My chart was given to Cat- the Patient Scheduling Coordinator. She sent it to my insurance for authorization. I just hope they don't take forever. And I hope they don't ask for anything else. We will see.
12/16/06
I called my insurance company yesterday to see if they received my request for the surgery. The lady took a moment, put me on hold, came back and informed me that they did not receive anything yet. Of course you know I was not happy. But I am trying not to get to upset. The WLSC does have a lot of patients. I understand that so I will look at it another way. I am not in control of any of this. In the middle on this year I prayed for some help at lossing weight. It just wasn't happening by myself. In Oct. Someone came to me and told me they heard my insurance pays for this. I just so happen to be in the middle of changing providers. So, I of course picked the one that covers the surgery and covers the hospital where it is performed. So you see it was meant for me to be in this process. So when it is my time and not a moment earlier, it will happen. I am not saying that I will not call the Surgery Center on Monday because I will but only to see exactly where I am in this process.
12/18/06
Today I decided not to call the WLSC first. Instead I called my insurance company to see if they might have received my paper work yet. The lady said, "Yes we have." So I was about to get off the phone. But instead I said, "do you know when it was received." She said, " I can't tell but it does show it is approved." I'm APPROVED!!!!!!!!!!! I just can't believe it. I just didn't expect that. Well, The WLSC didn't receive the fax yet. --But I know--. I am just waiting for the call from Cat-Patient Scheduling Coordinator to select a date. OH MY GOD!! I just can't believe it.
12/20/06
I have a date. Jan. 16, 07. It is just so unbelievable. It can't get here fast enough. I was told it couldn't be much sooner because of the holidays. I have scheduled pre-op appointments to attend. I am not mad at all. Merry Christmas everybody!!!
12/22/06
Lets see. Today I received a package from the WLSCenter. It contained a Financial Agreement needing a signature, Surgical Itinerary, Pre-Operative Program Appointment Completion Form, Copy of Comprehensive Gastric Bypass Program, and a top sheet Explaining all of them. The Itinerary was the most important to me. The appointment info. Name, time, date, and where. I didn't realize until now really, how many there would be. 5 appointments before surgery. Not including the Routine pre-surgical testing (EKG, labs, chest x-ray). Now I see why the holiday prevented the surgery from happening earlier. On Two of the days I have two appointments. But you know what, I do not care. I will do every last one of them twice if I had to. The first appt. is on the 5th of Jan. And I just can't wait to start.
12/29/06
Sentara Careplex Hospital called to schedule my pre-surgical testing. It's at 8:00 in the morning on the 4th of Jan. Its getting really close now. I feel strange about it all. I know it's comeing but it just hasn't hit me yet. In my quiet moments is when I feel strange. The feeling of missing something, yet you can't put your finger on it. One day at a time will be my life from then on. There is a lot going on in my personal life at the same time of this blessing. So my world is strange now.
I have been looking at some before and after pictures in some of the profiles. And it really hit me that the same drastic transformation will likely happen to me. I saw how nice one woman looked before her surgery. Then to see how beautiful she became after the surgery, it just keeps popping in my head. Trying to see myself looking that small. Several of them saying they haven't been that size since high or middle school. Then remembering how small I was in my school years. It is just so unbelievable. I have longed for this for so long. It just doesn't seem real.
!!!BUT IT IS!!!
1/6/07
On the 4th I had pre-surgical testing. It was pretty simple and it only took an hour. As I was sitting waiting to be called. It began to feel as if I was there for the surgery. And then it hit me that this was really happening. I was nerrrrvous. When my blood pressure was taken it was even slightly high. But as I continued I began to feel better. I had a weight loss surgery exercise consultation on the 5th. That didn't take long. 10mins. tops. I also took a tour of the club. I have 4 more appointments to go.
1/9/07
Today I had my 3 1/2 hr Pre-Operative Education Class. That was an informative class. I had my first official meeting with Dr. Clark. He seems very nice and easy to talk to. Tomorrow I have a 1 hour Nutrition Class and a Support Group Meeting. Which is a good thing. I can meet some of the people I have been talking to on the computer. I am looking forward to it. I hope they will talk about something good.
1/11/07
Yesterday, I attended a 1 hour Nutrition Class and my a Support Group Meeting. I enjoyed both of them. I'll try to go to all of the meetings from now on. I am trying to get ready for the time that I will be out. It's a lot to think of with my 3yr old in the picture. I think I got everything covered. It's just a waiting game now. Thank God it is not a long time. 5 days to go.
1/13/07
Well, 3 days to go! I am so ready. I just want to get it over with. I am very excited. Still doing a few last min. things. There is one thing I can't wait to do once I have this surgery. That is to go back to church. I was reading a friends profile and she had mentioned going back. I knew a long time ago that that was one of my goals. I refused to go back into a place, where I was seen small, the size I am now. I didn't want to see the faces act like they were not shocked. So once I have lost 20-30lbs, I will finally return. Sad but true. I have even let my size get in the way of my relationship with my GOD.
