Kicker
My old profile continued...
Jan 24, 2009
May 10th 2003
Well the weight loss has slowed down but it is still going! I am down to 180 Lbs. My goal is 160 by a year out. That means only 20 to go in the next 4 months. As long as I am a good girl I know I can do it. Honestly I have gone through a little bought with depression. More like anxiety. I get real worried that I won't be able to keep the weight off....or I will fail this like every diet I have tried. Basically I have been waiting for the other shoe to drop. It almost like it has been to much of a good thing. Now I am trying to focus on all the good things and let myself be happy. It is hard sometimes when everything in your life goes right because then you think that pretty soon everything is going to go wrong. I also still see FAT when I look in the mirror. Even though I am only 20 from goal. I am going to see a therapist to help me throughtheses mental issues. In my opinion this surgery is harder mentally than it is physically. Would I do it again?? YOU KNOW I WOULD!!!
May 26
Down a couple lbs to 178. Weight loss is definatly slower. I am just taking it a day at a time and trying not to be to hard on myself. The Doc put me on some anti depressants to help with anxiety issues. It is a hard adjustment to not be able to eat normal meals. The best way to put it right now is I am adjusting. the newness has wore off and now I am trying to get acustumed to this new life. I am trying to retrain all my old habbits. Now it's up to me. Kinda scared. God will take me through this, he has brought me this far.
June 13th
Today is my 9 month surgery anniversary. I am down a total of 170 lbs. I have lost more than I weigh. I am at 164. 4 lbs from goal! I havn't been able to workout that much this week because of a lung infection so I suspect I won't loose much right now. I think I am going to push my goal back to 155. so 9 lbs to goal. I need a TT bad but it is 11,000 dollars. Money I don't have right now. And I should probably give it awhile anyway because my husband and I may want to have more children eventually. It is somewhat scary being this far out becaue now the reality sets in. You can very easily eat un healthy again or eaqt to much. This surgey gives you the oppurtunity for lifestyle change. It is not a magic solution that takes no effort on your part.
I was in the local paper this week for the final follow up story on my surgery. Everyone loved the article. I will post a text copy of it up here soon. The pictures are pretty cool to but I can't get ahold of those.
I went to a martial arts tournament last weekend and fought in the Womens Black Belt division. I beat 2 ladies to get 1st place in my division. Then I fought the winner of the other black belt division and beat her to win Grand Champion and 100$. It was alot of fun!
Life is finally getting back to normal after this life altering decision and I am learning to make it a lifestyle. It is is a daily struggle just like dieting was but it is alot easier to maintain with this tool. Thank you God for all your blessings.
July 6th 2003
Weighing in around 159. Martial Arts is going awesome! I am the new assistant instructor for the adult kung fu program. The local paper did there follow up story and it was wonderfull. Everyone loved the dramatic before and after shots. The reporter that did the story is sending copies to some national magazines like Glamor and Shape.
Ok It is July 20th and I am frustrated. My weight has been fluctuation and I am starving all the time. I think it might be due to a large amount of working out but sometimes it is hard to tell the difference from head hunger and real hunger. Sice vacation last month I have been bouncing around 160 give or take a few Lbs. It is tough to mentally adjust to feeling hungry more often, being able to eat more, and the weight loss slowing down at the same time. It can get overwhelming. For example......tonight I got the munchies. So over the course of a couple hours I ate a sugar free fudgesicle, quite a few sunflower seeds in shell (which of course are not filling) a handfull of baby carrots and ontop of that about 8 animal crackers with peanut butter. Needless to say I feel kinda guilty. I can't really enjoy food now cause I am always worried about over eating. Anyone else have a hard time adjusting as they got closr to a year out?
July 22nd. Ok so I have actually been at about 164 for over a month. My scale was so wack! SO when I weighedlast week I was 164 (at my mother in laws house) The same I was last month. THAT SUCKS! So technically I am not even at goal. I went back today and weighed 162. So 2 Lbs. Maybe I finally broke the plateu. I am really concentrating on eating lots of protein, especially considering my hectic workout schedule. I get about 1500-1600 calories a day. But as much as I work out I don't think that is necisarilly bad. I want to see 145. I think I can I think I can. Making good choinces a day at a time.
August 2nd
Hello!!! I weighed in at my mother-in-laws house yesterday and it said 159. Cool! It was afer an INTENSE sparring session with alot of big mean men but hey, it still said 159. And I am not going to weigh again till next week. I went to a National Martial Arts tournament last weekend and fought the #1 rated woman in the nation. She beat me but I did pretty good. This is like the NFL or NBA of KungFu so just stepping in the ring was a win for me. Give me another year and those girls will be scared when they see me. :O)) Anyway, I am getting anywhere from 12-1800 Calories a day and I sctually have energy. High protein, low carb and eating every 3 hours or so seems to keep me running strong all day. I have 6 weeks to go untill the big 1 year mark and I am hopeing to get down to 155. At 1 and a half years I want to be at 145. I relize now that just a lb or 2 now is like loosing 10 before in perportion to my new weight. It is a hard adjustment to make, going from loosing like 10-20 lbs a month to just a couple if I am lucky, but if you think about it it makes sense. If I lost that much now that would be scary. I would love to have a TT someday if I could afford it. But it isn't worth putting my family into a tight finiacial spot just to have a flat stomach. Plus I need to work on being happy with who I am and not rely on drastic changes to make myself happy. This is a tool, I know that is cliche, but it is true. I am learning how to use it and finally I think I have controll of my life.
Aug 29th
Ok, I have come to the conclusion weight loss from here on out will be extremly slow and that's OK. Have to mentally switch gears and just make good choices everyday. I am around 158 right now. I am hoping to be 155 by a year out which is in 3 weeks, but if not it has still been amazing loss. I am enjoying Martial Arts and working out hard everyday. I actually have biceps and triceps with good definition for the first time in my life, it's kinda cool. Size 12 pants are getting baggy and that is way cool! In 3 weeks I take the written and physical test in hopes of getting hired on as an entry level police officer at a local agency. I have to do 21 or more pushup, 38 or more situps in 1 min... sprint 300 meters in less than a minute and rin 1.5 miles in about 14 min. If I can pull this off it will be amazing, especially considering a year ago it hurt to walk a mile . Thank you God for all your wonderfull blessings! Everyone wish me luck!
March 9th 2004
So much time has passed since I have made an entry. I am about a year and a half post op now. Things are going great! I decided not to go for the cop job. To much risk. I intisified my martial arts training in preperation for my 1st degree Black belt test and sucessfully passed over this last weekend. It was a 4hour non stop physicall test. It was hard but worth it and a life long goal finally reached. I am now the assistant instructor for the adult program and also the childrens program at East West Martial Arts. I was rated #1 female fighter in the Northwest and life is just good. The Lord has blessed me. I weighed in at 161 this morning. Havn;'t lost anymore but have maintained well and added muscle. I am in the best shape of my life. I pray I can continue on this path and stay fit for life.
October 2004
6Months since my last post. It is so amazing how life just consumes you the further post op you are. I thought it was just a myth that long long term post ops didn;t come around as much just cause life gets busy and the surgery isn;t the focal point of your life anymore. But it is true. So much has happened since my liast post. For the most part I was maintaing around 165 but I had a little bounce back after my Black belt test cause I slowed down on the working out. I went from about 4 hours of training a day to 2 and gained to almost 175. Not a big deal though, bounce back is normal. But guess what? I found out I was pregnant!!! It is October and I am now 7 Months pregnant. I am at about 195. I really wanted to stay under 200 but with over 2.5 Months to go in pregnancy I doubt it. I am watching what I eat, swimming, weight training (more moderatly than before of course), and still doing light martial arts activity. I havn't been able to Spar (fight) in 6 Months and it drives me a little crazy but I know it will be worth it. We know we are having a boy. His name is Samuel Victor Davisson. I feel him move around so much. I can see him to little rolls and kicks and punches. He is already a little martial artist.
When I was pregnany with my daughter at this point in gestation I was closing in on 300 Lbs. I felt her move alot less because of my size and her frontal placenta.....so this is a totally different experience. It is hard getting pregnant and gaining weight after going through so much to loose weight and become athletic. But I put it in God's hands. It is his will. I plan to return to martial arts completly after I deliver (which is set for a planned Csection on Dec. 27th.) (My daughter was csection due to breech position). And my goal is to get back down to 165 with 6 months.
I was featured in Septembers issue of Prevention magazine. They contacted me about 8 Months ago and asked if I would be in a story called "How I Got the Body I wanted" It was about 5 different women and the different ways they reached their goals. I agreed. In March they flew out from the East Coast and to about 30 rolls of film. I ended up being the cover girl of the article. It showed my before and then the after was me doing a Side Kick over the title of the article. It was quite an experience. I was 6 Weeks pregnant when the picture was taken but still not showing. On top of that, Just this last Saturday, the magazxine called and said that the new Jane Pauley shpw was interested in flying the 5 women who were in the article to New York THIS WENSDAY to be on the taping of her show this Thursday. I was shocked. Unfourtunatly as of this morning it may not happen, the producer hasn't confirmed, but just the thought that it was a possiblitly is flattering! i told the guy from the magazine that I don;t look exactly like my after pic right now because I am 7 month pregnant......but he didn;t seem concerned. He said if they do the story that will just be a cool addition to my experience. Seeing as how Sam would never of been able to be conceived while MO. Hope you guys are all doing well. I will keep you all posted. Much Love!
Feb. 4 2005
Samuel was born Dec. 10th 2005. He such a beautiful little miracle. It has been almost 2 months since his birth. I am at about 178. I dropped down to 176 after working out for a couple weeks, then injured my back (from over doing it to soon I think) and gained the 2 lbs back. I am kinda nervous because I read an article that said 85% of patients gain back up to 50% of there lost weight by 5 years out and the other 15% gain back even more. It was so easy when you didn;t even have to try to loose weight and it came off.....now that it is more up to me and what I put in my mouth....and especislly after having a baby and putting on a few lbs.....I am a little nervous. I think when I can get back into my martial arts and my routine fo good I will be able to get some of this "baby weight" off. I want to get back down to 165. Though I got as low as 159 I spent the most time around 165 and I think that is a pretty good weight for me. I need to nip this extra weight in the bud right now before it get's out of hand. It is hard to have the extra weight and also be laid up with my back because I want to go out and do something about it, especially after hearing that horrible statistic. I do not want to become a statistic. 13 Lbs and I will be happy...then I jusdt have to work on maintaining it.
Since I am done having children I am going to see if I can get my insurance to pay for a TT. So I am about to embark on yet another fun adventure. Get this few Lbs off and get a TT.....that'll be by goal. Thank you Lord for this blessing and please help me to make the best of it.
Feb. 23 2005
Hi all. Thought I would do a quick update. Things are going well. I have been working on getting alot of protein, drinking my shakes, taking my vits and I feel good. I haven't weighed myself yet but I think I might have lost a few. I have been getting back into the swing of my excersise routine. Weight training, running, Martial arts and it feels great. The baby is doing wonderfull! He is so precious. I hope all is doing well for you guys. God Bless.
August 24 2005
Life is back to normal. I fluctuate betwwen 162 and 165, depending on how well I am doing at staying away from the carbs. They are evil but sometimes so tempting. Samuel is 8 months old and so gorgeous. He was worth every sencond of pregnancy. Martial arts is back in full swing. I competed in sparring last weekend and placed 3rd. Normally I wouldn't be all that excited about it but the 3rd place was in the mens division. I won 2 out of 3 matches and only lost the one match by a single point. When there is no other girls to fight they give you the option to fight the men. I am glad I did it, it was a great experience and now I know I am back in the game.
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Well the weight loss has slowed down but it is still going! I am down to 180 Lbs. My goal is 160 by a year out. That means only 20 to go in the next 4 months. As long as I am a good girl I know I can do it. Honestly I have gone through a little bought with depression. More like anxiety. I get real worried that I won't be able to keep the weight off....or I will fail this like every diet I have tried. Basically I have been waiting for the other shoe to drop. It almost like it has been to much of a good thing. Now I am trying to focus on all the good things and let myself be happy. It is hard sometimes when everything in your life goes right because then you think that pretty soon everything is going to go wrong. I also still see FAT when I look in the mirror. Even though I am only 20 from goal. I am going to see a therapist to help me throughtheses mental issues. In my opinion this surgery is harder mentally than it is physically. Would I do it again?? YOU KNOW I WOULD!!!
May 26
Down a couple lbs to 178. Weight loss is definatly slower. I am just taking it a day at a time and trying not to be to hard on myself. The Doc put me on some anti depressants to help with anxiety issues. It is a hard adjustment to not be able to eat normal meals. The best way to put it right now is I am adjusting. the newness has wore off and now I am trying to get acustumed to this new life. I am trying to retrain all my old habbits. Now it's up to me. Kinda scared. God will take me through this, he has brought me this far.
June 13th
Today is my 9 month surgery anniversary. I am down a total of 170 lbs. I have lost more than I weigh. I am at 164. 4 lbs from goal! I havn't been able to workout that much this week because of a lung infection so I suspect I won't loose much right now. I think I am going to push my goal back to 155. so 9 lbs to goal. I need a TT bad but it is 11,000 dollars. Money I don't have right now. And I should probably give it awhile anyway because my husband and I may want to have more children eventually. It is somewhat scary being this far out becaue now the reality sets in. You can very easily eat un healthy again or eaqt to much. This surgey gives you the oppurtunity for lifestyle change. It is not a magic solution that takes no effort on your part.
I was in the local paper this week for the final follow up story on my surgery. Everyone loved the article. I will post a text copy of it up here soon. The pictures are pretty cool to but I can't get ahold of those.
I went to a martial arts tournament last weekend and fought in the Womens Black Belt division. I beat 2 ladies to get 1st place in my division. Then I fought the winner of the other black belt division and beat her to win Grand Champion and 100$. It was alot of fun!
Life is finally getting back to normal after this life altering decision and I am learning to make it a lifestyle. It is is a daily struggle just like dieting was but it is alot easier to maintain with this tool. Thank you God for all your blessings.
July 6th 2003
Weighing in around 159. Martial Arts is going awesome! I am the new assistant instructor for the adult kung fu program. The local paper did there follow up story and it was wonderfull. Everyone loved the dramatic before and after shots. The reporter that did the story is sending copies to some national magazines like Glamor and Shape.
Ok It is July 20th and I am frustrated. My weight has been fluctuation and I am starving all the time. I think it might be due to a large amount of working out but sometimes it is hard to tell the difference from head hunger and real hunger. Sice vacation last month I have been bouncing around 160 give or take a few Lbs. It is tough to mentally adjust to feeling hungry more often, being able to eat more, and the weight loss slowing down at the same time. It can get overwhelming. For example......tonight I got the munchies. So over the course of a couple hours I ate a sugar free fudgesicle, quite a few sunflower seeds in shell (which of course are not filling) a handfull of baby carrots and ontop of that about 8 animal crackers with peanut butter. Needless to say I feel kinda guilty. I can't really enjoy food now cause I am always worried about over eating. Anyone else have a hard time adjusting as they got closr to a year out?
July 22nd. Ok so I have actually been at about 164 for over a month. My scale was so wack! SO when I weighedlast week I was 164 (at my mother in laws house) The same I was last month. THAT SUCKS! So technically I am not even at goal. I went back today and weighed 162. So 2 Lbs. Maybe I finally broke the plateu. I am really concentrating on eating lots of protein, especially considering my hectic workout schedule. I get about 1500-1600 calories a day. But as much as I work out I don't think that is necisarilly bad. I want to see 145. I think I can I think I can. Making good choinces a day at a time.
