Karin
I've decided to have weight loss surgery after trying to lose weight the old fashioned way for 30 years.
March 22, 2006
I had my second appointment with my surgeon and she was very happy to see that I had lost 18 pounds since my last appointment a month ago. She has decided to send a letter to my insurance asking for approval for the surgery even though she wants me to lose another 20 pounds before actually scheduling a surgery date. I guess she has faith in me. I doesn't hurt that all of my lab work has come back normal with the exception of having type II diabetes and high blood pressure. She says I'm a good candidate and recommends that I have the surgery.
Fifteen years and 100 pounds ago I told myself that I would never turn to surgery to lose weight. We often make heart-felt statements like that when we are young and naive about what life has in store for us. Of course that was way before my health issues and before I was so heavy (465 lbs.) that I could hardly walk to the mailbox without having to catch my breath.
As the years passed, the weight crept up and before I knew it I was morbidly obese.
April 5, 2006
It has been exactly 2 weeks since I last saw my surgeon. I hope I hear from the insurance company soon. I know that some have to wait for months for approval but hopefully I won't have to be one of the ones that have to wait what would seem to be an eternity.
At my highest weight I decided to lose weight the old fashioned way, diet and exercise. I ended up losing 55 pounds on my own. Then, I decided to try Weight Watchers. It helped have a partner to lose with and attend the meetings. We were both successful and both lost an impressive 50+ pounds in the 6 months of attending meetings and counting points.
I'd gone from 465 to 355 in about a year. That was back in 2000 and as of February 2006 I had put on 64 of those pounds. I am now at 395 and still losing. I have about 20 more pounds to lose before my surgery and MAN is it hard!.
April 9, 2006
I've been approved! I received the letter of approval exactly 2 weeks and one day since I last saw my surgeon. Thank you Western Health Advantage!
April 12, 2006
Talk about speedy! I got a phone call at work yesterday from my surgeon's office. I have a tentative surgery date for May 8, 2006. THAT'S LESS THAN A MONTH AWAY! It all depends on if I lose another 15-20 pounds by then. She, Dr. Machado, would like me to replace at least one meal with a protein shake and cut out carbs. Now that I have a date in my sights it makes the "dieting" easier for me. I'm on a mission!
May 6, 2006
I have one last day of eating, for tomorrow I can only drink clear liquids. My husband and I have decided to celebrate our one year anniversary of marriage today instead of tomorrow the 7th. We'll have a light dinner (Chinese wonton soup) and for dessert, a replica of our wedding cake (smaller, one tier version) and a bottle of champagne left over from our actual wedding. I didn't want to over do things but I did want to splurge a little.
For anyone wondering about how long and what I had to do to get to this point, here's the actual schedule of my appointments and tests.
APPOINTMENT..........DATE..............PLACE
Blood work ................10/5/05............Woodland
Stool Sample..............10/5/05...........Woodland
Chest Xray ................11/4/05............Woodland
EKG...........................11/4/05............Woodland
Seminar.....................11/5/05...........Carmichael
Physical.....................12/12/05..........Woodland
2nd Blood work..........12/12/05...........Woodland
Endocrinologist...........12/19/05..........Woodland
Nutritionist ................12/19/05..........Woodland
Burger Rehab ............12/28/05..........Woodland
Burger Rehab.............1/4/06.............Woodland
Burger Rehab.............1/10/06............Woodland
PAP Smear................1/12/06............Woodland
3rd Blood work...........1/19/06............Woodland
Burger Rehab.............1/30/06............Woodland
Nutritionist..................2/6/06.............Woodland
Surgeon.....................2/17/06...........Carmichael
Mammogram..............2/24/06...........Woodland
Nutritionist..................2/27/06...........Woodland
Echocardiogram..........3/13/06...........Woodland
4th Blood work............3/20/06...........Woodland
Surgeon......................3/22/06..........Carmichael
Surgeon......................4/21/06..........Carmichael
Pre-Op Blood Work.......4/27/06..........Woodland
Surgeon's nurse...........4/27/06..........Carmichael
Pre registration.............5/3/06...........Carmichael
Surgeon/weigh-in..........5/3/06..........Carmichael
SURGERY......................5/8/06..........Carmichael
May 7, 2006
It's about 11:40 PM on my 1st wedding anniversary and I am scheduled for surgery tomorrow at 10:00 AM. I'm not really nervous...yet. Thankfully, I have lots of people around me that support me and what I've decided to do about my weight problem. And for those who aren't going to be there physically, they have sent their prayers and will be with me in spirit.
