Darlene G.
5-9-07 Hello everyone.My story is pretty much the same as everyone else's on here. I've been heavy all my life, and i've tried every diet known to man out there. Some of them like weight watchers , did over and over, and over. Yes they all worked for a period of time, but was never able to keep the weight off.In 97 i became disabled because of back problems. Well things got better there to a point but itwill never be back to normal no matter how much weight i lose. But i've learned to deal with it, and still enjoy life as much as possible. Well 2 years ago i was told i need total knee replacements on both kness, but the left is the worst right now. The surgeon told me he cannot operate on the knee because of the excess weight. He said it was a high risk. It was getting so bad i had to use a cane. I went through a series of injections and pain meds to try to help, but really no long term relief.Well that is when i decided to look into gastric bybass. I started all this back in June of 06. Went though my psych eval, did all my meetings and in oct got a date. I was all excited. Well just before i was suppose to start the 2 week pre-op diet i got a call from the dr's saying they had to cancel me because of my medicare ins. They were know longer going to pay unless the hospital was considered a center of excellance, which mine wasn't. So again i was upset and ready to give up, figuring i was meant to be heavy for the rest of my life. But i kept going to support meetings and kept in touch with the dietician and decided i wasn't going to give up. Thank god i didn't. My hospital was approved on March 13th, got my date when i saw the dietician on April 9th, and now doing my 2 week pre-op diet. This is my second week on it. My surgery is May 15th.The first week on the liquids i lost 8 lbs and 3". I couldn't believe it. It's not really that hard being on the protein shakes. You just have to get use to the taste.So I guess my day has finally come, and my dream of being thin is probably about a year away. I can't wait. I'll keep everyone informed on my progress. 5-12-07. Well today was a difficult one for me, but i made it through. My son's girlfriend's daughter made her First Communion, and they had a big bbq afterwards. The food smelt so good, but I didn't touch a thing.I brought my protein shakes and water, and even brought my 1 cup of raw veggies to eat.I didn't think I would get through it with very little food these pass 12 days, but i did it. I guess that was my first big test before surgery. So i figured now, if i can pass up that kind of food, i can make it through this surgery with no problems. 5-23-07 Well hello everyone. I had my surgery on the 15th and all went well. I was in the hospital till friday which wasn't bad at all. I have not really had any pain sence sunday, and i feel great. Just alittle tired at times but i guess thats too be expected. I had 5 tiny incisions and a total of 16 staples. I got the staples out this morning and they weighed me and i was down 7 lbs sence surgery date weigh in. I've already lost a total of 30 lbs sence i started all this last june. The protein drinks are alittle tough getting them all in, but i'm doing better on them. They told me to use the Unjury, which has 20grms of protein in the flavored ones and 30 grms. in the unflavored. I mix the flavored ones with 8 ozs of skim milk, which gives me another 8 grms of protein. So by doing this i'm able to get the protein in with no problems. as of friday i start adding 1/2 c applesauce, or nonfat yogurt, or 6ozs of pureed veg soup. I'll let you know how that goes. So far no vomiting or nausea which is another good thing. So for now i'll end my story here and i'll write more as the days go on. 
