kat08
2/21/11
Feb 20, 2011
Hi! I've been lurking and actively posting on this site for quite a while so it's time I start blogging a little. I'm ready to get this journey started!I'm Kathy, a 37 year old SAHM to 2 kids (6yo son & 2yo daughter) and I currently homeschool. They keep me very busy. ;)
My past weight issues... I have been "heavier" since the 4th grade. No, I wasn't obese then but that's when my weight issues started. That's when my peers started noticing and comments started coming in from my little kid friends. I was probably around a size 16/18 when I was in the 7th grade then thinned out to about a size 12/14 in the 9th grade. I was at my smallest ever, at a size 10/12 in the 10th & 11th grades. I was still bigger than a lot of girls that I went to school with. I felt good about myself then but I still thought I was a little heavy and I was definitely self-conscious in a bathing suit. I wish I could go back and smack some sense into my teenage self.
My senior year of high school, I started putting on weight. I think I was a size 16/18 when I graduated and I just kept going up & up; not a whole lot at a time but gradually. I was a size 18/20 in college, a size 22/24 when I was 23, a size 24 when I got married (at 27,) a size 26/28 when I got pregnant w/my first child (at 29) and a size 30/32 when I got pregnant with my second child (at 34.) I am a 30/32 now and my weight stays steady between 350 & 360. I am 5'8" so that makes my BMI a 54 or so. That's Super Morbidly Obese...as if obese wasn't bad enough, or morbidly obese for that matter. 
I hate my body after getting this big and having babies. It's all stretched out, bulging in areas and floppy in other areas. I feel like a mess! The biggest reason that I want to have WLS, though, is the fact that I have so little energy. I feel so horrible for my kids because I can't get up and play with them like I want to and like they want me to. It's hard for me to get up and down from a seated position without my knees getting sore and it's tough for me to stand for very long. I can walk but at a slower pace than most and I tire more easily. It's not so much that I'm really tired, it's that my back hurts or my feet hurt from carrying all this weight. I am pretty "healthy" as far as not having any serious co-morbidities but my stamina sucks. I pretty much NEED a nap most days and it's hard for me to get out of bed at a reasonable time in the morning. Thank God my daughter sleeps until 8 or 9 every day! Another problem for me is my temper & stress levels. I do well most of the time but my temper flares easily because I'm too tired to deal with stress most of the time. I am sooo ready to have some energy again!
Let's see...diets. Sure, I have tried to lose weight multiple times like most obese people have. A few years ago, though, I reached a point where I thought to myself, "Why do I keep torturing myself like this?" Every time I lose weight, no matter the method, I end up falling off the wagon, gaining it all back plus some. Sound familiar? Yeah, it's all too familiar to most of us. So I just gave up on diets. Guess what? Ever since then, I have stayed around the same weight. Hmm...
Weight loss surgery... I started looking into Lap Band a few years back. It seemed like the least invasive procedure out there and it was reversable...or so I thought. I have since found out that it is not considered a surgery that is super easily reversible, sooo many people have problems with food getting stuck, horrid heartburn and reflux, not being able to find that "sweet spot" and not being able to eat the foods that you most need to eat in order for it to really help you lose weight. There were also stories of band slippage, erosion, port problems, etc. Once I started researching it, it sounded like a nightmare! Totally NOT what I wanted to do to myself. Failure rates were too high and complications were terribly numerous. That's the point when I started looking into the RNY. I have a relative who had a RNY a few years back. She lost a lot of weight but never got to goal and gained at least 75% of it back. Through my research, I learned that it happens a lot. I also learned that dumping was possible. Ugh! That sounds horrible! There have also been too many reports of food getting stuck, vommiting, and, once again, not being able to eat the foods you really need to stay healthy (protein, meats, etc.) Then there's tha fact that RNYers have a "blind stomach" sitting out there making hunger hormones. Also, that stomach can't be scoped if the need arises. How horrible! Why would I put myself through such an invasive, altering surgery for that? Then I found out about the DS. I had heard of it but the info I heard (from a doctor who doesn't do the DS) was scary. He said, "There *is* one other surgery out there that I don't do and it's called the DS. I don't do that surgery because people die from it." That was all that was said about the DS so naturally I said to myself, "Well, I don't want that!" Then I came to OH and saw a whole forum for DSers and started reading out of curiosity. I wondered why anyone would have *that* surgery if the risks of dying from it were so high. Ha-ha! I found out that this doctor was either trying to scare people out of the DS because he wouldn't make any money off of them if that's the surgery they wanted or he was just grossly misinformed. Hmm...
