Cheryl S.
Hi everyone!
My story is a long one ... about 25 years long. At surgery time, I was 42 yrs. old and started gaining weight when I was about 16 or 17. Nothing drastic, but a slow steady climb from the 130 lbs. that I should be for my 5'3" frame up up up to 325 lbs. (how the heck did THAT happen?!?)
Over the years I've tried the following to lose weight:
* Weight Watchers - countless times (at least 10); Jenny Craig; The Protein Power Plan; The Atkins Diet; the grapefruit diet; doctor-prescribed amphetimines; Xenical (ewww); Meredia; and even hypnosis!
I have some allergies and suffer a mild form of asthma, I developed "mild to moderate sleep apnea", and all the typical aches and pains in my knees and ankles -- you know the story.
I have finally decided that enough is enough! I saw a special on "60 Minutes" recently where it was stated that there are very few 60+-year-old morbidly obese people -- they just don't live that long. That was the straw. I decided to pursue WLS.
I opted for Lap-Band surgery because of the minimally invasive technique, the lower risk of infection and other surgical risks, the adjustability of the band technique to tailor your weight loss progress and, if absolutely necessary, the ability to reverse the procedure by removing the band.
I'm scheduled to be banded on Wednesday, June 13th - just two months from the time that I originally booked it. I'm going to Dr. Chris Cobourn in Mississauga, Ontario.
I'm not even a little bit nervous about the procedure. I'm extremely excited to start this new and better phase of my life ... I can't wait!!
I've been so encouraged by reading all of the posts on this site. I have amazing friends and family who are all extremely supportive. But there's a different type of support that comes from someone who TRULY understands what you're feeling, experiencing and going through, and for that I thank all of you. I also wish every one of you success and happiness.
Here's to losers!!! ;o)
Cheryl Steadman, Saint John, NB
UPDATES:
05/27/07: I'm now on Day 5 of Optifast leading up to my surgery on June 13th. So far, so good. It doesn't taste as bad as I feared it might, and I savour my one serving of veggies everyday! I've lost almost 7 lbs. in 5 days too, so that's a great motivator. I've been walking everyday at the provincial park nearby -- my dogs are sure enjoying it!
06/10/07: Day 18 of Optifast -- 23 lbs. down and starting to really feel the difference! More energy, looser-fitting clothing, noticeably more energy and even a few friends of mine have said they notice a difference in my face and one noticed I was a bit smaller when she hugged me (thanks Amy!). Just THREE DAYS to go until surgery now. I'm flying to Ontario tomorrow, staying with my sister while I'm up there (thanks Deb!). I want to thank everyone for their support and good wishes. I'm excited about starting this new and better phase of my life!
06/11/07: Flew from Fredericton, NB to Hamilton, Ontario today. On my first flight, I had a few very significant "firsts". For the first time in several years, I did NOT require a seatbelt extension! I was so happy about that I had to share my news with the lady sitting beside me. Thank goodness she was a Public Health Nurse, so she had some interest in what I was doing and we had a good gab about it on the flight. Also another first, I put the table tray down in front of me and it went all the way down without getting stuck on my belly! Woohoo! And, la piece de resistance, I lowered the arm rest between me and the other passenger. It was tight, but darnit, it went all the way down!! That was indeed a good day. Starting to see some benefits from the 25 lbs. lost already.
06/12/07: Day before surgery! I'm down about 26 lbs. from my highest weight and ready and eager to get on with it and the rest of my life! Think good thoughts for tomorrow!
