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I can't believe how time is just flying by.  Is it really the end of May 2011?? 

I'm living life and find I have more energy, and I participate in more activities.  I find myself now wanting to go places, because NOW, I don't stand out, so people no longer stare at me.  I am in XL tops, and jeans 14/16 depends on the cut and designer.  It feels REALLY good to be able to go into a store and buy clothes off their rack rather than go to the "Plus" size section, or plus size stores.  WOOHOO!!

I remember this time last year, May 2010....all I was focused on was surgery.  Overloading on knowledge preparing for my surgery....worrying about it, second guessing myself, planning my trip, reading all messages on OH DS message board and asking questions.  It is all worth the time and effort. 

At this point, I am just 8 pounds away from the century mark.  Last year this time, i felt like I would never see those numbers.  This WLS has given me a chance at a normal life.  I know I won't be seeing those 1x, 2x, 3x or 4x sizes ever again.

I can go into movies and fit in their chair, I can sit in a chair and cross my legs.  I can walk up flights of stairs and not feel totally exhausted or winded.  I'm able to walk with a quicker step.  I go into restaurants and have no problems in a booth.  My ankles are no longer swollen and I can see my bones in my feet.....same thing in my hands.  I can sit indian style.  I can double dutch again.  I have collar bones that are very visable.  I fit in a plane seat WITHOUT a seatbelt extension.  I have so many WOW moments, and it just keeps getting better.

I do have a few issues though, nothing that plastic surgery can't fix later down the road.  I find myself shopping more, and actually enjoying it and not thinking of it like a chore to find something that will look nice on me.  HAH!  Almost everything looks nice on me.  Some things I won't wear because it's just not my style or taste. 

If you are sitting on the fence about weight loss surgery....it's perfectly normal to go through worrying, obsession, guilt, and so many more emmotions.  I did my homework, and made my decision and felt comfortable about it and made peace with myself.  I am very pleased with my decision, and I would do it again, even with all the pain through the healing process.

I can't wait to see how my body will be looking and feeling next year at this time. 

I've lost a total of 78 pounds now.  No longer burping acid, thank goodness.  I do watch my carbs everyday.  I would have to say my protein comes from food.  I always choose protein first and base my meals around having protein first and sometimes just protein alone.  I can eat almost everything so far.  I do miss my bowl of pasta, but I have accepted that carbs are not good for me.  What i do have instead of the pasta is just a meatballs and grated cheese locotelli romano cheese or parmesiana cheese.  YUM.

I have noticed that the weight isn't flying off as fast as it did right after surgery, but that's ok.  It's coming off, and I am so grateful for that.  Thank you Dr. Gagner!

I do find that I have more energy now, I can get more things done in my day and no longer get winded as i did before the surgery.  I have been walking,weather permitting, and also 30 minutes on my stationary bike 3 times a week.  I may increase that soon.

Love the decision to have the surgery done.  Summer is going to be fun.  I will have to get new clothes though.  Everything now is VERY big on me. 

My surgery is complete.  Dr. Gagner was once again given a challenge with adhesions.  My body just produces these rock hard adhesions.  He had the surgery room booked for 2 hours, it took 4 hours because of all my adhesions he had to cut out. I lived through it, thank goodness for Dr. Gagner and his skilled hands and knowledge. 

I had a slight change in my surgery.  The duodenum could not be severed due to the fragil condition it was in.  So, I have received a new procedure called bipartition.  I still have the malabsorbtion part of the surgery and hormonal changes with endocrine manipulation.  This procedures has been done in brazil for 8 to 10 years with excellent results, with less vitamin and mineral deficiency issues.  Yet, the weight loss is compared to the duodenum switch.  Dr. Gagner was very pleased with the result of the surgery and will be following me with my results.  he said that 1 week from my surgery, I should see at least a 10 pound loss.  He was absolutely right on with that.  I've lost 14 pounds since surgery, that makes a total weight loss so far 67 pounds.  OMG!!! 

