HSkiles
Heather Skiles Aurora, CO, USA Post Op - BMI: 53.1 Surgery Type: RNY Member ID: S1104264902 Contact: Click here to send a Personal Message Surgeon: Jonathan A. Schoen, M.D. Click here for Heather's surgery support page Click here for the 03/2005 Reunion Page Click here to print Heather's cards (You can print your own cards, and if you're good at it, you can help print cards for your friends as well!) This is your old-style profile. It is not viewable by anyone except you. Click here to see your new-style profile. I am 25 and married to a wonderful supportive man. When we met I was 245lbs and now as far as we can figure I am close to 325lbs. I haven't been weighed for about 3 months due to us being transferred, at that time I was over my "I will not go over 300 lbs" by 18lbs. I am currently in a size 32 pair of jeans. I can't wait until this goes down. My husband is in the US Air Force and we were stationed in England for 3 years. In that time, we have estimated that I have lost a total of 100lbs over the 3 years but gained about 165lbs back, considering that I was 260 when I left the US. So evening out the 100 and gaining an additional 65lbs (at least). So, where did we move to, you ask... well we moved to Colorado after a cramped and embarrassing 15 hours total flight. However we have only been here a month and I am still unpacking as we have only been in our home for a little under 2weeks, and got our household goods a week ago. We seem to be settling in ok, but we aren't sure if we like it here yet or not... We have two dogs Max and Yoda. Max is our 4 year old shih-tzu, cut as a button and as calm as can be. Yoda however is our 1.5 year old jack russell who is our mischievous one, he is as cute as can be, but his rambunctious way causes us to over look it sometimes. Needless to say they are here to watch over the house while hubby is away (not the best guard dogs, but they like to bark at friends and strangers). We have no children, as of yet. I would like to have more hobbies that include activities that I can't do right now because of my weight. I have heard of Gastric Surgery ever since my mom went through it about 7 years ago. Since age 10 I have struggled with my weight and have been through every diet know to man. Not including being to 4 nutritionists and a personal trainer. Because of this, My mom has been suggesting (well nagging) that I have this surgery ever since I turned 18. I started looking into and researching it 5 years ago and start working toward getting it done for the past 3 years. I was approved to have it done before while we were stationed in England but due to circumstances including the surgeon being transferred, I was never able to get it done. I now believe it is my time to get this thing started, done and work towards a better healthier lifestyle. Thank God I don't have any co-morbidity to go with it yet, but I am sure they will poke their heads up and surprise me one day if I don't get the surgery. _____________________________________________________ MY SURGERY JOURNEY JOURNAL _____________________________________________________ December 28, 2004 Today I went to the doctors and asked them about Gastric Bypass, or Gastric Banding. I was informed that I more than qualified since I was over 200% over my ideal weight. Because I have no other complications such as sleep apnea or diabetes, they said I could have it done laparoscopically. If I have to have it, I kinda like that idea. It means I won’t have to stay at the hospital, in bed, or off my feet as long as my mom did. I kinda wish that I could do gastric banding, but I will be happy just to be healthy again, or to say for the first time in my life. At this point we aren't quite sure exactly how much I weigh. However, we think I have finally hit close to 325. I know Harry is getting upset over the fact that I am not losing any weight at all, only gaining. And, the airplane ride over from England to here was miserable. More miserable for him I think because he had to endure being squished in the seats next to my hips. I know he is tired of not being able to go out when we want to because we have to think of the seats when we go. It's now become instinct for me to glance at the seating in a certain area and I can pretty much tell if I can sit there or not. Knowing where my butt fits means no movie theaters, no amusement parks, and a much harder time fastening my seat belt in a car and an airplane. Today for the first time Harry and I had to question my health, my blood pressure was really elevated 140/96. The highest I have ever had it. I am not sure whether it was the blood pressure machine squeezing the crap out of my arms (because the medical technician had to take my blood pressure 3 times, finally giving in and taking it manually the last time to get the reading), or whether the machine is a convenient excuse. I know I have used a lot of excuses over the years but I can't help feeling apprehension over the whole thing. Thank God there is www.obesityhelp.com out there to help. I got on their site and they said that the feelings I am having is perfectly normal. But hell, I have been through one laparoscopy, why can’t I do this one? Another apprehension is, how am I going to look, feel, live after all of this is said and done. I have never been thin. How do I deal with the idea that I don’t have to walk into a store and be embarrassed that my size isn’t on a rack? How do I deal when I walk down the street and don’t feel winded after a good mile? How will I be able to deal with the idea that I might be able to live life without feeling like I just can’t get things done and accomplish? I don’t have an answer, but I am sure as time goes on, I will be able to find out these things and other concerns I have. Mainly, it isn’t the surgery I am concerned about, it’s the lifestyle. Can I live up to the lifestyle that is needed for this surgery? Can I live up to the lifestyle I will be