August 2nd
Hello!!! I weighed in at my mother-in-laws house yesterday and it said 159. Cool! It was afer an INTENSE sparring session with alot of big mean men but hey, it still said 159. And I am not going to weigh again till next week. I went to a National Martial Arts tournament last weekend and fought the #1 rated woman in the nation. She beat me but I did pretty good. This is like the NFL or NBA of KungFu so just stepping in the ring was a win for me. Give me another year and those girls will be scared when they see me. :O)) Anyway, I am getting anywhere from 12-1800 Calories a day and I sctually have energy. High protein, low carb and eating every 3 hours or so seems to keep me running strong all day. I have 6 weeks to go untill the big 1 year mark and I am hopeing to get down to 155. At 1 and a half years I want to be at 145. I relize now that just a lb or 2 now is like loosing 10 before in perportion to my new weight. It is a hard adjustment to make, going from loosing like 10-20 lbs a month to just a couple if I am lucky, but if you think about it it makes sense. If I lost that much now that would be scary. I would love to have a TT someday if I could afford it. But it isn't worth putting my family into a tight finiacial spot just to have a flat stomach. Plus I need to work on being happy with who I am and not rely on drastic changes to make myself happy. This is a tool, I know that is cliche, but it is true. I am learning how to use it and finally I think I have controll of my life.
Aug 29th
Ok, I have come to the conclusion weight loss from here on out will be extremly slow and that's OK. Have to mentally switch gears and just make good choices everyday. I am around 158 right now. I am hoping to be 155 by a year out which is in 3 weeks, but if not it has still been amazing loss. I am enjoying Martial Arts and working out hard everyday. I actually have biceps and triceps with good definition for the first time in my life, it's kinda cool. Size 12 pants are getting baggy and that is way cool! In 3 weeks I take the written and physical test in hopes of getting hired on as an entry level police officer at a local agency. I have to do 21 or more pushup, 38 or more situps in 1 min... sprint 300 meters in less than a minute and rin 1.5 miles in about 14 min. If I can pull this off it will be amazing, especially considering a year ago it hurt to walk a mile . Thank you God for all your wonderfull blessings! Everyone wish me luck!
March 9th 2004
So much time has passed since I have made an entry. I am about a year and a half post op now. Things are going great! I decided not to go for the cop job. To much risk. I intisified my martial arts training in preperation for my 1st degree Black belt test and sucessfully passed over this last weekend. It was a 4hour non stop physicall test. It was hard but worth it and a life long goal finally reached. I am now the assistant instructor for the adult program and also the childrens program at East West Martial Arts. I was rated #1 female fighter in the Northwest and life is just good. The Lord has blessed me. I weighed in at 161 this morning. Havn;'t lost anymore but have maintained well and added muscle. I am in the best shape of my life. I pray I can continue on this path and stay fit for life.
October 2004
6Months since my last post. It is so amazing how life just consumes you the further post op you are. I thought it was just a myth that long long term post ops didn;t come around as much just cause life gets busy and the surgery isn;t the focal point of your life anymore. But it is true. So much has happened since my liast post. For the most part I was maintaing around 165 but I had a little bounce back after my Black belt test cause I slowed down on the working out. I went from about 4 hours of training a day to 2 and gained to almost 175. Not a big deal though, bounce back is normal. But guess what? I found out I was pregnant!!! It is October and I am now 7 Months pregnant. I am at about 195. I really wanted to stay under 200 but with over 2.5 Months to go in pregnancy I doubt it. I am watching what I eat, swimming, weight training (more moderatly than before of course), and still doing light martial arts activity. I havn't been able to Spar (fight) in 6 Months and it drives me a little crazy but I know it will be worth it. We know we are having a boy. His name is Samuel Victor Davisson. I feel him move around so much. I can see him to little rolls and kicks and punches. He is already a little martial artist.
When I was pregnany with my daughter at this point in gestation I was closing in on 300 Lbs. I felt her move alot less because of my size and her frontal placenta.....so this is a totally different experience. It is hard getting pregnant and gaining weight after going through so much to loose weight and become athletic. But I put it in God's hands. It is his will. I plan to return to martial arts completly after I deliver (which is set for a planned Csection on Dec. 27th.) (My daughter was csection due to breech position). And my goal is to get back down to 165 with 6 months.
I was featured in Septembers issue of Prevention magazine. They contacted me about 8 Months ago and asked if I would be in a story called "How I Got the Body I wanted" It was about 5 different women and the different ways they reached their goals. I agreed. In March they flew out from the East Coast and to about 30 rolls of film. I ended up being the cover girl of the article. It showed my before and then the after was me doing a Side Kick over the title of the article. It was quite an experience. I was 6 Weeks pregnant when the picture was taken but still not showing. On top of that, Just this last Saturday, the magazxine called and said that the new Jane Pauley shpw was interested in flying the 5 women who were in the article to New York THIS WENSDAY to be on the taping of her show this Thursday. I was shocked. Unfourtunatly as of this morning it may not happen, the producer hasn't confirmed, but just the thought that it was a possiblitly is flattering! i told the guy from the magazine that I don;t look exactly like my after pic right now because I am 7 month pregnant......but he didn;t seem concerned. He said if they do the story that will just be a cool addition to my experience. Seeing as how Sam would never of been able to be conceived while MO. Hope you guys are all doing well. I will keep you all posted. Much Love!
Feb. 4 2005
Samuel was born Dec. 10th 2005. He such a beautiful little miracle. It has been almost 2 months since his birth. I am at about 178. I dropped down to 176 after working out for a couple weeks, then injured my back (from over doing it to soon I think) and gained the 2 lbs back. I am kinda nervous because I read an article that said 85% of patients gain back up to 50% of there lost weight by 5 years out and the other 15% gain back even more. It was so easy when you didn;t even have to try to loose weight and it came off.....now that it is more up to me and what I put in my mouth....and especislly after having a baby and putting on a few lbs.....I am a little nervous. I think when I can get back into my martial arts and my routine fo good I will be able to get some of this "baby weight" off. I want to get back down to 165. Though I got as low as 159 I spent the most time around 165 and I think that is a pretty good weight for me. I need to nip this extra weight in the bud right now before it get's out of hand. It is hard to have the extra weight and also be laid up with my back because I want to go out and do something about it, especially after hearing that horrible statistic. I do not want to become a statistic. 13 Lbs and I will be happy...then I jusdt have to work on maintaining it.
Since I am done having children I am going to see if I can get my insurance to pay for a TT. So I am about to embark on yet another fun adventure. Get this few Lbs off and get a TT.....that'll be by goal. Thank you Lord for this blessing and please help me to make the best of it.
Feb. 23 2005
Hi all. Thought I would do a quick update. Things are going well. I have been working on getting alot of protein, drinking my shakes, taking my vits and I feel good. I haven't weighed myself yet but I think I might have lost a few. I have been getting back into the swing of my excersise routine. Weight training, running, Martial arts and it feels great. The baby is doing wonderfull! He is so precious. I hope all is doing well for you guys. God Bless.
August 24 2005
Life is back to normal. I fluctuate betwwen 162 and 165, depending on how well I am doing at staying away from the carbs. They are evil but sometimes so tempting. Samuel is 8 months old and so gorgeous. He was worth every sencond of pregnancy. Martial arts is back in full swing. I competed in sparring last weekend and placed 3rd. Normally I wouldn't be all that excited about it but the 3rd place was in the mens division. I won 2 out of 3 matches and only lost the one match by a single point. When there is no other girls to fight they give you the option to fight the men. I am glad I did it, it was a great experience and now I know I am back in the game.
My old profile.
Jan 24, 2009
Janurary 25, 2001.
Well, here I am. About to embark on a journey that has frustrated and frazeled the best of em'. I am a 21 year old stay at home mother of a beautiful 2 year old girl. I have been overweight most all of my life and I am getting very very tierd of it. (I'm sure many of you know that feeling). I do not believe I deserve to be stuck in a aching overweight body the rest of my life and I am ready to do something about it.
My mother had WLS last year and has lost over 100lbs. YEAH MOM! I have tried diet after diet, I have crawled on my hands and knees and begged and nothing seems to get rid of the extra weight. I know now, after about a year of contimplation, that WLS is for me. Yes, I am nervous, yes I am confused about what step to take first, but I have faith that the Lord will lead me through this.
I finally have succeeded in putting down cigaretts. (Patting myself on the back here :O)) That was my first step. I have two possible surgeons and I'm not sure which one I am using yet. I have been in contact with both. I talked to Dr. Paul Dally's nurse quite a while ago and I was not impressed with her lack of compassion and or understanding of my situation. More recently I have been in contact with the Oregon Clinic (Dr. Emma Patterson) and I was much more impressed with the nurse. Granted, Dr. Dally is a great Doc ( he did my mom's surgery) but, you deal with a doctors nurse alot and his has a pretty blah personality. I guess I'm weird but that kinda stuff is pretty important to me.
So now I am working on a letter and profile to send to my insurance company for approval. My mom says to get approved for the surgery then worry about which surgeon and all the details ( shrinks, dieticians, ect.) So far I have a letter of recamindation from my obsratrician, and on the 7th of Feb. I have an appointment with my regular doctor to get a letter of medical neccesity from him. While I wait for my doctors appointment I am writing a letter to the insurance company to accompany my recamindations. Also, my mother is going to write them a letter stressing the genetic morbid obesity we have in our family and also how much the surgery has helped her. Along with all of that I am going to send them pictures of me all through life and pictures of my mom, grandma, and a brief discription of my great grandma ( who weighed in at close to 400 lbs when she died and had to be burried in a special box due to her size.)
So, right now all I can do is get that stuff together and send it in. I figure it will all be ready and together by the weekend after my doctors appointment ( as long as I get my letter from him in a timely manner). If I can get pre-approved the stress will be off and I can enjoy my experience. At that point I will choose which surgeon and get the ball rolling. If all goes well maybe I'll be in the operating room within six months. Pray for me, and off I go!
Janurary 26, 2002
I got alot acomplished today and at the same time I got some bad news. I found out what exactly the insurance company wants and I also found out they want to recieve all the information for approval through the surgeon, not me personnaly. I made my appointment with the psychologist, they made it for the middle of next month. Unfourtunatly the only Dr. my surgeons will use is not part of my insurance plan so it is going to cost me 400$ out of pocket to see him. That stinks, but you gotta do what you gottta do. This friday is my appointment with the dietician. The secretary at that office seemed to think my insurance company will cover my visit. I hope so.
Well, after all of this I finally got ahold of my surgeons office. They told me to call and make an appointment along with all my other ones. Finally, they returned my call. Sandy, Dr. Emma Pattersons nurse (at leat I think she is her nurse) told me they can't even give me a consultation date untill May. Talk about a bummer. Over four months before I even talk to the surgeon, she must be a pretty popular lady. I'm thinking about talking to Dr. Dally's office to see if they can get me in sooner but I have a good feeling about Dr. Patterson so I'll probably just wait. She is a Providence Preffered Provider just like Dally so she is fully covered if I get approved. No, when I get approved. So, in the next 4 months I will be getting my necissary appointments done and then i will commence staring at the wall utill Dr. Pattersons office calls in May (to set an apointmet for July....so more like 6 months :O(). I do all this work and I won't even know untill this summer if my insurance carrier will pay. (Sigh)
Well, maybe the Lord will bless me and speed this up so I don't have to wait for what seems an eternity. Well, I better go figure out how I'm gonna come up with four hundred dollars in the next few weeks. I'll keep you posted!
Feb. 2
I got a little freaked out today. I was looking at the WLS Memorial and the only person that died in my area was someone who had the same surgeon I am using. FREAKED ME OUT. She died from a stomach leak after surgery. After talking in the chat room and getting responses to my worries I feel alot better. It's true, if a surgeon has done alot of surgeries they are bound to have a death if not 2 or 3. I just need to calm down. The Lord will be with me. This is a drastic step and I am bound to have worries. I won't get the surgery till later this year so I have plenty of time to continplate. Sometimes I really wonder if this surgery is as safe as they say it is. Am I doig the right thing here?
By the way, I had my appointment with the dietician. She seems to think I am a great canidate for the surgery and will be forwarding that to Dr. Pattersons office. Cool huh?
February 8
Yesterday I had my appointment with my Primary Care Physican. It went great. I weigh 320, not 330. Not like that is much of a difference, but every bit counts. My Doctor totally supports me, and that feels great. I was worried that he would think I could just loose it if I dieted more, or if I just tried harder. I have tried so much already I just couldn't face being shot down. He said with my genetics I was fighting a losing battle. He truly believes that this is a genetic problem and he also thinks it is completly assinine that the insurance companies wait untill people are arthritic and have major problems before they will cover the sugery. He was honest with me and said it was going to be a fight considering I don't have any MAJOR Comorbids, but he is going to really stress the stuff I do have. I have fatigue, insomnia, heavy snoring, reflux, abnormal menstural cycles, aches and pains but no major things. I also learned that last checkup my glucose was high and he plans to use that. I have alot of diabetis in my family so that should help. He's going to send me my letter of medical necessity and the results of my blood tests. I know that if I don't fix this problems within a few years I will have some major Comorbids down the road. I don't want to get to that point. Pray for me please. I hope the insurance will understand. My phsyc evaluation is in a week. I will tell you all how that goes. I also have a sleep apnea test coming up. (Maybe I do have a Major Co morbid) Talk to you soon.
Feb. 23, 2002
My psych evaluation went well. Waste of money if you ask me. Two and a half hours of testing and an hour of being went over with a fine tooth comb by a guy that made me completly uneasy. The important thing is that he approved me for surgery. I know it is important to make sure someone is emotionally ready for this change but the experience wasn't what I expected. Another possible ocstical overcome, now the wait is on!
April 7, 2002
Alot has happened since I got my phsyc evaluation and went to the Doctor. First off the lab work from my PCP came back and it was pretty good. The only bad thing is that my liver count was slightly high. The Doc said he wanted to retest and since then they have retaken blood. Unfourtunatly tests arn't back yet. I pray they come back good. Enough of the bad news the good news is that I HAVE A CONSULTATION DATE! Not with Dr. Patterson but with Dr. Dally (the one that did my mom's surgery). The call came out of the blue. I had forgotten I had given them an aplication like 8 months ago. Well I remember doing it but I hadn't thought about because of the fact I never heard anything back. I guess the original nurse I talked to (the not so friendly one) has retired and Dr. Dally's new nurse, Ann, called and asked when I would like to come in. We made an appointment for May 15th. It is soooo great but still frustrating cause that is still over a month away. That is a month I have to wait wondering if Insurance will pay. I have a great portfolio, regular Dr.'s letter, obstetricians letter, my letter, overview of diet's and medical issues, pictures, blood work, and I also have to call the dietician and psychologist and get them to send me copies of the paperwork from my visits so I can present them to Dr. Dally. I also need to call Dr. Patterson's office and tell them they don't have to worry about calling my in May to set up a appointment for July, cause I'll be at Dally's in MAy. Sweet. It is definatly a blessing that Dr. Dally's office has come through unexpected, the waiting is tourture.
I have been really depressed and irritated latley. I am sooo tierd of being heavy. Knowing there is a possible help with my problem but it being up to 6 months or more away is so frustrating. I'm so mad at myself for being so angry twards my family and I am seriously thinking about going to a pshycologist to help me through this awkward time. I used to be a good martial artist and after surgery I am going to use my martial arts to get back in shape and then once I feel good enough with myself I am going to start training with an instructor again. I can't wait till I can really workout again. I can taste all this I just want it to be here!
This life can be so cruel,
full of sorrow and pain.
Anger, frustration, nightmares,
scared flesh and weight gain.
April 10th 2002
Ok good news and bad news. Bad news. My MD called and my liver count is still high. When I got my initial blood work done it was high and it is still high after retesting. Now they are screening me for iron levels and Hepititus B & C. I am a bit nervous. I havn't really been exposed to Hepatitus but I am still soooo paranoid. It would be sooo horrible if I come this far to find out I have some kind of disease. If you are a person of faith please pray for me. I have heard many different things about high liver count. Lack of iron or just being over weight can cause it. I pray it is something as simple as that.
Good news. I went to a local WLS support group. I learned alot and got to talk to one of the surgeons that will be operating on me. Her name is Dr. Cagle. She is a very nice woman and was very willing to listen to all of my dumb questions. She made me feel good about my decision. I learned that she went to Scotland and trained with the man that perfected laproscopic surgery. HOW COO IS THAT! They also have yet to loose a patient which makes me feel even more comfortable.
