Dona E.
Well I guess my story starts about 12 years ago when I was 30 years old. I had just given birth to my first child but the joy and happiness of having a beautiful little girl was shortly fallowed by the pain and grieving of losing her at 12 days old. She passed away from a congenital heart defect called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. During my pregnancy I had high blood pressure and undiagnosed gestational diabetes. They didn't diagnose it untill I was ready to give birth. My daughter was 10lbs 1oz. not uncommon for diabetic mothers to have very large babies if the diabetes goes undiagnosed. I had gained 95 pounds during this pregnancy. I had weighed 140 when I got pregnant and when I gave birth I had was 235.. this was the heaviest I had ever been. After I had my daughter my weight dropped down to 190 and I weighed 190 for a long time.. I am 4'11" tall so 190 is still quite a bit of weight for my small frame. A few years past and I ended up divorced from my first husband of 8 years. Met my current wonderful husband when I was 33.We tried to have a child and I couldn't get pregnant. My cycles had never been normal. Only every couple of months and then for only a couple of days. I had 2 misscarriages in a 2 year time period. When I was 35 I desided to go to a Reproductive Endocrinologist at Stanford Med Center since my regular OBGYN was of no help at all and kept telling me to relax and lose weight and that I would eventually get pregnant.
At this point my weight had climbed back up to 225 and I was feeling terrible. THey tested me at stanford for PCOS and Insulin resistance. As it turns out I have PCOS with Insulin resistance and that was the answer to all my problems I had been experiencing for several years including not being able to lose weight.
My Reproductive Endo at this point put me on 2550mg of metformin xr daily which I am still taking 7 years later. Once I started taking the metformin I lost 20 pounds immediately. I was told to use a gylcemic index and to eat high protien , low carb diet. I was able to get down to 190 for a little while but I would go back up to 205. Thanks to metformin and clomid I was able to have another baby girl June 15th, 2003. She is my joy and my love, my miracle baby.
Again during this pregnancy I had gestational diabetes and they found it very early on at 4 months pregnant. They put me on insulin injections for the remainder of my pregnancy. I did well during my pregnancy and only gained 25 pounds. My daughter weighed 7lbs 6 oz. Very healthy!
I was able to get back down to 200 pounds after my pregnancy.. then I joined a gym and have been dieting and low carbing for the past 4 years off and on. Last year I hired a personal trainer and worked out with her for 5 months. I fallowed her diet and exercise program to only lose 12 pounds .. ugh! well better than not losing any weight at all I guess. I was able to get back down to 190 again.. which seams to be where my body wants to be at when I diet. I can't seem to get below that even after months of low cal, low carb with exercise..
I am currently back up to 205.. and some weeks I get up to 210 depending on weather i am exercising or watching my carbs. It's amazing how fast I pack on pounds if I am not very careful. If I didn't watch what I eat at all I would probably be well over 250 lbs by now at the rate my body likes to gain.
Last september was when I decided to start looking at surgical options for weight loss. My back hurts..I have acid reflux and I am tired of dealing with all the nasty symptoms of PCOS.. especially not being able to diet and lose weight like a normal person!
We didn't have medical insurance for about 7 months though so I had to wait till this year. Thank goodness we have good medical coverage now and I was able to start looking for a Bariatric surgeon.
I found Dr. Greg Jossart in San Francisco who I really like. He took the time to listen to me and to explain all my options to me. Together we decided the Roux en Y gastric Bypass would be best for me. I am about 100 pounds overweight but would be comfortable with losing 80 pounds or so.
My consult was last weds March 12, 2008. I had my nutritional counseling on the same day. Next weds I go for my psychiatric evaluation. Then we just wait and see what the insurance company (Blue Cross of Ca, PPO) says.
Hopefully I will be able to lose the weight, be happy and healthy and be able to keep up with my almost 5 year old daughter. Get off of the metformin and no longer have acid reflux or aches n pains in my feet and legs..
