Marie R.

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April 7, 2011 - Wow, I haven't been on here for awhile.  I hope everyone has been doing well. There has been a lot going on in my life since my last post.  First though, I want to share the best news of all.  I have officially lost 100 lbs.!!!  I can't tell you how good I feel about myself once again.  It's been a very long time since I felt this way.  When I first had the Gastric Bypass in January 2009, I lost 45 lbs. during the first six months and then I just stalled.  I couldn't figure out why I wasn't losing more weight.  I tried different things but nothing helped.

Then last year, we lost our family dog, Buddy in February.  This dog was the light of my life and felt very much like my 3rd child.  I miss him so much and even though it's been over a year, the pain is still very fresh.  Our family had been talking about relocating to Dallas from Ohio since 2008.  Last April, our daughter moved first to Dallas.  She has a wonderful job and is so much happier.  Then we put our house on the market but wasn't sure if we would be able to sell it or not due to the market.  It sold in 3 months.  My husband immediately found another job.  Our son graduated from Ohio State in August and he moved down in September 2010.  Then Joel & I followed in October. I really like it here because the weather is little kinder on my body with my RSD.  We live in a 3-bedroom condo for now but look to buy another home in the next year or so.  Right after Buddy passed, my weight loss kicked off again. I began losing and haven't stopped.  I'm even wearing some of my daughter's clothes which is incredible.  I've lost another 55 lbs. and I actually care about how I look now. It's been a life changing experience for me because I've been so depressed for several years due to my disease.

In the middle of everything going on last year, I had to have multiple-hernia repair surgery.  The week before it happened, I found out that the morphine pump that I have in my stomach had to be replaced.  I already had my hernia surgery scheduled so I went through with it and spent a couple of days in the hospital.  Two weeks later I had my pump replaced.  It was a lot to go through in a short amount of time but I had to get them out of the way with everything else that was going on.  Dr. Choban has been so very good to me over the years and I can't thank her enough for changing my life. 

Joel & I just celebrated our 25th Anniversary and we're still very much in love.  We never had a real honeymoon but we're going to take one later this year.

Love & Peace along with much Success to all!!

God Bless, Marie

Things haven't gotten any better.  These episodes are lasting anywhere from 1 hr up to 8 hrs.  It is so uncomfortable.  I go back to my GB surgeon tomorrow (12/17/09).  I just hope and pray that she will be able to correct this whole situation because I can't take it anymore!!!!

11/2/09 - It's been awhile since I've been on here.  It’s been a rough 7 months to say the least. I have not lost any more weight since March.  Since then I began having these horrible episodes where I become dizzy/lightheaded, nausea, stomach pain, then chest pain that becomes very intense with sharp pain in the center, tenderness – I’m unable to place my hand on my stomach or chest due to extreme discomfort, hard to swallow, shortness of breath, unable to talk at times, and it even hurts to have a bra on due to the compression.   These started out as 2-3 a month and have since went to 2-3 a week and now I'm having a couple just about every day. 

I have been working with my gastric bypass surgeon on all of this.  We have tried monitoring it along with medication but nothing is helping.  Dr. C. sent me for an Endoscope on September 9 but the only thing that they found was a small narrow area which is where the esophagus goes into the stomach.  I had an EGD with balloon dilation on October 14. However, the doctor told me that he doesn’t think that it will help me because there is a kink in my stomach area. Dr. C. wants me to give it a couple of months to see if it eliminates my symptoms before we declare the gastric bypass as a failure.  I just hope that I can hold out that long because the episodes are worse now than ever.....;(

I'm happy to report that after being stalled for such a long time, I did lose 3 lbs. this past month.  It's not a lot but I will take anything at this point.  I did take my measurements on May 7 and last week I took them again.  I am happy to report that I have lost some inches, so I guess that I'm not doing too bad after all.  I don't go back to see Dr. Choban until mid-July.

I did find out a couple of weeks ago that my Spinal Cord Stimulator needs to be replaced.  My battery is at 95% capacity and is showing "Low", so I'm trying to get into the same doctor that replaced it back in January 2005.  His name is Dr. Dixon and he was so very good to me.  Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well.  Hang in there if you are currently stalled with your weight loss because there is a very good chance that you too are still losing inches, even if the scale isn't moving.....;)

Well I don't know where to start.  I was moving along losing weight since my Gastric Bypass on January 12, 2009 and I have NOT lost ANY weight now for over the past 4 weeks!!! 

I am so disappointed and depressed.  I just don't get it.  I've been told by a couple of other WLS patients that this is NORMAL and I WILL see my weight go down again soon.  I'm glad that they were straight with me because I don't recall my Doctor OR my Nutritionist ever talking about this.  I know that people are going to read this and say, "Well it's not their fault that you haven't lost any weight for awhile now".  It just seems that as I continue to move along on this journey, there are still a lot of things out there that I never knew about.   I thought that I had researched everything there is to know beyond the actual Gastric Bypass.  Boy was I wrong about that.