Anyway I should hear more about my liver by Monday. Thursday we are leaving for the coast. It will be great to get away. Also another thing I learned at the meeting. Once I have my consultation next month, providing insurance will cover me, I will be have surgery about 2 months after consultation. That is AWSOME!, I thought it would be more like six months after, that is definatly good news! My liver and my insurance are the only thing that stands in the way of a healthy me. But no worries I have prayed and Christ is on my side. How could I loose.
April 14th 2002
Ok, my liver tests came back good. No Hepititus and good iron levels. It's great news but my good mood was ruined when I read down the paper my results were on and it said that I needed to scedule an ultrasound for my liver. THAT STINKS! Something else to be nervous about. So this week I have my ultrasound of my liver, next week is my sleep apnea test ( I am pretty sure I don't have sleep apnea), and then a couple weeks after that is my consultation. Maybe it's a good thing I have things to keep me occupied while I wait to see the surgeon. I had a good trip to one of our Timeshares, we just got back. I had to get away from all this tension. Now I am right back in the middle of it. Oh, yeah and my dog had her second sezeiure while I was gone. What a great week. LOL GREAT and some ways, TERRIBLE in others. Well, I guess thats life.
April 16, 2002
AWSOME NEWS! My liver is fine! Oh Yeah! Thank you God, I felt you there holding my hand the whole time. Jesus was with me and it was an incredible calm. They said my liver is a little fatty but thats all the ultrasound technition could see. Sleep Apenea test next Wensday then Consultation next month. Slow but sure I'm getting there. Thank you Julie in NC for helping me!
April 25, 2002
Well, they are pretty sure I have some form of sleep apnea. Suprized the heck out of me. I had a sleep study done last night. The first couple hours were fine. He came in and told me he didn't see anything going on so the Cpap tests wouldn't be necissary. I was happy to hear that, I have always thought that even though I am really heavy I was still somewhat healthy. Well, that whole dream was shattered when he came in a couple hours later and said I had had a couple episodes of apnea and that he was gonna see if the CPAP would help me. POO!!!! My mom has sleeep apnea and she said even thought they don't give you the "offical" test results till a couple weeks after the study you will know if you have it cause they will test the CPAP machine on you. It really depresses me cause I feel so much more volnurable than before. I have been juggling this surgery around in my mind and was almost thinking I didn't need it because I didn't show as many signs of illness like others who get it. Maybe finding out I have sleep apnea has helped, it makes me relize even more how benifical this surgery will be for me. I am 21, 320 lbs. 5'6'' and have Sleep Apnea. How pathetic. I hope that having apnea isn't going to make my surgery risks go way up. I can't wait till my consult so I can get some good answers to all my questions. The internet seems like a real negative place for WLS sometimes, especially with Sue Widemark out there talking crap! Well talk to ya soon. Oh yeah, I have an appointment with a shrink tomarrow. I decided emotional support and counseling will help me get throught this whole process. Next stop, the surgeons office!
May 11th 2002
My husband is now 27 years old. Old fart huh. Well I have had a couple visits with my psyhologist. I t has been nice and I think it is going to help. Although it seems like I have been more emotionaly out of it since i started getting help. Maybe it's just because I am going through a hard time by bringing all my issues to the surface. This surgery is more than a physicall journey, it is also very mental and spiritual. Does God aprrove? Will I die? Will I be able to handle all the changes? All these questions going through your head. Then you got the people who know this person that had it and died, and this other person ended up with nerve damage, and this other person says there sisters cousin's friend vomits all the time. I dunno so much negative comments makes you really second guess your decision. My CONSULTATION is coming just in time. MAY 15! Wensday. 3 days away, THANK YOU GOD! I need some real medical answers before I explode. I need to get these papers submitted to insurance so the "what if I get denied" thought can disappear. I will post again wensday and tell you all about it!
May 15 2002
OK! I had my consultation. I took in my hours and hours worth of work to the doctor in a nicely arranged portfolio. I t had absolutly everything he could have possibly wanted. After he talked to me about the procedure and the possible complications he told me he is submitting to insurance and we should be in surgery some time this summer. He said alot of stuff I already knew, and he really didn't seem to interested in all the letters and documentation I had put together. He was very matter a fact. He said my BMI and the fact that I have sleep apnea should be enough for most any insurance company. His nurse took copies of all the stuff I had put together. She seemed a bit more interested in all that. I even had the Medical Boards fax # for her. She said best case senerio 2 wks for a response. I guess sometimes it can take up to a month. Well, all I can say is that it was alotta anxieity and waiting for a very simple consultation. The process has now truly started LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!! It is in God hands and I pray he will bless me with a speedy hassle free approval. The Doctor made me feel better about my decision, he said he thinks the surgery would be very benificial on me and he wouldn't do it if all the rumors where true about it killing you 20 years down the road. He said my lungs sound good for a sleep apnea patient and he doesn't forsee a high risk of complications with me. That is also in God's hands. If this surgery is God's will then Cigna insurance will approve me and I will be on my way. It was a good day.
June 19 2002
Alot has happened since my consultation. It took 3 weeks and alot of prayer but I am APPROVED! It is a miracle! Thank you God. A little bit of a hassle in the begining just making sure they recieved the paperwork but once it was for sure in there hands it only took 2 weeks. Thank you Stacy at Cigna in Chatanooga TN for all your help! I sent in so much paperwork they probably approved me just to get rid of me. LOL It took 6 months just to get all the DR.s letters and personal letters, blood work and appointments all out of the way. It is worth it to be thourough. Surgery no later than SEPTEMBER! Excited, nervous, scared, anxious, you name it I feel it. I turned 22 on the 14th. Tomarrow is my first Pre-Op meeting. Should be interesting. I have to have a 24 hour Ph test. In other words a tube down my throut for 24 hours. Talk aobut SUCKY! Then I see the Internal Medical Doctor. After that I am OR bound. Finally on the home stretch. God has definatly opened the doors for me and showed me the direction to go. Thank you Jesus.
June 23 2002
I feel real icky today. I have been questioning my faith and not relying in God like I should. Stressed out and depressed. The Pre Op meeting was Ok but it is always about alotta stuff I already know. And seeing Post ops just makes me angry at this point. It has been sooo long since I started all this and
I still have like 2 and a half months to go. FRUSTRATING! I do give all the Gory to God for my approval and the oppurtunity to have this surgery. I just pray he can give me a little more patients. I feel like I am waiting for my life to begin. Help.
July 9
I had a 24 hour pH test and a Stomach motility test done a week or so ago. All I can really say is, NOT FUN!!!! The surgeon says it is a good idea because severe GE Reflux can cause problems after surgery. I havn't heard any results back, I'm just glad it is over. Having a tube down your throat for 24 hours makes the whole process seem really real. I have been trying to strengthen my relationship with God. Now that I have only 8 weeks till surgery I am begining to second guess my decision. I hear that is normal, but it doesn't feel good. All through this whole journey I have felt that God has given this to me so I can be healthy. Unfourtunatly this surgery is still somewhat contraversial so there is plenty of negatives that pop out at you if oyu look far enough. And believe me, I have surfed the net to no end looking at WLS info. I have heard stories about people suceeding and havng a life they never thought they would have, and I have read about people who have died or seem to be suffering from it. My surgeons have a good track record......80 surgeries (Lap RNY) 0 deaths. Pretty good. I pray I am not the first death, that woulds slightly stink. I wish I could get my brain out of this negative mode. Everyone keeps telling me to focus on the posotives........thats what I need to do. I trust you Lord to lead me in the right direction. Give me guidance. I feel you have shown me this is the way, please continue to show me the path to take. In Jesus' name , Amen.
July 17th 2002
AWOSME! MY GE Reflux is severe but is caused by obesity, not a problem with the ol' plumbing. Surgery is still a go! My stomach motility was normal for a WLS type patient.LOL.....When the nurse said that I said, "You mean it is normal for a fatty?" She cracked up! Got my blood taken at the internal medicine doctor's office. Waiting on resluts. Urine test too. Icky. I have a Pre Op support group meeting day after tomarrow. Looking forward to meeting some fellow Dr. Dally patients I have been talking to online. I am a part of so many Email Support Groups and combine that with his site I have met a trillion people, I swear! It is like a family. Thanks to Sara from Minnesota for calling me and talking to me about her surgery. And congrats on your new life! Thanks to my ANGEL!!!! BIGMAMMALUV AKA Robyn Park! My sister in Christ and WLS, I LOVE YA! Let's get this show on the road already! :O)
July 20th
The meeting went wonderfull. Lot's of great people. Even someone there that was only 40. I would love to meet some one from my doc in their 20's. Ann (our nurse) talked about how some people are gaining some weight but they all have 1 thing in common. They are eithier eating to much or not excersising or both. And some people arn't getting themselves the proper after care. I don't understand how some one can put themselves through something so tramatic and then let themselves stray so far off track. I pray I can do well and do the surgery justice. Lord give me the strength. I am dieting right now. I have 7 weeks and 6 days till surgery (no one is counting here. LOL) and I would like to get some fat from around by orangs gone before surgery. I would also like to prevent the Skim Milk Diet (Nothing, literally nothing, but skim Milk for 3 weeks). My liver is a bit fatty so they might make me do it. ACK!! I have my final Pre Op consult in 3 weeks. My blood test came back weird, well mainly the urine test. They were pretty much in conclusive cause some blood got in the sample from my period. The results scare me...seems like there is alotta weird stuff going on but they said I need to redo it. They are also saying I am borederline diabetic. I think maybe it is cause I didn't fast, they didn't tell me to. So maybe they forgot and that threw it off. Oh well, it will all be gone soon. I am feeling good about my decision, the Lord as given me calm, and I am ready to do this! I pray all my blood and urine test get figured out! Peace out.
July 29
The urine test is no big deal. Just meant it wasn't a clean catch. Nice mental image huh? Yesterday was a ruff day for the old second guessing myself routine. A lady came into the chat room and was backing out of surgery because her friend in NY just died having it. Some kind of infection. And ontop of that a lady I met at pre op meetings had some complications fron her surgery and has been in the hospital for 2 weeks. Her bowels got backed up and ripped open a hernia. Poor Gal. None of this info is good on the pre op mind.
All I have left is my final consultation with the surgeon on the 13th of August and a nutritionist meeting. Oh, there is one more blood test done 2 weeks before surgery but no big thing. Wait Wait Wait Wait Wait Worry Worry Wait Wait Wait Wait Worry Worry Worry Worry Wait Wait.....Ah, Pre Op life.
August 1st. 2002
Welp, I can officially say my surgery is next month! Cool huh? It is weird seems like alotta of the people I have been supporting while they wait for approval are getting dates before mine. That is wonderful for them, I am extatic for them, but in some ways it makes time so slow. I still have 6 weeks to go. I think I am going insane. I have to fight the "last supper syndrome". I went out and bought some meal replacement bars. I am gonna do a version of the milk diet my surgeon puts some patients on and start it tomarrow. 2 bars a day and TONS of water and skim milk. Plus a flinstones vitamin. 'TUMMY! :O) I know that when you have a fatty liver, like me, the last 3 weeks before surgery (which is only 3 weeks away) the surgeon puts you on a skim milk ONLY diet. (Heard it through the grapevine.) I figure if I start my own form of it now, and drop weight before me last consult...he will skip that. I might be able to live with milk and meal bars, but just milk??? AHHHHH!!!! They say it shrinks the liver so surgery is less risky... I believe it, I just don't want to do it. Whoa, wait a minute, my consult is actually only 2 weeks away. An early last consult.....I need to drop at least 10 lbs iin 2 weeks. Wish me luck. I can handle this knowing there is a light at the end of the tunnel. HELP IS ON THE WAY!!!
Aug 13 2002
Ok I lost like 5 lbs then just put it back on again. Dr. Dally is gonna lay into me when I see him today. Milk Diet here I come. I am gonna be in the local paper today. They are following my surgery. It is a good article I think. You can see it this week at www.thereflector.com. If you are reading this a fair bit of time from now and would still like to see it I can Email you a copy. Just email me and request one. There will be more articles too, the reporter is covering my whole surgery, even a ways out post op. I may even be in "shape" magazine. Good incentive to suceed. I am soo ready for surgery. I signed up at a martial arts school yesterday. It is a big step for me to walk into a martial arts school when the instructor knows I used to be pretty good and let myself "go". It is a long story but I trained in martial arts from age 9-17. But had a big falling out with my instructor and since the age of 17 I have just balooned. But I am reclaiming my life and part of that is martial arts. I give all the glory to God. Thank you Jesus for my salvation and all the blessings you have given me. Help me to be the person you want me to be. Help me to make other peoples lives better, make me a tool of your love. I say theses things in the name of Jesus Christ, AMen.
July 14.
Yesterday was my final pre op consultation. It was a bit early but Dr. Dally is going out of town for awhile so we did it early. I hav 1 month till surgery. He did put me on the skim milk diet. For breakfast, lunch and dinner all I get is as much Skim Milk as I can drink in 5-10 min (only). I take a Centrum A-Zinc in the AM and one in the PM. To break the manotany I can have sugar free 0-Very Low Caloric drinks. BUT NO SOLIDS! Basically I can't eat for the next month. The last lady put on this dropped like 50 lbs the month before surgery. That's great and all but, sheeeeeesh, talk about ruff. This diet is supposed to shrink my large liver and make the surgery much easier on me and the surgeons. I am just gonna do what I am told. Lord please give me the strength, when I am weak you are strong. I definatly need you right now.
I also got me EKG done. I have a normal heart, that's always good to hear. They told me I should go down and get all checked in to the hospital. And The nutritionist will be calling me in a couple weeks. Also will be getting final blood work done in 2 weeks. This is all so real. Oh yeah, I also joined martial arts again. I am so excited. After doing martial arts for 8 years in the past, it is like coming home again. I am gonna be better at it now than I was before. It is gonna be harder work this time but all the more reason to suceed. The newspaper article is online....maybe I can cut and paste it. It was much more impressive in the paper it self cause it had a picture and was like half of a page, but the online version will have to do. WEll, I will keep everyone posted on the next week of STARVING myslef *whine*. LOL God Bless.
ARTICLE FROM THE REFLECTOR THE LOCAL PAPER OF BATTLE GROUND, WASHINGTON. AUG 13th. NO PICTURE HERE BUT THE TEXT FORM ARTICLE.
GASTRIC BYPASS SURGERY OFFERS BG WOMAN HOPE
Michele Bloomquist, staff reporter
Although Missie Davisson loves the family she comes from, there is one thing she would change.
Genetic tendency toward obesity roosts in her family tree.
Davisson's great-grandmother and grandmother both weighed more than 400 pounds. Until recently, her mother weighed 380 pounds.
At age 22, Davisson weighs 330 pounds.
"I just don't want to go there," she said of the painful and debilitating journey the women in her family have traveled because of obesity.
On Sept. 13, she will undergo elective gastric bypass surgery to remove a portion of her intestinal track and reduce the size of her stomach capacity to one and one half tablespoons.
Within six months, Davisson should weigh one-third of what she does today.
Within one year, she hopes to reach her goal weight of 160 pounds.
While others may lose weight to look good in swimwear, Davisson said she just wants to avoid developing illnesses caused by obesity that would eventually kill her.
"I'm not doing it to get skinny," she said. "I'm doing it to be healthy."
Health problems add weight to decision
Much like packing around 17 10-pound bags of flour daily, the extra weight on Davisson's five-foot six-inch frame is taking its toll on her health.
Davisson suffers from chronic heartburn, shortness of breath, joint pain, insomnia, sleep apnea, borderline diabetes, irregular ovulation, and fatigue.
The last time she had a normal body weight, Davisson was five years old, she said.
Despite the extra weight, Davisson was athletic as a child, participating for several years in martial arts.
"Even when I was working out six or eight hours a day, I was still heavy," she said. "Even then I weighed over 200 pounds."
The decision to undergo the surgery came after two years of soul searching, research, dieting, and turning over every other medical stone, Davisson said.
To qualify for insurance coverage, Davisson had to prove she needed surgery.
A primary care doctor, a dietician, a psychologist, an obstetric gynecologist, and an internal medicine specialist all deemed the surgery necessary.