introduced to because I am able to lose weight finally? I am sure as long as I remember that this surgery isn’t a fix it all, but a tool. I think I will be just fine. December 29, 2004 Today as I was watching TV, I began to think of my decision more and more. And the questions of why I have waited so long began flowing into my head. Perhaps, someday if anyone ever reads this, they may be on a journey of hope just as I am, it might help them decide to go the next step. I have been dieting and exercising since I was 12, and overweight since I was 10 so why is it that I have only lost a good amount of weight two times in my life? What I mean by good amount of weight is 50 lbs. The first one being I wanted to get somewhere really really badly and didn’t have a ride. The other was because of new medication for ADHD with loss of appetite being a side effect (then I was told I wasn’t eating enough and that I should eat 2200 cal a day vs. the 800 cal I was eating). I have now started to ask myself very important questions that I should have done before. I have changed many other big factors in my life, my boundaries system for one. Where do I draw the line on people taking advantage of my circumstances? Where do I say enough is enough when it comes to other people? How to cope with other people breeching those boundaries and have the guts to say enough, no more, you can’t do that anymore. Enough balls to understand that I am in control of what I do and what I say, where I go and how I feel. What I failed to ask was, when is enough, enough when it comes to what I am doing to myself? When do you decide that you need help with solving your issues that you can’t do it on your own anymore, that you need help. When does trying your way do more harm than good? When does spending all the time and money on countless exercise and diet regimes that only harm you instead of help like they promise? When am I going to stop lying about my weight to myself? When is it time to say enough is enough, it’s time for the next step? Well, about 2 months ago, after flying back from England, sitting in cramped seats, my rear end causing more problems for my husband and myself, I was sitting in Lane Bryant’s dressing room. I had pulled a size 28 off the shelf, the biggest they had in the store. Of all the places that us bigger women have to go to find clothes I had the biggest size sitting next to me on the bench. I could have sworn that I had not let myself go that far. I had not gone over my Ultimate Boundary…. 300lbs. But looking in the mirror, a full length mirror, I saw what I had never seen before. How I look from another person’s point of view. When you look down at yourself, you don’t seem as over weight as what you really are. It didn’t help that every time I went to the doctor’s office I had to tell them to keep going up on the scales, or I was asked by military members if I was in the military. But when I would look down and still look down I don’t see myself in that bad of a shape. I mean I can still walk a mile, yeah it takes me 30 minutes to do, but I can still do it without too much of a problem. Perhaps this is what has lulled me into my false sense of healthiness. Perhaps I truly didn’t see how far gone I had gone because I wasn’t being told the truth, or perhaps I wasn’t believing it. Either way, After sitting down and trying on their biggest sizes and realizing I was now a 4x-5x and all the diets and pills and exercise hadn’t worked, I knew it was time to talk to someone about help. Harry being supportive now, opened the lines of communications in regards to the surgery to my doctor. We just moved to Colorado and the last thing you really want to be doing is going to see a new doctor with such an old problem. I mean I have been overweight since I was 10, so I believe 15 years of diet and exercise is an old problem. It didn’t help that while we were there, my blood pressure was higher than I had ever seen it before. And again I had to cover for the idea that my health and wellbeing isn’t what I thought it was. Perhaps my pseudo-healthiness was covering for the fear I had about being thin. Considering I have never been thin, how do I deal with a whole new set of rules. I am not talking about what I eat, but how I am treated? Perhaps I have been using my weight as a barrier against the world. But no matter what I know that I need to discover why I do these things, whether they are psycho-analyzed reasons or not. There is something that has been holding me back, the apprehension that has caused so much delay. Perhaps I can’t admit I can’t do it on my own. Who knows, but until I found out why, and discover who I truly am without all this weight, I will continue to kid myself over how I can do this on my own, that diet and exercise will be enough. January 6th I have gotten an appointment with Dr. Schoen, my surgeon. I see him on Feb 2nd at 3pm. I see Kelly Elliot, my nutritionist some time in February. And I see Dr. Milliron, my psychologist for the mental health review on the 27th of January and the 3 of February at 1 pm both days. I have been asked to keep a 7 day food diary for Dr. Schoen so that he knows what kind of caloric intake I need after the surgery. I have been asked to bring a pen, highlighter, a drink, and $200 in cash to Kelly for the nutrition class. I have been asked to bring a mental health check list to Dr. Milliron. I can’t wait for the package of information from Dr. Schoen gets here. I hope it has a lot of good stuff in it. January 26, 2005 Went to go visit my parents for the first time in 3 years, mom had GBS 7 years ago and she is doing really well. I can only hope I look as good as what my mom does. While I was at Mom and Dad’s I weighted myself for the first time in 3 months. I weighed 317. So basically I have lost a pound in the last 3 months rather than gain. I don’t get it. For some reason if I try to lose weight I can and when I am not trying to lose weight I stay