Justin M.
OK This is my first post to here...my name is Justin am I'm 27 years old and I'm 5'8" about 325 lbs. I am at my biggest ever...I have tried dieting over the years with minimal success...the only real true success I had was when I was in high school my sophomore year when I was taking Dexedrine for my ADHD. The medicine totally killed my appetite so I ate very little...the plus side was that I lost a lot of weight. I think I was down to about 190 lbs. then. I remember being able to shop in the normal men's department that year for school clothes and being hella happy. My story is rather short. I had been thinking alot about WLS surgery because I kept seeing it in the media. About a year or so I ago I stumbled upon Bev B's page and saw how amazing she looked. I hadn't seen Bev in quite some time so I was stunned at her results...she looked absoultely fabulous. Also I saw two people that I went to high school with and their radical transformations and thought that if this can work for them then maybe it can work for me. I went to the informational seminar with Dr. Coirin on October 12, 2005. It was very informative. Although the videos of the surgery portion kinda grossed me out...but hey thats life. It was great to see the post-op patients and see their before and after pictures. I did go out the next day and buy the book "Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies" that they mentioned several times...great book by the way very informative. I went for my consultation at Dr. Coates' office on November, 8. I met with Daryl, the PA in the office, very nice guy btw. They made me take an test to see how much I remembered from the seminar, I got all but 1 question rite...the surgery doesn't cure diabetes or other ailments. They said that I was a candidate for the surgery due to the fact that I am super morbidly obese with a BMI of 50. Also I am diabetic as well, though my diabetes has been under pretty good control. I was a little overwhelmed this day because after meeting with Daryl, I then met with Hillary. Hillary told me that my insurance BC PPO and Memorial were having issues over this procedure and that after the first of the year that I would not be able to get the surgery done at Memorial, so they scheduled me in the last week of December...I was like wow this is happening so quick.
WOW…this has been one hell of a journey…I am now below my goal weight of 180 lbs…As of 12/1/2006 I’m weighing in at about 161 lbs…I’ve actually been told by Dianne, Dr. Coirin’s PA that I need to gain weight and that I have their blessing to eat whatever I want as long as it doesn’t make me sick…this scares the hell out of me I’m going to admit it…it seems like now I’m constantly feeding my face to gain weight and I don’t like it, it reminds me of the eating behaviors that I had prior to having the surgery…I’m trying to make good nutritional choices…however I have found that I don’t dump off of Caramel Light Frappucinos from Starbucks with extra caramel drizzle in it…god they are so yummy. I have also developed a Vicodin addiction as well…I am currently working on it…I’m not proud of it…it seems as if I transformed my addiction of food to a narcotic drug…my PCP is aware of it and she had vowed to help me through it…sometimes I get frustrated with her when she won’t give it to me…I did get some recently due to some severe abdominal pain I was in…but haven’t had anymore…I know it’s my fault because I was able to get it when I really didn’t need it and now when there are times that I do need it because of legitimate pain she really questions me…I just wanna slap her but I know that she is looking out for me…it’s my fault because I had become the little boy who cried wolf…so I accept responsibility for that…I love my PCP to death, truly she has been so supportive of me throughout my journey. I would definitely recommend this surgery to anybody who is thinking about it…it has made my life better…I can ride the rides at amusement parks now, occupy one seat on the bus instead of two, find clothes that fit, get people’s attention and just generally feel so much better about myself…if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask me as I’m willing to answer them!