Davisson's mother has lost more than 100 pounds after having the same surgery one year ago.
Davisson has faced years of ridicule, apathy, and discrimination because of her weight. Now she faces it because of her decision to have surgery, she said.
"People think it's just a shortcut," she said. "But what kind of a life is it to be 170 pounds overweight and in a wheelchair by the time you are 40?"
Davisson said she's speaking openly about her obesity and surgery to help people understand that morbid obesity is an illness, not a character flaw.
"People have said I am fat because I eat too much or because I am lazy, and [advised] not to get the surgery," she said. "It just floors me that people would think I would want to live like this."
Such advice is similar to telling a cancer patient not to get treatment, she said.
"The worst thing in the world is to have a disease nobody recognizes as a disease or has sympathy for," she said.
After surgery, Davisson will only be able to eat small portions of food. As a result, she will take supplements for her lifetime in order to provide vitamins and minerals her body needs.
Sweets and fats will be out of her diet, because there won't be enough intestinal tract left to process them.
Instead she will eat mostly protein, fruits, vegetables, and a small amount of starches.
"The surgery isn't a magic bullet," she said. "It's just a tool. I'll still have to watch what I eat, exercise, and work very hard."
Davisson's husband is supportive. Davisson said she is looking forward to riding a bicycle with her young daughter.
As the weeks creep toward her surgery, Davisson has increasing moments of worry and doubt, but believes the risk of a lifetime of obesity is far greater than the risk of going under a knife.
"I'm ready to do this," Davisson said. "I'm ready to get on with my life."
Aug. 17 2002
I am so HUNGRY! I havn't eaten in 4 days. All milk, milk, milk, and then if I am hungry, more milk. I hope I can make this. It has been a ruff day. I was talking in the chat room and a couple people, including a surgeon, said they thought this diet was a little extreme and unecissary. I would have to agree to a point, but I trust my surgeon so I need to do what he askes of me. I talked to a ladyt hat is having surgery a day before me........she is also on the milk diet......she is having a difficult time but told me this that made me feel better, " A larger liver means more OR time. I am trying to keep my mind on the fact that doing this diet means less OR time and a better chance at a healthy recovery." Makes sense to me. I had a pre op meeting a couple days ago. The reporter that did the previos article came to listen to what everybody said. It was an interesting meeting. The one lady that I know of that has sucessfully hung in there with the milk diet also got cottage cheese. I am not sure why but she did. Even with cottage cheese she lost 40 lbs in a month. By the way, the milk diet is 4 weeks not 3. another looong SIGH. It has to be the right thing or it wouldn't be something a top rate surgeon would have you do. I guess another surgeon down south has been doing the milk diet 20 years now with his pre ops. Safer surgery.
3 Weeks and 6 days to go. I hope the hunger goes away soon. I need to call Ann, the nurse, to see if she wants me to come weigh in weekly with this diet. She told the other gal to so she might want me to too. Hugs. Write more later. Gonna go take a bath...the family is eating Pizza and it is about to kill me.
Aug. 24 2002
I think I am down to below 310. I really hope to be under 300 by surgery. 2 Weeks and 5 Days till the big day. I joined Martial Arts again. It feels great to work out again. Loosing weight rapidly with this milk diet and working out again put second thoughts about surgery in my head. It makes me think that I could have tried harder, maybe tried dieting more, or stayed more physically active. Realisticly, I know that I have done all that beofre with not so wonderful results. And I have to keep reminding myself I am loosing weight because of a Dr.'s perscribed "starvation" siet that would not be appropriate outside of preperation of surgery. I look at myself in recent pictures in disgust. I can't believe how large i have gotten. I am taking care of this problem through surgery alot earlier than most people do. I have not been this overweight as long as most surgery patients. But looking into my family history and how extensive I had to work out to stay at a somewhat average weight, I know that this is my only option for a normal sized life. I get nervous when I think about the unknown, like what I will be like at 60 with this surgery, but like what everyone else says, what am I gonna be like at 60 being 160 lbs overweight. As I get older it is only gonna get harder to get off. I know not everybody is happy they had this surgery, some have even died, please Lord show me the way. My surgery time is fast approaching and I have a million thoughts in my head. I think they are all very normal but it doesn't make it easy.
I pre-register in the hospital on the 29th. Cigna also sent a confirmation letter confirming there approval and coverage on all aspects of my surgery. That was a nice letter to see. This is really hapeneing. Lord if this is the wrong thing for me please show me and if it is the right thing please guide me. In Jesus Christ's name, Amen.
Aug. 28th
Went all the way to Portland yesterday to Pre register at the hospital but when I arrived they told me my appointment wasn't till Thursday. I am such a dope. Must be the lack of Calories. I gotta go back tomarrow. Later, after I went to the hospital, I went to the nutritionist. That meeting was also supposed to be Thursday. LOL :O) She took me anyay. My friend Katherine attneded with me. She is also having surgery. She is having it the 12th, mine is the 13th. She is letting me use a Cd called "Sucessfull Surgery" a guided imagray and afirmations CD with calming music behind it. It is great. Thanks Katherine. You actually take this CD into the OR and listen as they operate. They are studies that show it actually halps with blood loss and healing. So cool. I learned alot from the nutritionist about what I am going to be eating, and I also got to bellyache about this skim milk diet. It was nice. Surgery is only a couple weeks away. MArtial Arts classes are going great! Even though I havn't physica;ly been there for almost 5 years my heart and mind is still there and with the aid of this surgery and some weight loss I truly believe I will be back in the swing of it in no time, and training with a much better set of people! Life is starting fresh, it's beautiful.
Sept 2 2002
Surgery is next week. I can't believe it! I hope they don't cancel me at the last minute because of the hard time I am haivng with this liquid diet. The last 5 days or so I have been resorting to eating solid foods. I havn't told the nurse or surgeon, I am hoping to get more weight off beofre next weigh in. I started fresh today with a new resolve and eded up eating some noodles. Mind over matter. I can do this. Please help me Lord, help me to do this last 11 days and to loose enough weight to make surgery safer and keep the clinic pleased. This is so hard. It's kinda hard to even look forward to surgery becuse I am petrified that I am gonna show a gain and they are gonna cancel me. I wish I could just enjoy this time instead of suffer. My last full week as a pre op, hopefully. Everything is done, everything is ion order, and all I need to do now is get somemore weight off, including the few lbs I have put back on, before my final weigh in. Pray for me please.
Sept 4 2002
Well, any weight I gained from a few days of not being a good girl on my milk diet is gone!! WOOHOO!! Now any more I loose is just less numbers on the scale! Martial Arts is going great! I actually did pushups last night! I am gonna go get a measuring tape and get some inches posted up here. I have already lost like 20 lbs since July. My highest weight was 334 now I am around 311. So I have alreaady lost inches! Just don't know how many. I better start keeping tack, especially for the weeks I don't loose very much, I will have another way to tell how my body is changing. 9 DAYS TO GO!! WOW!!
Sept 6th
I called the nurse last night and left a coup[le long messages. I ended up ,essing up my milk diet, AGAIN!!!! I just got so dang hungry. I think my issues are I don't get enough milk. I am not giving up.....I just wanted the staff at the clinic to know that I am not sure I am gonna loose more and that it has been a really ruff week. I told her how scared I was of getting cancelled causeI heard a rumor that people that couldn't do the milk diet for a full month got their surgery's cancelled. I basically just blubbered on the voice mail for 10 min. LOL But at least I was honest.
She returned my call around 9 this morning. First off she said that she wanted me to settle down and not worry. Stop beating my self up. I wasn't going to get cancelled. She said I just need to do the best I can. She said you are getting scared and it is normal. She said if I wasn't scared then she would be worried. NO ONE has been cancelled cancelled over the milk diet. That makes me feel sooooo much better. The more weight I can loose the better it is cause the fat leaves from around the liver....but the pressure is definiatly off. She said I should have come to her alot sooner. She was glad I was honest. She said the patients that hide stuff and lie are usually the ones that don't suceed. I pride myself on being an honest person, and I am glad I told her. Thanks ANN!!
Also the reporter for The Reflector that did a story on me last month told be that she has got so many responses from the public that her editor wanted her to do an immediate faollow up. My surgery is in a week and the original plan was her to follow me through my surgery and about 6 months after and do a big follow up...buit her editor wanted more even before my surgery. LOL. We are famous! The reporter and I agreed that a sooner follow up is great but untill after surgery next week there isn't all that much to talk about. I am happy to spread the word and I hope it helps someone out there! Thank you God, thank you AMOS family.
Sept 9th 2002
Wow! 4 days to go! I would have to say I am alot calmer than I thought I was going to be. Thursday night and Friday morning will probably be a different story. :O) Now don't get me wrong, I am nervous, but I am not climbing the walls like I thought I would be. The Lords presence for sure! It has taken so long to get here. It is such a self examining process and I have learned so much about life and myself. I am ready.
SEPTEMBER 13 2002
Today is the day! I will be in the OR in a matter of hours. This has been a miracle journey. Thank you all. I will be back on in a few days! VICTORY~!!!!!
Sept 16 2002
I need to toot so bad. Gas is one of the worse parts. I woke up...YEAH!!! but in all honesty I feel like crap. Updating you all on here has been the most I have been able to do. It was definatly an experience all it's own, I am just praying that all the pain I am going through right now is worth it in the long run. Thank you Angel in Canada...you were a great angel. I have some sewlling in my upper tummy but the doctor said it is kinda like the equivilant of a black eye....just insoide my abdomin. He says it should go down. My pouch empties kinda slow cause of sweeling so I am being careful not drinking to much. I am on oral liquid pain meds. The hospital stay was OK. There are some things I think the staff (not the surgerical staff) but the hospital staff could have done better, but let's focus onm some positives! I made it, I am alive, and on my way to my new life, I feel the Lord has lead my down this path, got me through the largest hurdle safely, and I pray he can bless me the rest of the way! I AM A POST OP!!!
September 28th
I am over 2 weeks post op now and feeling really good! It does get better! The first week I thought I would never feel human again, thank God I was wrong. I thought I would stop in here and tell you guys what the day at the hospital was like. Maybe it can help someone out there to know what to expect.
I arrived at 10:30 or so for check in. I was greated by my friend Katherine's husband in the lobby. She had just had surgery the previous day. She did great by the way. He gave me a CD walkman to use with some guided imagry CD's I had borrowed from KAtherine. My Husband, father, mother, and the reporter covering my story waited untill I was called back. I went to the Short Stay unit, all of family in tow, to a bed in the far corner. They asked me to change into the hospital gown. At that point all my family except my husband went to the waiting room. The reporter had taken a picture of me on the hospital bed and asked a few questions before she proceded to the waiting room. Where I hear she had fun talking to my Dad. :O) After I was changed family came and went and over the course of about an hour and a half I was given Valume and an IV was started. They called from down the hall and we were told they were ready for me in the staging room. So off I went....wheeled down the hall to the offical pre surgery room. Mu husband came and shortly after my mother Aunt, sister, and parents had hunted me down. It was so wonderful to have them there, it made such a difference. It was funny when I had tro go potty, they wouldn't let me walk 10 ft to the bathroom, they actually wheeled the bed over to the bathroom. Acyually, in a weird way that made me fully understand the importance and seriousness of what I was doing. When my bed was back in place I had a chat with the anesthesiologist. He was an lright guy but didn't exactl'y put me at ease. But I didn;t need his comfprt because I had awsome family. After he left The surgeons came in, looked at my file one more time, then asked of I had any questions. We ended up talking about martial arts. LOL....go figure. At that point they left to the OR and a nurse came in saying "Ok, let's go." All the Valume in the world can't prepare you for that moment. I hugged each member of my attending family, kissed my husband, and down the hall I went. As we approached the OR door I jokingly said "Nah, we don;t need to go in there." The nurse just laughged and said it'll me fine. The OR was an intimidating room. There were machines bigger than me in there. They layed a weight belt over me so I wouldn't fall off and put the compressor booties on my feet. I started to tear up at that point. I didn't wanna be awake for all the preperations. And physically sliding myself over to the letha; injection lookin OR table was one of the weirdest things I have ever done. No turingin back now! Dr. DAlly walked in, I was tearing up and I said I was scared. He held a couple of my fingers and told me it was going to be alright. The aneasthsiologist told me to just relax and let myself go to sleep. Darkness.
October 20th.
I started by hospital story last entry. I suppose I better finish it.
When I woke up I was kinda disoreinted. The funny part is I had come to a couple times before that but didn;t know till I was told later that I had said some funny stuff. Pain was not bad inititally. But after about a couple hours I was hurtin pretty bad. It was a total of about 3 days in the hopital. Because of a bad reaction my mother had to the PCA (patient controlled pain med pump using morphine) I had a minimal dosage each time I pressed the button. So needless to say I was in PAIN. Finally I got them to give me the normal dose and life got a little easier. Getting up for the first time isn;t easy. TRust me. But you do it, you have to. And sitting down to go potty is not fun. But again you do it......cause.....you have to. My hospital stay was not Club Med but I survived. I was glad it was over.
The first week for me was almost completly UNBEARABLE~! I thought I was going to die. I felt weak, sick, nauseaus, and my mind swam with thoughts of regret. BUT by the end of the first week I was feeling alive again. The gas finally went away and getting up and down stoped feeling like being stabbed to death. By the end of week 2 I was feeling great. Liquid diet was nasty and tuff but the Milk diet prepped me for it and I survived that too. I am presently 5 weeks post op. I am down to 275 lbs!!! I go onto solid foods in 4 days. Purees is a breesze. Getting all the protein you need is hard but Isopure Zero Carb fruit drink is a life saver! So far no complications, thank you Lord, and life is getting back to normal. sometimes I am still scared of the weight loss stopping and all this being for nothing, I worry I will gain weight back someday, but I tell myself a day at a time.
I AM A MARTIAL ARTIST AGAIN. I am working out at my martial arts school Mon-Thurs 1.5 - 2.5 hours a night. Great workout. I am already able to do stances that I couldn;t do before surgery and I feel like I am claiming my life back. My new Martial Arts instructor is AWSOME! Great man. It is so nice to train under someone that is a person I can truly look up to. My previous instructor when I was younger was abusive emotionally....and sometimes physically and had an alcohol problem. I was still able to become a fair martial artist under him for the 8 years I trained but now I think the sky is the limit. Now that I have wonderful leadership. I got up for my Black Belt in MARCH!!! I hope to be under 200 lbs cause it is a 4-5 hour physical test. I need somemore extra baggage off! :O) I can do it!
The reporter cover ing my story did a follow up on me after surgery. I couldn;t get the link to it cause the week my story was in the paper they didn;t update their site. I will type the text out on here sometime soon so oyu guys can see it. I think it was a good report. There will be 1 more story on me in the paper at about 6 months post op. She is going to come to my Black Belt test........so hopefully at my last newspaper story I will be well under 200! Peace! God Bless!
July 2002 2 months beofore Surgery
334 LBS
August 2002 1 month before surgery
322 LBS
Sept 13 Day of Surgery
305 LBS
5 Weeks after surgery October 2002
275 LBS
6 Weeks Post Op
270 LBS
October 26, 2002
I can;t believe Halloween is already here. My daughter is 3 years old and I think we are going to have alotta fun this year. I got her an old style Raggedy Ann Costume with Mask. It is really cute. I bought this cool slide projecter for 14.99$ at Safeway that projects "Happy Halloween" witht a picture of Bats. It is really cool and my daughter loves it. I have so much more energy. I am working out like a mad woman in martial arts and I feel like new. I still have about 100lbs to go before I will be satisfied but I am in no rush. The slower I do it the less saggy my skin will be. Solid foods is going great. Nice to be able to eat again. I thank God for this blessing because I know it was him that made this miracle possible for me. Now I pray he can help me to make it successful for a life time. Oh, and talking about energy, my house is cleaner than ever and I also helped my Dad paint his house. I was up on ladders and everything. :O) Life is getting back to normal, I had my first REAL period this month. I used to bleed all the time but it was because I wasn't ovulating. I had a real 3 day then stop period. I feel like a woman again. Below is the follow up article done in my hometown on my surgery. I am just going to type the test out for you . It had a picture of me in the hospital bed. I think it was a good article. Unfourtunatly Sue Widemark got her mitts on the reporter but I think Michelle (the reporter) did a very fair and informative article. It goes as follows.
