iluvamystery89
03/18/04...it's been 1 weeks since my uncle's funeral, and i saw dr. freeman today-everyone in his office was so nice-my sinuses hurt so bad i didn't wanna bend over and put my shoes back on after weighing, and the girl who weighed me just smiled and asked if she could do it for me, she was so sweet. the seminar was very informative, i thought it was a lil too long, lol, the others didn't seem to mind, so maybe it was just me, b/c i've done so much research and had family members who've had rny. seminar started at 8:30 a.m., and we left at 1 p.m., lol. but we were well informed!
03/30/04...called dr. freeman's office to see if my paperwork was submitted to bc/bs-it's been sitting on someone's desk for almost 2 weeks! grrrr! ok, so the lady i spoke with said she faxed everything, now the waiting begins.
4/01/04...bc/bs has my paperwork for approval.
4/14/04...I'M APPROVED!! :D YIPPEE!! i've been calling bc/bs every other day, and everyone i spoke with was really nice :) aahhh i'm SOOOOO excited! i started screaming and crying over the phone when the lady at bc/bs told me, lmao, i know she thinks i'm nuts! now to call and get an appt. for a psych evaluation!
04/19/04...well, tomorrow is my appointment with the psychiatrist for my psych evaluation-my uncle andy told me just to tell them i love my parents and i'd pass, lol. i spent almost an hour on the phone w/ my aunt in georgia explaining everything-the surgery, my eating requirements afterward, etc. she wants to know everything, and i told her everything, lol.
04/20/04 (p.m.) ...well, i spoke to my husband, and he assures me he's 100% behind my decision to have this surgery, so i went to my psych evaluation-i was so intimidated at first-the guy's a phD in psychology and all i wanna do is have surgery! seemed kind of a waste of his expertise, lol. but i made it through, we chatted a while, then i took the test-which i'm convinced was written by a crazy person, lmao, b/c if i DID hear voices or like seeing animals suffer, i surely wouldn't admit it to anyone with a psychiatry degree. one down side...i was so excited to get there i got a speeding ticket on the way to my appointment, lmao. hubby wasn't mad though-i think he really sees now how badly i want this. so i just have to wait 7-10 days for the results, get the nutritional evaluation at my surgeon's office, and i'll be ready for the surgery schedule! man i HATE waiting!
04/30/04...I have a surgery date! OH MY GOD! May 17th!! i'll be the 2nd case that morning, and i've already told everyone in my family-my aunt is coming from georgia, even my long-absent father said he'd be there, but for me to call him a few days before and remind him, lol. aaahhhhh i'm so excited! it's REALLY happening! so many ppl here have given me support and encouragement-thank you all, you'll never know how much it means. i'll see you on the losing side in less than 3 weeks!
05/06/04...My beloved grandmother called me this morning, she insisted that i tell her how much i was going to owe to the hospital and surgeon, and god bless her, she put the money in my checking account! she's even got some plus size hospital gowns she special ordered for me to wear when i get home, she really is the best :) my entire family has really been great, i'm soooooo lucky to have their support.
05/11/04...I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who's signed my surgery support page-i was feeling REALLY down today, and your words of encouragement have lifted my spirits SO much. thank you and god bless you all.