I hope to be here in a few days to update my profile and tell of my journey at the hospital and all of the fun stuff that happened there. (*smile*)
May 12, 2006
On Monday when it was time to go to the hospital I was in a good mood and not really nervous at all. I had my husband, my mother, my sister and my mother-in-law there with me. I was asked to change right away into those gowns that everyone loves and slipper-socks. I was thankful that the gown was big enough for me. I guess it doesn't hurt to go to a hospital that has a special bariatric team and center. I even had a special bariatric bed. I was comfy!
My surgery was scheduled for 10:00 in the morning and at about 10:15 I was speaking with the anesthesiologist about routine stuff and my latex allergy. I was met by the surgical team and whisked away...
...that was the beginning of the end of my life as I had known it to be for 37 years.
NOW...
...I'M HOME! YAY!
I came home yesterday (5/11/06) around noon. The plan was for me to stay till Wednesday (5/10/06) but I was running a low grade fever (about 100.7 degrees F) so they decided to keep for another day to see if my fever would go down with the aid of more breathing exercises. The fever went down and I was able to go home with a temperature of 98.7 degrees F.
Monday after I awoke from my unconsciousness I saw a figure in the distance that I recognized as the shape of my husband. I smiled. I had remembered that he wanted me to make sure to let him know that I was alright. He wanted me to say some sort of sarcastic remark but I couldn't think of anything at the time. I was pretty out of it. I was that way all day Monday.
My friend Karla was there in the room with me by the time I was wheeled into my room which was expected and nice to see. Unfortunately, I was so out of it I'm not sure if I scared her since I was speaking unintelligibly and reaching out for her hair, don't ask me why.
June 9, 2006
It has been a month since my surgery and I have since lost 29 pounds. I have heard that some people lose a lot more than that their first month. At first I was kinda disappointed but then I realized that I have actually lost over 100 pounds all together! Yes, I have lost (only) 29 pounds in one month after surgery but I can't discount the other 81 pounds lost prior to surgery.
Two weeks ago I hit a plateau and stayed at 360 for about 11 days. That was a rough 11 days. I DIDN'T want to weigh in at my surgeon's office and still be at the same weight as I was 2 weeks ago. Thankfully, I got over that stupid plateau a few days before the appointment and lost 4 pounds in 2 weeks.
I am the kind of person that hops on the scale everyday and sometimes a few times a day. Yes, I know that I shouldn't do that and that it can be frustrating but I do it anyway and I will continue to do it.
My name is Karin and I am a scale-oholic. :P
July 17, 2006
It's been just over two months since my surgery and it seems like I'm finally adjusting to the different way I have to approach food. I haven't thrown up as much and I am actually eating just about whatever I want; of course in smaller portions. I even allow myself foods like pizza. I had a slice 2 weeks ago...hmmm, perhaps I should have left it in the pizza box.
I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DIE!
The pain was EXCRUCIATING! I was just about to go to the emergency room but I decided to take some liquid codeine first. Ahhh....drugs are good. Joel's dad, a retired gastroenterologist, advised me to take a double dose of codeine (...hee hee...yay...) just in case the pizza was causing a blockage and not allowing the meds to kill the pain fast enough. It worked...BOY did it work....ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz...
After I regained consciousness I vowed never to eat pizza again! (*pout*) Pizza....bad.
July 22, 2006
Yesterday I must have walked about 4 miles!