level or do. So what is the point in changing the way I eat and focusing on what I do? I don’t get it. January 27, 2005 I got to meet Dr. Milliron for the first time, she is really nice and I like going to see her. We talked about the surgery and she told me that she highly recommends that I am mentally stable enough to go through it. She said she would write me a good eval. And that her only concern was that I didn’t have much support here because we just moved here. February 2, 2005 Well I went to the surgeon’s office today, sat there for about 3 hrs between each person I saw. Andie is really nice, found out that she was in the Navy as a coreman and that was trying to get into PA school. She not only works at Dr. Shoen’s office but also works at Chili’s. Met the nurse, well for a few minutes, she was nice and it was nice to know she was human and made a couple of mistakes, bless her heart, she put down that I was 219 instead of 319, for my weight. Also, met Kelly Elliott, she is really really nice and she knows what she is doing. I was shocked by her skill in figuring out what I was eating just by looking at my food diary. She said my diet wasn’t bad because it fit between what my body needed just to stay it’s weight rather than lose or get worse. From what I saw, I was at 2295 cal/day when I should be in taking something like 2100 – 3000 cal/day. Met Wendy, Dr. Shoen’s PA, she was nice but seemed a bit stand offish to me. I don’t know maybe because she was being more clinical than anything. I suppose it is her job, but she is really nice. Then came in Dr. Shoen, he is as nice as his staff is. I don’t think anyone in the office really looks at what you write. I wrote down everything they asked me about, I think it would have been easier all the way around if they just asked the questions. I think the questionnaire only helped me to know what they would be asking. Dr. Schoen seemed to only have 2 concerns, my mental state and the fact that I smelled like smoke from Harry. He told me no smoking for 8 weeks, which is not a problem. He said if Dr. Milliron was happy with my mental state he wouldn’t have a problem with doing the surgery. Most of all, I felt that I was more organized than they were as well as I felt like I wasn’t communicated to on how long I would be in the office. To that fact I wasn’t informed that I could be sitting for an hour waiting to see the next person and I felt a bit ignored or forgotten. I was the last patient to leave the building. And, needless to say my husband wasn’t happy when I got out of the office 3 hours later. I mean I can be patient to the ends of the earth, but when my husband has a problem he really seems to make it a big issue. All in all I do like my surgeon and his staff. February 3, 2005 Saw Dr. Milliron today. I told her about what Dr. Shoen needed in regards to no smoking for 8 weeks and that there was a test you could get for nicotine. She said we could go two ways about it, we could ask for the test from Dr. Shoen, to hopefully move up the date or I keep seeing her until the surgery. I think I will keep seeing her rather than push the surgery, cause as much as I want to get the surgery done, I don’t think seeing Dr. Milliron would hurt. Also she is going to request that I see her after the surgery too, which I don’t have a problem with. February 4, 2005 Today I got a call from Christine from Dr. Schoen’s office. She informed me that I should go to Dr. Milliron about my psych eval as well as set up an appointment with Kelly for nutrition, which proves that Dr. Schoen’s office doesn’t really communicate with each other. I told Dr. Schoen as well as Wendy that I had the appointments already set up and pretty much got the psych eval done. February 13, 2005 I went to have my nutrition class today. Man was Kelly a wonderful source of knowledge. She has been doing GBS Nutrition for 18 years!! She gave us a hand out and had us take notes. I think I was probably the only one writing down everything. I don’t think I learned anything new, but pretty much concreted the dos and don’ts of the surgery. I am really glad I went and I really like Kelly. I would recommend her to anyone!! February 15, 2005 I HAVE MY SURGERY DATE!!!!!!!!!!!! Christine called today, from Dr. Schoen’s office. She said that she could give me the tentative date of the 10th of March. I have a pre-op appt on the 1st of March. Everything will go as planned once the insurance company comes back with the okay. I have already told his grandmother and some people on the site. I called my mom but she wasn’t home. Also saw Dr. Milliron today as well. She is so nice and I really like her too. She suggested that I come and see her every so often after the surgery, really for support. Since we don’t know many people in the area, it’s probably the best idea. February 16, 2005 Finally got a hold of my mom and told her about my surgery date. She just listened to what is going on lately and it was really nice to talk to her. She hurt her knee really badly right after I left and it looks like she will have knee surgery on the 25th of March (unless someone cancels and she can move up the list). This means that it doesn’t look like she will be here for my surgery. I have dealt with big stuff like this before without mom, but knowing that she is a good listener and knowing that I can call her really helps. Sis called me tonight and asked me what my big news was, apparently my mom and sis thought I was pregnant…. That would be unbelievable. Well I told Sis my surgery date and everything. She seems sorta supportive, but she is going through a diet center where she lives that is going to cost her an arm and a leg. On top of that it has a money back guarantee which is interesting. I hope she can lose her baby weight that way she doesn’t have to go through this surgery too. I mean mom and I are enough, if she can avoid it, I am all for it. February 18,2005 Wow, 3 days and Christine called