The place I had my surgery was Rockland MD Clinic in Mont Royal.  It is a brand new facility.  They have only been doing same day procedures, but now are equiped with overnight patient stays.  I was the first overnight patient to use this wing of the facility.  Everyone there, all the staff were fantastic and couldn't do enough for me.  The rooms are brand new, the beds are brand new and top notch....even the bathrooms and showers were brand new, never used.... until I did.  I can't say enough about everyone there.  They went above and beyond to make my stay comfortable and as pain free as possible.  If you end up having your surgery there, you will NOT be disappointed.  Ultra modern, super clean and great staff.  Everyone there speaks both english and french too.  So there won't be a language issue.  They also have a pharmacy there, so once you are ready to leave, they can fill your prescription so you won't have to stop at a pharmacy.  That is so convenient!

I look forward to losing more weight and getting closer to goal.  Right now I'm still a bit sore in the abdominal area, but that is to be expected.  I am so greatful for having Dr. Gagner as my surgeon, he is my life saver. 

I can't believe how fast the time has gone by.  I have lost a total of 53 pounds so far.  Now, on Tuesday will start my second part of my DS surgery and my second part of weight loss.  I'm so excited.

I'm here in Montreal by myself.  Drove up from New Jersey on Saturday, because I didn't want to drive up in snow or ice, which they predicted for Sunday and Monday.  So here I am in the hotel room, thinking and reading posts on OH.  I haven't updated my blog, so I figured this was a good time to do so.

My first 2 months were tough on me with the burping, and acid reflux and sometimes throwing up from the acid that would come up with the burps.  I am still taking prevacid 30 mgs twice a day.  I have noticed that the emptier my stomach is, the more I burp up acid.  So I eat little bites several times a day, and that is the magic to keep my acid burps in check.  That happened around 8 to 9 weeks. 

Went for my pre cert for surgery on Friday the 10th, chest xray, blood pressure, blood work and vitals taken.  My doctor said I'm doing great.  Everyone at the office said that I was brave for doing this procedure, and it's probably saving my life.  I said yes, that's why I've done this.  I want to grow old, I want to see my son have kids (not right now, in the future), and I want to be around to enjoy them and do things with them.  I want to get off my blood pressure meds. blood pressure now is 110 over 70 and prior to my aug 23rd surgery even with meds, my blood pressure was 140 over 95.  So just the VSG has helped me immensely.  My vitamin D was low last month, so my doctor told me to increase my D3 to twice a day instead of once a day. 

i'm a little nervous about going into surgery again.  I'm praying everything goes well, and I come out ok with no complications.  But doesn't everyone want that?  Yes of course.

I should be going back to New Jersey on Saturday if everything goes well.  My son is coming up here by train on Friday to drive me home.  he has exams this week through thursday.  Michelle, who has offered to come to the surgery center (her surgery is on Wednesday the 15th), so I won't be alone when I go in, and she offered to wait till I'm out of surgery.  She is an angel!

Well I'll keep you posted.  This time the surgery center I will be in has wifi, so I can post as soon as I'm coherent.

 

Well, tomorrow will be three weeks since surgery.  Right now I have lost 33 pounds, which amazes me.  I can't say that the last 2 weeks have been easy.  They haven't.  I did much better the 1st week out of surgery.  The last two weeks have been burping, acid, and sometimes vomiting.  The burping was just horrid with acid coming up as well.  I am taking prevacid 30 mgs twice a day, and still that nasty acid comes up.  I learned by trial and error, not to eat greek yogurt, which happens to be my favorite.  Because for some reason, the dairy mixed with the acid made me very nauseous, and at times, I would vomit.  So I learned not to eat greek yogurt just yet.  I also learned that saltines and ritz crackers are my friends, and I have one or two of them every hour to keep that acid down and under control.  It has helped a lot. 

I am drinking more now too.  I am getting my 64 ounces in with iced decaf coffee, water, watered down apple juice, watered down snapple, ice pops, italian ice, warm chicken broth, vitamin water, gatorade, warm jello, and decaf green ice tea.  The fluid intake has gotten better the last week.  In the beginning it was real tough just getting through 40 ounces of water. 

