Grace C.

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I was sitting in my doctor's office waiting to have my six months check up and I was cleaning out my purse.  (I get bored easily)  I picked up my wallet and noticed my driver's license picture that was taken in Sept. of 2008.  Wow completely different person.  But the thing that made me laugh was when I noticed what it had listed as my weight.  Then I realized that for the first time in a loooong time, the weight was actually right.   

Of course, while I am laughing at this is when the doctor came in and I had to explain what had set me off.  That is when he showed me the before picture I had taken in March.  I looked from my driver's license picture to that picture and couldn't believe that they were only 6 months apart and 6 months ago.  So much can happen in so little time it is amazing.

Right after I had my stricture fixed I developed acute sinusitis.  I was sick for a couple of weeks.  I was on liquid amoxacylin (sp?).  I also have a new nasal spray.  I tried a couple of liquid allergy syrups, they were supposed to be grape but I am not sure if you can even call what flavor they actually were as anything other than "yuck".  I couldn't keep them down for 30 seconds.  I am still having problems with mucus build up.  Every time I eat I spend the next 1/2 hour to an hour spitting up mucus.  Not pleasant but better than constantly throwing it up. 

Okay I am going to talk girlie talk so if you are a guy you might want to skip this paragraph. lol  The antibiotic ended up giving me a yeast infection.  So in the space of two weeks I was severely dehydrated, in the hospital for a stricture, ill, had acute sinusitis, and a yeast infection. 

Oh what a week it has been.  I have now finished my antibiotics and am taking my nasal spray.  I am feeling better.  My allergies still act up on occasion but it is getting better.  I am finally able to start trying more solid foods.  So far everything stays down some easier then others.  I am only able to eat maybe an ounce or two at a time but that too is getting better.  I am eating more at a time and more often every day.  I am drinking more and more fluids and doing more and more things.  I am finally beginning to think this wasn't the worst thing I ever did. 

I had to start looking for clothes because NOTHING I had except t-shirts fit me any more.  Even my underwear is falling off.  lol 

I HAD MY FIRST WOO HOO MOMENT, I went into the dressing room to try on jeans.  I had been wearing 14s and they were staying up but just barely.  So, I took in 12s to try on and they were too big too.  I am wearing size 10.  Can you believe it?  I went from 22 to 10. 

After weeks of getting sicker and sicker, I finally got to the point where I couldn't keep down water.  I also couldn't stop throwing up even though I had nothing on my stomach. I spent 4 days living in my bathroom.  I started getting really bad on a Friday night and it continued on through the weekend.  I called the doctor first thing on Monday morning and they told me I had a stricture.  That the opening from my esophagus to my pouch was closing.  The nurse talked to the doctor as soon as he finished with his Monday surgeries and they scheduled outpatient surgery for Wednesday morning.  Tuesday was the worst day ever.  By the time Wednesday rolled around I hurt all over and was so dehydrated I couldn't swallow.  They did an endoscopy on me.  When I woke up they were putting on my second IV bag.  They had trouble setting an IV line because I was so dehydrated. 

The doctor showed me pictures of the opening and said that it was as small as the tip of my pinkie finger.  He stuck a baloon down my throat and opened it up.  Within moments of waking I was chewing ice and VERY happy about it.  I will never take a drink of water for granted again.  I have eaten more in the first 24 hours since the surgery then I ate the week before.  I felt like a completely different person from the moment I woke up and I feel better now then I have since I had my bypass in March. 

If I can pass on any advice from this experience it is DON'T WAIT.  Call the Dr. or go to the ER if it is a weekend and the Dr. isn't in.  Being dehydrated is the worst feeling in the world.  

After I got home I decided to stay with my parents for a couple days.  That turned into ten days.  The first week I was worried about my drainage tube.  I knew it was irrational but I had this fear of falling or rolling over in bed and pulling out the tube.  I had a hard time eating.  I did not want anything at all to eat and had to keep forcing myself to eat anything.  The first few days were okay but then the area around the tube started getting irritated and sore.  I was SOOOO happy when the day came to get the tube removed.  I was also nervous because I worried that it would hurt.  I read posts of other members and they assured me it did not, which helped a lot, but I was still nervous.  When I got to the doctors office, they assured me that it wouldn't hurt.  Then they told me that the tube ran from my right side to under my left breast and down to my stomach.  I am really glad I didn't know that before.  When the nurse removed it there was a pop/tug and then a long slide that went really fast.  It didn't hurt at all but I was nauseous for a few minutes afterward. 