Never the less that day is coming soooon!!!!!!
1/16/07
Well it is time to saddle up and go to the hospital. I am up a little too early. Something woke me up and I can't go back to sleep. It's 4:00am so I will just get ready. I am not nervous yet. I guess it will hit me once I enter thoughs doors. Anyhoo, I'm ready to go for it. Time to go to the losing side!!!
2/6/07
I have been over my mom's house since the surgery. Her computer has been down. I am doing fine. It was very uncomfortable in the hospital and at home. I had a lot of gas on top of just the surgery. I made it through the two week liquid diet. The G tube was finally removed on Jan. 30, I have been eating soft foods since. Tuna, eggs, chicken, and grits plus a few others. I am able to eat only 2ozs at a time. At this stage they want you to eat every three hours. At the same time sip liquids all day. I have to make sure I stop drinking at least a hour before eating or I will not be able to eat much. I have lost 23lbs so far. My clothes are hanging. Its time to try on some of my smaller clothes. This is going to be interesting.
2/12/07
I am back home now. I am doing fine. I realized I have to take prilosec as soon as I get up. If I wait I will have a pocket of gas in my stomach and it may cause me to vomit. It already happened two days ago. It felt like I ate a tennis ball whole. It was not good. Once my food came up I felt a lot better.
I realized that I forgot my pills the day before. Wrong thing to forget. Needless to say, I don't forget anymore. Other than that is't good. I am sure I lost more weight but I have to go over my mom's house to get on the scale. I really need to buy one. I will need to weigh myself often so I should just get one.
2/19/07
I had my one month check-up today. I have lost 28.4lbs. My Ticker is a little off because I was 305.something but I just don't remember what it was. I can tell I have lost weight. My coat was to small at first, now I have room. My face is also smaller. I think my shoes are flip flops now, at least one pair. I was thinking I will miss the clothes I have now. I took so much time making sure they were nice clothes, and now I will not be able to wear them for long. I will hang on as long as I can.
The smaller size clothes I have don't quite fit yet. But it's ok I'm patient.
I have moved to regular food just no corn, popcorn hulls(unpopped popcorn seeds), or white rice. I hope it goes well I really don't want to go through dumping. It's just not pleasant at all.
2/25/07
I haven't weighed myself since the 19th. I just need to go and by a scale. I am tired of going to my mom's house just to weigh-in.
For a moment, I was afraid to try new things. But I am coming out of it. I tried store bought Chicken salad. It was good. It did taste a little sweet. Now I didn't think I would ever think something tasted to sweet. I guess, I am use to eating all these sugar free foods.
I am able to sit and watch my family eat sweets all day long and I don't care. My daughter had this big nutty buddy cone. She couldn't eat all of the ice cream. But I did not care. It melted and went in the trash. I have never done that in my life. I would have helped her eat it, even if I was already full.
Now that is a big, big, big change!
2/26/07
I have lost 30lbs. I might have lost a little more but I need to weight myself at the same time every day. I find myself doing it at night after all day of eating. I have to get my own scale.
I am looking for a new job. I want a job that doesn't hold me in a box. One that has no limits other than what I put on it. And I don't want to take forever to find it. I think I have paid my dues. At this point in my life, it should be what I want for me not what I have to do to survive.
3/6/07
It's seems that I am at a plateau. I had gone to a class on the 28th of Feb. I had to weigh in. I weighed 270. Which was a good thing. But now I weigh myself at my mom's house, it says 275. I am confused. I guess all scales are different.
Its been two weeks since that weigh in, and not 1lb lost. Are you for real. I am not happy about this. So I have started exercising. And I will go back to what I was eatting in the beginning. I have gone to far, I guess. All I know is I am not going back to see the Doc a whole month later and haven't lost 1lb. I don't think so. Going back to basics. High protien foods only, maybe a SF pop.
3/8/07
Well I found out from the January 07 Surgery Message Board that this is called a stall. Some of us stall for a week or more then lose some more. And it could be a on going pattern. It makes me feel a little better. Maybe its a good thing by giving my skin time to shrink without all that hanging skin when I am finished.
3/16/07
Finally the scale moves. I found a Plateau Buster Diet from another profile LavenderLoco. She has a lot of wonderful info. The buster worked.
I finally bought my own scale. It was an inexpensive one. It appears to be about a ten lb differents from my mom's scale. Which is not a problem, I just need to know how much differents it is from Dr. Clark's scale. Even so, going by my mom's scale there is a loss of 7-8lbs. I go see Dr. Clark on the 3/22. So we will see.