Now, here are somethings that I have been eating and keeping down. I eat a chunk of cheese and a scrambled egg white for my protein.  Also, one or two boneless, skinless sardines.  Also, garlic mussles (yum) I read is also high in protein, so I've bought those, and enjoy a few of them.  I also bought about 4 pounds of frozen flounder in individual pieces.  I take a piece out, put a little bit of butter on it and some garlic powder, put it in the microwave for about a minute, and it's done.  I squirt a little bit of fresh lemon, and I enjoy that too.  I've also had shrimp cocktail (two pieces of large shrimp), chewed it well, and that stayed down well too.  For some reason, I still can't handle those protein drinks.  They just don't taste right.  I mix it up, and get maybe 3 ounces in, and that's about it. 

I'm just starting to take my vitamins.  Before, they made me very nautious.  So I stayed away from them.  I can't take them whole, they are chewable, so I split it in two, and chew one half in the morning after I eat, and then later I chew the other half.  All my meds that are tablets, I still crush and take with applesauce.  That seems to help.  When I tried to take them whole, I would feel nauseated.  So I'm sticking with the crushing for now with applesauce.

This has all been a learning experience. There was a week there where i thought to myself "What the hell did I do to myself?  What was I thinking?"  But now, I think I'm almost over those thoughts.  They say it takes almost 8 weeks on average before people start to feel normal, so I have another 5 weeks. 

 I'm very happy with the 33 pounds weight loss.  I feel it in my pants, they just about fall off of me.  Another wow for me was last week, I could see my ankles.  I havent been able to see my ankles in the summer for a few years.  My feet are no longer swollen either.  I can't wait to see what my next wow is going to be. 

I got a phone call from my boyfriend, my cat Chester has passed away.  I had him for 13 years, however, when I adopted him from the animal shelter, they said he was about 3 years old.  My darling Chester.  He was such a lap cat.  He loved to be next to his human and touching their hand.  He was such a love bunny. 

I'm assuming since he hasn't been sick, he must have just died from either a heart attack or stroke.

He will be dearly missed.  It's a sad day.

Here I am.  I made it through the surgery.  YAY!

When Dr. Gagner had gone in, he was expecting some adhesions, but he didn't expect complete blockage of concrete adhesions.  He basically had to redo my entire abdominal cavity prior to making my sleeve.  Because of the severity, he chose to do the 2 part ds on me for my safety and well being.  Which I knew going in, that there might be chance of that happening.

My surgery was on monday afternoon.  I woke up from anesthesia at 9:00pm at night.  I was out of it.  I was released from the hospital on Wednesday morning.  I've been in the hotel since then in Montreal.  I've been doing my breathing excersizes and taking walks in the hallways to keep the blood flow moving.

Pain isn't as bad as I expected.  I'm sore, but I'm also taking pain meds every 4 hours too. 

I had my first follow up visit today with Dr. Gagner.  He removed the last stitch, that was holding in the drain, and had an incision.  It pinched a bit, but nothing like when the drain tube was pulled out.  That was painful, but quick.

Dr. Gagner to me is an excellent surgeon, and I'm so glad I had him doing my surgery.  He gave me my diet plans and supplements for the sleeve part of this surgery.  I'll be going back at the end of december/january fro my DS part.  He said that the worst part is over, and the 2nd part is easy and so will be the recovery. 

So now, I'm sipping, eating small cup of yogurt, drinking my protein drinks and walking some.

I can't wait to go home, so I can see how much I've lost already.

 

My mind is going in a bunch of directions with this upcoming surgery with Dr. Gagner on the 23rd in Montreal.  I can't believe it's almost here. 

My insurance company will be reimbursing me for this surgery.  I had to get my attorneys office on the phone with them a few times.  They said I would have to do a written appeal, and between 30 to 60 days, I should have my reimbursement.  Apparently, the company that I work for, has a health department that looks over surgeries and has the choice to approve it or deny it, and they denied me the DS.  Aetna, my insurance company didn't deny me.  So, appeal I will.  I'm glad it will work out.  Originally, a nurse at Aetna gave me a surgeons name who is in a near by state, so he can do the DS.  He has only done 1 revision.  I come with a bit of complications, which I need an expert to do the DS on me.  This is why I picked Dr. Gagner.  I wanted to be in the best of hands.