05/12/04...A HUMONGOUS thank you to my OH chat buddy Beee (Tina) for agreeing to be my angel! God Bless You :) *hugs*
5/13/04...Well today was my preadmission testing, and i must say, it was an experience, lol. i was told to be there at 8:30 a.m., along with about 20 other ppl, lol, and i wasn't called back until almost 10 a.m., which was when i was supposed to be at dr. freeman's office to meet with the nutritionist! but i called his office and they said it was ok, to come on over when i was done. so i arrived there about 10:55 a.m. and spent a lil time chatting w/ natalie about protein drinks, my first meals and such, then the mr. and i went to get some lunch and tooled around anniston a lil while-we even stopped at cooper chevrolet and looked at some cars, lol. he dropped me back off there about 1:15 and left about 1:40p.m. to go home to get ready for work, and my mom arrived right after he left so she could meet w/ dr. freeman with me. we were called back and after i went and paid the remainder of dr. freeman's fee, we were led to an exam room where we met with dr. freeman's surgical assistant, tim-he listened to me breathe and asked me if i had any questions, then let me know what to expect on monday morning. at that point we were led to the conference room and we waited for everyone else to arrive. once everyone else was seated, dr. freeman's program coordinator, susan, talked to us about our surgery, shared a little about HER surgery with us, then dr. freeman came in and greeted us all then continued the surgery discussion where susan left off. we were all given our sprirometers, along with a little gift bag of stuff w/ the office name and #'s on them, and once all of our questions were answered, we were free to go. it was a total of about 3 hours, but my mom, who's 4 years post-op herself, was very impressed with dr. freeman and his staff, and even told him so. i have a really good feeling about monday morning :) i have to be at the hospital at 6 a.m., and my surgery should begin around 8:30 a.m. thank you to everyone who's signed my surgery page, your prayers and warm wishes mean the world to me *hugs*
05/20/04...hey everyone :) i'm home, very sore, but doing ok. my surgery went VERY well monday morning-my surgeon broke his own personal best of 40 minutes by doing my surgery in 30 minutes! he said it was a breeze-i wish it was a breeze for me, lol. i woke up w/ a tube down my throat and couldn't seem to convince anyone i was choking to death, but once i started pulling on it they realized i was serious, lol. the nurses took great care of me, and my mom-who stayed with me the whole time-they were awesome :) i get my drains out on monday, and i think i'll be sleeping on the couch recliner until then, lol. and man these staples itch! i have to thank my angel, Beee :) she called several times to check on me, and even faxed my surgery page messages to the hospital for me to read! thank you everyone who signed my page :D your prayers and good wishes mean the world to me.
6/23/04...I've just gotten off the phone w/ Joyce from Dr. Freeman's office, and i'm on my way to the ER at NEARMC. i've been dry heaving and throwing up ALL day AND my right drain hole has busted open w/ infection again, and it's bright green and lumpy this time-damnit i was just at their office yesterday, and the vomiting wasn't this bad and i had NO clue i still had a staph infection. the only good news is i've lost 45 lbs in 5 weeks! YAY!
6/26/04...got to come home from the hospital today-Tim (dr. freeman's surgical assistant) saw me in the ER wednesday night (6/23) and said i needed to be admitted-he cleaned my infected drain hole and called upstairs to get me a room and order IV antibiotics & nausea meds for tonight, bless his heart. thursday morning between surgeries dr. freeman did an EGD on me and found that i had a stricture, so he fixed it and when i woke up, i felt 100% better. the nurses cleaned my infected drain hole several times a day, and so did tim & dr. freeman each time they came to see me, which was usually twice a day. by the time i left this morning, dr. freeman could just barely get the head of the q-tip and about 1/4 inch of the wooden stick in the hole-when i entered the hospital, the wound was over 3 inches deep! i got 3 days of IV antiobiotics, and the nurses, along w/ tim & dr. freeman took EXCELLENT care of me-even allowing my mom to sleep in the empty bed next to me since it couldn't be used for a patient (she got a couple of dirty looks for it, but oh well, lol). maybe now that i'm finally on the road to recovery i can start exercising!
7/14/04...I dunno how much weight i've lost, but i talked to natalie (nutritionist) at dr. freeman's office yesterday and she assured me i was on the right track w/ my food choices. i've been eating mainly bacon, tomatoes, q-smart bars, peanuts, and chicken salad. i've ordered a gazelle freestyle elite (can't wait for it to arrive!) and am considering joining a gym as well, so i can do water aerobics and have the freedom to do whatever else i feel like. my legs don't swell so much anymore, i can get my wedding ring on and off w/o hurting my finger, my favorite pants are now too baggy for me, lol, and every time my mom sees me she SWEARS i've lost more weight.