06/14/07: ALL DONE! Banded yesterday afternoon - thank goodness it's over and now I start the next phase of my life. Everything went very well and the doctors, nurses and staff at the Surgical Weight Loss Centre at the Toronto Plastic Surgery Clinic were awesome. They explained everything to me very clearly, were very patient with my questions and the whole thing went very well. I'm a little sore today, but not too bad. I walk a little hunched over but that will straighten up as the discomfort goes away. The liquid codeine helps a lot. The incision marks look good. All in all, not too bad! I weighed in at the doctor's office before the surgery and my personal goal was to be under 300 lbs. by surgery date - I weighed 298!! (Started at 325 at my highest). I had the pleasure of meeting and being banded at the same time as my new friend Dianne (Treetop). We met face-to-face in the waiting room and she was in the bed beside me in the recovery room, which was fantastic. Dianne, I'm with ya sister!! Yours in losing ... :o)
06/22/07: A week and a bit since becoming a Bandit and feeling GREAT. Best decision I ever made! I'm down 32.6 lbs. now and starting to notice some positive changes taking place. Down almost 6 lbs. since surgery. My energy level has come back and I'm back on the treadmill again. It's early, but I've migrated to the mushy food stage already. The clear fluid diet was just NOT cutting it, and I was getting weak and dizzy with not enough in me to do the job. Plus, I am feeling great and have had no repurcussions from starting on soft foods. Looking forward to getting my first fill in about a month's time. That's about it for now! :o)
07/06/07: I'm back in Newfoundland now for the next two months, ready to get back into a 'normal' routine after being off on a wonderful two-month-long vacation (and surgery mixed in there too). I'm now down 37.5 lbs. I went into the office yesterday and a couple of people gave me that "holy crap have you ever lost weight" look ... I love it! It's neat when you haven't seen someone in a while and then they really notice the difference. Yesterday, when I was unloading my VERY loaded car I had no problem at all lugging all the stuff up the stairs in my house. BWLS (before weight loss surgery) I would have huffed and puffed my way through that for the better part of the day. I walked the dogs up to the park (uphill and against the Newfoundland wind) and still had energy left to play with them once I was there. Fun! I'm going to check with the surgeon to see if I can book my first fill sooner rather than later - I feel like I'm ready for it now. Will update more later! :o)
07/13/07: One month since surgery! Down 39 lbs. and things are still going great. I'm going for my first fill later today. I can't really wear my 'before' pants any longer - they're too big now. Gotta like that! I was away from the office for two months on vacation/surgery and dropped almost 40 lbs. in that time. It was funny when I came back and saw one of the guys I work with who doesn't know I had the surgery done. He said, "I love what you've done with your hair", "great hair", etc. It was funny, because I didn't change my hair really, it's my face and body that have changed, but you can tell that he can't quite pinpoint what the change is, so it must be my hair! LOL I'm going to update my pictures today, so stay tuned.
07/21/07: STUCK STUCK STUCK at 39 lbs. down for just over a week now. I knew there would be plateaus, and I'm in a good one. I'd so much rather be stuck at 40 lbs. down than 39! :o| I know, I need to just weight it out and it will move again. I can definitely feel the adjustment that was done to the band now. I have restriction and the band seems to be working as designed. I'll be patient and keep plugging along and soon the scale will move down again. Enjoy your day folks!
08/08/07: OK - so FINALLY I broke the 39 lb. plateau! I'm down FORTY POUNDS!! I was at the eye doctor's today and I noticed that the chairs in his waiting room were much more comfortable than they used to be, and it was easier to sit behind the equipment he uses to look into my eyes now that my boobs and my gut aren't quite as large. When I told one of my friends that I was down 40 lbs. finally, she said "Wow - now 50 is in sight". And, funnily enough, I had been so focussed on reaching 40 that it never even dawned on me that 50 lbs. was so close. Imagine ... 50 lbs.!! I can't wait to be able to announce that one! Until next time ... yours in losing, Cher.
08/11/07: Well it seems we finally have some movement starting on the ol' scale! I'm now down 42 lbs. and counting. It's funny how your body just decides it's going to park at a certain point for a while, then gets off its duff and starts losing again. I don't really think I've started doing anything different in particular - it has just started losing again. It's ok! I'm not complaining! I have my next fill scheduled for this coming Friday, August 17th here in St. John's. Dr. Jillian Parsons was trained by Dr. Cobourn, my surgeon back in early June. In three weeks I'll be moving back home to Saint John, NB and any future fills will be done by a nurse who's the wife of a dentist up in Fredericton. She does the fills in her husband's dental office. That's all for now ... heading out to play with the dogs!
08/17/07: Down 43.5 lbs. today!! AND my BMI is finally BELOW 50!! 49.9 BMI!! I'm no longer "SUPER OBESE" ... now I'm just "morbidly obese". Hmmm....sounds worse. But I know it's better than Super! Little progress steps ... feels great. :o)
08/21/07: Still down 43.5 and that's ok. Went to the doctor last Friday (08/17) to have my second fill and it didn't work. When she started extracting the existing fluid from the band, it stopped after only 1-2 cc of fluid and didn't give her the whole 4.0cc to add to. So she just put the 1-2cc back in again and said I'd need to come back in a week to try again. So the appointment is set for this Friday 08/24 to give 'er the old college try once again! Went to Canadian Blood Services today and donated a pint of the red stuff. I figure I'm getting so used to being poked with a needle, what's one or two more?? Have a great day everyone!
