dithware
Let's see, I made an appointment for the initial consult with Jeannie at Dr. Aslam's office way back in June and I went in for the consult on November 7th. Since then I've had my lab work done, I've had my psych consult, met with Jill Young (the dietician), I've been to respiratory therapy, I have an appointment with a counselor this week, and my gall bladder ultrasound is scheduled for December 5th. I'm really glad that everything is falling into place and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my insurance company will approve the surgery.
11/27/02 Great News!!! I just spoke with Jeannie to see if I was missing anything from my file so we could move on to the approval process and not only was my file complete and the info already sent to the insurance company but Jeannie got a call and I've been approved!!! She's now waiting for a hard copy and then I wait for a date! When she told me all I could say was "oh my god", "oh my god", "really?", oh my god"! To say that I'm excited is the understatement of the year. Well, nervous and excited.
12/3/02 I just heard from Dr. Aslam's office. I got my date!!! January 6th is the big day! They actually asked if I could do it next week (holy cow!) but I can't because I have a Christmas trip planned that I can't cancel. I am so excited!
12/5/02 I had my gallbladder ultrasound today -no gallstones! I have my one on one appointment with Dr. Aslam tomorrow and as of tomorrow it will be exactly 1 month to my surgery date! I also want to thank everyone who has sent me congratulations and best wishes and I want to wish everyone else good luck!
12/11/02 Only 26 days to my surgery! I'm getting very excited. I had my one on one appointment with Dr Aslam on Friday and I'm meeting with the dietician again today to get a refresher. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for everyone else who is in the process of getting approved.
12/16/02 21 days and counting! I met with the dietician (Jill Young) last week to get a refresher and she gave me shopping list. I'm gonna be away until the week before my surgery so I decided to go to the market this weekend and get what I needed. It was a real dose of reality for me. The surgery has been all that I can think of these days but for some reason, being there in the grocery store, buying Carnation Instant Breakfast, baby food, instant potatos, applesauce, etc... it all kind of came crashing down on me just how real this all is. I actually had to stop and gather myself together for a few minutes. I started to hyperventilate and the room started spinning. It was kind of scary. It wasn's as bad as it sounds though. I don't think that I drew attention to myself or anything, I just had to stop and pull myself together. It wasn't fear or doubt or anything like that -just a dose of reality I guess (well, maybe a little fear). I am very excited to get on with my new life as a "loser"!
1/17/03. Well it's been quite a while since I've updated. I had my surgery on Monday, January 6th. The day before was not a good day. The fleets stuff was nasty and I started to feel very nervous and anxious and a little nauseated. I didn't get much sleep and by the time I got to the hospital at 6am I felt like I was gonna throw up. I couldn't wait for them to knock me out!
My stay in the hospital was pretty much uneventful except I did have some trouble getting enough oxygen into my lungs at one point but that resolved itself within a couple of days. I was discharged Thursday evening and every day I feel better and better. I had my 10 day appointment yesterday and they took the drain tubes out (ouch!) and the staples. Now I feel a little more like a human and a little less like a Christmas tree! Now I'm sipping water, gatorade, chicken broth, and sugar free jello and I'm feeling pretty good. And my weight loss as of yesterday is 22 lbs! Pretty amazing.
1/20/03. Well, today I don't feel so hot. Yesterday afternoon I tried Carnation Instant Breakfast with Lactaid skim milk and it went down very well but then I had diarrea for the next few hours and I woke up today feeling nauseated. I called the office and Jeannie said that it may be a bug or an intolerance and to go back to clear liquids for the next 24 hours along with gatorade and CIB w/water in my feed tube. So I've had water, crystal light, jello and broth by mouth and so far I feel so-so. I guess I'll just take it easy and see how it goes.
2/13/03. I'm 38 days post-op now and as of this morning I'm down 38 pounds. I have been feeling very good lately and am tolerating most foods. I feel like more of a normal human being now. After my feeding tube was removed I really felt like I was making progress. One of the things that I have trouble with is getting enough water in but I do try very hard. I carry my bottle with me everywhere I go and am constantly sipping. I decided to go with monthly B-12 shots instead of trying to get down more pills. This way I don't have to wonder about absorption or lack there of. My PCP gave me a prescription so I can give myself the monthly shot at home and the the total cost is less than 5 bucks. I'm not a huge fan of shots but I'm also not a huge fan of B-12 deficiency. Anyway, all goes well and I'm looking forward to whatever comes next!
