Melissa P
My old posts from 3/13/05 to 10/13/06
Oct 21, 2006
I really want to have WLS. I have been obese all of my life. Starting my first real diet at the age of 13. I did lose a little bit of weight and then gaining it back starting my vicious cycle of yo yo dieting. Losing weight only to gain more weight back. I am also worried about my daughter’s health. My bad eating habits were learned by her and at the age of 13 she is very obese. I want this surgery done to become healthy and try to teach better eating habits to my family. I have menstrual issues and have not been diagnosed with sleep apnea, but I believe I have it.
I want to have WLS. I have attended two seminars. One seminar I attended with my sister who is also looking into WLS. The second seminar, I attended on 7/31/05 with Dr Blackstone. My insurance will not cover the same doctor that my sisters insurance covers. Her insurance will not cover the doctor that I will be going too. So I am hoping that if this is something that she really wants that she will still do. I told her that I will go with her to any of the support groups and stuff that she wants me too. I talked to Tish from Dr Blackstone’s office and she said that my insurance company requires a 3 month medically supervised diet with in the past 6 months. So, I am waiting for them to call me to start the diet program that their office offers.
My appointment for my 3 month insurance required diet is on Wednesday Aug 31st. One step in the right direction. I am excited to get this process going.
My second month appointment for insurance required diet is on 9/26/05.
I now have my appointments for the psychological test & evaluation scheduled. I go for the test on 9/26/05 and the evaluation on 10/3/05. I am excited and finally feel like this
process is moving along.
I passed my psychological exam. One step closer. The only negative thing he said is that I tend to hold things in.
Well doesn't everyone? I am still on my 3 month supervised diet and, I will be until the end of November.
So next on my list is the physician consult.
11/06 I do have Sleep Apnea and they are getting me a C-pap machine to sleep with.
Things that I am looking forward to after surgery.
being healthy.
my feet not swelling so much that it hurts to walk on them.
being able to clean my house without being exhausted.
taking my Girl Scout troops hiking.
being able to teach my daughter better eating habits.
being able to sit in a restaurant booth
being able to sit in any chair without my big butt hanging over the sides.
not being worried about breaking a chair if you sit in it. (I broke one of my brothers patio chairs)
being able to fit in rides at amusement parks,
not being asked to get off of an amusement park ride so the restraints fit around every one else securely. (Was asked to get off a ride at Universal Studios)
being able to play with my 2 year old nephew without getting exhausted.
being able to fit my legs into all of the machines at Curves & feeling comfortable going to Curves and not like every one is looking at me.
being able to walk up the stairs without huffing and puffing.
being able to see my feet.
I have been fighting obesity for over 35 years. I have been ridiculed, humiliated ,ashamed and just plain sad about my weight. I know that with this tool that I am going to concur this disease. If I don't it will concur me. This is my last hope for good health.
I have my DR. consult tomorrow 11/18/05. Then they will submit to insurance.
Yeah! My sister Shelly has been approved and is having her surgery on December 12th. I am so excited and nervous for her. I will be praying that everything goes smooth for her and that she has a speedy recovery. She is not a member of OH.
I received my letter from First health and just confirmed with Scottsdale Bariatric that it was an approval letter. My folder has been forwarded to the scheduler. So I am just waiting on a date now. I am so excited. It seems like such a long process. I am just hoping it will all be worth it and I have a smooth road ahead.
3/13/06 I talked to Noreen at Scottsdale Bariatric, I HAVE A DATE!!! April 10th. 27 Days away from today. I am so excited. It sounds like I have a lot of appointments that I have to do before surgery. It will be a busy month.
Melanie S, thanks so much for being my angel.
I had my surgery on April 10th. Everything went really well. I did not have a lot of pain. I did get an infection in the main incision. It is getting better. I have lost 25 pounds in a month. I am really excited.