I'm about ready to sit down and write my own book for Post-Op and Beyond so that anyone that is still searching for answers will be able to find them by reading my book.  I like to have things organized and I have always been very good at  putting things in order so that anyone can easily understand them.  I think that I just found another project for me to work on.  Stay tune for more to come and have a blessed day...........;)  Marie

Well I thought that I should post an update to let you know how I have been doing.  I went and saw Dr. Choban on Thursday, April 9 regarding the Hernia that my CAT scan showed.  She wasn't very concerned about it right now.  She said that she prefers to wait until I'm 1 year out before doing anything.  She also noted that sometimes Hernia's will show up on a CAT scan but in fact they may not be a true Hernia but a pocket of fat.  That is why she likes to wait to see if it continues to do anything or not.  

I've also been experiencing horrible chest pains that creep up on you slowly and then go away slowly.  They begin in my diaphragm and go up into my shoulder and then into my back.  I can hardly breathe when it happens and it happens to me a lot.  I just had two more episodes over the weekend.  One when I was watching T.V. and another one when I was listening to my daughter talk to me.  I mentioned this to Dr. Choban but all she said was that my stomach is actually higher up than a normal person would have and this could be due to multiple surgeries on my abdomen.  I'm still concern about it because it really feels like I'm having a heart attack and I don't think that I should have to live with this just because I had a Gastric Bypass.  I tried doing some research online for other GB patients to see if they ever experienced this problem but have not been able to find anyone yet.  If you know of anyone out there who has also experienced this type of pain, please send them my way...............Marie

3/29/09 - Since I last wrote I am down 48 lbs. now.  I'll be starting my 11th week post-op tomorrow.  However, I have been pretty sick.  I went to the doctor on March 17 due to severe pain that I was having in my stomach and bladder.  He found blood in my urine so he sent me to the hospital to have a CAT scan done.  The CAT scan showed not only did I have a UTI and Kidney Stone(s) but also a HERNIA!! 

It’s called a Supraumbilical Ventral Hernia. The hernia is located right along where they opened me up for the Gastric Bypass surgery.  I started having pain around my 6th week post op and just thought that I was still healing.  The pain is throbbing, squeezing, and sharp.  It also pushes up into my esophagus at times which in return takes my breath away.  I'm currently waiting to get in to see my surgeon.  I did do some research and found out that 10% of Gastric Bypass patients will get a hernia at some time.  Its part of the risks involved with the surgery.  I've also had problems with my liver for awhile now so my family doctor would like to have my surgeon do a liver biopsy while she is repairing the hernia.  For now all I can do is chew on morphine until I get in to see my surgeon. 

I hope everyone else is doing well.........

2/23/09 - Today has been 6 weeks since my revision surgery.  I am happy to say that I have lost a total of 38 lbs.  I can't believe how this surgery is changing my life.  I never thought that I would enjoy getting on the scale each week to see my progress.  I would do it again in a heartbeat but my goal is to never go back to my old eating habits.  I just wanted to share my excitement  with everyone!!

2/10/09: Yesterday, February 9 was my one month anniversary since having my Gastric Bypass done.  I am happy to report that I have lost 26 lbs. to date.  I can't believe how the weight is just melting off of me.  I have been sticking to the plan by getting in enough protein each day as well as 64 ounces of water.  It's very easy to follow and I can already see the rewards not only in my weight but also in the way I feel. 

This is the best gift that I could have ever given myself.  Thank God for being with me and helping me along the way on my journey towards a healthy, happy, life again.

1/23/09 - Well things finally happened for me.  I went in on Monday, January 12 to begin my new life.  I had my Lap Band removed and then converted over to a Gastric Bypass.  My husband wasn't able to see me for almost 6 hrs. but it took a little longer than expected.  They went in via Laparoscopy and were doing good right up until the very end at which point they could not put in the remaining few staples.  Therefore, they had to open me up.  I did pretty well other than my sugar being up for some reason.  It has since come down.  However, I must say that the first two days were very, very hard on me, not so much from the actual sugery but because my RSD (Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy) flared up into overtime which caused extreme pain in my arms, legs, and back. 

I went home on Thursday, January 15 in the evening.  It's always eaiser to recover at home then in a hospital.  I feel pretty good now.  I went to my post-op appt. yesterday and Dr. Choban removed my drain.  That was a little painful but nothing that I can't handle.  I am happy to say that I have lost 15 lbs. since surgery.  Now only time will tell if I will continue down the scale as I anticipate that I will.  Dr. Choban and Dr. Price took very good care of me and I'm so thankful to have such wonderful doctors.