me back and told me I was approved to have the surgery!!! I am so happy. So it is official that I will be going through surgery on the 10th of March!! Whoo hoo I felt like running around the house and doing cartwheels!! Now I can't do cartwheels, but the excitement was unbelievable. I have 3 weeks before I go through surgery!! February 25, 2005 I went to my anesthesiology appointment today. My blood pressure was 128/62, normal I was happy and then they weighed me and I had lost 3 lbs. They did my EKG and drew some blood and did a quick physical. The anesthesiologist asked me a bunch of questions like does anesthesia effect you in a bad way or does anyone in your family have anesthesia problems. And tons of other questions, she said that was the quickest medical interview that she has ever done cause everything she asked I said no to. So basically, my EKG is clear, my blood is okay, and I was given the all clear by anesthesiology. I can't wait. Now all I have to do is show up for my pre op on the 1st of March and then to surgery on the 10th! March 1, 2005 Had my pre-op today, thought it would be more that what it was. I got weighed lost another 4 lbs. My blood pressure was 128/84, a little elevated but still normal. The PA was supposed to come in and do my appointment but she didn't show up after being paged 3 or 4 times. So, Dr. Schoen had to come in and go through everything, did the final physical as well as have me sign the consent forms. So, everything is ready to go on the 10th!! I can't wait. March 8, 2005 It's the Final Countdown... 2 days and counting... Took my measurements last night. Going to take my pre op pics tomorrow night. My Measurements Pre-OP From Bottom to Top: calves 19 1/2" thighs 34" hips 63 1/2" waist 55" boobs 52" arms 18" wrists 7" neck 16" head 23 1/2" I can't wait until these measurements go down!! March 9,2005 Well we took my pre op pics so as soon as we get them developed, I will scan them into the computer. Also to the Phospho Soda, which tastes HORRIBLE!!! OMG that is the worst tasting stuff ever. And it doesn't feel good coming out the other end either. If you have to take it, DILUTE DILUTE DILUTE, and use Ginger Ale or 7UP, I used Lemonade and Crystal Light Orange and it didn't taste good at all. I used what I used cause I had quit soda all together and didn't want to go back to it. BUT USE SODA!! Also, get some Tucks or something like that cause your Butt will HURT really badly. And to pee after you do this burns if you are hurting. March 10, 2005 Well, this is it. I go in at 8 am today and I have surgery at 10 am. I slept okay, woke up about 4 times last night though. And I was still pooing out that Phospho Soda. Got as much fluid down me as I can. And now I have everything packed and ready to go. So Here goes. WISH ME LUCK!!! I will update everything when I get back on the computer, hopefully at the latest by Monday. March 14, 2005 The below inserts are added after the fact but were written down the day they happened. And after I woke up from surgery. I was on morphine so if it sounds weird, I am sorry. LOL March 10, 2005 Man, did anxiety hit me when we got into the hospital. But I didn't chicken out. Jerri, the pre op nurse was the person I talked to yesterday and man is she funny. She was very upbeat and I felt she was genuinely glad to see me. Ursula is the pre op nurse who took care of me and was man was she calming. She spoke is such quiet and relaxed tones. Her voice was very soft and she had such a mild nature. She took everything step by step and let me know what was going to happen next. She really took care of the anxiety. Ursula put in the iv by massaging my arm and hand using reflexology. Then she used Lidocaine to put the IV so I wouldn't feel the pain. I didn't feel a thing, it was great. She gave me some lemon swabs to take away my dry mouth. And OMG The bed moves, it massages you while you are sitting there. Ursula explained that it keeps your muscles from tensing up while you are laying sedentary in bed. Ursula even put on the restrictive hose and the cuffs on my legs. The cuffs and hose are supposed to prevent your legs from blood clots. Then came in the party at 9:30 am: Peter the nurse, Dr. Ron D. (still don't remember his last name) the surgical resident, Dr. Schoen my surgeon, Tomas my anesthesiologist and I believe her name was Kate the anesthesiology nurse. Talk about questions galore. Then show time they wheeled me into the operating room and had me sorta scoot onto the operating table. The anesthesiology nurse was like take deep breaths, this is oxygen and that's all I remember until........ ............ I woke up in Recover and Damn did my feet hurt so badly. And the thing they have in my nose is horrible. I had some chest pain but I think it is the gas they put in me. And of all things my tongue is numb. From what I understood at the time was that they had me leaning forward and bearing weight onto my feet. It's supposed to make the bowels drop so that they can get in there and do what they need to do. Normally they put foam and all sorts of padding around your feet so that it doesn't hurt you. Well for some reason I am the 3rd person to have this problem and they don't know how to fix it yet. But this could be the anesthesia talking so I will ask Dr. Schoen tomorrow. They said the sides of my feet where my pinky to is, is really really red and even suggested that I may have blisters. But then another nurse suggested calluses which I am inclined to agree more. They wrapped my feet in ice and put them up on pillows for me. The doc told me to keep moving them, so that is what I did. The breathing thingy they put in my nose really hurt so I had them put it in my mouth, I am a mouth breather anyhow so I think it worked better. It made my mouth extremely dry, but my mouth is dry all the time anyhow. And it didn't help with my tongue being numb. Man the Lemon Swabs really helped with everything. The ride to