A note about my diabetes.  Before the surgery my glucose readings ran about 200 and my A1C was 9.  Since I have been home, they have been right on EVERY day.  My 14 day average is 109.  This was my main goal, getting my diabetes under control, so I couldn't be happier.  The weight loss is icing, very good icing, but still icing. 

After my tube was removed things started healing quickly.  Last year, I had a hysterectomy and it took me 3 months to recover.  It has been three weeks since the surgery and I am almost completely healed.  Just a little more healing where the tube was.  I am just amazed at how fast and how well I am healing.  I know having my diabetes under control is a huge factor.  Losing over 20lbs so far has helped too I am sure.

Today the weirdest thing happened.  My Mom told me that I looked like I had lost a lot of weight, I told her just about 20lbs and she said I had a "sexy figure"  True, it is just my Mom, but I was still stunned and happy.  She made my day. 

Regarding my diet, I still struggle to get in my protein.  I don't like eggs and I am sick of jello, pudding, and nutritional supplements.  Next week I start my soft foods and I cannot wait.  I have already snuck in some foods to try and have found a few things I can tolerate.  Getting in water has never had a problem, but now I have to remember to sip not gulp.  I get to reading, watching TV, or playing on the computer and forget and gulp.  As soon as I realize what I did it is off to the bathroom.   Hopefully, soon I will get into the habit.  

That is all for now.  I will write more when I think of it. 

Grace

First of all I would like to apologize for not writing sooner.  I got the flu and then a relative passed away.  Rough week. 

Okay back to my journey.  I arrived at the hospital at 8AM on Monday, and waited, and waited, and waited.  Finally around noon I went back to the pre op area.  After that things went really quickly.  I went back to my area and changed then they put in my IV and gave me my drugs.   Then Dr. Nease and one of his interns? came back.  After that things got fuzzy.  Where I had MRSA last year they took extra precautions.  Next thing I remember was waking up in recovery.  I was in a lot of pain till they gave me more drugs.   aah, good stuff lol

Once I was moved to my room I slept for a while.  Not long though, I swear the two days I was there they woke me up every 2 hours minimum.  As soon as I woke up and took the meds they gave me I decided to try and walk.  The nurse seemed surprised that I wanted to try so soon but I know me and if I would have put it off I would have just sat and worried about how much it would have hurt when I finally did.  Getting in and out of bed was actually harder than walking.  It is true that the more you walk the more the pain abates.  I tried to walk often and by the time I left Wednesday afternoon, I was having a lot less trouble getting up and down. 

I ran a fever in the hospital and they ran a second upper GI to make sure I hadn't developed any leaks.  It turned out okay though.   I also had an allergic reaction to the antibiotic IV they gave me and they had to stop it. 

I know I am bouncing around here but I am trying to write things as they come to me.

The first 36 hours was the hardest, I couldn't eat or drink anything.  I was so dry I became hoarse.  I always drink a lot of water.  Even when I was little I drank a lot.  This was really hard for me.  That crap, uumm stuff, they make you drink for the upper GI didn't help either.  Finally I could drink, but then I forgot about the sip don't gulp rule and got a stomach ache.  For such a small stomach it cause a big pain.  It took almost a whole day before I could talk with out it hurting.  The swabs helped my mouth but not my throat. 

That is all I can think of about the hospital, if anyone has any questions please post and I will answer them as soon as I can. 

I will write later about coming home and the drainage tube.  

After I was referred to Dr. Nease I went to his seminar and signed up.  Filled out ALL the forms. that took a while.  Then began the next almost year and a half of waiting.  I waited for my appointment with Dr. Nease and got it.  Then I went that same day and got all my tests done.  

Next, I waited for my appointment with the nutritionist.  While waiting I started a notebook of all things I had gathered.  I have BC/BS for insurance and the have a program called Blues on Call.  Where a nurse calls you or you call a nurse with questions.  They had been checking in with me regularly becuase of my diabetes.  When they called me I told them about my trying to get WLS.  They sent me a packet of information including a DVD which helped a lot. When I went to my appointment with my nutritionist I showed her the info they had sent me and she ended up making copies of some of it to start giving out.  

