Danielle H.

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Recently I have been feeling down and thinking that I was not losing enough weight especially since I have been working out with a trainer several days a week.  So, yesterday when I went in for my 6 mo post op appointment I was a little bit nervous and prepared myself for the worst.  However, when I stepped on the scale the staff was very happy.  I am currently at 204 lbs.  I have lost 85 lbs since my surgery date.  I know that seems like a large number but when I look in the mirror I do not see it.  The part that hit home was he said that I have currently lost 70% of my excess body weight.  That put things in a new perspective.  I have exceeded the percentage at 6 months that we anticipated I would be at around 10 months.  That made me feel wonderful.  He said I was doing things right and he was proud of me.  I left his office feeling much better than when I walked in.  The other good news is that my trainer was looking at my body and is very confident that I am not going to have very many skin issues.  There is very little skin hanging on my arms, neck or chest area.  Most of his is around my waist and thighs and I am doing a decent job of hiding those areas.

My birthday is 3 weeks from tomorrow so I have set a birthday goal for myself.  I want to be less than 200 lbs by the time I turn 30 so with the information I received yesterday I only have 5 lbs to lose to officially be in onderland.  I never thought that would be possible!! 

 

Well I told everyone that I am not real good and staying up on blogs. So, I have set a personal goal for myself to try and update every other week to keep up with it and allow myself some to time to express thoughts and feelings On April 25th I went to for my 3 month follow up appointment. I was a little nervous because I knew that my weight loss has slowed down but I also was a little excited to see how much I had lost because I knew that I was still losing even if it was slow. To my surprise I weighted in at 229. It took me no time to do the math. I had lost 60 pounds since surgery. You could see my smile from a mile away!! The doc was happy with my weight loss and said that I was ahead of the curve so he now wanted me to step up my workouts and stop going to Curves because it was too light of a workout. So as soon as I walked out of the office I had to make some phone calls to my closest friends. That was the first time some of them had said Congrats, so that made me feel really good about my progress. Then I started calling gyms and recreation centers in the area that I work and live to get prices. One of the guys at work told me about a local gym that offers discounts to our corporation and since I am on a tight budget because of the surgery I decided to check it out. I was not going to find too many places that were under $15.00 a month. I talked with the staff and really enjoyed the gym. They offered personal trainers so I asked a few questions to understand the program and the associated cost. I then was set up to meet one of there trainers the next day. He was awesome! That night I signed up for 12 more sessions. So, I have been going to the gym everyday to do my cardio and meeting with him 3 times a week for strength and conditioning. I have found it a little more motivating to go when I have to answer to someone besides myself. Also, he is not too bad to look at so that makes the workouts a little bit easier! They told prior to surgery about the potential for hair loss and I thought that I was prepared for it. Boy was I wrong. I am losing more than 2 brush fulls of hair everyday and my hair grows very slow so I worried that I will be missing large patches on my scalp. I am taking my biotin and it does not seem to help. I have always had long, thick, curly hair and now it is thinning out and I am hate trying to style it. I want to thank everyone that has been supportive along my journey and I look forward to sharing success stories with you.

As requested I went to see my PCP for just a brief post op follow up appointment and some blood work.  I was feeling really good because I have lost 40 lbs so far and I was excited to have her see my progress.  The assistant weighed me in, checked my blood pressure and heart rate and everything looked wonderful.  The Doctor finally came in and we started to talk.  She then told me that she was very concerned that I had lost 40 pounds in just a month.  She thought that was too fast and that I needed to be careful and take some precautions.  This totally smacked me in the face.  The happiness that I felt left my body and I just can not seem to get it back.  I have talked with my surgeon and the staff and they say that I am doing great and things are going as they should.  

It has been a really long time since I can remember feeling good about myself and I forgot how quickly you can slip into a rut when you feel negatively about yourself.  I am trying to get out of that because I am a new me.

Thanks to everyone that has been supportive on this rollercoaster ride.

I had my surgery the afternoon of January 23rd and it is hard to believe that it has already been a week and I am feeling so good. I know that they say everyone is different but it was not near as bad as I had believed. I am not going to lie the first day (surgery day) was very difficult but after that things seem to fall into place. I only took pain meds the second morning and have not taken any since that time.

I was released from the hospital on Friday and it was my goal to make it to the Denver Nuggets game Saturday evening because I am a season ticket holder and just could not let the tickets go unused. Also, I had a bet with several co-workers and I had to win. Well the good news is that I did. He dropped me off at the front door I walked up the stairs once around the concourse and then down the stairs to my seat. It felt great but I was a little winded but that was to be expected. I had a game last night and this time I walked from the parking lot and it felt great once again.

Tomorrow is my first pre-op appointment and I am looking forward to getting the JP drain out. It worries me so much that there has not been much drainage. I keep thinking that there is some kind of backup that is going to catch up with me. I have not always been the most positive person in the world when it comes to myself.  I will also find out how much if any that I have lost. I have not looked at a scale since I went into Pre-op and that was down almost 9 lbs from my prior weigh in at the surgeons office.

Thanks to everyone that has offered their support, guidance and suggestions through this process and I look forward to making and meeting several new friends.

I am new to doing a BLOG so please be patient with me. ;-)  Well it has taken some time but I am finally ready.  I have done all of my appointments and testing and have been informed that insurance approved my surgery.  I am scheduled with Dr. Snyder on Tuesday, January 23rd.  

I am very excited but I am getting a little nervous also.  The reality is hitting me in the face and I am not sure how to calm myself.  A part of my anxiety is that I am not sure what I am suppose to be doing between now and my surgery date.  I attended the seminar that talked about vitamins, food choices, etc.  but there was so much information given in a short time to a large group that I have forgotten what I learned.  I have a pre-opt appointment next week so I will work on getting that information.

I have started telling my family members and close friends and most of them are being very supportive and actually seem to be happier for me than I am for myself.  Then there are those that are not supportive and think that I am making the wrong choice.  Unfortunately, those have been the people that I have been focusing on and I am working on changing that also.  

I am looking forward to a wonderful 2007 and a brand new me!!!