katiesmommy
So, my journey has already begun so I decided it was time to tell MY story. I am 33 years old and I am married to my High School sweetheart, Mike. We have been together since 1991 and married since 2000. We have 1 child, our Princess Katie who is THE reason for both of us having this surgery. Mike had Lap RNY in Sept of 2004. When he had surgery he weighed in at 367 lbs. Today he is holding steady at 180 lbs. What a transformation (See pics to the left).
At the time of his surgery and up until about 3.5 months ago I had NO interest in having the surgery. Well, not that I didn't want to have it, I was just too scared. How could I leave my princess??? (The what-if's were holding me back)
One day, out of the blue, I said to my husband, OK. it's time for ME to have surgery. I said its NOW or NEVER!!! 2 months later, I was on the table. WOW that was FAST!
I met with Dr. Bertha (AWESOME) on Wednesday April 4th for my consult. Same Dr. Mike used. He said everything was good, no need for a liquid diet prior to surgery but don't gain weight. I was given an RX for bloodwork & told to see the NUT & Psych. No sleep study needed either (Woo-Hoo)
I had an appt for the NUT & Psych on Thursday April 19th. Everything went really smoothly. I pretty much knew everything that the NUT was telling me from going through it with Mike. The Psych appt was supposed to last 1.5 hrs BUT because I have NO co-morbidities, I was in & out in 1/2 hr. The Dr. said I would have no problems getting approved & that I was mentally sound (He really doesn't know me-haha)
I now was told they would submit to Ins for approval & I would just have to wait. 2 days later, I got a phone call that I needed a letter from my PCP stating that I was seen by him for a medically supervised diet for atleast 6 months. (I never had been) But I called my PCP & he was willing to see me & write a letter. That appt was set for Thursday May 10th. While there, my PCP performed a echo cardiogram & said everything looked great & he would type up a letter & I could pick it up the follwing week. (WOW) I submitted the letter to Dr. Bertha's office on Thursday May 17th and they submitted it to Ins that same day around 3:30pm. The VERY next day at 10:30 am I got a phone call to say that I was APPROVED!!! WOO HOO! I was SOOOOOOOO excited.
The next and last thing to do was go to my pre-op class that was on Thursday May 24th. My mom came with me and we were there for about 3 hours. It was pretty straight foward. Basically everything from walking into the hosp & registering to being discharged was discussed.
I was beginning to get really excited, but SCARED TO DEATH! I honestly think that if I weren't a mom, i wouldn't have been so scared.
My surgery was set for Monday June 11th. I got a phone call that I was scheduled for 11:30 am ( I requested NOT to be 1st, so I could drive my daughter to school that day)
They were running slightly behind and didn't take me in until about 12:15pm. Up until that point, my husband, mom & dad, were all with me in the pre-op waiting area. When it was time to go, I got VERY emotional & begged my parents to please make sure that KAtie is taken good care of for me. Then as they were wheeling me in, I got hysterical crying. One of the nurses was trying so hard to calm me down, but had no luck, she shook her head to another nurse, & BOOM...out I went. (Thank God)
I remember waking up in recover and the clock said 3pm. The nurses there were telling me to take deep breaths, but it was so hard to because I was having so much gas pain. OMG it was HORRIBLE. THE WORST, I have EVER felt!!! About 4pm the brought me to my room & the pain continued. I was on an IV pain pump, but it wasn't really that effective. The nurses response to my pleads for something for the gas was just to get up & walk it off. I tried but it didn't help. The next day was about the same, pain wise & on top of that, I had developed a cough, so that was adding to the pain I was already experiencing. OUCH!!!
On Wednesday moring, the Dr. came in at 6:30am to check me out & to let me know that my JP drain woul dbe removed shortly & after that I was free to go. I couldn't contain myself & called my husband at 6:30am & told him to high tail his butt to the hosp to pick me up! At about 8am, the resident came in to remove the drain. I didn't look, burried my face in a pillow & YANK...OUCH...It was out! It was VERY uncomfortable, but not painful. FINALLY at 11am, Mike arrived & we hit the road. I think that we hit EVERY bump along the way & got home & I headed straight for the sofa. I remained there for the rest of the day & night.
The next morning, Mike wanted to keep our VERY active 4 yr old home...NO WAY!!! I got myself up & drove her to school myself. It is only 1 mile away & if I didn't she would have been trying to climb on me all day. I had no problems driving her since I had been off pain meds since late Tuesday. I got lots of rest & really was starting to feel good. Friday it was back to school again for KAtie & I took a drive with Mike to get his hair cut & to Target. While at Target, my back was really hurting because I found myseld slouched over to walk. I decided to get one of those motorized wheel chairs. Mike thought I was nuts but it helped. By Saturday I was feeling back to myself & actually drove m yself to the mall & shopped for about 2 hours (I needed Father's Day present's) When I got home, I rested for about an hour and definately needed it. Sunday was Father's Day & is usually held at my house, but this year I changed it to my in-laws because I didn't know how I was going to feel. We had a great time and sat by the pool the entire day.
Monday...It was back to work for ME! Yup, I went back after 1 week. I work in an office & don't have to get up much. I just brought everything with me that I would need & had no problems at all. I work 3.5 miles from my house so at lunch time, I went home & forced myself to take a short nap, & I am glad that I did. I had no problems with being tired while at work in the afternoon.
Wednesday June 20th, I had my 1st Post-op visit (1 week). I was down 20 lbs...HOLY COW 20 lbs in 1 week is AWESOME!!! I was so happy!
Weeks 2-4 I was completely stalled & getting a little discouraged. But, I said, "well, if this isn't going to work for me, atleaset I lost 20 lbs that I wouldn't have if I didn't have this surgery" Week 4 hit & I lost another 4 lbs!
At my 1 month visit 28 lbs gone! The Dr. said he was looking for atleast 24, so he said I was ahead of the game.
My next visit is scheduled for September 12th and I am supposed to have bloodwork done 2 weeks prior to going.
That is where I am now. Mo problems & as of today...down 38lbs in 6 weeks...Not too Shabby!!!
Best of Luck to all of you!
