carolcooper
Hi All,
Just celebrated my 54th birthday! It has been a long road!
I started out life at 5.25 Lbs., was averaged sized all through my 20's and early 30's. I had a hysterectomy in 1991 because of ovarian cysts getting worse and worse. In the subsequent years gained and lost the same 30 pounds, 10 times while becoming heavier. The final straw was, my husband and I finally got to go on our dream vacation to Hawaii in July 2004. After one day of sitting on a tour bus and barely being able to walk when I got off made me realise that I needed to do something about "my buddy", the other person I carry around every day. The clincher came after my island (I live on Grand Cayman) was badly damaged by hurricane Ivan in September 2004, I knew then that I was really going to have to do something.The arthritis in my right knee has become so bad it required treatment in April 2008. At the time, the orthopedic doctor let me know that treatment could only be done 3 times. I have continued to work a full time job, a part time job, while helping and volunteering at everything possible., while taking enough painkillers to kill the average person. Meanwhile my pressure and blood sugar started to spiral as well. I now weighed in at a lovely 310 pounds.
In early 2008 I saw an advertisement in our local paper for a seminar for overweight or obese people. I figured what do I have to lose? Weight? Great! Cleared my Saturday morning and off I went to the local Hospital where it was going to be held. On the way into the seminar, I saw a woman that I have known for 30+ years except she was a whole lot smaller than I remembered. Not wanting to be too nosy but still curious, I decided to sit next to her knowing she will tell me the secret. The seminar was conducted by Dr. Carrasquilla of Florida Medical Center's Bariatric program. FMC is in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Wonderful information! After much internet searching and reading, I decided to ask my doctor about the possibility of my having the surgery, she told me all the "cons" first then the "pros." After all the required visits for all the testing required were set up, I was shocked when my insurance rep called from Canada to say payment was approved and the initial visit to Ft. Lauderdale was scheduled for the following week. Wow! Talk about efficient! My husband was very skeptical about all of this (he lives in Florida) but took the day off to go with me to the initial consultation there and the presentation was done by....Dr. Carrasquilla himself. This put his mind at ease a lot. Nobody was carting me off to be sacrificed.
My date was originally going to be December 3rd, but has been set to December 10th. I have to get a cardiology workup because of a heart murmur. Going to have Roux-N-Y, Dr. Paul Esposito in charge. The staff there is wonderful with answering questions, getting insurance stuff all sorted out (we all know how they can be!)
That is my story to date and I will update as I go along this journey because I am so encouraged by all of the blogs. Will upload photos as well.
****Just want to say thanks to Tara Bush for all the support and encouragement on this end. Making it a lot easier because of all the info she has provided!
