Rebecca S.
Yearly Check-In
Feb 17, 2011
I have witnessed the frustrations she experienced today, when the hospital tried to make her take a different bed and then build a support for the toilet. It breaks my heart to see the harrassment people of size still experience in a time when there are more overweight people than at any other time. You would think there would be some compassion, rather than scrutiny and judgement. Anyway, I feel blessed to get to share this experience with such a strong and wonderful fellow human being. I pray that her leg heals and that she soon is able to see the hope that surgery has provided for me and my life!
Life is good!!! I am still seeing the amazing man that entered my life over a year ago and a month ago, met my first grandson. I was alive to be here for those things and I credit the loss for it! My banding was March of 2007 and I have maintained my weight of between 158-164lbs for the last working on 2 years. I feel great and am more comfortable in my skin...albeit...saggy skin...than at any time previously in my life! Life is Good!!!!
Wow, it has been forever!
Apr 21, 2010
That, coupled with a very tumultous year this past year, has not hindered any weightloss as well.
Basically, last January, I discovered my husband of four years had been having an affair for roughly 2 1/2 years of our then 4 year marriage. We separated, got counseling, and eventually reconciled. However, in May I found it was even farther reaching and despite hospitalization for him, continued counseling for us both, in October of last year, we decided to part after the holidays. I just couldn't continue with the relationship and endure the perpetual lies. It finally eroded the remaining fabric of our tattered marriage. Amazingly, I would have expected to gain some weight, but that hasn't been the case.
Otherwise, am well and now wearing an 8 or 10 pant...depending on the cut. A medium or sometimes large shirt, again depending on how it fits. I am no longer hung up on being any particular "size" or "weight." I am just thankful to be where I am at. Next, I would like to do a bit of work on some remaining skin and maybe get myself a set of tata's!!! lol. Use to be a nice size C cup...am now a sad B. Oh well, wouldn't trade it for the 220 lbs for anything!
Yay! Onderland!!!
Sep 06, 2009
Down another 2 lbs.
Dec 21, 2008
Merry Christmas!
I hope that this finds everyone enjoying a "losing" holiday season! It has been slow going as of late, but is still trickling along. I will take it as it comes. Here is a picture of last December and this December. It is only a difference of 58 lbs, but shows in inches.
Yay, back down plus down two more!
Nov 27, 2008
Hope that everyone enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving, filled with love, happiness, and family!
Up 2 lbs....sigh!
Nov 12, 2008
I hadn't been in for a fill, with everything going on with the heart and trying to figure out what was happening there. I noticed I could eat more than I should and I did! argh! I went in for a fill and am now tightened back up. I had gone up to 243 from the 237 I'd been at. A week later, I am down to 239 and have still two more pounds to go to be back where I was. Still, at least I now have a tool to help me in the battle. I am so ready for the onederland!
I made it.
Aug 20, 2008
Say a little prayer...
Aug 18, 2008
I have been a bit under the weather as of late. It started with some numbness in my left arm that presented on a Friday evening. I just figured it was a pinched nerve or something and pretty much ignored it and it went away. The next day, on the way to the lake, I experienced the aching numbness in the left arm and again, assumed it must be a pinched nerve. I made supper, ate, and ended up getting sick to my stomach and just didn't feel well. I tried to go to bed and began to feel pressure in my chest and back, pain in my jaw, and discomfort that I just couldn't get rid of, along with the persistent left arm numbness. I kept telling myself that it would go away and then finally, like a voice in my head, I just felt compelled to seek medical care.
I was admitted to the ER and kept overnight for observation. They hooked me up to everything, gave me nitro, which improved the discomfort and numbness. Despite the ER attending saying that a stress test would be done the next morning, a fellow doctor from my doctor's practice released me from the hospital, stating that the monitors had been showing as normal and the enzyme blood tests had all come back normal. So, despite having had a return of symptoms...numbness etc... I was released from the hospital and told to follow up that week with my regular doctor, upon her return.
Bright and early on Monday morning, I called the Dr. office. My regular doctor was still not in and the soonest I could get in to her would be Thursday, so I agreed to see a different colleague from her office. I went in and two different nurses attempted to hear my blood pressure and despite trying both arms, several times, neither nurse could get a reading. Finally, one of the nurses brought in a machine that she said that she had never used before and it gave a reading of 90/65, which is extremely low. She said that she knew I had a blood pressure or I wouldn't be sitting there, but she couldn't hear it. She said that she wasn't sure if the machine worked and that she would have the doctor try to get the blood pressure. He came in, listened as I explained what had taken place over the weekend. He asked if I had been given a stress test and I told him I hadn't. He listened to my heart, looked at my throat and ears, gave me a prescription for an antibiotic and sent me for a C-spine x-ray. He believed the numbness was a result of a problem with my neck.
I went over to the hospital for the x-ray...which a couple days later, showed as being fine. The next day, still not feeling any better and still missing work, I called back into the office to again request to see my regular doctor. I was told that the antibiotic hadn't yet had time to work and to call back the next day if I wasn't any better. So...now we are at Wednesday.