From THE REFLECTOR NEWSPAPER OF BATTLE GROUND WASHINGTON.
BY STAFF REPORTER MICHELLE BLOOMQUIST
BG WOMAN GOES THROUGH WITH SURGERY.
Missie Davisson of Battle Ground is recovering from a gastric bypass surgery she had on Sept. 13, hoping to shed nearly 170lbs within one year.
Davisson;s decision to undergo the surgery and win her lifelong battle with fat was reported in the Aug. 14 is of The Reflector.
The article drew a number of e-mail responses from those that expressed interest in Davisson's progress as well as some who decried the process as risky and ineffective.
Sue Widemark, a represenative of the Size Acceptance Organization, read the article on www.thereflector.com and wrote the following:
"[Several] post op[eration patients] feel that the weight loss surgery ruined their lives...did you know that a large hospital in Fresno has ceased doing gastric bypass because there were too many complications...that [a newspaper] investigation uncovered the most deaths from gastric bypass surgery were recorded as other reasons thus really skewing the stats."
However, website reader Becca Kauffman wrote: " It is not the easy way out. It is often the last resort for people of our size. I appreciate how you told her story, sincein telling her story you tell the stories of so many of us in society."
Undaunted, Davisson prepared for the operation she hoped would change her life.
For more than one month prior to surgery Davisson who weighed 330 pounds, was restricted to a milk-only diet in attempt to reduce her liver fat. As a result, her weight dropped to 305 pounds by her surgery date.
Surgeons Paul Dally and Leslie Cagle, Vancouver Clinic physicians, performed the four-hour surgery at Good Samaritan Hospital in Portland, reducing her stomach capacity to about one and one-half tablespoons.
Davisson may now only eat small portions of food--mostly protein, vegetables, fruit, and small amounts of starch.
Doctors told her that if she attempts to eat fatty foods or too much food, her stomach won't process it and she will suffer "dumping syndrome" with nausea and vomitting.
Although the surgery's sucess can be thwarted by eating high calorie foods such as milkshakes, Davisson said she doesn;t want to sabotage her sucess, especially after her two-year struggle to have it done.
Over the next few months, Davisson will be closely monitored to make sure she is healing well and that thereare no leaks in her altered stomach.
Davisson hopes to lose about 100 pounds within six months and to reach her goal weight of 160 pounds within one year.
The surgery cost about $30,000, covered by insurance after Davisson documented a strong tendency toward obesity in her family.
Davisson's great-grandmother, grandmother, and mother all weighed more than 400 pounds each.
Last year Davisson's mother underwent the same surgery. and has since lost more than 100 pounds.
Today, recovering at home, Davisson said she looks forward to becoming active in martial arts again. She holds a brown/black belt in Kung Fu, a sport she participated in daily for about eight years in her teens.
As for those who say the surgery is a mistake, Davisson replied, " Listen to yourself, your surgeon, people that have had the surgery, and God. These are the ones that give you the best info."
Article ran in the October 9, 2002 issue of THE REFLECTOR
Nov. 13 2002
2 month Anniversay! Guess What?? BMI is down from 53.9 to 41.6 that makes for a 12.3 drop in my BMI. 2 more points and I am no longer Morbidly Obese. Just a Fatty! LMAO How cool huh? Life is going great. I had a Support Group meeting last night. One of out surgeons actually came and talked to us the whole hour. Very informative. Unfourtuantly I can really tell some people are falling off "the wagon". I DO NOT want to end up like that. There is a lady eating brownies, ect. But like Dr. Cagle said, This is our one chance to change our lifestyles. I pray to the Lord for the strength to make this work for the rest of my life. I actually feel hungry now sometimes but nothing like before. MArtial Arts is going great. Training almost everyday. And on the weekends I am weight lifting with my husband and his brother. I can feel the differenve so much. Every day it gets easier. Thank God for this miracle. May I be able to honor it!
Other than the billing office trying to mess with me. Trying to tell me I have to pay for one of the surgeons out of my pocket, even though if they would of billed it correctly insurance would have paid for it, and holding my money ransom.....money which they said was my :max out of pocket" insurance charge........other than that my experience has been wonderful. Hopefully in time the $$$ thing will resolve. God Bless!
CURRENT WEIGHT - 258#
November 24 2002
I am doing great, other than a killer cold. Nasal, headaches, body aches.......but I am getting better. I had a support group meet ing last week. It went great. One of my surgeons came and gave a speech, showing us exactly what has been done to our bodies. I guess my surgery isn't as malabsorptive as most. Mainly restrictive. But since the duodeum isn;t used any more we have to supplement vitamins. It was a great meeting. I learned alot. Yesterday I had my 2 month checkup. The Dr. says I am doing great! He said my weighloss is super for how long I have been out. He also says he wants to come watch me go up for my black belt in a few months. I feel very honored considering his busy schedule. I have been out and about alot lately so I have been trying to learn how to eat when I am in town without a packed lunch. Today I went to Subway and had half of a kid's meal sandwich. Then the other half later for dinner. If my daughter begs to go to McDonalds I just have the chicken salad and pretty much pick all the chickem out to eat. So there are ways to eat at resturaunts or fast food. I would prefer to stay away from that though so I plan to do better at planning food throughout the day, especially when I am going to be running errands all day. Anyway, doing great! Hope everyone else is too!
Current weight - 252 #'s
December 4th 2002.
I love the Holiday season!! I love Christmas!! I am actually keeping my house nice and clean, already have decorations inside and outside for Christmas and feeling the Ho Ho spirit. This is the first holiday season I havn't gained 10 lbs! Quite refreshing. My husband is in Arizona on a business trip. He got to sit in the first row of a Phenoix Suns game and now he is all hyped about joining a local basketball club and getting in awsome Shape! That excites me too! *wink* Martial Arts is going great! My instructors and the assistant instructors are leaving for the Bahamas today for a training seminar. Lucky them! I don't feel bad though because eventually I will be a teacher too and I will be going with them! And fitting in the seats with absolutly no problem! I have noticed a few things about life since surgery. I am alot less depressed. I still have my moments but they don't stem as much from my physicall issues, more just spitiual or anxiety. I think my honeymoon period is already over. Since Thanksgiving I have eaten way to many Carbobohydrates and it has slowed my loss. So......this morning I told myself no more Carbs till at least 6 months out! I got to take full advantage of this first 6 months and the rapid weight loss period. 3 months left till my black belt test!! And I got about 50 lbs to go to get under 200 by then! FOCUS MISSIE!! Thank you Lord for your blessings. A wonderful life, a beautiful family, I praise you!
Current weight- 246 Lbs. NO LONGER MORBIDLY OBESE!!! WOOOHOOO!
December 6th,
All is well! Sometimes I feel like I am to hungry, like all the time. But I also noticed that happens when I am not getting enough protein or when I forget my multi's. I am down a few lbs but I have definatly been in a little plateu. To many carbs, plus I think it was just my body taking a breather. I am gonna start going all out on my martial arts training on Monday, 3 weeks till my Black Belt test and there is no giving up now. I want to be focused, use this rapid weight loss period to it's full potential. God has helped me get this far, now I ask him for the strength to stay away from cigeretts, eat the right foods, take my pills, and train in Kung Fu to be the best, in Jesus' name.
CURRENT WEIGHT --- 243 #'s
December 11th
OH CHRISTMAS TREE OH CHRISTMAS TREE!!! LALALALALAAAAAAAAA I love Christmas. Well, I have found the key to sucess. Lotsa water, protein first and cardio EVERY DAY! Just in 1 day of being a good girl (not that I was being all that bad) but just focusing more, I dropped 2 lbs. I was rockin the house at Kung Fu class last night. I was feeling it. Worked up a good sweat. And I walked/jogged for 30 min. I already feel so much better. Like Dr. Cagle said, "This is your one oppurtunity to change your lifestyle for the better." And Missie Davisson is going to do just that!
Current Weight 241## 160-170 HERE I COME!!!
December 30th
I had a great Holiday! How bout you guys? Great time with family, ALOT of compliments and I love spoiling my kid! As far as WLS is concerned all is well. I feel like I am to hungry all the time and I eat to much sometimes but I cannot expect to have a 4 oz stomach the rest of my life. It's gotta stretch a little. I just pray it doesn't stretch to much. I am down to 229. Not bad for a couple weeks work. And especially not bad considering all this last week the Matial arts school was closed all last week so there wasn;t as much working out last week. It is time to seriously buckle down and kick some booty though. Only a couple months left to Black Belt. WOOOHOOO!!!
Thank you Jesus.
CURRENT WEIGHT 229#
Jan. 28 2002
It's been four and a half months since surgery, and combining pre surgery milk diet loss and post surgery loss it is almost 120 lbs!! WOOOHOOO! Martial Arts is doing great! I am on the DEMO team. We are putting on martial arts shows at the Mall, graduations, different functions, ect. It is so great to live life again! Only like 6 weeks till my Black Belt test. I am soooo excited! I want to get under 200 by then so bad! The reporter will be at my test to do a final follow up story and it would be great to be able to say I am under 200! 190 would be the ultimate!! Hope everyone is doing well! Protein and water is the name of the game. Thats what I have to do to loose. HUGS!
CURRENT WEIGHT 215#
Feb 18th 2002
OKAY....I AM A PAID MARTIAL ARTS INSTRUCTOR!! WOOOOWWWW HUH?? I am so excited! After surgery and my 6 months of training (Well I also trained 8 years as a youngster) I was hired on at my martial arts school as an assistant instructor for the kids program! IT IS MY DREAM JOB! THANK YOU LORD!! Weight loss is slowing down but still truckin along. Down to 207. Kinda been hanging in the low 200's awhile now but I have a feeling I will be below 200 soon! Hope all is well with everyone!
CURRENT WEIGHT 207#'s
March 19.
6 month MARK~! I am down over 140 lbs! I feel soooo much better. Life is AWSOME! I am me again~~ |!! March 15th I sucessfully tested for my Black Sash in Kungfu. A goal of mine since I was 9 years old! This surgery is a total blessing! I am currently 190 Lbs and looking forward to seeing my goal of 160. It isn't easy but it's worth it! I am living my dream! I am an Assistant Martial Arts instructor, Black Belt, and on my Martial Arts School's Demo Team. I recently took 1st Place in Womens Black Belt fighting at a local tournanament and am planning to compete more! The local paper is doing there follow up story on me on Monday. I will get you all a copy! Thank you God for this Blessing!!!
CURRENT WEIGHT 190
OFFICAL AFTER PIC at 190 6 months post Op will be up within the week! Taken at my Black Belt Test! WOOHOOO! :O)
May 10th 2003
Well the weight loss has slowed down but it is still going! I am down to 180 Lbs. My goal is 160 by a year out. That means only 20 to go in the next 4 months. As long as I am a good girl I know I can do it. Honestly I have gone through a little bought with depression. More like anxiety. I get real worried that I won't be able to keep the weight off....or I will fail this like every diet I have tried. Basically I have been waiting for the other shoe to drop. It almost like it has been to much of a good thing. Now I am trying to focus on all the good things and let myself be happy. It is hard sometimes when everything in your life goes right because then you think that pretty soon everything is going to go wrong. I also still see FAT when I loo
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Well, here I am. About to embark on a journey that has frustrated and frazeled the best of em'. I am a 21 year old stay at home mother of a beautiful 2 year old girl. I have been overweight most all of my life and I am getting very very tierd of it. (I'm sure many of you know that feeling). I do not believe I deserve to be stuck in a aching overweight body the rest of my life and I am ready to do something about it.
My mother had WLS last year and has lost over 100lbs. YEAH MOM! I have tried diet after diet, I have crawled on my hands and knees and begged and nothing seems to get rid of the extra weight. I know now, after about a year of contimplation, that WLS is for me. Yes, I am nervous, yes I am confused about what step to take first, but I have faith that the Lord will lead me through this.
I finally have succeeded in putting down cigaretts. (Patting myself on the back here :O)) That was my first step. I have two possible surgeons and I'm not sure which one I am using yet. I have been in contact with both. I talked to Dr. Paul Dally's nurse quite a while ago and I was not impressed with her lack of compassion and or understanding of my situation. More recently I have been in contact with the Oregon Clinic (Dr. Emma Patterson) and I was much more impressed with the nurse. Granted, Dr. Dally is a great Doc ( he did my mom's surgery) but, you deal with a doctors nurse alot and his has a pretty blah personality. I guess I'm weird but that kinda stuff is pretty important to me.
So now I am working on a letter and profile to send to my insurance company for approval. My mom says to get approved for the surgery then worry about which surgeon and all the details ( shrinks, dieticians, ect.) So far I have a letter of recamindation from my obsratrician, and on the 7th of Feb. I have an appointment with my regular doctor to get a letter of medical neccesity from him. While I wait for my doctors appointment I am writing a letter to the insurance company to accompany my recamindations. Also, my mother is going to write them a letter stressing the genetic morbid obesity we have in our family and also how much the surgery has helped her. Along with all of that I am going to send them pictures of me all through life and pictures of my mom, grandma, and a brief discription of my great grandma ( who weighed in at close to 400 lbs when she died and had to be burried in a special box due to her size.)
So, right now all I can do is get that stuff together and send it in. I figure it will all be ready and together by the weekend after my doctors appointment ( as long as I get my letter from him in a timely manner). If I can get pre-approved the stress will be off and I can enjoy my experience. At that point I will choose which surgeon and get the ball rolling. If all goes well maybe I'll be in the operating room within six months. Pray for me, and off I go!
Janurary 26, 2002
I got alot acomplished today and at the same time I got some bad news. I found out what exactly the insurance company wants and I also found out they want to recieve all the information for approval through the surgeon, not me personnaly. I made my appointment with the psychologist, they made it for the middle of next month. Unfourtunatly the only Dr. my surgeons will use is not part of my insurance plan so it is going to cost me 400$ out of pocket to see him. That stinks, but you gotta do what you gottta do. This friday is my appointment with the dietician. The secretary at that office seemed to think my insurance company will cover my visit. I hope so.
Well, after all of this I finally got ahold of my surgeons office. They told me to call and make an appointment along with all my other ones. Finally, they returned my call. Sandy, Dr. Emma Pattersons nurse (at leat I think she is her nurse) told me they can't even give me a consultation date untill May. Talk about a bummer. Over four months before I even talk to the surgeon, she must be a pretty popular lady. I'm thinking about talking to Dr. Dally's office to see if they can get me in sooner but I have a good feeling about Dr. Patterson so I'll probably just wait. She is a Providence Preffered Provider just like Dally so she is fully covered if I get approved. No, when I get approved. So, in the next 4 months I will be getting my necissary appointments done and then i will commence staring at the wall utill Dr. Pattersons office calls in May (to set an apointmet for July....so more like 6 months :O(). I do all this work and I won't even know untill this summer if my insurance carrier will pay. (Sigh)
Well, maybe the Lord will bless me and speed this up so I don't have to wait for what seems an eternity. Well, I better go figure out how I'm gonna come up with four hundred dollars in the next few weeks. I'll keep you posted!
Feb. 2
I got a little freaked out today. I was looking at the WLS Memorial and the only person that died in my area was someone who had the same surgeon I am using. FREAKED ME OUT. She died from a stomach leak after surgery. After talking in the chat room and getting responses to my worries I feel alot better. It's true, if a surgeon has done alot of surgeries they are bound to have a death if not 2 or 3. I just need to calm down. The Lord will be with me. This is a drastic step and I am bound to have worries. I won't get the surgery till later this year so I have plenty of time to continplate. Sometimes I really wonder if this surgery is as safe as they say it is. Am I doig the right thing here?
By the way, I had my appointment with the dietician. She seems to think I am a great canidate for the surgery and will be forwarding that to Dr. Pattersons office. Cool huh?