08/26/07: Still at 43.5 ... hmmm. Went to the doctor on Friday (08/24) to try the second attempt at the second fill ... didn't work again. The poor doctor was even more frustrated than I was! So I'm going to try to get an appointment with the nurse in Fredericton when I'm there, or I will come back to Dr. Parsons here in St. John's when I'm back in Newfoundland ... and if all that STILL doesn't work, I'm making an appointment to have it done at my surgeon's practice in Toronto in early October. This is a little tougher to get done than I thought it would be. In the meantime, my weight seems to be at another standstill, hopefully not for long. Getting ready for the movers to arrive next weekend to move me back home to NB. That'll keep my mind off of all this stuff I hope. Until next time ... :o)
09/07/07: OK, so I think once I get everything unpacked and organized in my house, I'm going to pack it all up and move again! I've lost almost 4 pounds just this week moving! Moving is a great weight loss plan apparently. Down 47 lbs. now and up to my eyeballs in boxes and furniture that needs my attention, so not much of an update this time, except that I'm happy to have fallen off that plateau I was stuck on. Have a good one! Now, where is that utility knife??
09/13/07: Three months banded! I'm down 48 lbs., feeling terrific, even starting to look better too! I'm back in my Saint John home and very happy to be here. The unpacking is slow but sure and will probably take me a few months to get to it all, but I'm home and that's what counts to me. I haven't been able to have a fill adjustment done to my band as my Newfoundland doctor was unsuccessful in making it work on the last two attempts, so have still have only 4.0cc in my 10.0cc band. I am heading to Toronto in early October, however, and I have an appointment to see my surgeon to get it done. I'm expecting that they'll be able to do it with their eyes closed (but I hope they keep them open!!). My appetite is ok, I have very little restriction though, so I have to work extra hard to maintain or lose anything, since the band isn't helping me much right now. Overall I'm pleased ... I recall thinking of how happy I'd be to be down 50 lbs. by Christmas and now, with 50 being only 2 lbs. away, that goal is very much within reach long before Christmas! I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this procedure to anyone experiencing the same obesity issues that I have. What a positive life-changing experience! Thanks for reading my blog ... have a great day everyone! :oD
09/24/07: I can't believe it, but I achieved the BIG FIVE OH!!! 50 pounds gone in exactly 4 months. I started the pre-op diet on May 23rd and on September 23rd, the scale ticked down to the -50 lb. mark. When I first got up, I weighed and it showed -49.25 and I thought, "sh*t". Then I though ... good idea! LOL What are all the ways you can lose 3/4 of a lb. quickly? Bathroom trip, jewelry off, cut fingernails and toenails, pluck eyebrows, shave your legs ... voila! -50! :o) I'm actually kidding about most of that. In reality I just went about unpacking a few more boxes and then weighed again. I'm pretty pleased because my original goal was to hopefully lose 50 by the end of the year. Now I need to re-evaluate my year-end goal I suppose. Thanks again for all the support you've all given me so far on this journey ... I'm so pleased that I've done this! I've done quite a bit of air travel lately and with the last 6 flights, not once did I require a seatbelt extender. Now, mind you, one flight (yesterday) was on a 16-seater Beechcraft and the seatbelt gave me quite the challenge, and I could see the flight attendant searching for the belt extender and heading my way just as the belt went "click" and I was belted. I threw my arms up and said, "YESSSS!" and the other passengers (all 14 of 'em) started giggling. Then the flight attendant asked me if I wanted the extra belt and I said, "no way, I'm in now!" and he said that I might be more comfortable with it. I laughed and said, "buddy, I just lost 50 pounds - get that thing away from me!". Well, now the whole plane was laughing along with me. It was fun! And I actually felt supported, like they were laughing WITH me and not AT me. Life is good, and getting better all the time. Thanks for reading! :o)
10/04/07: Down 53 lbs. now, things are moving along quite nicely! I'm heading to Toronto tomorrow and will be seeing my surgeon for my second fill, possibly taking me from 4.0cc to 5.0cc in the band. STILL unpacking @#$ boxes in the house (and probably will be for the next year at this rate!). I hope everyone is having a great day!