I work with children at a before and after school day care center and we went on a field trip to an inline skating rink. Our center has to use public transportation or walk in order to reach our destination. Yesterday we did both and now my ankle is paying for that error in judgment on my part. (sigh)
I hadn't really been that active after surgery and I wasn't really able to be very active before surgery so this was really the first time that I did that much walking in literally...years! The problem was that I never really got tired or out of breath so there was no need to stop and rest; I kept going and going from 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM. Boy am I paying for it now. It's like doing 4 hours of intense exercising for the first time and waking up the next day in agony, however, in my case all of the soreness and pain is concentrated in one location- my left ankle!
Hopefully, I will be able to walk soon. Right now I'm crawling and using a cane. Icy Hot is my friend.
Oh yeah...and that's how to lose 3 pounds in one day.(hee, hee!) I don't recommend doing it that way though.
September 9, 2006
It’s been some time since I updated – actually, I updated last month but I lost about 2 paragraphs when my browser shut down on me. I was frustrated after losing all of that info so I’m just not getting around to updating again. Now I’m typing it all in MS Word, after I’m done: copy & paste. (grrrrrrrrrrr!)
It’s not the best way to lose 7 pounds but it’s still a loss. I’m sick. (pout) I’ve lost 7 pounds in 48 hours. My throat hurts like the dickens and my fever spiked at 103.6 degrees F. I went to the Dr. and apparently I have a virus, which means I’m contagious and I just have to deal with being sick. I’m living on slurpees and wonton soup. Don’t tell Dr. Machado. (hee hee)
Anyway, I’m down 312 and I have my 20 year high school reunion on the 16th. I plan on attending whether sick and gagging or not. I paid for my ticket! (reeeer!) LOL….I hate being sick, I get so grumpy, can’t you tell?
September 12, 2006
I came back from the Dr. yesterday with infectious news. Yes, that's two Dr. visits within 3 days. I hadn't gotten any better since Saturday's Dr. visit. As a matter of fact now I can't even hear out of my left ear and my right is following close behind. Turns out that I have a tonsilitis, a sinus infection and an ear infection to boot. It sucks being me right now. Actually, only thing worse than being me right now is being my husband Joel, he has to take care of me. REEEEEEEEEEER! At least I'm NOW on antibiotics! Grrrrrrr!
...poor Joel (*giggle*)
Here's just an update on my weight loss progress since my surgery date of May 8, 2006. I lost 35 pounds right before surgery:
DATE........WT......WKLY LBS....TOTAL.........BMI
..............................LOST........LOSS
1/15/06.....419...........0...............0.............71.9
5/8/06.......384.........+3.............35............65.9 *SURGERY DATE*
5/11/06.....376...........8.............43.............64.5
5/15/06.....367...........9.............52.............63
5/22/06.....360...........7.............59.............61.8
5/29/06.....358...........2.............61.............61.4
6/5/06.......360.........+2.............59.............61.8
6/12/06.....353...........7.............66.............60.6
6/19/06.....351...........2.............68.............60.2
6/26/06.....351...........0.............68.............60.2
7/3/06.......342...........9.............77.............58.7
7/10/06.....339...........3.............80.............58.2
7/17/06.....334...........5.............85.............57.3
7/24/06.....330...........4.............89.............56.6
7/31/06.....327...........3.............92.............56.1
8/7/06.......330.........+3.............89.............56.6
8/14/06.....327............3............92.............56.1
8/21/06.....326...........1.............93.............56
8/28/06.....321...........5.............98.............55.1
9/4/06.......319...........3............101............54.8
9/11/06.....315...........4............115............54.1
Photos
 370 I'm ready for my close up! (2003, 2 years before surgery) |  |  400-450+ Top left going counter clockwise: 1995 @ 450+ lbs; 1998 @ 425 lbs., 1999 @ 400 lbs. |
Hospital Reviews
Member Interests:
Click here to see interests of other ObesityHelp members.
Surgeon Info:
Surgeon: Laura Machado
My first impression of Dr. Machado's staff was very positive. They are professional, friendly and they made me feel very comfortable and at ease. Dr. Machado is a very easy person to talk to and answered any question I asked. We spoke about the risks of surgery, types of bariatric surgeries, what I can expect after surgery and many other subjects relating to aftercare. She has a very pleasing bedside manner and my husband and I both feel she's extremely competent.
Insurer Info:
Western Health Advantage