7/20/04...My entire family must need glasses, i swear, i look in the mirror and i see the same woman who was looking back at me the day before my surgery. i don't look to myself like i've lost a single pound, and i can't tell you how depressing that is, considering what i've been through. why did i do this to myself? and to top it off....tonight, i overate. it wasn't bad, just a few leftover boiled potatoes & carrots from a beef roast, but i'm still mad at myself b/c i've been doing really well at getting in protein snacks. i probably only got in about 25 g of protein today, when i usually get around 50. i did eat the beef roast for supper (w/ a slice of potato and 3 baby carrots) and didn't get sick, so that's a plus. i just know when i weigh at dr. f's office in 3 weeks i'll be disappointed, and it's my own fault. i should've known wls wouldn't work for me...why should it? nothing else i've tried ever did. i'm so envious of ppl who can look in the mirror and say they look good...i look exactly the same-fat & repulsive. even my husband says pics of me preop and postop don't look any different in the face...i knew it-fat as always.
8/3/04...well it's not all about pounds, lol. my DH helped me measure my chest, waist & hips today, and it turns out that in one week, i've lost a total of 10 inches off these 3 areas! 2 off my chest, and 4 each off my waist & hips! WOOOOHOOOOO!
8/5/04...today i have to take my daughter to her elementary school to drop off her school supplies and meet her teacher, and guess what? i've lost THREE pants sizes! the ones i'm wearing are a 22/24, which is a 1X in the Roaman's catalog-the ones i ordered from roaman's just over 7 months ago (4 months pre-surgery)were a 4X! YEAH! GO ME!
8/16/04...WOOOOHOOOO! i've lost 64 lbs! and my bloodwork looks good too :) i'll return to dr. freeman's office for my 6 month follow-up in november.
8/17/04...DH and i did the measurements again today, and i've lost a total of 6 more inches off my bod! YAY!
8/31/04...more measurements! i've lost a total of 23 inches of myself in august! GO ME!
9/8/04...was having some REALLY bad bladder pains tonight-pretty sure i've got a UTI. so, being the dummy i am, i took one of the pain pills my mom left me "just in case"-it's supposed to be ok for postops (she's 4 yrs postop and takes them), so i take one-let it almost melt in my mouth just like she said, then swallow....OMG, i was SOOOOO sick for the next 30-45 mins! i retched and heaved, and LORD i felt SOOOOO sick! i will NEVER take another one of those things!
9/9/04...saw my PCP today for the UTI and got my b-12 shot while i was there-the scales at his office say i weigh 303...i wish i knew how many lbs higher their scales are calibrated than dr. freeman's, so i could have an exact weight!
10/3/04...i weighed on my mother-in-law's scales this morning, and although they only go up to 270 then start over again, lol, i was able to figure by it that i now weigh 292 lbs! WOOOHOOOOOOOOO i'm under 300! i haven't been under 300 lbs in...well...several years! that's a loss of 82.5 lbs-bringing me 17.5 lbs from my december 15 goal of 100 lbs lost!
10/13/04...saw my pcp today for a raging sinus infection, and i'm down to 287! i've lost 87.5 lbs! :) YAAAAAAY! i've decided to set a NEW goal for myself-i want to get down to 247 by december 15th-that will make my BMI 39.9-at that point i'll no longer be morbidly obese, just severely obese, lol.
11/8/04...saw my pcp for my 6 month bloodwork and monthly b-12 shot-i now weigh 276 :) that's 16 lbs in just over a month. i'll see tim at dr. freeman's office on monday, november 15th for my 6 month checkup, and i'm curious to know what i weigh by their scales. obviously i'm not going to make it to 247 by dec. 15th, but i'll take whatever loss i can manage.