I learned a lot from that visit.  Things I still use.  

Before I re-started this journey, I had a period where I had given up, agian.  So, I had no doctor visits I could use.  I knew then that it would be a while before I could even send the application to the insurance.  So, more waiting.  

In the mean time, I got my test results back and found out that my thyroid was messed up.  So, I put WLS on the back burner while I started thyroid medication.  

After several months I started gaining weight not losing.      I even started using the things the nutritionist taught me like the protein powder.  Nothing. 

So WLS went back to the front burner.  I had gotten 2 of the visits in before the thyroid incident and got 2 more in before my "female" problems reared their ugly head.  I had just had a Novasure and laproscopy done in May 07.  That was supposed to be the end of it. 
Beware all male readers I am about to talk girly.  

After a 62 day continuous period that not even depro AND hormone supplements would stop, my ob/gyn finally decided to do a hysterectomy.  (I had been trying to get one for 5 years.)  So, April 08 I had a full cut hysterectomy done.  I ended up geting MRSA and taking 3 rounds of antibiotics, 4 if you count the antibiotic IV I got in the ER.  It took 3 months to get recovered.  When that was over I did not think I ever wanted to have any type of surgery again.  After talking to my friends here at OH I decided not to make any hasty decisions.     After a couple of months of talking with friends and doing even more research and finding people who have had both operations and everyone one said that the WLS was much easier.  (Now that I have gone through it I completely agree.)  I then decided to move forward with my plans for WLS.  I called Dr. Nease's office to find out what was left and if I had to wait very long after having surgery before I could have WLS.  They told me that as long as I was completely healed and my doctor agreed that I was ready to go forward everything should be fine.  They told me I needed 2 more reports from my doctor's office.  I set up the visits and after faxing it a few times finally got everything together.  Dr. Nease's office had moved in the middle of my journey so I had to get new phone/fax numbers.     My info was submitted to the insurance company on 11/20/08 give or take a few days.  I know it was right before Thanksgiving.  I called them on Jan 3, 09 and was told it was still sitting on the desk to be reviewed.  They said they would put it on the nurse's desk to review faster.  Two weeks later still nothing so I called back and they told me that it was still being reviewed.  At the end of January I called again and was told it had been approved on Jan 16, which was before I had called the last time.    So I called Dr. Nease's office to tell them and they said they just got the paperwork and once they had a date scheduled they would call me, YAY!

Around 10 days later I got the call.  Origionally they had told me it would be April before they could get me in, but they had a cancellation and got me in on 3/2.  I had about two weeks before my surgery date.     Things moved fast after that, I went to my pre-op education class and that answered a lot of questions and gave me some great tools.  Then I went to my pre-op appointment with Dr. Nease.  That went fine and the next day I started my liquid diet.     Tomorrow I will write about the surgery day and hospital visit.  So bye for now and to be continued........

I started this journey sixteen months ago.  Actually, I started way before that looking into and researching weight loss surgery options.  When I first heard about it, oh 7-8 years ago,  I thought someone would have to be crazy to go to such drastic measures.  I wasn't as heavy as I am now and did not have as many health problems. 

A few years went by, and I got heavier and heavier.  I developed diabetes, high cholesterol, PCOS, and a slew of other "female" problems.  No matter what I did I could not loose the weight I gained.  I became anemic and severly depressed.  I began sleeping up to 20 hours at a time.  After a time I quit my job and applied for disabiliy.  I was calling in more days that I actually went to work.  That took over a year and two appeals to get approved.  By that time I was agoraphobic.  I would go months without leaving the house and would only go places I was really familiar with and only if I had someone with me.  I ballooned up to 250lbs seemingly overnight, but I know it took a few years to happen. 

I tried every diet plan, pill, fad diet, and exerciese I could find.  Nothing.  I developed diabetes and had to switch to diet soda.  I lost 32lbs.  Only to put 10-15 back.  After years of trying and failing I heard about weight loss surgery again and thought about it more seriously this time.  After months of research I decided to go to a seminar in October 2007.  I liked what I heard and asked my doctor about it and he referred me to Dr. Nease. 

Tomorrow....Part II