Nita G.

Send Message

Block

Add Friend

 I had just gotten home from the hospital the last time I wrote. Let's see, what's happened since then? Well I went back in on November 2nd, and had the gallbladder taken out after all. At my post surgical appointment for the VSG I complained about a back ache, and Dr. Chu was afraid it was my gallbladder. I still had a week off work at that point, so I didn't need to take any extra time off. Unfortunately, I still had my back ache after the surgery, so I guess it wasn't caused by the gallbladder. but it's gone now. And I don't need to worry about attacks.
I'm losing about 10 pounds a month, and I'm happy about that. I'm down to 204 now. I went shopping yesterday to try to find something to wear on Christmas. My first stop was Avenue, because I had heard they had fat lady clothes for less money than Lane Bryant, and I'm sick of cheap WalMart clothes. I started in a 4x, and have been wearing my old 3x stuff. All my clothes are too loose, so I grabbed some 2x stuff and headed to the fitting room. It was all too loose too! I couldn't find anything I liked in a smaller size, so I headed to Kohls. I got a couple of pairs of 1x pants, and a 1x blouse. I tried on an XL blouse, and it fit too, but not well enough to buy it. I decided I need to quit wearing sports bras, so I went to Penney's to get fitted. Probably not a good idea to get fitted in the week before Christmas. The fitter complained of exhaustion, did a half ass job of measuring me, suggested I try a bunch of bras between the sizes of 38C and 40D. The last time i bought a bra other than the sports bras, I was in a 44C. I took a bunch of bras in the fitting room, quickly  ruled out the 38s, then the Cs. Settled on 40D, but after wearing one of them all day today, I think maybe I need a 40DD. The girls are spilling over.
Anyway, it was the most pleasant shopping experience I've had in the past 40 years, since I was a thin young teenager. It didn't even bother me when the battery in the car was dead when I got out to the parking lot, I had left my phone at home, and I had to catch a bus to get home to call a tow truck. Yeah, I know, I could've asked someone for help, but that's not the way I roll. 
I love the new clothes. I think I've found my crossover addiction. Now I know what to ask for for Christmas!