I had my one month appointment yesterday. 5/17/06
I have lost 27 pounds since surgery and everything else seems good. I do have to call the doctor back today, because I forgot to ask about the leg cramps I have been waking up with. I am also able to add cooked vegetables and most fruit into my diet. As long as I eat 3 bites of protein to every bite of fruit or vegetable. I tried a banana last night after eating three bites of my chicken. It did not sit well with my pouch, and came right back up.
7/19/06 I have not updated in a while. I am 3 months out now and am down 54 pound since surgery. I am really excited about my loss and it is great that people are really noticing my loss. Some people in my family are saying that I am wasting away to nothing. I just laugh and say no I am still very overweight. I just have to remember that these are the members of my family that have only known me very overweight. I went from a size 30-32 or 4x to 22-24 or 2x. I can even fit into some 18-20 strech pants.
8/31/06 Well as of today I am down 101 pound since my 3 month supervised diet. I am down 70 pounds since surgery. So I am not sure how they count the century club cards from the start of your weight loss or from surgery. So I will wait until I have lost the other 30 to request my card. I am really happy with my results both pre-op and post op.
10/13/06 This is a six month update on me. I am now down 83 pounds since surgery and I feel really good. I also placed a 6 month photo out here. If I did it right. I will be getting a before picture posted also. My friend Chris will be scanning one for me.
I just wanted to say that I am not losing as fast as a lot of people on this board or friends that I work with that had surgery after me. Some days I get a little depressed about it. I just have to keep telling myself that everyone loses at a different rate. I am also going through some issues with my husband right now. Not related to my surgery. It is too long and personal to post. But I am sure that has something to do with the weight loss slowing. I did find myself snacking between meals twice this week and in my doctors plan. We are allowed no snacks and three meals a day. So I am really trying to get back on track.
Thank you Reba for getting my profile switched to the new format and adding my post-op and pre-op pictures. Your wonderful.
11/14/06 I am now down 90 pounds since surgery. Down 121 pounds total including the pre-op diet. I feel great. I am still trying to get all of my protein in. I think that is why my weight loss has slowed down. I am only getting in about 58 grams of protein a day. I am going to try picking that up.
12/08/06 I am so excited today. On the 10th it will be 8 months since my surgery. I Weighed today and am down a hundred pounds since surgery. Yipee!!! I am down a total of 131 pounds since my post op diet. Wow what an incredible journey.
I have not posted in a while. Have had a lot of personal issues. But I wanted to post my one year update. I started this journey last year at 364 pounds. I lost 31 pounds on my pre-op diet. Then on April 10th 2006, I had surgery at 333 pounds. As of today I weigh 218 pounds with a total loss of 146 pounds. The last three months have been a very emotional time in my life. My mom was diagnosed with lung cancer and past away in March. So for the past few months I have not been exercising like I should or eating the best things for me. So I have not lost that much weight in the past few months. I am vowing today, that I am going to start exercising at least four times a week and eating healthier. I still have 62 pounds to lose to get to my physicians goal. So I have a lot of work a head of me. I want to say thank you to all of you that have helped me along this journey. I wish all of you the best of health and the will power to reach your goals.
8/29/05 weight 364 Day I started 3 month diet
3/28/06 weight 345 Pre-op visit
4/10/06 weight 333 Day of surgery
5/17/06 weight 306 1 Month Dr. visit
6/12/06 weight 295 2 Month Dr. visit
6/20/06 weight 293
6/26/06 weight 291
7/05/06 weight 285
7/18/06 weight 279 3 Month Dr. visit
7/24/06 weight 277
7/31/06 weight 273
8/7/06 weight 271
8/14/06 weight 269
8/17/06 weight 267 4 month Dr. visit
8/31/06 weight 263
9/12/06 weight 259
9/19/06 weight 256 5 month Dr. visit
9/25/06 weight 253
10/9/06 weight 250
10/19/06 weight 247 6 month Dr. visit
11/6/06 weight 245
11/14/06 weight 243
11/27/06 weight 240
12/4/06 weight 237
12/8/06 weight 233
01/16/07 weight 228 9 month Dr. visit
01/24/07 weight 224
04/09/07 weight 218