Bright and early I again call and thankfully, my regular doctor had a cancellation, so I got in to see her. I told her all that had gone on and she decided to test my blood for mono, west nile virus, thyroid levels, and nutrient levels. She signed off on my Leave of Absence paperwork, as I had now been absent from work for a full week and gave me a note to return to work on that coming Monday, if able. I returned to work, still feeling horrible and called her again on Monday. The tests had all come back ok, so she finally decided to send me for the stress test.
This past Wednesday, I went into the hospital for the stress test and nuclear scans. Basically, they inserted an IV line, injected some sort of contrast liquid and did a scan prior to beginning the exercise and then again after.
The stress test itself... the treadmill portion was a calamity of errors just waiting to happen, but thankfully it went off without a hitch. They started me off at a comfortable incline and pace and continued to increase it to speed up my heart rate. The walking was fine...(Thank GOD that I have lost nearly 140 lbs!!!) What was scary, is that the end of the treadmill was only about three feet from the wall. I knew if I biffed it and lost my footing, I would be slam dunked upside the wall and becca would be broken! Not a pretty site. I did really good...until the very end or the last minute. That is when they had the speed moving fast, the incline steep, and my right arm had to rest on one nurse's shoulder, so that she could take a blood pressure and my left hand was on the bar, to keep my balance, as another nurse was shooting up the IV in that wrist. I was so afraid that I would lose my grip and biff it. I had to maintain that pace, for a full minute to allow the contrast to circulate in my body, so that the next set of scans could be taken.
I cooled off and went for the next set of scans. I really felt like everything, the EKG's, the monitors, everything had gone well and it really must be just a problem in my neck. I was positive that it would all show up fine. The next step my doc said, would be to do an MRI of my neck, to see where the nerve was pinched.
Instead, she called later that day to let me know that the cardiologist had called to say that the scans didn't come back normal and she was having to refer me to the Nebraska Heart Institute for further testing. Well shit!
So, Thursday, I go for my first meeting with the cardiologist. He said that the scans showed a problem with the right front and left back of my heart. He scheduled me for a heart catheterization, which I will undergo tomorrow morning at 7:45 a.m. I will have to remain off for the remainder of the week, as I won't be able to use my arm for the next three days...should they be able to use the artery in my arm. Otherwise, they will use the artery in the groin and I will need to stay down longer.
My birthday...turning 40...is next Wednesday, the 27th and quite frankly, I am too darn young for this crap! I am nervous, because the doctors always have to give you all the worst case scenario tidbits...like, "the catheter could dislodge a piece of calcium, which if it traveled to your heart, could cause a heart attack and possibly death...or it could go to your brain, which would cause a stroke and possibly death." Even the friggin statistics suck...1-2 out of 1000 experience these types of complications. Hmm....am wishing it was 1-2 out of a billion!
I am sure that everything will go off without a hitch, but if you happen to read this, please take a moment and say a little prayer. I would really appreciate it. Thanks!!! Becca~
Hello!
Aug 04, 2008
I am home and feeling sick. I went to the hospital on Saturday, thinking that I was having a heart attack, but the tests showed normal. So, now I am in a quandry as to what the real problem is. My left arm is still numb and achy and the chest pressure/pain comes and goes. My regular doctor is out of the office until Thursday, so I had to see one of her counterparts. He sent me for a c-spine x-ray, so I will see what that brings. Until then, the bed at the hospital weighed me at 244 and that was confirmed today at the doctor's office, so on the bright side, I am down another four lbs. Yippee...wish I felt good enough to celebrate...sigh.
Hello!
Jul 20, 2008
It has been forever since I have done any updating on here, but life gets busy! Weightloss has been much slower, but I am plugging along. I have lost a total of 130 lbs now and currently weight 248. Amazing to see the difference and to realize that just over a year or so ago, I was weighing 378 lbs!
Today, I am active. I went to the lake today and swam, last night I biked with my son Brandon's girlfriend, Alexis and my step-son Michael. I have gone down over 8 sizes in clothing from a 34-36 to 18-20. I actually have some XL clothing and it FITS! I bought a swimsuit...a two piece, albeit the top is a tank that covers the middle, but still, I couldn't have done that before, because the middle wouldn't have stayed inside the tank. Plus, I actually looked in the mirror and liked the way it looked on me. I don't feel embarassed to wear it out to the lake in public. I can now wear flip-flops, sandals, and inexpensive shoes to go with whatever I am wearing. Before, I was pretty much stuck with expensive, super supportive tennis shoes or shock absorbing shoes, because otherwise the pain in my knees, feet, etc... was too great and I could barely walk. I really missed being able to pick out a cute pair of shoes to match an outfit. Plus, even my shoe size has gone down a size. The ONLY thing that I don't like so much is the wings on my upper arms. Still, that is nothing that a three quarter sleeve can't take care of and I would much rather have some wings than the extra 130 lbs!!!
Anyway, am hoping that this finds everyone still losing! Rebecca