11/15/04...saw tim at dr. freeman's office today and my bloodwork is basically good-thyroid slightly elevated, protein slightly low. oh, and I'VE LOST 105 POUNDS! YAYYYYYYYYYY!
12/15/04...saw my OB/GYN today for my yearly checkup-was HE surprised when he read my chart!! he said he really didn't think i'd take his advice and have this surgery, hehe, boy did i fool him! he couldn't stop telling me how proud of me he was, and how great i looked. what a lift for my spirits! by his scales (i'm hoping they're a little high) i've lost 6 more lbs-263.6. 111 lbs woohoo!
12/24/04...it's official, i'm on thyroid meds now. my pcp says (after consulting w/ an endocrinologist) that i have hyperthyroidism-meaning my thyroid is overactive-and i'm on 150 mg of propylthiouracil 3 x a day. i also see the endocrinologist on Jan 6th at 1:20 p.m. guess i'll find out more then.
12/28/04...well, i made it through christmas, and not only did i NOT gain any weight, i've lost 4 lbs since the 15th! i was sure i'd gain a little over the christmas holiday, i mean, that IS my pattern, but i actually did very well this year, thanks to my surgery-about 2 oz of turkey at each meal w/ a few bites of veggies. no sweets, and very little bread. i love my new scale i bought myself w/ christmas money-now if i can just keep myself from weighing every day, lol. i even got up early the day after christmas and drug my mom and daughter to wal-mart! y'all just don't know how much i LOVE wrapping paper, hehe. i've got about 10 unopened rolls in my hall closet, but i bought 3 more on sunday, lmao. along with bows, gift tags and gift boxes, a christmas table cloth & napkins and christmas cards. no clothes, but i did exchange the "batter pro" my dad got me for a new 12" mirro "satin & glass" skillet w/ lid. so i guess i got what i wanted for christmas, lol. NO WEIGHT GAIN! YAY!!
01/06/05...well, i saw the endocrinologist today *sigh* he confirmed that i have hyperthyroidism-we don't know which type, b/c the thyroid scan i had done last month was w/o contrast. so, i'll have bloodwork at the end of this month to confirm which type i have, and that will determine whether i have radioactive iodine therapy & lifelong medication or surgery & lifelong medication. at this point, i'm on 450 mg of propylthiouracil a day (that's NINE pills!).
01/18/05...YAYYYYYYYYY!! i've FINALLY broken 250! yes ladies and gentlemen, today i stepped on the scale and it said 249.6! i've lost 125 lbs! WOOOHOOO! now all those of us who've been on this ride a while know that # will probably go back up a lb or two for a few days, then drop again + another lb or two, lol, but i'm so excited about it i don't care! i'm still taking my thyroid meds like a good girl, and i'll have my bloodwork in about 10 days.
02/02/05...well, i've gotten the results of my bloodwork :) all is well so far. my TSH is STILL low, but my Free T3 and T4 are both within normal limits now, and my TSI is negative, meaning i don't have graves disease :D so, dr. homan says i continue taking my thyroid meds as prescribed and i'll have more bloodwork in 4 months. i WAS on a two week plateau, but as of monday i'd actually LOST ONE pound! only ONE more pound to go and i'll only be severely obese! YAYYYYYYY!
02/27/05...well...this weight does nothing but come off, then back on. this has gone on for 2 months now-at the beginning of the week i'll lose a pound or so, but by the end of the week, i've gained it back. i've spoken with my nutritionist, i've added an afternoon snack of fruit, doubled my protein intake, exercised more, exercised less-NOTHING will break this! as of yesterday i decided on my own to reduce my thyroid meds (yes i know, not the wisest move i could make) because this stall seemed to start when i started crushing the pills per my endocrinologist. so now i take 6 pills per day instead of 9. i was going to stop taking the medication altogether, but a nurse friend in california convinced me not to. i'm so sick of this! i did NOT mutiliate my body so i could weigh 247 lbs! i did actually manage to get to 245.8 last week, but of course, by saturday i was back up to 247. i was also told to only weigh myself once a week, but of course i'll have no idea if the weight pattern continues or not if i do that. i know my situation is unique-i've posted messages on the main OH board about hypo and hyperthyroidism and everyone who answered me was HYPOthyroid-leave it to me to be the lone freak-i'm so discouraged, and i honestly don't know what else to do. all i wanted was to be 199 lbs by may 17th...that's not going to happen now.
