GranneeLori

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Gail, Cricket and GranneeLori	Uploaded: October 26, 2006   SEND   DELETE
	We met for the second time since WLS at the Village Inn on October 24, 2006 - what a difference 2 mos makes!!!!

PICTURED ABOVE: Gail, Cricket and Grannee Lori met at Village Inn in Ft Collins on Tuesday, August 22, 2006. We met online in the OH chatroom. It is so good to meet neighbors who have had WLS. We had a great time!!

August 21, 2006
Hello :-) I am now down 42 lbs in the two months since my WLS. Isn't that wonderful. I am now walking up to 2 miles a day now and swim when I can. Next week I am starting an aquasize class twice a week through the city's recreation department. I'm going with my daughter Suzanne who just turned 36 and her friend Donna from her work. My joints and back are hurting less. I wonder if it is because my diabetes is under control and I'm no longer taking diabetes med. I do have more energy but would like some more. I suffer from anxiety disorder so I take meds at night to help me sleep or I would be up around the clock worrying. It is great to get a full night's sleep but then when I wake up in the morning I don't seem to jump out of bed ready for the day yet. I am still under treatment for depression and am going to the psychiatrist today for my first meds appt. since my surgery. They went and changed my doctor since mine transferred out of the health center. I go to the Larimer County for Mental Health for treatment since I am low income and they have been wonderful in helping me get back on track. I am not losing as fast as others and I am going to ask how much taking the anti-depressants and anxiety meds is affecting my weight loss. I know at my age I will lose slower than others but also at this age any weight loss is good! Tomorrow I am meeting 2 OH roomies for coffee. It is so great to finally meet some WLS patients in person. I have also been a little agorophobic since moving up to Ft Collins almost 3 yrs ago and I hope to push myself to get out more and hopefully make new friends. As I lose more weight and feel more confident about myself I am gonna try my best to get out in the world again. Thanks for reading my profile - I wish you the best!


July 24, 2006
I had my 6 wk checkup today. I am now down 33.5 lbs!! I stalled a bit last week so was nervous but it all worked out in the end - seems my brand new body fat scale weighs heavy 4 lbs :-( So I was pleasantly surprised when I weighed in a docs. I am now totally off diabetic meds, choleterol meds, acid reflux meds and a nice chunk of weight is gone. What a great feeling!!

Doc also okayed me to add fruits and veggies to my diet along with small quantities of bread. Since it is summer I am dying to eat some of the great harvest abundance! Watermelon especially - lol. I am walking every evening after the sun goes down - much cooler then - up to a mile each time. I am so happy that I am walking again.

I don't go back to doc til 9-25 - can't wait to see how much I lose by then. My goal is 50 - 60 lbs and some new clothes since my birthday will be 9-13. Hope to get a makeover too :-)

July 12, 2006
Today is my youngest daughter Sara's 33rd birthday. What a day that was when she was born - only 4 lbs. 12 oz and c-section back in Des Plaines, IL. She was so tiny and beautiful with black curly hair and deep blue eyes. She stayed in hospital 10 days because her weight went down to 4lbs 2 oz. When she got up to 4 lbs. oz they let me bring her home. (They weighed her before she pooped so her weight would be high enough to bring her home!)

Anyway she is now a systems analyst with an MBA in Computer Science and has a new fella who is from England and is a Geek too. They met on Eharmony.com last year. I get to meet his parents this weekend when we celebrate Sara's birthday. His father is a retired doctor and his mother a retired nurse so will be interesting to meet them.

The good news is I am down 25 lbs!! When I came home from hospital I weighed 252 - 10 lbs of additional fluid from what they pumped into me at hospital. Now I am 222 - I can finally tell some difference :-) It will be a month on Saturday the 15th - I have always been a slow loser so this is great progress for me!! Will keep you posted when I go for my postop appt on July 24th. Oh yes, I am walking much better already and starting to swim a bit too. On my way to that great new life of being able to do physical things again. Today I'm going for a swim with my daughter Suzanne and her 14 mo old little girl, Sydney Nicole. Life is good!

July 6, 2006
So far so good. No dumping and no adverse reactions to food cept for s/f choc pudding with added protein. Gonna stay away from that for awhile. I have lost 24 lbs so far including the 10 lbs of fluid retention I came home with from the hospital. Have slowed down this week some and am a little disappointed. I have started walking a little more without as much pain as before. My energy level is improving some. I hope to be walking a little more each day. Hope you all had a Happy 4th of July!

June 23, 2006 Post Op Appt.
My swelling was almost all gone. They said in the hospital that this happens all the time. Wish I had known before hand that this could happen. But at least it has gone away. My blood sugar was 94 this morning - lowest it has been in about 3 yrs!

My daughter Suzanne came with me to the dr. appt. She has been so supportive and a real rock for me. I weighed and I had last 1 lb. from when I went in for surgery. I had really lost 13 lbs. in 5 days! The doc said I would start peeing like crazy soon (I already had) and that at my six week appt. I would down 20-30 lbs. So I'm hanging in there and following my regimen as good as I can. Dr. also gave me a prescription for Celebrex since I can't take my mega doses of ibuprofent any more. Hope it works.

Dr. Dickinson said I could now eat soft foods which surprised me, but I was happy to hear it. He also approved me for driving, swimming, and most of all watching my grandbaby Sydnen Nicole who is 14 mos old and the light of my life. He just warned me not to pick up anything over 25 lbs. I promised I wouldn't! lol

I go back for my 6 wk. checkup on July 24th. I can't wait to go and this time have a great weight loss. I have such a hard time losing weight anything weight loss would be a great weightloss for me!.