February 8
Yesterday I had my appointment with my Primary Care Physican. It went great. I weigh 320, not 330. Not like that is much of a difference, but every bit counts. My Doctor totally supports me, and that feels great. I was worried that he would think I could just loose it if I dieted more, or if I just tried harder. I have tried so much already I just couldn't face being shot down. He said with my genetics I was fighting a losing battle. He truly believes that this is a genetic problem and he also thinks it is completly assinine that the insurance companies wait untill people are arthritic and have major problems before they will cover the sugery. He was honest with me and said it was going to be a fight considering I don't have any MAJOR Comorbids, but he is going to really stress the stuff I do have. I have fatigue, insomnia, heavy snoring, reflux, abnormal menstural cycles, aches and pains but no major things. I also learned that last checkup my glucose was high and he plans to use that. I have alot of diabetis in my family so that should help. He's going to send me my letter of medical necessity and the results of my blood tests. I know that if I don't fix this problems within a few years I will have some major Comorbids down the road. I don't want to get to that point. Pray for me please. I hope the insurance will understand. My phsyc evaluation is in a week. I will tell you all how that goes. I also have a sleep apnea test coming up. (Maybe I do have a Major Co morbid) Talk to you soon.
Feb. 23, 2002
My psych evaluation went well. Waste of money if you ask me. Two and a half hours of testing and an hour of being went over with a fine tooth comb by a guy that made me completly uneasy. The important thing is that he approved me for surgery. I know it is important to make sure someone is emotionally ready for this change but the experience wasn't what I expected. Another possible ocstical overcome, now the wait is on!
April 7, 2002
Alot has happened since I got my phsyc evaluation and went to the Doctor. First off the lab work from my PCP came back and it was pretty good. The only bad thing is that my liver count was slightly high. The Doc said he wanted to retest and since then they have retaken blood. Unfourtunatly tests arn't back yet. I pray they come back good. Enough of the bad news the good news is that I HAVE A CONSULTATION DATE! Not with Dr. Patterson but with Dr. Dally (the one that did my mom's surgery). The call came out of the blue. I had forgotten I had given them an aplication like 8 months ago. Well I remember doing it but I hadn't thought about because of the fact I never heard anything back. I guess the original nurse I talked to (the not so friendly one) has retired and Dr. Dally's new nurse, Ann, called and asked when I would like to come in. We made an appointment for May 15th. It is soooo great but still frustrating cause that is still over a month away. That is a month I have to wait wondering if Insurance will pay. I have a great portfolio, regular Dr.'s letter, obstetricians letter, my letter, overview of diet's and medical issues, pictures, blood work, and I also have to call the dietician and psychologist and get them to send me copies of the paperwork from my visits so I can present them to Dr. Dally. I also need to call Dr. Patterson's office and tell them they don't have to worry about calling my in May to set up a appointment for July, cause I'll be at Dally's in MAy. Sweet. It is definatly a blessing that Dr. Dally's office has come through unexpected, the waiting is tourture.
I have been really depressed and irritated latley. I am sooo tierd of being heavy. Knowing there is a possible help with my problem but it being up to 6 months or more away is so frustrating. I'm so mad at myself for being so angry twards my family and I am seriously thinking about going to a pshycologist to help me through this awkward time. I used to be a good martial artist and after surgery I am going to use my martial arts to get back in shape and then once I feel good enough with myself I am going to start training with an instructor again. I can't wait till I can really workout again. I can taste all this I just want it to be here!
This life can be so cruel,
full of sorrow and pain.
Anger, frustration, nightmares,
scared flesh and weight gain.
April 10th 2002
Ok good news and bad news. Bad news. My MD called and my liver count is still high. When I got my initial blood work done it was high and it is still high after retesting. Now they are screening me for iron levels and Hepititus B & C. I am a bit nervous. I havn't really been exposed to Hepatitus but I am still soooo paranoid. It would be sooo horrible if I come this far to find out I have some kind of disease. If you are a person of faith please pray for me. I have heard many different things about high liver count. Lack of iron or just being over weight can cause it. I pray it is something as simple as that.
Good news. I went to a local WLS support group. I learned alot and got to talk to one of the surgeons that will be operating on me. Her name is Dr. Cagle. She is a very nice woman and was very willing to listen to all of my dumb questions. She made me feel good about my decision. I learned that she went to Scotland and trained with the man that perfected laproscopic surgery. HOW COO IS THAT! They also have yet to loose a patient which makes me feel even more comfortable.
Anyway I should hear more about my liver by Monday. Thursday we are leaving for the coast. It will be great to get away. Also another thing I learned at the meeting. Once I have my consultation next month, providing insurance will cover me, I will be have surgery about 2 months after consultation. That is AWSOME!, I thought it would be more like six months after, that is definatly good news! My liver and my insurance are the only thing that stands in the way of a healthy me. But no worries I have prayed and Christ is on my side. How could I loose.
April 14th 2002
Ok, my liver tests came back good. No Hepititus and good iron levels. It's great news but my good mood was ruined when I read down the paper my results were on and it said that I needed to scedule an ultrasound for my liver. THAT STINKS! Something else to be nervous about. So this week I have my ultrasound of my liver, next week is my sleep apnea test ( I am pretty sure I don't have sleep apnea), and then a couple weeks after that is my consultation. Maybe it's a good thing I have things to keep me occupied while I wait to see the surgeon. I had a good trip to one of our Timeshares, we just got back. I had to get away from all this tension. Now I am right back in the middle of it. Oh, yeah and my dog had her second sezeiure while I was gone. What a great week. LOL GREAT and some ways, TERRIBLE in others. Well, I guess thats life.
April 16, 2002
AWSOME NEWS! My liver is fine! Oh Yeah! Thank you God, I felt you there holding my hand the whole time. Jesus was with me and it was an incredible calm. They said my liver is a little fatty but thats all the ultrasound technition could see. Sleep Apenea test next Wensday then Consultation next month. Slow but sure I'm getting there. Thank you Julie in NC for helping me!
April 25, 2002
Well, they are pretty sure I have some form of sleep apnea. Suprized the heck out of me. I had a sleep study done last night. The first couple hours were fine. He came in and told me he didn't see anything going on so the Cpap tests wouldn't be necissary. I was happy to hear that, I have always thought that even though I am really heavy I was still somewhat healthy. Well, that whole dream was shattered when he came in a couple hours later and said I had had a couple episodes of apnea and that he was gonna see if the CPAP would help me. POO!!!! My mom has sleeep apnea and she said even thought they don't give you the "offical" test results till a couple weeks after the study you will know if you have it cause they will test the CPAP machine on you. It really depresses me cause I feel so much more volnurable than before. I have been juggling this surgery around in my mind and was almost thinking I didn't need it because I didn't show as many signs of illness like others who get it. Maybe finding out I have sleep apnea has helped, it makes me relize even more how benifical this surgery will be for me. I am 21, 320 lbs. 5'6'' and have Sleep Apnea. How pathetic. I hope that having apnea isn't going to make my surgery risks go way up. I can't wait till my consult so I can get some good answers to all my questions. The internet seems like a real negative place for WLS sometimes, especially with Sue Widemark out there talking crap! Well talk to ya soon. Oh yeah, I have an appointment with a shrink tomarrow. I decided emotional support and counseling will help me get throught this whole process. Next stop, the surgeons office!
May 11th 2002
My husband is now 27 years old. Old fart huh. Well I have had a couple visits with my psyhologist. I t has been nice and I think it is going to help. Although it seems like I have been more emotionaly out of it since i started getting help. Maybe it's just because I am going through a hard time by bringing all my issues to the surface. This surgery is more than a physicall journey, it is also very mental and spiritual. Does God aprrove? Will I die? Will I be able to handle all the changes? All these questions going through your head. Then you got the people who know this person that had it and died, and this other person ended up with nerve damage, and this other person says there sisters cousin's friend vomits all the time. I dunno so much negative comments makes you really second guess your decision. My CONSULTATION is coming just in time. MAY 15! Wensday. 3 days away, THANK YOU GOD! I need some real medical answers before I explode. I need to get these papers submitted to insurance so the "what if I get denied" thought can disappear. I will post again wensday and tell you all about it!
May 15 2002
OK! I had my consultation. I took in my hours and hours worth of work to the doctor in a nicely arranged portfolio. I t had absolutly everything he could have possibly wanted. After he talked to me about the procedure and the possible complications he told me he is submitting to insurance and we should be in surgery some time this summer. He said alot of stuff I already knew, and he really didn't seem to interested in all the letters and documentation I had put together. He was very matter a fact. He said my BMI and the fact that I have sleep apnea should be enough for most any insurance company. His nurse took copies of all the stuff I had put together. She seemed a bit more interested in all that. I even had the Medical Boards fax # for her. She said best case senerio 2 wks for a response. I guess sometimes it can take up to a month. Well, all I can say is that it was alotta anxieity and waiting for a very simple consultation. The process has now truly started LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!! It is in God hands and I pray he will bless me with a speedy hassle free approval. The Doctor made me feel better about my decision, he said he thinks the surgery would be very benificial on me and he wouldn't do it if all the rumors where true about it killing you 20 years down the road. He said my lungs sound good for a sleep apnea patient and he doesn't forsee a high risk of complications with me. That is also in God's hands. If this surgery is God's will then Cigna insurance will approve me and I will be on my way. It was a good day.
June 19 2002
Alot has happened since my consultation. It took 3 weeks and alot of prayer but I am APPROVED! It is a miracle! Thank you God. A little bit of a hassle in the begining just making sure they recieved the paperwork but once it was for sure in there hands it only took 2 weeks. Thank you Stacy at Cigna in Chatanooga TN for all your help! I sent in so much paperwork they probably approved me just to get rid of me. LOL It took 6 months just to get all the DR.s letters and personal letters, blood work and appointments all out of the way. It is worth it to be thourough. Surgery no later than SEPTEMBER! Excited, nervous, scared, anxious, you name it I feel it. I turned 22 on the 14th. Tomarrow is my first Pre-Op meeting. Should be interesting. I have to have a 24 hour Ph test. In other words a tube down my throut for 24 hours. Talk aobut SUCKY! Then I see the Internal Medical Doctor. After that I am OR bound. Finally on the home stretch. God has definatly opened the doors for me and showed me the direction to go. Thank you Jesus.
June 23 2002
I feel real icky today. I have been questioning my faith and not relying in God like I should. Stressed out and depressed. The Pre Op meeting was Ok but it is always about alotta stuff I already know. And seeing Post ops just makes me angry at this point. It has been sooo long since I started all this and
I still have like 2 and a half months to go. FRUSTRATING! I do give all the Gory to God for my approval and the oppurtunity to have this surgery. I just pray he can give me a little more patients. I feel like I am waiting for my life to begin. Help.
July 9
I had a 24 hour pH test and a Stomach motility test done a week or so ago. All I can really say is, NOT FUN!!!! The surgeon says it is a good idea because severe GE Reflux can cause problems after surgery. I havn't heard any results back, I'm just glad it is over. Having a tube down your throat for 24 hours makes the whole process seem really real. I have been trying to strengthen my relationship with God. Now that I have only 8 weeks till surgery I am begining to second guess my decision. I hear that is normal, but it doesn't feel good. All through this whole journey I have felt that God has given this to me so I can be healthy. Unfourtunatly this surgery is still somewhat contraversial so there is plenty of negatives that pop out at you if oyu look far enough. And believe me, I have surfed the net to no end looking at WLS info. I have heard stories about people suceeding and havng a life they never thought they would have, and I have read about people who have died or seem to be suffering from it. My surgeons have a good track record......80 surgeries (Lap RNY) 0 deaths. Pretty good. I pray I am not the first death, that woulds slightly stink. I wish I could get my brain out of this negative mode. Everyone keeps telling me to focus on the posotives........thats what I need to do. I trust you Lord to lead me in the right direction. Give me guidance. I feel you have shown me this is the way, please continue to show me the path to take. In Jesus' name , Amen.
July 17th 2002
AWOSME! MY GE Reflux is severe but is caused by obesity, not a problem with the ol' plumbing. Surgery is still a go! My stomach motility was normal for a WLS type patient.LOL.....When the nurse said that I said, "You mean it is normal for a fatty?" She cracked up! Got my blood taken at the internal medicine doctor's office. Waiting on resluts. Urine test too. Icky. I have a Pre Op support group meeting day after tomarrow. Looking forward to meeting some fellow Dr. Dally patients I have been talking to online. I am a part of so many Email Support Groups and combine that with his site I have met a trillion people, I swear! It is like a family. Thanks to Sara from Minnesota for calling me and talking to me about her surgery. And congrats on your new life! Thanks to my ANGEL!!!! BIGMAMMALUV AKA Robyn Park! My sister in Christ and WLS, I LOVE YA! Let's get this show on the road already! :O)
July 20th
The meeting went wonderfull. Lot's of great people. Even someone there that was only 40. I would love to meet some one from my doc in their 20's. Ann (our nurse) talked about how some people are gaining some weight but they all have 1 thing in common. They are eithier eating to much or not excersising or both. And some people arn't getting themselves the proper after care. I don't understand how some one can put themselves through something so tramatic and then let themselves stray so far off track. I pray I can do well and do the surgery justice. Lord give me the strength. I am dieting right now. I have 7 weeks and 6 days till surgery (no one is counting here. LOL) and I would like to get some fat from around by orangs gone before surgery. I would also like to prevent the Skim Milk Diet (Nothing, literally nothing, but skim Milk for 3 weeks). My liver is a bit fatty so they might make me do it. ACK!! I have my final Pre Op consult in 3 weeks. My blood test came back weird, well mainly the urine test. They were pretty much in conclusive cause some blood got in the sample from my period. The results scare me...seems like there is alotta weird stuff going on but they said I need to redo it. They are also saying I am borederline diabetic. I think maybe it is cause I didn't fast, they didn't tell me to. So maybe they forgot and that threw it off. Oh well, it will all be gone soon. I am feeling good about my decision, the Lord as given me calm, and I am ready to do this! I pray all my blood and urine test get figured out! Peace out.
July 29
The urine test is no big deal. Just meant it wasn't a clean catch. Nice mental image huh? Yesterday was a ruff day for the old second guessing myself routine. A lady came into the chat room and was backing out of surgery because her friend in NY just died having it. Some kind of infection. And ontop of that a lady I met at pre op meetings had some complications fron her surgery and has been in the hospital for 2 weeks. Her bowels got backed up and ripped open a hernia. Poor Gal. None of this info is good on the pre op mind.
All I have left is my final consultation with the surgeon on the 13th of August and a nutritionist meeting. Oh, there is one more blood test done 2 weeks before surgery but no big thing. Wait Wait Wait Wait Wait Worry Worry Wait Wait Wait Wait Worry Worry Worry Worry Wait Wait.....Ah, Pre Op life.
August 1st. 2002
Welp, I can officially say my surgery is next month! Cool huh? It is weird seems like alotta of the people I have been supporting while they wait for approval are getting dates before mine. That is wonderful for them, I am extatic for them, but in some ways it makes time so slow. I still have 6 weeks to go. I think I am going insane. I have to fight the "last supper syndrome". I went out and bought some meal replacement bars. I am gonna do a version of the milk diet my surgeon puts some patients on and start it tomarrow. 2 bars a day and TONS of water and skim milk. Plus a flinstones vitamin. 'TUMMY! :O) I know that when you have a fatty liver, like me, the last 3 weeks before surgery (which is only 3 weeks away) the surgeon puts you on a skim milk ONLY diet. (Heard it through the grapevine.) I figure if I start my own form of it now, and drop weight before me last consult...he will skip that. I might be able to live with milk and meal bars, but just milk??? AHHHHH!!!! They say it shrinks the liver so surgery is less risky... I believe it, I just don't want to do it. Whoa, wait a minute, my consult is actually only 2 weeks away. An early last consult.....I need to drop at least 10 lbs iin 2 weeks. Wish me luck. I can handle this knowing there is a light at the end of the tunnel. HELP IS ON THE WAY!!!