I've already booked my hotel room.  My son is driving with me, and his girlfriend.  We're staying in Montreal, and the suite has a full kitchen (they can cook instead of eating out), a balcony, seperate bedrooms, seperate living room and a stand up marble shower.  Free breakfasts (not that i will be able to eat), free wifi, free parking (YAY!!!!!).  Some hotels charge daily for their parking, anywhere between $9.00 per night, to $29.00 per night.  They are out of their minds.  

My son and his girlfriend will be limited with funds, so I'm not sure how much site seeing they will be able to do.  Me, well, I really don't know how I'll feel.  I'm just thinking about the 6 plus hours driving home.  I know I'll have to make a few bathroom stops and to walk a bit to get the blood moving around.

All in all, i'm looking forward to all of this.  I've been taking my vitamins already for the last 2 months, hoping to minimize hair fall out.  I forgot where I read about that, but I remember someone posting that.  I have my protein powder ready.  And I just ordered Isopure pure protein drinks, no carbs.  Hopefully, they will taste as good as it looks.  I also have my measuring spoon that measures out liquids ( looks almost like a plastic round tube with a spoon at the end of it), i figure I will be able to measure my fluid intake easier that way, trying to prevent gulps of liquid...... I have to sip, sip, sip.

I'm making my lists for my boyfriend so he can manage my house and our pets.  His brother will be helping him too (he loves our dogs).   He would love to come with us, but he runs his own business, he really can't close up his shop for this.  He supports me in my decision, but has always told me "I love you just the way you are."  How sweet is that???  awwwwww.... but he knows that I'm doing this for me, for my health, for my future, so that I can be around for many years to come.  I want to enjoy life to the fullest, and eventually see grandchildren, and want to keep up with the grandkids.  

I have lost about 12 pounds, and I think it's because i've been eating a lot of greek yogurt and hard boiled egg whites, with hardly any carbs.  

The only diet Dr. Gagner said I have to do, all day sunday, only liquids, nothing after midnight, surgery will be monday.  So, Saturday, when we get to Montreal, we will go out to dinner.  Don't know where, but I want to go out to dinner and relax.

I'll post from the hospital.  I will be bringing my laptop with me, it will keep me busy, and I have skype on it, so I can keep in touch with family and friends.



Donna

 

I've been shopping for a while for vitamins, protein drinks, baby food, different broths, and teas to be ready for my recovery from my surgery.  I'm getting nervous about all of this.  Not that I'm afraid of the surgery, that's not it, i think more so, nervous about the pain I will be in.  I know it will be temporary and in the long run, it will all be worth it.  What I've been reading on OH, everyone experiences nerves when the surgery date gets closer.

Anesthesia doesn't worry me either.  Everytime I have been put under, I always ask what they are giving me so I know in the future, i can tell the dr what I've had.  My concern is coming out of anesthesia.  Everytime, it has been different.  When I had my lapband and infected port removed, I woke up crying.  That has never happened before.  The recovery nurses are always so nice, they tell you, "you're in recovery, your surgery went well, breathe, breathe through you nose out through your mouth,  I'll give you something for the pain, your doctor will be here in a bit to see you and speak to you."  then after the 1st round of pain meds, they ask me, "on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the highest level of pain, 1 being the lowest level of pain..... what do you feel your pain level is?"   It's kind of a strange feeling, you just wake up..... then the pain comes on full throttle.  i keep thinking, why can't they just load me up with morphine right away?  They have to wait till you wake up, then they start injecting the pain meds into the IV.   the surgeries that I have had, the pain level in recovery has been high, i would say 10 plus.  But I don't tolerate pain well, others may be a lower number.

I just hope and pray I have no complications, and that I wake up without vomiting.  I know the pain will be handled with meds.

YAY!!  I just received an email from the financial co-ordinator for my surgeon.  She said that Aetna has approved my surgery.

Holy crap!  Finally.  Now I just hope my ulcers have healed.  I'll know after I have my endoscopy done again to make sure they are healed.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed, this will not be delayed again.

Donna