the room hurt cause there were a few bumps like between the elevator and the doors and stuff, but the room was great!! It had it's own plasma screen TV, the bed moved for me, my own bathroom and shower and the view was beautiful, could see the mountains on the horizon. The machine beeped weird several times through out the night and I had to keep asking for the ice packs to be replaced for my feet. I had some really nice nurses. Erin was my morning nurse and Tanya was the CMA. They were really nice and encouraged me to get up and walk all the time. Pat was my night nurse and Beverly was the CMA. All I had to do was push the button and they did there best to get me what I needed. The machine beeping weird is was the morphine running low. They give you this push button that you can dispense your own morphine every 8 min. Harry only stayed around for a couple of hours, not much I could say to him really. I was out of it so he called my mom and his family, Angi, Allan and gave them the phone number and my room number. Come to find out later, he gave everyone the wrong number LOL. Allen called while I was in recovery and waking up. The nurses wouldn't give him any information but took down his phone number for me. Harry said he would call Allan and let him know everything went great. Angi called me, I couldn't talk long but appreciated her call. I was so lucky have two angels watching over me lol. And a ton in spirit. She said she would let everyone in the chat room know how I was. Harry called later and said he was watching Smackdown. He said the doc was pleased with how the surgery went. He said that the doc did a different type of surgery I guess where the bowels go over the stomach rather than under so there is a less risk of obstruction due to the way my bowels are set up. He also said he came in the chat room and let everyone know I was okay. March 11,2005 All in all I haven't had much pain. My feet are getting better. Pat told me I should be getting the NG tube out this morning. I can't wait. I am still on the lemon swabs so far and haven't been able to drink anything. All in all everyone is so nice here and I can pretty much sit up on my own. My drain leaked today and I asked Pat if it was because I sat up and she said no that it's normal. She put a dressing on it. My eyes are zoning and I can't focus but I think it's cause of the morphine. Erin said I am the most awake patient she has ever had, considering I was on morphine and wasn't loopy. Wendy (Dr. Shoen's PA) came in today. She said surgery went great, she removed the NG tube which hurt so bad thought that my nose was bleeding it hurt so bad. She did a quick exam and said everything looked great. Apparently my felt hurt because at some point docs do position you in with your feet stabilizing your body. You are still flat, but you are tipping down so that that they can get to the bowels. And Wendy said more and more people are having this problem even though they do everything in their power to stop it. They are still trying to figure out why this happens so they can fix it. Wendy said it was best to keep the ice on and for me to keep moving them. They said I could start to walk today and they would remove my catheter. And they are going to train me how to use the drain I have to go home with. And Wendy said I could have some ice water today. And that I could have Jell-O and chicken broth tonight. She said there shouldn't be any reason why I can't go home tomorrow. She was impressed with my range of motion. She is sending me home with vicoden. She gave me the script today so that Harry can go get them at the pharmacy, cause tomorrow is Saturday. Wendy won't be here tomorrow. Dr. Ron the resident surgeon, he confirmed what Wendy said about moving me to where some of my weight is put on my feet during surgery. He is coming in to see me tomorrow. He said he was shocked that I had more pain in my feet then in my stomach. Dr. Schoen came in today. He looked at my feet and said he could tell that's where I place all my weight cause of the calluses. He is coming in to see me again tomorrow. He also said my bowels were in great shape so he did an anti revision vs. revision, this is supposed to reduce the risk of obstruction. Basically my bowels go over the stomach instead of under the stomach, so it stretches the bowels to begin with. Well, they got me up and walking finally. I walked to the door and back. I sat down in the chair while Tanya made the bed. Erin took out my catheter and I wanted to go pee. I had to turn on the water to make it drip to go pee but I got out a little. I got on some underwear and a pad, just in case I started my period. Erin scratched my legs cause the stockings itch w/o the massaging cuffs. Cause I am walking now, I am told I don't need to have them on. Erin and Tanya are great. Actually everyone I have met here is really nice. Harry gave everyone the wrong number to the room. So my whole family was calling the wrong room. Mom and Allan called, sad thing was I just dozed off. But I really loved hearing from them. The in-house nutritionist came in and gave me some instructions that Kelly put together. Got my ice chips and some water. Trying 1 oz every 8 min (every time I hit the morphine take a drink), it's not easy, but I am trying to do my best. I am starting to feel pressure and sorta feels like indigestion when I start to feel that I stop. Went to pee, more then a dribble, for the first time since the catheter was pulled. I had the tap on again, it was hard cause I knew I had to go, but felt as if I had to hold it in. Finally went. Tanya said after she gets back from lunch she will take me for a walk. I have a slight hazy cough. It hurts to cough and it's tiring to just talk or write, or even crotchet. Dr. Ron came in again to check on me and said he was concerned about my breathing, so I needed to do the breathing machine more and he was also concerned that I didn't have the massagers