Aug 13 2002
Ok I lost like 5 lbs then just put it back on again. Dr. Dally is gonna lay into me when I see him today. Milk Diet here I come. I am gonna be in the local paper today. They are following my surgery. It is a good article I think. You can see it this week at www.thereflector.com. If you are reading this a fair bit of time from now and would still like to see it I can Email you a copy. Just email me and request one. There will be more articles too, the reporter is covering my whole surgery, even a ways out post op. I may even be in "shape" magazine. Good incentive to suceed. I am soo ready for surgery. I signed up at a martial arts school yesterday. It is a big step for me to walk into a martial arts school when the instructor knows I used to be pretty good and let myself "go". It is a long story but I trained in martial arts from age 9-17. But had a big falling out with my instructor and since the age of 17 I have just balooned. But I am reclaiming my life and part of that is martial arts. I give all the glory to God. Thank you Jesus for my salvation and all the blessings you have given me. Help me to be the person you want me to be. Help me to make other peoples lives better, make me a tool of your love. I say theses things in the name of Jesus Christ, AMen.
July 14.
Yesterday was my final pre op consultation. It was a bit early but Dr. Dally is going out of town for awhile so we did it early. I hav 1 month till surgery. He did put me on the skim milk diet. For breakfast, lunch and dinner all I get is as much Skim Milk as I can drink in 5-10 min (only). I take a Centrum A-Zinc in the AM and one in the PM. To break the manotany I can have sugar free 0-Very Low Caloric drinks. BUT NO SOLIDS! Basically I can't eat for the next month. The last lady put on this dropped like 50 lbs the month before surgery. That's great and all but, sheeeeeesh, talk about ruff. This diet is supposed to shrink my large liver and make the surgery much easier on me and the surgeons. I am just gonna do what I am told. Lord please give me the strength, when I am weak you are strong. I definatly need you right now.
I also got me EKG done. I have a normal heart, that's always good to hear. They told me I should go down and get all checked in to the hospital. And The nutritionist will be calling me in a couple weeks. Also will be getting final blood work done in 2 weeks. This is all so real. Oh yeah, I also joined martial arts again. I am so excited. After doing martial arts for 8 years in the past, it is like coming home again. I am gonna be better at it now than I was before. It is gonna be harder work this time but all the more reason to suceed. The newspaper article is online....maybe I can cut and paste it. It was much more impressive in the paper it self cause it had a picture and was like half of a page, but the online version will have to do. WEll, I will keep everyone posted on the next week of STARVING myslef *whine*. LOL God Bless.
ARTICLE FROM THE REFLECTOR THE LOCAL PAPER OF BATTLE GROUND, WASHINGTON. AUG 13th. NO PICTURE HERE BUT THE TEXT FORM ARTICLE.
GASTRIC BYPASS SURGERY OFFERS BG WOMAN HOPE
Michele Bloomquist, staff reporter
Although Missie Davisson loves the family she comes from, there is one thing she would change.
Genetic tendency toward obesity roosts in her family tree.
Davisson's great-grandmother and grandmother both weighed more than 400 pounds. Until recently, her mother weighed 380 pounds.
At age 22, Davisson weighs 330 pounds.
"I just don't want to go there," she said of the painful and debilitating journey the women in her family have traveled because of obesity.
On Sept. 13, she will undergo elective gastric bypass surgery to remove a portion of her intestinal track and reduce the size of her stomach capacity to one and one half tablespoons.
Within six months, Davisson should weigh one-third of what she does today.
Within one year, she hopes to reach her goal weight of 160 pounds.
While others may lose weight to look good in swimwear, Davisson said she just wants to avoid developing illnesses caused by obesity that would eventually kill her.
"I'm not doing it to get skinny," she said. "I'm doing it to be healthy."
Health problems add weight to decision
Much like packing around 17 10-pound bags of flour daily, the extra weight on Davisson's five-foot six-inch frame is taking its toll on her health.
Davisson suffers from chronic heartburn, shortness of breath, joint pain, insomnia, sleep apnea, borderline diabetes, irregular ovulation, and fatigue.
The last time she had a normal body weight, Davisson was five years old, she said.
Despite the extra weight, Davisson was athletic as a child, participating for several years in martial arts.
"Even when I was working out six or eight hours a day, I was still heavy," she said. "Even then I weighed over 200 pounds."
The decision to undergo the surgery came after two years of soul searching, research, dieting, and turning over every other medical stone, Davisson said.
To qualify for insurance coverage, Davisson had to prove she needed surgery.
A primary care doctor, a dietician, a psychologist, an obstetric gynecologist, and an internal medicine specialist all deemed the surgery necessary.
Davisson's mother has lost more than 100 pounds after having the same surgery one year ago.
Davisson has faced years of ridicule, apathy, and discrimination because of her weight. Now she faces it because of her decision to have surgery, she said.
"People think it's just a shortcut," she said. "But what kind of a life is it to be 170 pounds overweight and in a wheelchair by the time you are 40?"
Davisson said she's speaking openly about her obesity and surgery to help people understand that morbid obesity is an illness, not a character flaw.
"People have said I am fat because I eat too much or because I am lazy, and [advised] not to get the surgery," she said. "It just floors me that people would think I would want to live like this."
Such advice is similar to telling a cancer patient not to get treatment, she said.
"The worst thing in the world is to have a disease nobody recognizes as a disease or has sympathy for," she said.
After surgery, Davisson will only be able to eat small portions of food. As a result, she will take supplements for her lifetime in order to provide vitamins and minerals her body needs.
Sweets and fats will be out of her diet, because there won't be enough intestinal tract left to process them.
Instead she will eat mostly protein, fruits, vegetables, and a small amount of starches.
"The surgery isn't a magic bullet," she said. "It's just a tool. I'll still have to watch what I eat, exercise, and work very hard."
Davisson's husband is supportive. Davisson said she is looking forward to riding a bicycle with her young daughter.
As the weeks creep toward her surgery, Davisson has increasing moments of worry and doubt, but believes the risk of a lifetime of obesity is far greater than the risk of going under a knife.
"I'm ready to do this," Davisson said. "I'm ready to get on with my life."
Aug. 17 2002
I am so HUNGRY! I havn't eaten in 4 days. All milk, milk, milk, and then if I am hungry, more milk. I hope I can make this. It has been a ruff day. I was talking in the chat room and a couple people, including a surgeon, said they thought this diet was a little extreme and unecissary. I would have to agree to a point, but I trust my surgeon so I need to do what he askes of me. I talked to a ladyt hat is having surgery a day before me........she is also on the milk diet......she is having a difficult time but told me this that made me feel better, " A larger liver means more OR time. I am trying to keep my mind on the fact that doing this diet means less OR time and a better chance at a healthy recovery." Makes sense to me. I had a pre op meeting a couple days ago. The reporter that did the previos article came to listen to what everybody said. It was an interesting meeting. The one lady that I know of that has sucessfully hung in there with the milk diet also got cottage cheese. I am not sure why but she did. Even with cottage cheese she lost 40 lbs in a month. By the way, the milk diet is 4 weeks not 3. another looong SIGH. It has to be the right thing or it wouldn't be something a top rate surgeon would have you do. I guess another surgeon down south has been doing the milk diet 20 years now with his pre ops. Safer surgery.
3 Weeks and 6 days to go. I hope the hunger goes away soon. I need to call Ann, the nurse, to see if she wants me to come weigh in weekly with this diet. She told the other gal to so she might want me to too. Hugs. Write more later. Gonna go take a bath...the family is eating Pizza and it is about to kill me.
Aug. 24 2002
I think I am down to below 310. I really hope to be under 300 by surgery. 2 Weeks and 5 Days till the big day. I joined Martial Arts again. It feels great to work out again. Loosing weight rapidly with this milk diet and working out again put second thoughts about surgery in my head. It makes me think that I could have tried harder, maybe tried dieting more, or stayed more physically active. Realisticly, I know that I have done all that beofre with not so wonderful results. And I have to keep reminding myself I am loosing weight because of a Dr.'s perscribed "starvation" siet that would not be appropriate outside of preperation of surgery. I look at myself in recent pictures in disgust. I can't believe how large i have gotten. I am taking care of this problem through surgery alot earlier than most people do. I have not been this overweight as long as most surgery patients. But looking into my family history and how extensive I had to work out to stay at a somewhat average weight, I know that this is my only option for a normal sized life. I get nervous when I think about the unknown, like what I will be like at 60 with this surgery, but like what everyone else says, what am I gonna be like at 60 being 160 lbs overweight. As I get older it is only gonna get harder to get off. I know not everybody is happy they had this surgery, some have even died, please Lord show me the way. My surgery time is fast approaching and I have a million thoughts in my head. I think they are all very normal but it doesn't make it easy.
I pre-register in the hospital on the 29th. Cigna also sent a confirmation letter confirming there approval and coverage on all aspects of my surgery. That was a nice letter to see. This is really hapeneing. Lord if this is the wrong thing for me please show me and if it is the right thing please guide me. In Jesus Christ's name, Amen.
Aug. 28th
Went all the way to Portland yesterday to Pre register at the hospital but when I arrived they told me my appointment wasn't till Thursday. I am such a dope. Must be the lack of Calories. I gotta go back tomarrow. Later, after I went to the hospital, I went to the nutritionist. That meeting was also supposed to be Thursday. LOL :O) She took me anyay. My friend Katherine attneded with me. She is also having surgery. She is having it the 12th, mine is the 13th. She is letting me use a Cd called "Sucessfull Surgery" a guided imagray and afirmations CD with calming music behind it. It is great. Thanks Katherine. You actually take this CD into the OR and listen as they operate. They are studies that show it actually halps with blood loss and healing. So cool. I learned alot from the nutritionist about what I am going to be eating, and I also got to bellyache about this skim milk diet. It was nice. Surgery is only a couple weeks away. MArtial Arts classes are going great! Even though I havn't physica;ly been there for almost 5 years my heart and mind is still there and with the aid of this surgery and some weight loss I truly believe I will be back in the swing of it in no time, and training with a much better set of people! Life is starting fresh, it's beautiful.
Sept 2 2002
Surgery is next week. I can't believe it! I hope they don't cancel me at the last minute because of the hard time I am haivng with this liquid diet. The last 5 days or so I have been resorting to eating solid foods. I havn't told the nurse or surgeon, I am hoping to get more weight off beofre next weigh in. I started fresh today with a new resolve and eded up eating some noodles. Mind over matter. I can do this. Please help me Lord, help me to do this last 11 days and to loose enough weight to make surgery safer and keep the clinic pleased. This is so hard. It's kinda hard to even look forward to surgery becuse I am petrified that I am gonna show a gain and they are gonna cancel me. I wish I could just enjoy this time instead of suffer. My last full week as a pre op, hopefully. Everything is done, everything is ion order, and all I need to do now is get somemore weight off, including the few lbs I have put back on, before my final weigh in. Pray for me please.
Sept 4 2002
Well, any weight I gained from a few days of not being a good girl on my milk diet is gone!! WOOHOO!! Now any more I loose is just less numbers on the scale! Martial Arts is going great! I actually did pushups last night! I am gonna go get a measuring tape and get some inches posted up here. I have already lost like 20 lbs since July. My highest weight was 334 now I am around 311. So I have alreaady lost inches! Just don't know how many. I better start keeping tack, especially for the weeks I don't loose very much, I will have another way to tell how my body is changing. 9 DAYS TO GO!! WOW!!
Sept 6th
I called the nurse last night and left a coup[le long messages. I ended up ,essing up my milk diet, AGAIN!!!! I just got so dang hungry. I think my issues are I don't get enough milk. I am not giving up.....I just wanted the staff at the clinic to know that I am not sure I am gonna loose more and that it has been a really ruff week. I told her how scared I was of getting cancelled causeI heard a rumor that people that couldn't do the milk diet for a full month got their surgery's cancelled. I basically just blubbered on the voice mail for 10 min. LOL But at least I was honest.
She returned my call around 9 this morning. First off she said that she wanted me to settle down and not worry. Stop beating my self up. I wasn't going to get cancelled. She said I just need to do the best I can. She said you are getting scared and it is normal. She said if I wasn't scared then she would be worried. NO ONE has been cancelled cancelled over the milk diet. That makes me feel sooooo much better. The more weight I can loose the better it is cause the fat leaves from around the liver....but the pressure is definiatly off. She said I should have come to her alot sooner. She was glad I was honest. She said the patients that hide stuff and lie are usually the ones that don't suceed. I pride myself on being an honest person, and I am glad I told her. Thanks ANN!!
Also the reporter for The Reflector that did a story on me last month told be that she has got so many responses from the public that her editor wanted her to do an immediate faollow up. My surgery is in a week and the original plan was her to follow me through my surgery and about 6 months after and do a big follow up...buit her editor wanted more even before my surgery. LOL. We are famous! The reporter and I agreed that a sooner follow up is great but untill after surgery next week there isn't all that much to talk about. I am happy to spread the word and I hope it helps someone out there! Thank you God, thank you AMOS family.
Sept 9th 2002
Wow! 4 days to go! I would have to say I am alot calmer than I thought I was going to be. Thursday night and Friday morning will probably be a different story. :O) Now don't get me wrong, I am nervous, but I am not climbing the walls like I thought I would be. The Lords presence for sure! It has taken so long to get here. It is such a self examining process and I have learned so much about life and myself. I am ready.
SEPTEMBER 13 2002
Today is the day! I will be in the OR in a matter of hours. This has been a miracle journey. Thank you all. I will be back on in a few days! VICTORY~!!!!!
Sept 16 2002
I need to toot so bad. Gas is one of the worse parts. I woke up...YEAH!!! but in all honesty I feel like crap. Updating you all on here has been the most I have been able to do. It was definatly an experience all it's own, I am just praying that all the pain I am going through right now is worth it in the long run. Thank you Angel in Canada...you were a great angel. I have some sewlling in my upper tummy but the doctor said it is kinda like the equivilant of a black eye....just insoide my abdomin. He says it should go down. My pouch empties kinda slow cause of sweeling so I am being careful not drinking to much. I am on oral liquid pain meds. The hospital stay was OK. There are some things I think the staff (not the surgerical staff) but the hospital staff could have done better, but let's focus onm some positives! I made it, I am alive, and on my way to my new life, I feel the Lord has lead my down this path, got me through the largest hurdle safely, and I pray he can bless me the rest of the way! I AM A POST OP!!!
September 28th
I am over 2 weeks post op now and feeling really good! It does get better! The first week I thought I would never feel human again, thank God I was wrong. I thought I would stop in here and tell you guys what the day at the hospital was like. Maybe it can help someone out there to know what to expect.
I arrived at 10:30 or so for check in. I was greated by my friend Katherine's husband in the lobby. She had just had surgery the previous day. She did great by the way. He gave me a CD walkman to use with some guided imagry CD's I had borrowed from KAtherine. My Husband, father, mother, and the reporter covering my story waited untill I was called back. I went to the Short Stay unit, all of family in tow, to a bed in the far corner. They asked me to change into the hospital gown. At that point all my family except my husband went to the waiting room. The reporter had taken a picture of me on the hospital bed and asked a few questions before she proceded to the waiting room. Where I hear she had fun talking to my Dad. :O) After I was changed family came and went and over the course of about an hour and a half I was given Valume and an IV was started. They called from down the hall and we were told they were ready for me in the staging room. So off I went....wheeled down the hall to the offical pre surgery room. Mu husband came and shortly after my mother Aunt, sister, and parents had hunted me down. It was so wonderful to have them there, it made such a difference. It was funny when I had tro go potty, they wouldn't let me walk 10 ft to the bathroom, they actually wheeled the bed over to the bathroom. Acyually, in a weird way that made me fully understand the importance and seriousness of what I was doing. When my bed was back in place I had a chat with the anesthesiologist. He was an lright guy but didn't exactl'y put me at ease. But I didn;t need his comfprt because I had awsome family. After he left The surgeons came in, looked at my file one more time, then asked of I had any questions. We ended up talking about martial arts. LOL....go figure. At that point they left to the OR and a nurse came in saying "Ok, let's go." All the Valume in the world can't prepare you for that moment. I hugged each member of my attending family, kissed my husband, and down the hall I went. As we approached the OR door I jokingly said "Nah, we don;t need to go in there." The nurse just laughged and said it'll me fine. The OR was an intimidating room. There were machines bigger than me in there. They layed a weight belt over me so I wouldn't fall off and put the compressor booties on my feet. I started to tear up at that point. I didn't wanna be awake for all the preperations. And physically sliding myself over to the letha; injection lookin OR table was one of the weirdest things I have ever done. No turingin back now! Dr. DAlly walked in, I was tearing up and I said I was scared. He held a couple of my fingers and told me it was going to be alright. The aneasthsiologist told me to just relax and let myself go to sleep. Darkness.
