Melanie H.
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Hello and Welcome to my little corner of the world. I had my RNY in October of 2004 and I have lost 173 pounds. I had my tummy tuck in October of 2006 and I have to say I love how it turned out. I am the co-moderator of the London Weight Loss Support Group and I feel that support groups are a very important tool to use with our wls tool. If you want any more information feel free to read my story. It’s hard to know where to begin. In 1980 I came home from a Christmas celebration with family. We had a 6 hour drive and I was in horrible pain. When I got up the next morning I called my family doctor and made an appointment. He did a few tests and said he thought my gallbladder was the problem, and sent me to a specialist. I went the next day and he did a few tests and said he needed to remove my gallbladder. Since there was little I could do about it I said OK. Well the next day I was in the hospital and ready for surgery. The surgeon came in and said while I have you open I would like to do a surgery that will help you lose weight. Once again my reply was OK. That is all I knew about the surgery.

Well I lost 60 pounds over the next few months and then like with every diet the pounds came back and brought some friends with them. Then I got pregnant 11 months out and there went any hope of being thin. Well I thought that was my only chance to be thin and decided to live my life obese. I had a beautiful daughter and already had two boys and another daughter so I was a busy lady during the next 17 years.

My kids were grown and had all moved out except for my 17 year old daughter. My marriage was over after 27 years and I wondered what was is store for me. I was 47 years old and beginning a new life. I decided to talk to someone about weight loss again. I went to a surgeon and he told me my odds were not that wonderful because I had already had a wls surgery. He said first timers had 1 in 200 chance of something going wrong but a second timer it was 1 in 75. I decided then that I was just entering a new phase in my life and moving to Canada to be married and didn’t want to take those odds. I put my thoughts of surgery behind me and moved to Canada. In the back of my mind I thought maybe one day I would have surgery in Canada.

I moved to Canada and married a wonderful man who is 9 years younger than I am. I began to notice over the next 5 years, that my health was getting worse. My energy level was going down and in short I was not able to do the things I wanted to do. We also had a two story house and wow it was getting harder and harder to climb the stairs. I decided to pursue wls again. When I talked to my doctor he said plain and simple that surgery is not done in Ontario any longer. WLS is not available anymore. I was devastated and thought I had given up my only chance of losing the weight 5 years ago.

One day I was watching the London news about a remarkable weight loss by a woman here in London. I was interested and listened intently. Oh my goodness there is a way and this woman could help me. I e-mailed the station and asked for the transcript of the report and they sent it to me. I now had a name but no phone number or any way to contact her. I looked for the name in the phone book but could find no number for that person but some other first names with the same last name. I decided it was important enough to phone each one until I found her. Well as luck would have it I found her mother on the first call.

Shirley said she had also had the surgery and that the lady I had seen on the TV report was her daughter. She reassured me that I could have surgery and that OHIP, which is our medical system here, would pay for it. I got my acceptance and approval from OHIP and went to the surgeon. Well the surgeon said Mrs. Hodgert I don’t like to accept revisions, I asked what is a revision? Well he began to explain that when you have already had a wls and it needs to be fixed or redone it is called a revision. I cried right there in his office. He of course apologized but didn’t change his mind. When I talked to his office coordinator she said he has not said NO yet. He ordered some tests for me, which meant I had to go back to Ontario and have them done. I needed a stress test, a UGI, and a scope. Well that first appointment was May 18, 2004. It is now August 18, 2004 and I have completed all the tests. When he reviewed the tests he accepted me for surgery. I don’t have an exact date yet but sometime between the end of September or beginning of October I will have surgery. I am so excited.