So...Why the DS? Boy did I get an education! I learned that the risks of the DS surgery are only very slightly higher than the RNY. We're talking only a fraction of a percent! The DS takes a little longer to perform because it *is* more involved, surgically, than the RNY or lap band. BUT... DSers have a normal (albeit smaller) stomach which functions exactly like a regular stomach (no dumping,) and it's not a tiny pouch or stoma where food can get stuck. There *is* more of a malabsorptive aspect with the DS than the RNY but that is where the success comes in. I found out that the DS's success rate is better for losing more excess body weight and it is so much higher for maintainging weight loss. WHAT?!!! I couldn't believe what I was reading! After researching, I knew that THIS was the right surgery for me. With more weight loss, a more enjoyable eating experience for the rest of my life and better chances of keeping it off, this was it!
**DISCLAIMER - Don't get mad at me for posting my findings and opinions of them here. This is my page and this is about me, not you....so please don't take anything personally.**
Searching for a surgeon... Well, the surgeon I mentioned above was out. He "doesn't do the DS because people die from it."
So where was I supposed to find a surgeon who does the DS? I found a list on dsfacts.com. Yay! There's a surgeon in Charlotte! Um...not so fast...Once I started asking questions about him, I got some not-so-great responses. He's not very popular around here. I still went to his informational seminar but I was so turned off by the whole thing. After the doctor was finished talking, they made everyone go out into a hallway, line up and get a certificate, proving that you were there and that you attended the seminar. Oh yeah, at the same time, you could pay $100 to make an appointment with the doc. Um...$100 just to make an appointment? I don't think so! It seemed more like a hard sell than an info session. With that, the opinions of others and my finding out that this doc hasn't done very many DSs, I was off looking for another, more experienced surgeon with a much better reputation. I asked around and consulted dsfacts.com again and found a surgeon in Atlanta. After researching a bit about him, finding out that he has done lots of DS surgeries, has lots of happy patients and he teaches certain aspects of this procedure, I was set! That was my man! Uh oh - setback. I have a high deductable insurance plan and I knew that I would have to come up with at least a few thousand dollars just to meet my out of poscket maximum for the year but I just didn't see how that was going to happen. Where was that money going to come from? We were already overextended as it was. So, I put the whole thing on hold. Well, last year, my DH ended up with an unexpected raise and we were able to refinance the house so all of that put us in a better position - not great but better. So...I started thinking it over again. How am I going to travel to Atlanta to have surgery? I have 2 kids who need someone to care for them 24/7, I would have to be in Atl for at least 2 weeks, DH has a limited number of vacation days, my mom would probably be unwilling to stay with the kids 24/7 for 2 weeks, my ILs are aging and I'm not sure they would be able to do the job. Who would travel with me? Do they have a car? Would they be able to make the drive? Would they be able to care for me after surgery? It was all making my head spin! So I put the idea on hold for a little while longer, thinking it just wasn't going to work out. Then I began hearing more and more about this doctor at Duke...good things. :) A-ha! I started researching him and asking questions about him. All opinions were favorable, I found out that he teaches this surgery and he has very good success rates. He is very experienced with the DS and his patients have very good things to say about him. On top of all that, he is only 2.5 hours away from me. That means that I would be able to go in for surgery, recover for a few days in teh hospital and have DH drave me straight home after getting out of the hospital...so I wouldn't have to pay for a hotel and spend my time recovering away from home. 2.5 hours is a much easier drive than 4+ hours! Score! OK, this is my man!Okay, I found a surgeon. Now what? I'm in the process of filling out the application for an appointment to see Dr. Sudan. I don't really have a primary doctor and I need to have one listed on the application. I asked around on OH and I got a couple of suggestions but neither one of them are going to work out. One is way too far from me (2 hours) and the other is not in network for my insurance. Oh well, I'm just going to go with the doc I saw last year. I gave her some info on the DS and, hopefully, she has looked it over. If not, I will teach her about it. I would prefer to have a primary who knows about the DS but most docs don't know anything about it and I'm having no luck finding someone who does, who is in network and is close to me. You just don't want to have to drive across town to your primary when you're sick. You know? So...I'm going with her. So I went back to fill out my form and I don't have the stinkin' fax number for the office. Urgh! A hang-up. Oh well, I'll call in the morning. Then I can finally get this ball rolling. I AM going to have this surgery done this year! I have waited long enough and I am so ready to get on with my life, get healthy again and give back to my family and others!
Allright, that's where I am right now. I will call and get my doctor's fax number in the morning so I can finally submit this application. I'll update more later. :)