October 20th.
I started by hospital story last entry. I suppose I better finish it.
When I woke up I was kinda disoreinted. The funny part is I had come to a couple times before that but didn;t know till I was told later that I had said some funny stuff. Pain was not bad inititally. But after about a couple hours I was hurtin pretty bad. It was a total of about 3 days in the hopital. Because of a bad reaction my mother had to the PCA (patient controlled pain med pump using morphine) I had a minimal dosage each time I pressed the button. So needless to say I was in PAIN. Finally I got them to give me the normal dose and life got a little easier. Getting up for the first time isn;t easy. TRust me. But you do it, you have to. And sitting down to go potty is not fun. But again you do it......cause.....you have to. My hospital stay was not Club Med but I survived. I was glad it was over.
The first week for me was almost completly UNBEARABLE~! I thought I was going to die. I felt weak, sick, nauseaus, and my mind swam with thoughts of regret. BUT by the end of the first week I was feeling alive again. The gas finally went away and getting up and down stoped feeling like being stabbed to death. By the end of week 2 I was feeling great. Liquid diet was nasty and tuff but the Milk diet prepped me for it and I survived that too. I am presently 5 weeks post op. I am down to 275 lbs!!! I go onto solid foods in 4 days. Purees is a breesze. Getting all the protein you need is hard but Isopure Zero Carb fruit drink is a life saver! So far no complications, thank you Lord, and life is getting back to normal. sometimes I am still scared of the weight loss stopping and all this being for nothing, I worry I will gain weight back someday, but I tell myself a day at a time.
I AM A MARTIAL ARTIST AGAIN. I am working out at my martial arts school Mon-Thurs 1.5 - 2.5 hours a night. Great workout. I am already able to do stances that I couldn;t do before surgery and I feel like I am claiming my life back. My new Martial Arts instructor is AWSOME! Great man. It is so nice to train under someone that is a person I can truly look up to. My previous instructor when I was younger was abusive emotionally....and sometimes physically and had an alcohol problem. I was still able to become a fair martial artist under him for the 8 years I trained but now I think the sky is the limit. Now that I have wonderful leadership. I got up for my Black Belt in MARCH!!! I hope to be under 200 lbs cause it is a 4-5 hour physical test. I need somemore extra baggage off! :O) I can do it!
The reporter cover ing my story did a follow up on me after surgery. I couldn;t get the link to it cause the week my story was in the paper they didn;t update their site. I will type the text out on here sometime soon so oyu guys can see it. I think it was a good report. There will be 1 more story on me in the paper at about 6 months post op. She is going to come to my Black Belt test........so hopefully at my last newspaper story I will be well under 200! Peace! God Bless!
July 2002 2 months beofore Surgery
334 LBS
August 2002 1 month before surgery
322 LBS
Sept 13 Day of Surgery
305 LBS
5 Weeks after surgery October 2002
275 LBS
6 Weeks Post Op
270 LBS
October 26, 2002
I can;t believe Halloween is already here. My daughter is 3 years old and I think we are going to have alotta fun this year. I got her an old style Raggedy Ann Costume with Mask. It is really cute. I bought this cool slide projecter for 14.99$ at Safeway that projects "Happy Halloween" witht a picture of Bats. It is really cool and my daughter loves it. I have so much more energy. I am working out like a mad woman in martial arts and I feel like new. I still have about 100lbs to go before I will be satisfied but I am in no rush. The slower I do it the less saggy my skin will be. Solid foods is going great. Nice to be able to eat again. I thank God for this blessing because I know it was him that made this miracle possible for me. Now I pray he can help me to make it successful for a life time. Oh, and talking about energy, my house is cleaner than ever and I also helped my Dad paint his house. I was up on ladders and everything. :O) Life is getting back to normal, I had my first REAL period this month. I used to bleed all the time but it was because I wasn't ovulating. I had a real 3 day then stop period. I feel like a woman again. Below is the follow up article done in my hometown on my surgery. I am just going to type the test out for you . It had a picture of me in the hospital bed. I think it was a good article. Unfourtunatly Sue Widemark got her mitts on the reporter but I think Michelle (the reporter) did a very fair and informative article. It goes as follows.
From THE REFLECTOR NEWSPAPER OF BATTLE GROUND WASHINGTON.
BY STAFF REPORTER MICHELLE BLOOMQUIST
BG WOMAN GOES THROUGH WITH SURGERY.
Missie Davisson of Battle Ground is recovering from a gastric bypass surgery she had on Sept. 13, hoping to shed nearly 170lbs within one year.
Davisson;s decision to undergo the surgery and win her lifelong battle with fat was reported in the Aug. 14 is of The Reflector.
The article drew a number of e-mail responses from those that expressed interest in Davisson's progress as well as some who decried the process as risky and ineffective.
Sue Widemark, a represenative of the Size Acceptance Organization, read the article on www.thereflector.com and wrote the following:
"[Several] post op[eration patients] feel that the weight loss surgery ruined their lives...did you know that a large hospital in Fresno has ceased doing gastric bypass because there were too many complications...that [a newspaper] investigation uncovered the most deaths from gastric bypass surgery were recorded as other reasons thus really skewing the stats."
However, website reader Becca Kauffman wrote: " It is not the easy way out. It is often the last resort for people of our size. I appreciate how you told her story, sincein telling her story you tell the stories of so many of us in society."
Undaunted, Davisson prepared for the operation she hoped would change her life.
For more than one month prior to surgery Davisson who weighed 330 pounds, was restricted to a milk-only diet in attempt to reduce her liver fat. As a result, her weight dropped to 305 pounds by her surgery date.
Surgeons Paul Dally and Leslie Cagle, Vancouver Clinic physicians, performed the four-hour surgery at Good Samaritan Hospital in Portland, reducing her stomach capacity to about one and one-half tablespoons.
Davisson may now only eat small portions of food--mostly protein, vegetables, fruit, and small amounts of starch.
Doctors told her that if she attempts to eat fatty foods or too much food, her stomach won't process it and she will suffer "dumping syndrome" with nausea and vomitting.
Although the surgery's sucess can be thwarted by eating high calorie foods such as milkshakes, Davisson said she doesn;t want to sabotage her sucess, especially after her two-year struggle to have it done.
Over the next few months, Davisson will be closely monitored to make sure she is healing well and that thereare no leaks in her altered stomach.
Davisson hopes to lose about 100 pounds within six months and to reach her goal weight of 160 pounds within one year.
The surgery cost about $30,000, covered by insurance after Davisson documented a strong tendency toward obesity in her family.
Davisson's great-grandmother, grandmother, and mother all weighed more than 400 pounds each.
Last year Davisson's mother underwent the same surgery. and has since lost more than 100 pounds.
Today, recovering at home, Davisson said she looks forward to becoming active in martial arts again. She holds a brown/black belt in Kung Fu, a sport she participated in daily for about eight years in her teens.
As for those who say the surgery is a mistake, Davisson replied, " Listen to yourself, your surgeon, people that have had the surgery, and God. These are the ones that give you the best info."
Article ran in the October 9, 2002 issue of THE REFLECTOR
Nov. 13 2002
2 month Anniversay! Guess What?? BMI is down from 53.9 to 41.6 that makes for a 12.3 drop in my BMI. 2 more points and I am no longer Morbidly Obese. Just a Fatty! LMAO How cool huh? Life is going great. I had a Support Group meeting last night. One of out surgeons actually came and talked to us the whole hour. Very informative. Unfourtuantly I can really tell some people are falling off "the wagon". I DO NOT want to end up like that. There is a lady eating brownies, ect. But like Dr. Cagle said, This is our one chance to change our lifestyles. I pray to the Lord for the strength to make this work for the rest of my life. I actually feel hungry now sometimes but nothing like before. MArtial Arts is going great. Training almost everyday. And on the weekends I am weight lifting with my husband and his brother. I can feel the differenve so much. Every day it gets easier. Thank God for this miracle. May I be able to honor it!
Other than the billing office trying to mess with me. Trying to tell me I have to pay for one of the surgeons out of my pocket, even though if they would of billed it correctly insurance would have paid for it, and holding my money ransom.....money which they said was my :max out of pocket" insurance charge........other than that my experience has been wonderful. Hopefully in time the $$$ thing will resolve. God Bless!
CURRENT WEIGHT - 258#
November 24 2002
I am doing great, other than a killer cold. Nasal, headaches, body aches.......but I am getting better. I had a support group meet ing last week. It went great. One of my surgeons came and gave a speech, showing us exactly what has been done to our bodies. I guess my surgery isn't as malabsorptive as most. Mainly restrictive. But since the duodeum isn;t used any more we have to supplement vitamins. It was a great meeting. I learned alot. Yesterday I had my 2 month checkup. The Dr. says I am doing great! He said my weighloss is super for how long I have been out. He also says he wants to come watch me go up for my black belt in a few months. I feel very honored considering his busy schedule. I have been out and about alot lately so I have been trying to learn how to eat when I am in town without a packed lunch. Today I went to Subway and had half of a kid's meal sandwich. Then the other half later for dinner. If my daughter begs to go to McDonalds I just have the chicken salad and pretty much pick all the chickem out to eat. So there are ways to eat at resturaunts or fast food. I would prefer to stay away from that though so I plan to do better at planning food throughout the day, especially when I am going to be running errands all day. Anyway, doing great! Hope everyone else is too!
Current weight - 252 #'s
December 4th 2002.
I love the Holiday season!! I love Christmas!! I am actually keeping my house nice and clean, already have decorations inside and outside for Christmas and feeling the Ho Ho spirit. This is the first holiday season I havn't gained 10 lbs! Quite refreshing. My husband is in Arizona on a business trip. He got to sit in the first row of a Phenoix Suns game and now he is all hyped about joining a local basketball club and getting in awsome Shape! That excites me too! *wink* Martial Arts is going great! My instructors and the assistant instructors are leaving for the Bahamas today for a training seminar. Lucky them! I don't feel bad though because eventually I will be a teacher too and I will be going with them! And fitting in the seats with absolutly no problem! I have noticed a few things about life since surgery. I am alot less depressed. I still have my moments but they don't stem as much from my physicall issues, more just spitiual or anxiety. I think my honeymoon period is already over. Since Thanksgiving I have eaten way to many Carbobohydrates and it has slowed my loss. So......this morning I told myself no more Carbs till at least 6 months out! I got to take full advantage of this first 6 months and the rapid weight loss period. 3 months left till my black belt test!! And I got about 50 lbs to go to get under 200 by then! FOCUS MISSIE!! Thank you Lord for your blessings. A wonderful life, a beautiful family, I praise you!
Current weight- 246 Lbs. NO LONGER MORBIDLY OBESE!!! WOOOHOOO!
December 6th,
All is well! Sometimes I feel like I am to hungry, like all the time. But I also noticed that happens when I am not getting enough protein or when I forget my multi's. I am down a few lbs but I have definatly been in a little plateu. To many carbs, plus I think it was just my body taking a breather. I am gonna start going all out on my martial arts training on Monday, 3 weeks till my Black Belt test and there is no giving up now. I want to be focused, use this rapid weight loss period to it's full potential. God has helped me get this far, now I ask him for the strength to stay away from cigeretts, eat the right foods, take my pills, and train in Kung Fu to be the best, in Jesus' name.
CURRENT WEIGHT --- 243 #'s
December 11th
OH CHRISTMAS TREE OH CHRISTMAS TREE!!! LALALALALAAAAAAAAA I love Christmas. Well, I have found the key to sucess. Lotsa water, protein first and cardio EVERY DAY! Just in 1 day of being a good girl (not that I was being all that bad) but just focusing more, I dropped 2 lbs. I was rockin the house at Kung Fu class last night. I was feeling it. Worked up a good sweat. And I walked/jogged for 30 min. I already feel so much better. Like Dr. Cagle said, "This is your one oppurtunity to change your lifestyle for the better." And Missie Davisson is going to do just that!
Current Weight 241## 160-170 HERE I COME!!!
December 30th
I had a great Holiday! How bout you guys? Great time with family, ALOT of compliments and I love spoiling my kid! As far as WLS is concerned all is well. I feel like I am to hungry all the time and I eat to much sometimes but I cannot expect to have a 4 oz stomach the rest of my life. It's gotta stretch a little. I just pray it doesn't stretch to much. I am down to 229. Not bad for a couple weeks work. And especially not bad considering all this last week the Matial arts school was closed all last week so there wasn;t as much working out last week. It is time to seriously buckle down and kick some booty though. Only a couple months left to Black Belt. WOOOHOOO!!!
Thank you Jesus.
CURRENT WEIGHT 229#
Jan. 28 2002
It's been four and a half months since surgery, and combining pre surgery milk diet loss and post surgery loss it is almost 120 lbs!! WOOOHOOO! Martial Arts is doing great! I am on the DEMO team. We are putting on martial arts shows at the Mall, graduations, different functions, ect. It is so great to live life again! Only like 6 weeks till my Black Belt test. I am soooo excited! I want to get under 200 by then so bad! The reporter will be at my test to do a final follow up story and it would be great to be able to say I am under 200! 190 would be the ultimate!! Hope everyone is doing well! Protein and water is the name of the game. Thats what I have to do to loose. HUGS!
CURRENT WEIGHT 215#
Feb 18th 2002
OKAY....I AM A PAID MARTIAL ARTS INSTRUCTOR!! WOOOOWWWW HUH?? I am so excited! After surgery and my 6 months of training (Well I also trained 8 years as a youngster) I was hired on at my martial arts school as an assistant instructor for the kids program! IT IS MY DREAM JOB! THANK YOU LORD!! Weight loss is slowing down but still truckin along. Down to 207. Kinda been hanging in the low 200's awhile now but I have a feeling I will be below 200 soon! Hope all is well with everyone!
CURRENT WEIGHT 207#'s
March 19.
6 month MARK~! I am down over 140 lbs! I feel soooo much better. Life is AWSOME! I am me again~~ |!! March 15th I sucessfully tested for my Black Sash in Kungfu. A goal of mine since I was 9 years old! This surgery is a total blessing! I am currently 190 Lbs and looking forward to seeing my goal of 160. It isn't easy but it's worth it! I am living my dream! I am an Assistant Martial Arts instructor, Black Belt, and on my Martial Arts School's Demo Team. I recently took 1st Place in Womens Black Belt fighting at a local tournanament and am planning to compete more! The local paper is doing there follow up story on me on Monday. I will get you all a copy! Thank you God for this Blessing!!!
CURRENT WEIGHT 190
OFFICAL AFTER PIC at 190 6 months post Op will be up within the week! Taken at my Black Belt Test! WOOHOOO! :O)
May 10th 2003
Well the weight loss has slowed down but it is still going! I am down to 180 Lbs. My goal is 160 by a year out. That means only 20 to go in the next 4 months. As long as I am a good girl I know I can do it. Honestly I have gone through a little bought with depression. More like anxiety. I get real worried that I won't be able to keep the weight off....or I will fail this like every diet I have tried. Basically I have been waiting for the other shoe to drop. It almost like it has been to much of a good thing. Now I am trying to focus on all the good things and let myself be happy. It is hard sometimes when everything in your life goes right because then you think that pretty soon everything is going to go wrong. I also still see FAT when I loo
About Me
Battle Ground, WA
Location
28.0
BMI
Surgery
09/13/2002
Surgery Date
Jan 25, 2002
Member Since
Before & After
rollover to see after photo
About 6 months before surgery. Can anyone say Good Year Blimp?
330lbs
At personal Goal weight. I am going to try to loose another 15.
160lbs