2/27/03 I'm 7 1/2 weeks postop and as of this morning I'm down 47 pounds. Still feeling great with a few minor pains and twinges in my abdomen but nothing I can't handle. It's taken some time for me to figure out what it feels like to be full because it's a totally different felling now but I think I'm on the right track. I have dumped a few times from eating too much and that is what has made me realize that my full feeling is different than it used to be. I have read that eating even one bite over full makes people sick and boy, is it true for me! When I have to stop, I really have to stop.
3/7/03 I'm approx. 2 months postop and as of yesterday I'm down 50 lbs!
3/27/03 Went in for a check up today at Dr Aslam's and I'm now down 60 lbs since surgery and 63 lbs from my highest. I requested that they do my bloodwork also because my energy is very low and I think I'm eating right and I'm getting lots of exercise and taking all my vitamins so I just want to make sure everything is on track.
4/24/03 I weighed in today at Dr. Aslams and I'm now down 71 lbs since surgery and 74 lbs from my highest. My hair has started to fall out and while it is very depressing, I'm not letting it get me down. I know that it will grow back at some point and for what I've gotten so far from this surgery I think it's a pretty fair trade. I've had very few problems so far. I've dumped a few times and I had intestinal spasms once (scared the s*it out of me!). I'm still trying to find just the right balance of nutrients from food and nutrients from supplements but I suppose that will be a life long series of adjustments.
5/1/03 Lost 2 more this week so that's 73 since surgery and 76 since my highest.
5/8/03 I went to see my PCP yesterday just for a quick checkup. He was very impressed with my weight loss and the fact that I no longer need my blood pressure meds, GERD meds, or asthma meds. Post-op my blood pressure would average about 130/90 (on medication) and yesterday it was 112/72 -quite a difference! He was a little concerned about the fact that I was so run down and tired all the time though so he did a full blood work-up to see if there was anything going on. He said it might be as simple as increasing the frequency of my B12 shot. Let's hope so. We'll see. As of today I'm down 74 lbs since surgery and 77 lbs since right before. My hair has been falling out for about 2 weeks now but I can handle that and I know that it will grow back eventually.
6/26/03 Today is my 33rd birthday and July 6th will be my 6 month anniversary of my surgery. As of this morning I have lost 91 lbs since surgery and 94 since right before. I'm now receiving my B12 shot twice a month and I think it has made a big difference. I can't remember the last time I felt this good. My brother came to visit a few weeks ago and he hadn't seen me since Christmas and boy was he shocked! I continue to struggle to get enough water in every day and I do pretty good. When I don't get enough I definitely feel the effects. I'm taking 1500mgs of calcium citrate, 2 multi vitamins, an omega-3 supplement and extra protein every day. And my B12 shot twice a month. It took me a while to figure out the best supplements to take. I discovered through a mountain of research that we (rny'ers) don't absorb calcium carbonate very well and that the preffered type for us is calcium citrate. Also capsules are better than tablets because they break down faster. I searched around for an omega-3 supplement that didn't taste like fish and found a great product called Coromega. I learned to test my multi vitamins by putting them in a glass of water to see how long it took for them to break down and realized that I probably wasn't getting much out of them so I found one that dissolved faster. I have learned a ton about protein -which kinds are best for us to absorb, which ones have low sugar, low lactose and low carbs, which ones taste the best, and so on and so on. I have learned so much in such a short amount of time. The one thing that I have learned that really stands out is just how much there is to learn and in order to learn it you really have to take the initiative and get out there and dig around. The information will not come to you. I feel truly blessed at this point in my life and I hope that everyone feels that they can come to me for any advice or support that they may need. It is such a journey that we are all going through.