on, so he had them put them back on. He said he didn't want me to get a pulmonary embolism. And he was concerned about how much oxygen was getting into my blood. He said I wasn't getting in enough air so he really wanted me to focus on the breathy machine. Pat took me off the morphine. I was itching like I had ants crawling over me. They gave me benedryl and have started crushing my vicoden. Another nurse came in tonight. She was great, she rubbed and massaged my back, and it felt so good. She said she was apologizing for the absence of Pat, but Pat had 4 emergencies tonight one including a death. Poor Pat was running around ragged tonight. I have started breathing more into my breathy machine. And I have started a routine, Pee, walk, sleep, pee, walk, sleep. It works and the nurses are all happy about it. March 12, 2005 I have been doing my routine since 1:30 am. And now I can walk on my own. It's great. But I am having a hard time breathing in, my nose is making a weird wheezing noise when I breathe in through it. So everyone knows when I coming. One nurse said, man aren't you the model patient. And Erin was happy to see me up as often as I was. Dr Schoen told me to breath deeper while I was walking. Basically everyone was cheering me on. Dr Shoen and Dr Ron both think I can go home today if my breathing is where it needs to be. They are still a little concerned over my feet, but they are feeling better, still numb. I kept up my routine all day today and Dr Ron finally came in around 5 and did another exam to make sure how I am doing. He told me I have the ability to stay if I need to and don't feel ready to go home yet or I can go home. He was about to go home so I needed to let him know so that he could write the order for me to go home if I wanted to. Then he said he would write it now just in case. I told him I want to go home. So he wrote up the order. I got my first "shower" in 2.5 days, and I got dressed in my baggy clothes. My period still hasn't started, but I am going to keep the pad on just in case. It feels nice to get out of the gown finally. We sat for a bit and Erin came in and let me sign the discharge orders. Then room service came in. This stuff doesn't taste good. Erin is going to go call for a wheel chair. At this point I am so tempted to walk to the car, even though I know I won't make it.. it's 6pm. I want to go home and the wheelchair hasn't shown up yet. Harry hasn't had anything to eat since 11:30 so he is hungry. Finally Erin was like Transport still hasn't shown up? So she got a wheelchair for us. Poor dear, took her 15 minutes to get one. And she was so sweet, she wheeled me out. Sucks that the wheelchair didn't have places to put your feet. She was like I am so sorry, Transport should be doing this for you. I said it's okay. And man was it cold outside. Harry drove the car around and I got in. He left the seat back a little, he had it positioned perfectly. So off we go to home. Man the bumps hurt. Harry is trying to be so careful, and he is apologizing every time we hit a bump. I told him I know he isn't doing it on purpose and that he shouldn't apologize. We finally got home. Harry got the pillows and blanket for the couch. He set them up for me and told me to lay down. He crushed up my vicoden for me and gave it to me... YUCK it tastes horrible. I watched some TV and took a nap, Harry played on the computer. When it came time for bed, Harry went upstairs and brought down his pillows and his blanket, and he slept on the floor right by the couch. He wanted to make sure I would be okay if I needed to get up and go potty. Well got up to go potty several times throughout the night. At one point I lost my balance and went careening to the other side of the couch. Man I feel like I have rumble strips in my tummy and everyone is hitting the bumps. Gas galore. At this point all I have left in/on me is the drain which I get out on Wednesday. I can't wait. March 13,2005 Got up this morning, Harry crushed more vicoden for me. I made my own Jell-O and took out the Turkey broth I kept from the turkey I cooked 2 weeks ago. I was proud of myself. Did my drain, took 10 ml from it. I was happy, not a lot coming out. I have to measure the amount and the color of the stuff coming out of my drain. I really don't want to start milk today, so I am going to stick to Jell-O and Broth for the time being. My tummy was really rumbling, really bad. Allan told me it was my body getting used to my new stomach. Harry has been so supportive and helpful, he has been crushing my vicoden and vitamins with it so it doesn't taste so bad. Did my drain again and another 10 ml came out. Harry crushed 2 vicoden for me for while he is gone at work. Well Back to the 14th. March 14, 2005 1:14am, I pooped for the first time!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so happy, never thought I would be so happy about something so trivial. I felt like I had to fart so I went to the toilet and next thing, I am like "Did I poop??" I wiped and sure enough, it looked like mud. I am so Happy!! I told the chat room and I called my hubby who has to work nights this week. Wendy called today and checked up on how my weekend went. I told her about everything and she was like that's great. She was happy with the amount coming out of the drain. She asked if I had a fever and I hadn't had one. She was happy with the progress. I told her I didn't want to take anymore vicoden and asked about the Tylenol meltaways and she said she would get back to me. Wendy called later and she said it has sugar in it but wasn't sure how much so it was up to me cause she wasn't sure. I haven't had vicoden since 6 am today. And I wrote Tylenol to find out the ingredients. When I found out that dextrose was the 5th ingredient and that it has Splenda in it I decided I would try it. I walked up the stairs and took a shower totally unassisted. I feel so much better. Man am I tired from that escapade. March 16, 2005 