I'm sittting here sipping my first protein drink, unflavored unjury in crystal light. It's horrible! Other than that, I'm doing pretty well. When they discharged me yesterday they told me that they wanted me to call the doctor if I hadn't started farting by today. No worries there, I'm tootin' like a tug boat! I had 3oz of SF jello for breakfast. I'm not in a hurry to start full liquids. Maybe for lunch, maybe not until tomorrow. The nutritionist told me I can Vitamix a can of soup, that makes the pieces tiny enough to be considered a full liquid. So now I'll have to go buy some Progresso. 
So on Wednesday I needed to get to Kaiser admitting in Fremont by 11:00am. Before I went there, I wanted to stop by member services to get my FMLA and Disability paperwork in. There were not any traffic back ups on the Altamont, so we made it with time to spare.  When I finished up there, we headed over to admitting where I gave them all the same information I'd given them a week ago on the phone, and paid my $450 co-pay. Then up to the surgery waiting room on the 2nd floor. I called my Mom, and told her I'd have my husband call when it was over.  It wasn't long before they called me in, gave me a GREAT gown, huge, no problem hiding the tush in that thing! Showed me where the bathroom was, set up my IV, asked a bunch of questions. Every time I go in, they ask me what meds I'm  taking. Then the next time I go in, they ask me about the same meds I already told them I'm not on.. Don't they record this stuff? They called my husband in at this point, and we proceeded to be ignored for the next two hours. That probably wouldn't have bothered me, except for the extremely solicitious service the guy in the next cubicle was getting. "Can I get you another warm blanket?" he was asked. "Let me go see where you're surgeon is with the case before you".  Turning to his companion, she was asked if she'd like a blanket too. "Sure", she replied. "How about a coke?" she was asked. All the while I sat there with nothing but my anger and feelings of neglect to keep me warm.
Then Dr. Chu stuck her head around the curtain, YaY! She was very informative, reassured my poor husband, then told me Dr. Hahn had counseled against having the gall bladder removed at the same time as the sleeve. She had good reasons, and really my main concern was just getting the sleeve done, so I agreed. She said that since I've had the gall stones for +20 years with no attacks, the chances are I won't have any. And if I want to have it out in the future, it's an out patient quickie surgery. Of course if I end up having an attack, I'm going to regret this!
Pretty soon a couple of anesthesiology people came in, asked me the same old questions, blah blah blah. Pretty soon after they left the surgical nurse came in, talked for a while, I really liked her, then we walked to surgery. Got on the table, adjusted myself, got the mask put on, and woke up in the recovery room. Don't remember much of that. Got taken downstairs to my room, Anthony must have needed a cigarette, he just said he'd called the family, and he'd see me tomorrow. Bye. Relief and irritation on my part. You'd think he could stick around a couple more minutes, but at least I don't have to entertain him. Ice chips and drugs, I'm a happy camper. I thought I'd have to walk before ice chips, but no. Nice nurse. Walked around the hall twice with me. Sorry I forget her name. The night nurse was Vivien. She was nice too. Actually the best of the three. I was up walking every 4 hours. Getting easier every time. Early morning shift change, bye Vivien. I don't know it yet, but I'm really going to miss you! Hello Amor. Maybe I didn't see you for hours at a time because the day shift is so busy? When I asked how many patients you had, you said 4, just like Vivien. Good thing for me I could get up and take the leg compressors off and go to the bathroom by myself. I don't know why you bothered to put a hat in the toilet for me to pee in if you weren't going to check it. Maybe you thought I need something to do, and emptying it for you was a task even I could accomplish. When I called  you for assistance, you were at lunch. Might have been nice if you had checked on me before leaving, but hey, at that point it had already been three hours since I had seen you, what's another two? I guess it must have been a two hour lunch, because it was two hours later when I finally ran into you in the hallway during one of my walks. "Hey", I said, "I haven't seen you in hours!". Pretty funny, I thought, since we were standing right across from the nurses station, with an audience. I went back to my room, and when you still didn't come to check on me, I called again, and wasn't nearly so polite with the pleases, and thank yous this time. I just told you I needed assistance, and you showed up pretty quick. I had you put on my leg compressors, get me another blanket, asked you about my med schedule, since by now it was 3:30 and I hadn't gotten anything since 9:30 am, when I got vicoden, and the self med machine was detached. You told me that my doctor had signed the release papers. "Oh, when?" I asked. "About a half hour ago" you replied. "Thanks for letting me know. I'm ready to get out of here. Let's get this show on the road!" It took a little while for the pharmacist to deliver my meds,  Amor, suddenly helpful, took out all the stuff poking me, got me ice to munch on on my way home, and a couple of belly binders. Called the guy to wheel me out. I had to call her back to come give me my pain meds, finally. Then I got to come home! Yay! Glad to be here. 
I finally finished this awful protein drink, now I'll go get some crystal light to wash away the nasty taste. 

My appointment was scheduled for noon. I could have had an earlier one, but was worried about traffic over the Altamont Pass. We arrived 15 minutes early, I got weighed and BP taken, then sat around the waiting room until 12:45, when some assistant let me know that Dr. Chu was running late, and I should go get my EKG done. Unfortunately, it turned out EKG was closed until 1:30. So we went to the cafeteria and had lunch, then went back to the waiting room for a while. It was all okay, I'm so damn glad to get this all taken care of, I didn't care how long it took!
So I was supposed to get down to 257 for surgery (from 282), and because there were delays, I actually got down to 241. Dr Chu said I did phenomenally!  She explained everything to my husband and went over my gallbladder removal with both of us (I have stones, no attacks thank goodness). My husband thinks I should just eat less, and every thing will be fine. He seems more comfortable about my surgery now, though, and really liked that Dr. Chu took the time to explain everything to him in depth. So I'll be the third surgery of the day on Wednesday, Oct. 6th. We don't need to be at the hospital until 11:00, and surgery won't be until about 1:30. I am not nervous at all! Did some shopping today for supplies, spending the weekend with a couple of my grandkids visiting, nice and relaxed. Can't wait for Wednesday!

 And I couldn't be happier. Before my parathyroid problem derailed my progress, I was doing everything I was supposed to. No drinking with meals, chew 30 times, take a bunch of vitamins. Then when my surgery was put on hold, I got out of those good habits. I still stayed under 1200 calories a day, and walked two miles, and I continued to lose weight, but now I gotta get back into those other good habits, fast!
I'd better go reread my handbook. Fill up the pill keeper. Make a list of questions for my pre-op appointment. Figure out what foods to stock up on, and equipment to buy. I'm getting excited again!

 Hey, that Mexican food that made me so sick from eating too much of it ended up breaking my stall! The next morning I was down2 pounds, and now, 5 days later, I'm down from 247 to 242. Yay!