03/05/05...ok, this has been a really long week. on tuesday, i decided to find a new endocrinologist, only to discover that every other one i called in birmingham (over an hour's drive south) was booked until mid-april! so i called my current endo, left a voicemail for his nurse, and she actually called me back a couple hours later. i explained my situation, and she assured me my medication is NOT causing this roller-coaster i've been on, and said she wanted to discuss my predicament w/ dr. homan. this same day, i decided to not exercise for a few days and see what happened-i've strained something in my arm and my knees & hips are killin' me anyway. so, dr.'s nurse calls back 3 days later (friday) and says dr. homan (my endo) has no suggestions for me aside from putting me on zocor b/c my cholesterol was 231-HELLO! the bloodwork wasn't done fasting! *rolls eyes* i said no to that, thanked her and hung up. today is saturday, and since wednesday my weight has been going down. i'm now at 244.6. -2.5 lbs this week and 130 lbs gone total woohoooo! now if it'll just STAY off! i'm doing so well with NOT exercising, that now i'm afraid to start exercising again, lol.
3/29/05...well, i managed to lose 4 lbs in 5 days before the weight loss stopped again. i went 3 weeks without a loss, and i STILL can't get anyone to listen to me about my medication...so, 4 days ago, i stopped taking it. it took 2 days, but the weight has started coming off-2.4 lbs in 2 days! i'm still going to keep the food diary my nutritionist asked me to this week, just to keep myself honest, but i'm hoping this loss will continue, so that i can look dr. freeman in the eye when i see him in 6 weeks. i'd be so happy if i could just lose 15-20 lbs by then...
4/4/05...ok, as of today i've lost 7.4 lbs! of course, 3.6 of those lbs came off between yesterday morning and this morning because of the stomach virus i had all day yesterday. i thought i was dying, seriously. at about 10:15 p.m. last night i finally gave in and asked to be taken to the ER, but i had to drive almost an hour to anniston b/c no doc here will touch me due to my wls. of course, the staff at NEARMC weren't very sympathetic to me, really treated me like crap until they got me in a room (a doctor i went to and begged for help actually told me to "get back to your seat, i'm busy with other patients"-actually, i got the same response from pretty much the entire staff, b/c i begged them all to please help me). i've NEVER hurt that bad in my life, not even after my wls, and to be treated that way by so-called "medical professionals" well...i won't be going back there ever again, i'll drive 1.5 hours to birmingham before i go back to that hellhole. luckily i DO feel better today-wish i could have some solid food though, clear liquid diets SUCK.
4/14/05...well, i haven't lost any more weight. honestly, i'm not sure i will. exercising doesn't make a difference, drinking more water doesn't make a difference, rigidly following my eating plan doesn't make a difference. it's so frustrating and depressing! i see other wls patients who eat all kinds of junk food and don't comply with their doctor's orders and THEY continue to lose weight-what's wrong with ME? why can't i do it? why won't my body work right? *sigh*
4/19/05...ok, i've lost a couple of lbs-believe it or not, my weight went UP last week after i'd exercised a couple of straight days-so i stopped, and i started losing weight again, lol, go figure?
