nikki_w_w
11/26/04
I've resumed my workouts, thanks to a friend's encouragement - two to three times a week, 45 on the elliptical and 30 minutes in the express zone circuit training with weights. I'm hoping to walk a half marathon in January!
My husband is doing better, but I'm currently unemployed (after requesting Family Leave). But it is so much easier interviewing at my new weight and confidence level.
7/19/04
Seventeen months out from surgery - wow! I'm very pleased that things are going so well. I range up and down about 5-7 pounds from my goal, all according to my carb/comfort food consumption. My husband is out of remission on his cancer and has a limited time to live, my beloved Grandmother is having multiple strokes and falling, no longer recognizing us, and my very supportive Mom (who does 3 miles a day on the treadmill herself) just fell down the basement steps and broke her leg and knee, and will be off her feet and unable to help for 8-10 weeks. So I've got a very full plate. However, I'm finding a lot of comfort in my Precepts Bible study, our small group, and the church family... as well as from my friends. I need to pick up the pace on the exercising (walking the two huge dogs doesn't do quite enough) to get those endorphins flowing and the anxiety level down.
But if it hadn't been for the surgery, I wouldn't have the energy to do all I have to do - I'm so glad I had it when I did and am able to keep up with my demanding life now!
3/31/04
I've continued focusing on the basics. It has been great. I'm about 3 pounds from the goal my surgeon set for me. I've continued to lose a little bit at a time when I don't eat too many carbs, maintain when I up the carbs. I'm going to walk Bay to Breakers (about 6 miles) in 6 weeks, and I just registered today to walk - fast - the half-marathon at Walt Disney World in January 2005, with my SIL.
2/19/04 What a difference a year makes! I'm so excited about my new life. I'm a size 12, hoping to have plastic surgery. We just moved, and I had no lack of energy, no sore feet - oh, so many benefits from being normal sized at last. I am still running into people who haven't seen me, and the surprise is gratifying. I am finding that I need to push myself to exercise, and to put protein first - this surgery is a tool, not a cure-all - but I knew that!
12/3/03 I hope the new picture shows up. I've continued with the workouts, and what a difference! The weight lifting, the Concept 2, and my new "enemy" the elliptical trainer. 6 hours a week total, and I'm now within 15 pounds of my goal weight. Yippee... I got a lot of compliments on the way I look over the holiday (the first time the people at my mom's church had seen me). I'm very happy I had the DS!
10/27/03 I've been working out a lot - heavy duty, the Concept 2 rower (120,000 meters in a month), and now the elliptical trainer. Plus my every-other-day weight lifting for building routine. It is really starting to show - I'm whittling down the waist, have no back and side fat... and I'm a lot less stressed out. Phil is still struggling with chemo but oh, so supportive and proud of me. Thanks for the encouragement and prayers!
9/23/03 I have had a lot going on personally. My husband had emergency surgery for colon cancer mid-August (and his stomach and intestines blew open into his abdomen from the blockage). He started chemo this week. But I remain grateful for the surgery.... without the help of this wonderful tool, I'd be eating the wrong things and too much!
The Duodenal Switch remains the way to go in my humble opinion. Even with the difficulties I've had, I'm continuing to gently and carefully lose at a comfortable and steady pace, with minimal difficulties.
I've added working out at the gym (this month is the rower challenge) and feel stronger and less stressed out since beginning that regime.
I'm in a size 14-16, which given my genetic predisposition to "hips" is expected. I plan to lose another 40 pounds, which should take me to a 12-14. The big benefit is how much better I FEEL and how much healthier I am... no more problems with blood sugar, and remarkable energy.
8/7/03 Woo hoo! I broke the 200 mark, have lost 104 pounds from my all time high, and at least 70 pounds from the pre-surgery physical weight. Lots more energy, and I'm feeling very good. I'm glad I had the DS. I'm even into wearing an XL - no more plus size garments for me, and a whole new world of shopping.
6/11/03 Almost 4 months out, and very happy! I'm down 90 pounds from my all time high... and have people who are really surprised when they see me. I have had minimal problems with food, and the lactose intolerance I had at the beginning is starting to resolve.
4/21/03 Two months out - and wow! I'm down 75 pounds from my all-time high, and 47 pounds from my pre-op physical. I'm back to work full time and getting lots of compliments as my face and body are really showing the loss.
3/11/03
Update! I'm almost 3 weeks out, and doing well. I can see the benefits of the lap in the fact that I have no incision issues at all. I don't even have stitches - I was "glued." Very cool - meant I could take a shower day 2 in the hospital. I was fortunate to have a team that tests for leaks on the table - I had fragile intestines and a little "seepage" so they had to make a sort of cuff and reinforce the attachment of intestines to stomach. No matter which surgery I'd had, it would have been a problem. Some extra days in on IV antibiotic, but then home and a fairly quick recovery so far. Just moving past semi-soft foods now. I had trouble figuring out how much my tummy would hold until I got some little Dixie cups,measured out the ML content of my stomach,and started making sure I was taking in LESS than that! Now I'm doing better... Already down 24 pounds in 3 weeks. But I've been sticking exactly to the docs food plan.
1/5/03
Here goes... It's a long and familiar weight history. I'll try to condense the 41 years of fat and multiple tries at loss... I've been overweight since I was about 5. I got to goal at age 13 with Atkins, then regained it all and more.
Then I lost weight when I went off to college (lots of exercise, peer pressure, and calorie counting, as well as water pills and synthroid). Then I regained it all - and more. A couple more times, I lost 20 or 30 pounds here and there, but always regained. 14 weight loss programs or regimes later... I did a physician supervised loss w/ Xenical, lost 20 some pounds, and (you guessed it), started regaining.
Just prior to this, I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea, and first used a bi-pap, then got the partial upper palate removal surgery. I was at my highest - 299. I slowly lost some weight when I quit sleeping 12+ hours a day and wasn't oxygen deprived. That plus the Xenical and a switch in my anti-depressants - plus workouts with a personal trainer - still only took off a couple pounds a month... and that's a yo-yo still. Even though I'm below my highest of 299 , I'm headed back towards it again.
So after a lot of research, I'm pursuing the BPD/DS - duodenal switch. This surgery makes sense for me. Check out the website:
http://www.duodenalswitch.com
I know that this is a big change, but it is the right choice. I've met two great groups of post-ops in person, read almost every email on the http://groups.yahoo.com/group/duodenalswitch/
Duodenal switch group, and throughly read all of the medical abstracts and research studies I could lay my hands on. (Great stuff in the group files!).
So I came to the conclusion that it was as safe - in the hands of an experienced surgeon - as any of the other surgeries I've had (and I've had more than I've posted). The long-term benefits outweighed the risk, and since I am prepared to be compliant on the supplements and protein and followup, I know I will be healthier WITH the surgery than WITHOUT it, or with one that doesn't give me the long-term benefit of malabsorption to help keep off this weight.
I don't expect to be a baywatch babe... I wasn't at any point in the past. But I do want to live past the age of 65 without my first heart attack... I do want to try to live past 73 (the age by which my father and almost all of his siblings - male and female, none morbidly obese - have died). I want to avoid the osteo-arthritis and diabetes that are my maternal legacy. I want to enjoy my nieces and nephew and watch them grow up. I want to have a normal relationship with my body and my environment. I can and will, with this surgery.
I thank God for sending me a sister in Christ who shared with me her success with weight loss surgery, and for the resources to learn about this terrific surgery option that will be a tool for better health.
I wish the same for all my brothers and sisters in this journey to better health.
Nikk