 Back in May I had parathyroid surgery. I was told it was successful, and I believed it.  Then I went to have my pap smear, which was fine, and a blood test for some stomach bacteria.  My endocronoologist had ordered lab tests that I wasn't expecting, and they showed both my PTH and Calcium levels were elevated. So apparently the surgery wasn't successful. Dr. Chu saw the results, and put the brakes on the bariatric surgery. WHAAA! I was freaking out. I called my endo, and she wanted to send me to another surgeon. I researched the surgeons available at Kaiser, and didn't think any of them were any good. Finally, last week I kept a long standing appointment with the endo, she took a bunch of new tests, and I begged her to find me a competent surgeon. She referred me to someone she didn't really know, but had heard of from one of her colleagues. Yesterday she called me and said that he had reviewed my history and the labs, and pronounced me cured!  Despite the lab levels. Yay! I emailed Dr. Chu with the news, and today I received an email from her saying she would be forwarding my file to her coordinator. YAY!  

I've been dieting since May, and have been stalled, gaining and losing the same pound over and over for about three weeks now. I'm eleven pounds below the weight Dr. Chu wanted me to get to before surgery would be scheduled, and I did a bad thing today. I celebrated with food. We went to the Mexican place we used to go to all the time. I couldn't eat nearly as much as I used to, but I still ate too much. I feel awful. I'm going to use the memory of this feeling, and NEVER overeat again! 

 We took the day off work so my husband could drive me to the Bay Area for my psychiatric appointment. It sure is a lot cooler there than here in the Central Valley. The Doctor was very nice, and I guess I'm not too crazy to have surgery, so now I just gotta wait to hear from Dr. Chu.
Oh, Boy! I'm pretty excited.

 So I had my first consultation with Dr. Chu in Fremont today. I really like her, and everyone I met at Kaiser there. The nutritionist said I was doing great ( I lost 15 pounds since my first orientation) I need to lose 10 more pounds before surgery, get my psych eval, and a pap smear. I'm on my way, and I feel excited!
I found out that I'm not five foot seven, I'm only 5 foot 6. Either I've never been measured properly, or I've shrunk. I guess this means I'm already on the losers bench! LOL. 
I'm walking 2 miles every morning before work, that's kind of hard, but I feel pretty energized for the rest of the day. This weekend my three oldest grandkids are with us. Boy, they wear me out! I can hardly wait until I'm in good shape again.
I better go see what those little rascals are up to. More later.
Nita

 Hi, my name is Nita. So I’ve decided to have surgery! Yay!

I wasn’t a fat kid, but I started getting fat when I was a teenager. My mom started working, so she wasn’t there anymore to tell me to “Go outside and play!” I’d come home from school and scarf down a big bag of potato chips, or a bowl of ice cream (or both!), or make some instant mashed potatoes. By the time  I was 19 I weighed about 180. I went to one of those weight loss clinics where they inject you with pregnant lady urine. Eeuuw, yuck! I don’t know what good that was supposed to do, but the 500 calorie a day diet they put me on, and having to go in to get weighed daily, had me back to about 145 in no time. Of course, I didn’t stick to the 500 calorie diet, and I gained it all back pretty quick, too. So that’s been the pattern for about 30 years now, lose, gain, lose, gain. And every time I gained, it was more than I had lost! I finally decided if I didn’t cut it out I’d weigh 500 lbs. in a few years. So I quit dieting. And now I weigh 280.

My husband thinks I should just eat less, and everything will be fine. As he sucks on his cigarette. Grrrrr. I quit smoking 12 years ago, cold turkey. Unfortunately, you can’t just quit eating cold turkey. Anyway, he’s not real supportive, but he has been willing to take time off work to drive me to appointments. I have Kaiser Insurance, and need to go to the Fremont bariatric center, about an hour away from my home in Stockton, CA. I have anxiety attacks when I have to drive on the freeway, which is a real pain in the ass. So as long as my husband is willing to take me, I guess that’s support enough!

I went to my big Bariatric Info meeting yesterday in Fremont, and have my consult appointment with Dr. Chu on July 2, 2010. I knew from reading about it on OH that I’d need to cut out caffeine and carbonation, and lose about 10%, so I cut out the diet Pepsi, the ice cream, etc., and have lost 7 pounds so far. I gotta start walking! Ooooh, my aching legs!

 Just starting to get serious about this journey.