PLATEAU BUSTER DIET (UPDATED)
FOLLOW FOR 10 CONSECUTIVE DAYS
1. Drink 2 quarts of water each day.
2. Minimum 60 grams of protein supplement and all your vitamins/minerals supplements.
3. Consume up to 3 oz high protein foods, 5 times a day, as follows:
FISH
CHICKEN
TURKEY
PORK (NOTE: HARD TO DIGEST)
BEEF
LOW-FAT CHEESE
YOGURT (PLAIN)
COTTAGE CHEESE
BEANS / LEGUMES
EGGS
You may also enjoy:
POPSICLES (SUGAR FREE)
JELLO (SUGAR FREE)
TEA OR COFFEE (DECAF)
CRYSTAL LIGHT DRINKS
SODA (SUGAR FREE, NON-CARBONATED)
4. If it's not on the list, avoid it for 10 days.
5. Exercise daily--Minimum 30 minutes.
6. Maintain a Food Journal.
3/21/07
Tomorrow I have my appt. with Dr. Clark. I will finally get a chance to see how much I have really lost. I am just hoping it's a nice amount. Last time the nurse pract. didn't tell me what to expect other than from 2-4lbs a week.
So if I am counting right, it should be 8lbs. (She did say the men tend to lose the 4lbs.) I will take the 2lbs just give it to me for every week.
3/22/07
It went down, Thank God!!! Actually I'm down 39lbs. (start setting is off a point ? something) I hope every thing will run steady now. No stalls, plateaus, just slow but steady. Give me my 2lbs a week. I bought a whole set of different types of foods.
The Doc. said low fat, low carbs.
Avoid: Starches - Breads, pasta, rice, potato.
Crumbly Carbs - Chips, cookies, crackers, candy, cake, and cereal.
If you must get bread get whole wheat.
I found a low carb, and low fat whole wheat soft tacos from Wal-mart. I have to have some type of bread for my deli meats. Eating them plain is getting very boring.
4/3/07
Well, I have had a time trying to keep losing. I was going down, down, down then it went right back up. I have found out that the carbs are very important. I may have some but it does have to be low carb items (Read labels). If it doesn't say low carb, then I have to limit the amount I eat to make it still be low carb. Because of how much I am able to eat, if I limit myself it still works.
My Home scale is reading 256. Doc's scale is about 7lbs more. So that = 263. Which would make me very happy. That would be 42lbs lost. I don't have to go back to the Doc's until May 15th. I hope to lose at least 20lbs from the last appt. If I do, that would be 59lbs lost = 246-247.(Doc's scale has a (.)point something.)
!!! THAT WOULD BE AMAZING!!!
4/13/07
I am 251lbs on my home scale. I think thats 258lbs on the Doc's scale. (I do hope that is right.) I have slowed down on my excercising. Acutally I have stopped. I really need to start again. My whole routine has been changed because of the appts. that have been popping up. I have to start some kind of routine again.
I have tried whole wheat bread. I didn't toast it. I had no problems. I found one that has low carbs, only 7grams per slice. (Food Lion) I have tried mac-n-cheese. It went down fine. That was wonderful. I didn't eat a lot. Just having some was great.
4/18/07
I went to an appt. Monday. Even though it wasn't my doctor, I asked if I could get on thier scale. I weighed 258.1lbs. That would be about 47lbs lost so far. 3months post-op.
Not Bad! I am hoping for 10-12lbs more by 5/15. We will see.
4/26/07
Right now, I am 253 on home scale. And I am going back and forth, down 2-3lbs up 2-3lbs. I think its all because of what I am eating. I know I have time to lose more. So I am not being so hard on myself for a couple of days. But now I have to get back to business. I have been eating a few things that just had more carbs than I need. But I must say, it was fun while it lasted.
I am going to Richmond, VA because my boyfriend is having surgery on May 2. I will be staying in thier Hospital Hospitality House. Which is like a hotel. It's for guest of patience, who are in the hospital for a period of time and live more than 30 miles away. You can stay there for a donation of $10 a night or what ever you can give. It sounds like the McDonald house. I have to figure out how I am going to eat while I am there. You are unable to eat in your room.
Anyway, I guess it will also be a moment of peace for me. Eventhough, I am there to support my boyfriend, I will be there by myself. That will give me a break from the busy schedule I have.
5/9/07
Well, I finally came back from Richmond, VA. One of the first things I did was to weigh myself. (They didn't have a scale anywhere.) I was shocked. It read 241lbs. Add 7lbs =248lbs. Oh my God, I haven't seen 248 in a long time. It feels good. Now, I must shoot for at least 227lbs by 6 months. I have 2mths to do it in. Of course I am praying 248lbs is what it will read at the Doc's office.
We Will See!!! Crossing My Fingers!!!
5/16/07
4 months out, 58.5lbs lost so far. 305.something - 247.5lbs. Not bad, not bad at all. That is exacty what I was shooting for. Now I want to lose another 20lbs in two months if possible. The Doc said it will probably slow down from this point to 6 months, and again to 9 months. I would still be happy with 15lbs but not much lower.
Lets see if I can keep it going.