5/17/05...today was my one-year postop checkup with dr. freeman-i didn't get to see him, saw tim instead, which wasn't a problem, he's a great guy. he was very encouraged by my 35 lb loss-i'm pretty disappointed in it, and i let him know i went 3 months w/o losing weight thanks to that DAMN thyroid medicine. that was the biggest mistake i ever made! thank god my labwork was good, so i don't have to go back on those stupid pills. my cholesterol was 185 (YAY!) and my protein level was 7 (range is 6-8, lol) i felt pretty good about myself after i left, and sang all the way home, lol. unfortunately, i have a sore throat and my sinuses are draining like crazy.
5/20/05...well, i had to go the doctor yesterday, and of course, my sinuses are infected, which i knew. this happens EVERY spring, and i'm actually surprised i held it off this long. i got my B-12 shot while i was there, and a shot of rocephin (antibiotic) and celestone (sp? anti-inflammatory). the good news is, since my appointment at dr. freeman's office on tuesday, i've lost 5 lbs! my scale said 228.8 this morning, and yes, i stepped on it twice, just to make sure i wasn't hallucinating, lol. i haven't been under 230 lbs since i got married 13 years ago! i soooo hope it stays off (GRRRRRR @ water weight)! i do feel a little bit better too...not much, but a little. my sinuses seem to be drying up some, and my throat isn't sore anymore. of course, now my nose and mouth area is chapped from me blowing my nose a million times in the past 3 days, lol.
7/6/05...ok, so i'd pretty much come to the conclusion that i only lose weight the week of my period (a/k/a the only week i don't take b/c pills) but lo & behold! i've lost 2 lbs this week! i guess i'm not as smart as i think i am, lol. i went from 219 last week to 217 this week-when i reach 216 i'll no longer be severely obese, i'll just be obese! wooohoo! LOL
10/27/05...i've lost, i think, 17 lbs in the last 2 months. my scale fluctuates a LOT (i even tried a new battery and it didn't help) but today it said 189! WOOHOO! 2 more lbs and i'll be exactly HALF my former self!
1/12/06...well, i've lost 187 lbs, but i still have quite a ways to go. the weight is barely coming off now, no matter what i do, but i refuse to give up. i still drink 185 oz of water a day (any less and i'm horribly constipated-eek!), take my vitamins and calcium, get 90-120 g of protein a day and exercise at least 5 days a week.
5/2/06...i'm 23 1/2 months postop, and minus 200 lbs!! i couldn't believe it when i saw it on the scale, and i know my weight's going to fluctuate a few lbs throughout the month, but just seeing that # was the thrill of my life (aside from the birth of my DD, of course)!!
7/10/06...this has been a rough week for me-i woke up tuesday morning (july 4th) about 5 a.m. with horrible gas pain, which i assumed, after taking 2 gas x pills, would go away in a couple of hours, but it didn't, it became worse through the course of the day. i had managed to get showered & dressed, and went to the tennessee aquarium with my dh, dd & in-laws, but i was completely miserable. at about 3 p.m., on our way home, i couldn't stand the pain anymore, i had to call my surgeon's office, and his assistant told me to go to the hospital if i thought i needed to. after arriving home, i laid down on my left side on my bed, and the pain eased. over the next 2 days, the pain became less & less each day. i could tell the whole time it was gas, but nothing would get rid of it. i finally felt human again on friday, and am now pretty much pain free. i've also lost 203.3 lbs as of today! could it be i might actually make it below 170 lbs? only 1.2 lbs to go!
6/22/07...it's been quite a while since i wrote anything on here....i got a new scale about 3 months ago, and it says i'm 10 lbs heavier than the old scale *sigh* i seem to fluctuate between 182-185. i don't get much exercise-my knees and hips are so painful it's a struggle most days just to walk across the floor. they weren't like this before my surgery; of course, before surgery, i was so obese i could barely walk anyway. now that i'm more active, the damage to my joints has become apparent, and it saddens me...i did this to myself. i have an appointment at dr. f's office in about a week-perhaps he'll have some suggestions for me-my orthopedic dr. only wants to do surgery.