I go to the doctors today to get my drain out and they are going to weigh me. Are you ready for the news? Well here it is. Weight is 294.6 New BMI is now 46 (down by 3 more points) Lost 10% of my body fat Basically I have lost 18 lbs since the day of surgery and since I started the process with Dr. Schoen I have lost a total of 25 lbs!!!! Doc is concerned that my heart rate was over 100 and I am losing too fast and suggested that I may need to drink more. Other than that I believe he thinks everything else is okay. He wants me to start on an exercise routine. He said walk 15 min every day at a set time. He wants me to work up to 30 min walk every day. By one month I should be up to 30 min walk every day. Kelly told me to start eating 4 oz 6 times a day cause I can't get in the milk.. vs. 8 oz 3 times a day. Kelly said the reason why I couldn't get in more than 4 oz is cause my stomach may still be swollen. For this reason she wants me to wait to start on the mushy diet so something doesn't get stuck. Found out this afternoon that I have been sipping in too little of a sip. I have never really gulped anything cause I can't breathe when I do it. So I have always sipped. And it turns out the way I drank before I had surgery is how I can drink now. I am getting in a lot more fluid now. Called mom and she said it could be that I was afraid of taking in too much but to keep it up. Well the news has been spread, called my mom and dad, his grandma, his parents, my sister, Angi, Allan, Anna Marie, told the room countless times. I am so happy!! I get weighed again in 2 weeks. I will let you all know how it went. March 30, 2005 I went to see my doctor today. They weighed me again!! I am 288 lbs now. That's another 6 lbs!! I am so happy. So that makes it a total of 25 lbs since surgery and a total of 31 lbs since I first saw the doctor. How great is that. Kelly, Wendy and Dr. Schoen all told me to keep up the good work. And Dr. Schoen wants me walking up to an hour by the time I go and see him again, which isn't until May 6th. April 8, 2005 OMG these CRAMPS are killing me, they started on the 7th and they aren't going away. And, I can't take the medicine I am used to taking cause it causes ulcers. I called the nurse and she said, sadly it's Tylenol or a narcotic. I was like great. She did recommend and herbalist. I might go see one to help out with this. This sleeping around all day is a pain in the rear end and I can't get anything done!! This whole thing ruins the fact that I get to start SOFT FOODS today. All I crave right now is cheese so I am going to go have myself some string cheese. April 12, 2005 I went to the gym today and walked on the treadmill. Harry didn't tell me I couldn't weigh this time, which he has in the past. So, I used the Loophole... I lost another 7 lbs. Putting me at 281 lbs... and a loss of 31 lbs since surgery and a total of 38 lbs since I first saw Dr. Schoen. However the mood was dampened a lot. It had snowed 18 inches only a few days before. I was walking from the gym to a job interview on base. Well, as I was doing so, my legs were sinking down into the left over snow. So I decided to take an easier path. Needless to say that easier path was right near the Restricted Gate. You know the one the police don't like you going near. Well they found me alright, and I was amost past the fence. I saw a police car on the other side of the gate. They stopped and an officer gets out and says "Ma'am drop what you have and put your hands up" I was like No way is this happening. All I want to do is get to the interview. Then the officer said, "Turn around and face the street" So I did. Finally another cop car comes up to the road and a cop jumps out and says, "Ma'am Please walk towards the road" Well here we go again, knee high snow. Well all during this time I have my hands up and the officer then says after I almost fall a couple of times, "You can put your hands down to brace yourself if you fall" Well thanks Mister Well I finally get to the road and they asked for my Military ID which is in my bag. As most of you know, I do not drive. So when the cop wanted my driver's license, I felt like saying, if I had a driver's license would I be walking in this wet freezing crap?? But I was nice and told him I didn't drive. Needless to say this one incident alone brought out 7 cops in total and one being an LT and two others being MSgts. If you guys don't know what those are, the LT is a Lieutenant and MSgt is a Master Sergeant who is a high ranking enlisted guy. Basically it was all over kill. I told them I had just had surgery and that I was taking the path because it was easier to walk it then to hurt myself. Well after about 20 min of them figuring out what they were going to do, they wrote down all of my info. Then they were nice enough to drive me to my interview. Thank God I was 10 min early still and had to laugh at the whole thing. April 15, 2005 Thank God, my period is over and so are the cramps. I don't know if I could take much more of that. I get to see my pcp for my birth control on the 6th and I am going to really be talking to him about these cramps. They suck!! April 24, 2005 As many of you know, My boys (Max and Yoda) are my life, they are like my children. Today, Sadly, Yoda passed away. Yoda was not even 2 years old. We do not know the cause of death. The doctor said he looked healthy and it would take a doggy autopsy to figure out what happened, which would cost $400. We are having him communally cremated. I put Max and Yoda out to go potty on the leads because they have been escaping the fence a lot lately. I hadn't heard from them in a while and went to go see what was going on. Max was standing on the steps over Yoda. I went to the edge of our patio after making sure Yoda hadn't tried to get out again. Yoda was just laying next to the steps. I called him and rushed to him but he was limp at that point. We drove him to to the doggy emgergency room