10/13/07: 4th Monthaversary since surgery and down 55 whole pounds! I honestly didn't think that things would move along as well as they have been. It has been a nice steady decline in weight ever since the surgery, just the way they said it would be. And, low and behold, I finally had a successful adjustment made to my band last Friday (Oct 5) at the surgery clinic in Toronto. It took the nurse all of about 10 seconds to accomplish it. I guess experience pays off. And now I definitely feel more restriction, and I feel like the band is working well for me. I went to Wal*Mart yesterday to pick up a new pair of PJs. The ones I bought were size 2X ... down from the 5X I used to wear! (Had to buy new undies too - my others are getting baggy!!) I know -- too much information! Hey, it's MY blog afterall! :o) Until next time, be healthy and happy!
10/29/07: Down 56 pounds now. While I was home last week, I did quite a bit of unpacking and I noticed just how easy and especially how pain-free it was to move around. Before, I would have been suffering with sore feet, swollen ankles, tired legs, etc. Not now! I can go like an energizer bunny. And I now have less than 130 left to lose. I've been saying 130-something for so long now. Now it's only 129! Ha! "Only" 129 pounds to go!! I used to be so overwhelmed by the huge amounts of weight I had to lose. Now with the lap-band, I KNOW that I'll get there, and I'm not the least bit worried about having to lose 129 lbs. Bring it on!! :o)
11/13/07: 5 month update coming soon ... just need to get back to my home scale and camera to do a proper update. Stay tuned!!
OK - time to get to it. My 5 month update! Sorry I'm slow getting this done and thanks to those who were missing seeing the update and asked about it. The last month has been a challenge. Down only one pound in a month. I've been on the road A LOT and eating out in restaurants for at least 90% of my meals. That being the case, I'm please that I'm down a pound and not up 10! That in itself is a huge achievement for me. I have hit plateaus before (see August updates) and I expect I'll hit them again, and I know that eventually they start moving again. And this one will too. Things continue to go very well. I still feel better than I have in decades and I'm so enjoying my newfound freedom of movement. I love dancing in the kitchen (you know that expression, dance like nobody's watching - that's me!). My good friend Shelley is flying up to Toronto on December 5th to be trained by Dr. Cobourn on doing lap-band fills. This will give us someone (an excellent someone by the way) here in Saint John who can help all of us bandsters out. This is fantastic news. Until next time friends ... :o)
12/13/07: Wow ... 6 months. Half a year has gone by since the big "S" day. Hard to believe. The not-so-great news is that I'm still stuck in the same plateau I've been at for the last almost two months now. The good news is that my weight has been fairly stable. I have an appointment scheduled for next Tuesday (Dec. 18th) to have an adjustment made to my band and I'm hoping that will give me the kick-start I need to get things moving once again. I've learned from a few previous plateaus that these do indeed happen and then they do pass, so I'm not too worried about it. I'm still focussing on the big, long-term picture and not just the weekly or monthly outlook. My goal at surgery time was to hopefully be down 50 pounds by Christmas. Well, I achieved that goal and am down almost 60 pounds. So I'm setting my next goal to be down a total of 100 pounds by my surgaversary on June 13, 2008. My friend Allie and I are travelling out west next summer and I can't think of a better way to celebrate a 100-lb. loss. I'm travelling right now, so the picture will be updated as soon as I'm back together with my camera! Take care everyone ... Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
01/04/08: Happy New Year! Well, I made it through the Christmas Eating season without too much damage. I did not get my band adjusted on December 18th as previously planned, however, my surgeon is flying to Saint John tomorrow (January 5th) to look after me and several others here. I think it's fantastic that he was willing to travel here on his nickel and his day off to care for his patients. I have been sitting at the same weight plateau since October -- down approx. 57 pounds, give or take a pound or three over the holidays. Much better than the 15-20 pounds I would have gained in the past! I have almost no restriction at this time, so most of that success was mine. Looking forward to having the band tightened again tomorrow and starting the losing journey once again. It's a new year, and I'm ready to re-energize, to start becoming more active, eating less and eating better, feeling better and shrinking into the huge pile of new clothes my friend Pat gave me! I wish you all a wonderful 2008 full of good health and happiness. Stay tuned for my 7 month update on January 13th. :o)