June 19, 2006
I got home yesterday from my wls. My daughter Sara came up to stay with me a few days. She has been wonderful helping me. She organized my kitchen cabinets so only small glasses and plates are on the lower shelf - plus organized all the canned goods I purchased to live on for the next 6 weeks. When I got on the scale I was still 12 lbs more than when I went into the hospital so I was really disappointed. Within 3 days I started getting rid of the excess fluid and my weight started coming back to normal. But I knew I wasn't going to have a good weight loss my first week because of this. Dr. Dickinson took my off my glucotrol, glucophage, and 1 actos pill, and acid reflux meds. I still have to take 1 actos pill every morning but much better than the 7 total I used to take. He sent me home on clear liquids and pureed foods. He scheduled my postop on Friday 23rd cause he was gonna be away the next week. So I was going in 8 days out.

June 15th, 2006 Surgery Day
My daughter Suzanne was there when I went into surgery He and when I awoke there she was with my sister and my brother-in-law. I was surprised at such wonderful family support! Dr. Dickinson also was gonna be oncall all weekend so I would see him everyday I was in the hospital. He is so professional, has great charisma and really on top of things. He made me feel great and very secure in his hands.

My surgery went great - no hidden suprises that I expected to wake up to - lol! I was sore but my back hurt more I think :-( I was on good pain medication - morphine drip - and was up walking in the afternoon. They also came me Toradol for my back pain.

One side affect I had is that my body was swelling up like a Macy's Christmas Day ballon!! I put on 12 lbs of fluid and was greatly uncomfortable. I was worried my kidneys were failing since I knew they had some damage from my diabetes. I also was having some trouble with oxygen so kept using it the whole time. My blood pressure also plunged to like 85/40 and at time they couldn't even find it! My iv had to be changed twice do collapsed veins and I ended up having in the inside of my arm since they couldn't find a place in either hand. Anyway these are minor things because I am now on the losing side!!!
http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=12&uid=4436823&gid=9381678&
June 3, 2006
Finally seems like my wls is getting close. This week I am in the process of filling out my living will, medical power of attorney, etc. so my oldest daughter can have the records in a VERY BIG JUST IN CASE - I am not worried at all but as a VIRGO, feel I need to be prepared.

The chat room has been such a great source of comfort and info for me to help me get through this waiting period. I am so thankful for all of you!!!

Thursday, June 7th I go to my final surgeon pre-op appt and on to register with Poudre Valley Hospital for my surgery on the 15th. I have been praying to and thanking God for this great opportunity to get my life back and to become pro-active again.

Will write again after I see Dr. Dickinson and do my pre-registering. :-)

May 27, 2006
WOW!! Only 18 more days until my WLS - I will have Lap RNY. I have read everything I can get my hands on, talked in chat almost every day and have my pre-op appt with Dr. Dickinson on 6-07 then go over to Poudre Valley Hospital after that to pre-register for my surgery on Thursday, June 15th, 2006. I am so excited to think this big belly of mine is gonna start to shrink!!!! LOL

My 2 daughters are going to help me the first week to recover and get on track with liquid diet. Dr. Dickinson will have me on that for 2 weeks, then pureed food for 4 to 6 weeks. He wants to use S/F Carnation Instant Breakfast 3 times a day with fat free milk and to start eating high protein food every meal (3 times a day) 1-2 oz each meal.

My nutritionist appt went well - we went over the bariatric clinic's diet and vitamin requirements. Since I am a diabetic she said to drink WATER, WATER, WATER - eat PROTEIN, PROTEIN, PROTEIN and to take my VITAMINS - CHEWABLE ONE A DAY, SOFT CALCIUM AND B12. I have to take a t/f test at my preop appt but I think I could write the manual now after studying it for 5 months!!

My surgery will be at 7:30 AM - and my stay should be 2 to 3 days if all goes well - and it is going to go well I am sure about that. I can't wait to be on the losing side.

April 24,2006
Good News :-) My WLS is scheduled for June 15th at Poudre Valley Hospital, Ft Collins, CO with Dr. James Dickinson from Northern Colorado Surgical Associates one of the top 50 circle of excellence bariatric centers. I was lucky because it just happens to be 2 stop lights away from where I live! What a coincidence.

Dr. Dickinson is a really upbeat and professional doctor. Bariactric education is very important to them and they have published a booklet in a 3-ring binder they want us to consider as our "Bible." It seems to cover every aspect of the surgery, before and after care. Thank goodness!

Since I have Medicare there is no approval to wait for up front.All I need now is a psych evaluation from my psychiatrist and a nutritionist vist. Then 1 week before surgery I go in for pre-op testing. I am so ready for this surgery. Seems to have given me the hope I have been looking for :-)

My grand daughter just turned 1 on April 23rd and I watch her during the week for my daughter - I would really like to be able to take her walking this summer and to the pool.

January, 2006
I have had one referral visit to the surgeon in December. He and my GI doctor have recommended wls to hopefully get rid of my diabetes, high cholesterol, GERDS, etc. I take 14 different meds everyday - about 20 pills!! My lowest weight as an adult was 116 and it is now double at 232. I am only 5'1" so I am really a roundie.

I have a new grandbaby - my only one- and I get to watch her every workday. She is only 9 months old now and I would love to be able to take her for walks and keep up with her. Hopefully I will be around for her for quite awhile.

My surgeon and nurse consult will be March 24th. I am in the process of filling out my info packet and hope to get it back to them soon. I will be using Medicare or Medicaid if I get approved for the surgery.

Will keep you posted :-)

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