and by the time we had gotten there he had passed away. Sadly we still don't know what happened. But I miss him so much. I wish I had him back. Max is doing well right now and Harry and I are both pretty out of it right now due to losing our youngest. Please keep us in your prayers. April 29, 2005 We have now found a new friend for Max. She isn't our Yoda but Max seems to be happy with her so far. Her name is Chleo and she is a Basenji (we think she might have some Whippet in her too). She is fast becoming Daddy's little girl. She is 18 mo old and she is twice the size of Max, our 5 yr old shih-tzu. April 30, 2005 I am now 260 lbs!!! I have lost a total of 52 lbs since surgery and 59 lbs since I first saw the doc!!. We went to Walmart and I got to weigh myself against hubby's wishes. He is still mad at me or so he says. May 1, 2005 I went to see a fellow GBS friend down in Colo. Springs. She is so cool!! Harry, Max, Chleo and I had a lot of fun and really enjoyed the visit with her, her husband and her kids. She took me over to a wonderful store with inexpensive clothes. I tried on a pair of pants for the first time since surgery and I can fit into a 24 and almost a 22 (just couldn't zip it up). We got me a few shirts too. I had a lot of fun, and I am not the shopper. And I have new measurement results: calves 18 1/2" thighs 31" hips 58" waist 49 1/2" boobs 48" arms 15 1/2" wrists 6 1/2" neck 14 1/2" head 23" July 5, 2005 Well I went to the ER last Tuesday with pain in my chest and back and a lot of nausea. They still don't know what is wrong, but they gave me medication for ulcers, they are going to give me an ultrasound to make sure it isn't my gallbladder, and they are testing my thyroid. Now for the good news I have lost another 31 lbs since April. This puts me at a total of 90 lbs down and still going. This means I have lost a total of 48% of my excess body fat and my BMI is at 36!! I made sure with the doc I wasn't losing too fast and they said I was doing great. New measurements: calves 16.5" thighs 27" hips 54.5" waist 45" boobs 44" arms 14.5" wrist 6.25" neck 14.5" head 23" So this means since the last time I measured I have lost another 20" July 8,2005 Well congratulate me, I have dumped for the first time. Today I had the most delicious scone!! What I didn't know is how much sugar was in that scone and now I feel like shit!! Light headed, nauseous, palpatations. At least I am not puking or crapping, yet. So I came home from work early today. Hopefully this is the last time I feel like this. Normally I am really careful about what I eat, but this one caught me by surprise. September 11, 2005 I had another attack again and I doubt so much that this is an ulcer. When I see my doc again I am going to have them do the endoscope to make sure this isn't an ulcer cause this is killing me. I can't eat meat, I can't eat nuts it all hurts too much. Today we went to IHOP and I got a side of sausage and ate Harry's eggs. Oh man was I not feeling good after that. September 14, 2005 Well my doctor has now figured out why I haven't been feeling so good after I eat and why I went to the ER. I have to have my Gallbladder removed. So, on the 26th of Sept I will be getting that done and then I won't be feeling horrible after I eat. Something they thought was an ulcer was my gallbladder all along. Well ready for some good news. I now weigh 203.6lbs. Since surgery I have lost a total of 111 lbs which is 60% of my excess body weight and a total of 116 lbs since I first saw Dr Schoen last December. My BMI is now 31.9. Now for my measurements: Calves 16.5" Thighs 23.5" Hips 48" Waist 41" Boobs 41.5" Arms 13" Neck 13.5" Head 22" 27 September 2005 Peter the Nurse, Dr. Schoen, Wendy, Dr. Stoner the anasteiologist and Mary the anasteisa nurse. Diane and Nikki were my pre op nurses and Honeymoon was my post op nurse. Diane has been working for the University of Colorado for 20 years. Nikki has only been working there 2 weeks after working in a private hospital. Peter the surgical nurse has been working with Dr. Schoen for 5 yrs. Mary is really cool she sat down and talked to us while we were waiting for Dr. Schoen to show up. He had clinic duty and was late by about 45 min. That's ok Mary was rather funny as well as Dr. Stoner. They were trying to figure out the calorie content or something of the saline bag to a soda.... LOL it was so funny. btw, their answer ended up being 750ml of a saline bag = the calorie content of a soda. Well they too out my gallbladder yesterday and did an endoscope. I don't know the particulars yet cause I don't remember seeing either Dr. Schoen or Wendy. I am more sore from this surgery then from Gastic bypass. But all in all I am doing okay. March 10, 2006 It's been a year, I can't believe it!! I now weight 167lbs. It's amazing. I have lost 152 lbs. And after my gallbladder was taken out, I didn't have anymore problems. Everything is working out great and I am feeling so much better. March 18, 2006 Ok, I told you everything was working out great. Well I have been throwing up again, thought it was just me eating too fast. WRONG. I AM PREGNANT!!! It was confirmed and everything. Dr. Schoen isn't going to be too happy I am sure. I guess I will have to get pictures on here and update my measurements after I have the baby. April 5, 2006 Went to go see Dr. Schoen. He isn't too happy. Told me about the risks and everything. We found out that because I have had morning sickness that my protien is low. Kelly, my nutritionist has put me on Isopure so that I can get my protien up. All my other vitamins are great. Found out I have lost 82% of my excess weight. I am down to 165.4 lbs. Amazing huh??? Doc says even if I wasn't pregnant then he would stop my weight loss and get me to a maintaining point. Hubby thinks that this surgery has done way more then we expected.
pics of haley
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/heatherskiles/album/576460762325981562