7/2/03 I have always avoided mirrors (like everyone else I guess). When I would see a reflection of myself before surgery it was almost as if I was looking at someone else. I guess in my mind's eye I have always seen myself as a thin person (but haven't been one since I was 10) and when I saw what I really looked like, it would just break my heart and my spirit every single time. Now that I'm post-op (5'1" and down 94lbs from 248) I'm just starting to be able to stop and look at myself in a mirror or a store window. It truly warms my heart to finally start to see the person that I have always known has been hiding inside all of that fat for so long. I just want to cry and laugh and jump up and down all at the same time. What a wonderful feeling. But going along with all of this is another thought -I wonder how long it will be this time? How long will this last? When am I gonna start gaining the weight back like I've done on all those diets? That thought is ever-present. It's not overwhelming or anything but it is always there in the back of my mind.
10/15/03 Well I thought I should update since it's been so long. I've hit my first plateau and it's been a doozy! I've been stuck for over a month now. I've been very lucky not to have had this happen until now but it still sucks. I only have 18 more pounds to get to my goal so it's really no surprise at all that I have stalled. I feel great and I'm trying to work through some of the emotional stuff now. My mind is having a hard time catching up with my body -there are times when I still feel like I have that 112 lbs on me. It's such a massive change to go through and I know it will take time for everything to work itself out.
7/3/06-
Well it's been way too long since I've updated! Since my last update I've had a little gain and have also built up a lot of muscle so my weight is a little higher than I wanted it but that's just my mind doing it's thing! I'm wearing size 4 & 6 jeans and I am so much healthier than I've ever been so I most certainly consider myself a huge success still at 3 1/2 years out! I still battle with my food issues but it's not anything that I can't handle. Unfortunately my local support group disbanded so I get most of my support from this website. I also still see a therapist who specializes in food issues so that is a big help. I would love to start another group but I don't think that I could do it on my own. If someone was willing to share the responsibilities with me I would do it in a heartbeat. My surgeon has stopped practicing and his patients are spread out all over the state so I'm not really sure where to start with that. Anyway, I thought it was about time that I post an update so here I am!
Date.................... loss............weight..................BMI
12/1/02....................................248.....................46.9
1/6/03 (surgery).....-3...............245.....................46.3
1/16/03.................-25..............222.....................41.9
1/24/03.................-30..............218.....................41.2
1/29/03.................-34..............214.....................40.4
1/30/03.................-37..............211.....................39.9
2/06/03.................-38..............210.....................39.7
2/13/03.................-41..............207.....................39.1
2/19/03.................-45..............203.....................38.4
2/27/03.................-50..............198.....................37.4
3/06/03.................-53..............195.....................36.8
3/13/03.................-57..............191.....................36.1
3/21/03.................-61..............187.....................35.3
3/27/03.................-63..............185.....................35.0
4/03/03.................-68..............180.....................34.0
4/10/03.................-70..............178.....................33.6
4/17/03.................-71..............177.....................33.4
4/24/03.................-74..............174.....................32.9
5/01/03.................-76..............172.....................32.5
5/08/03.................-77..............171.....................32.3
5/15/03.................-79..............169.....................31.9
5/22/03.................-81..............167.....................31.6
5/29/03.................-83..............165.....................31.2
6/05/03.................-85..............163.....................30.8
6/12/03.................-89..............159.....................30.0
6/19/03.................-90..............158.....................29.9
6/26/03.................-94..............154.....................29.1
7/03/03.................-96..............152.....................28.7
7/10/03.................-98..............150.....................28.3
7/24/03.................-100............148.....................28.0
7/31/03.................-101............147.....................27.8
8/14/03.................-104............144.....................27.2
8/26/03.................-108............140.....................26.5
9/10/03.................-112............136.....................25.7
11/11/03...............-113............135.....................25.5
11/19/03...............-114............134.....................25.3
12/03/03...............-117............131.....................24.8 in the normal range!!!
12/30/03...............-120............128.....................24.2
2/3/04...................-121............127.....................24.0
2/23/04.................-124.............124....................23.4
3/6/04..................-126.............122.....................23.1
6/8/04..................-129.............119.....................22.5
