Jenny B.

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I finally added new pictures to my page!  I now have 5 pictures that span 100 lbs and almost 2 years of weightloss.  WLS was without a doubt the best present I could ever have given myself ... and my family.  I now enjoy doing things with my family like walking, bike riding, camping, white water rafting, SHOPPING FOR CLOTHES, etc. 

I set a really "doable" goal for myself -- 190lbs (66lbs loss), which is what I weighed when I got married.  After achieving that goal (almost 45lbs ago), everything else is icing on the cake.  My only true goal is not to gain.  I still try to lose weight, but I'm at the stage now where I lose as quickly (or slowly) as a non-WLS person.  I try, but not very hard.  When we have weightloss contests at work, my goal is always "to weigh less at the end than I did at the beginning".  I set EASY, ATTAINABLE goals, because those always keep me feeling like I've accomplished something and provide a source of constant encouragement.  It's for this reason that I believe I've done so well.

I've lost my weight MUCH SLOWER than most of the people that you read about on places like this.  I am glad of this.  I have less loose skin than many I know of (it's there, just not quite as bad!), and I've never suffered most of the side effects you read about.  My period of hairloss was very brief (maybe two months) and very mild.  I briefly stretched my pouch larger than I should, but began cutting back until it was back to a practical size.  I did NOT do like some that I see/know and try to maintain the tiny portions you are capable of in the early post-surgery days.  My doctor provided excellent literature that gave realistic guidelines for the amounts you should be capable of eating at each stage of the post-surgery period.  I believe that adhering to those saved me alot of grief.

I also try to keep my protein up, which is hard when you're not much of a carnivore.  I bought the protein "shots" that are approximately 2oz and have 25g of protein in them with little or no sugar.  Post surgery, when all you can do is sip (and I mean SIP) water, I would mix one of these into a 32oz cup and sip it all morning, then do another one all afternoon.  This way I kept my fluid level up, helped ease any hunger I might have, and kept my protein level up.  Protein is vital, and not only to stave off hairloss, which is almost all you hear about.  Protein is necessary for growth and healing.  I believe that doing this is what enabled me to return to work (I have a mostly desk-job) exactly one week post-surgery and work a full 40 hrs.  I was tired, but not overly so. 

I could go on and on about the things I did well and things I did poorly, but it's 1:30am and I'm SLEEPY!  :)  However, I am so very pleased with my success and believe that I have beneficial advice to give to anyone considering WLS.  Please feel free to write me at jenny dot bloodworth at gmail dot com  (the mark of a woman married to a computer guy).

Keep me in your prayers!  It's a journey you never end, but it can be a wonderful and exciting one.  Good luck, and God bless!

I'm horrible about staying in touch with my own friends/family, so why in the world would I believe blogging would be any different?

Events recently have flown so quickly that it seems like I've jumped way ahead in a short amount of time.

I had my surgery on Monday, June 18, 2007.  The staff at Crestwood Medical Center were phenomenal!  I absolutely love using them for all of my healthcare needs.  I knew all of my nurses/techs by name and they babied me constantly.  My pain control was great, and I owe alot of my surgery success to them.  I do try to be a good patient, so I'm sure that helps, too.

I'm on day 3 of my clear liquid diet.  It gets easier each day as my body and I get reaquainted.  My surgery day weight was 252 lbs, although I'd gone up to 256 lbs the week before (during my "tour of restaurants").  As of now, I'm down to 242 lbs.  10 lbs in 4 days ... not too shabby! 

5/20/07 - Well, even though it's only been about a week since I last posted, it's been such an emotional time that it feels like a month.  

We have morning prayer each morning at work.  (Working for a Christian company is wonderful!)  On Tuesday, when sharing our praises/requests, I shared my concerns so far.  I want so badly to do what God wants, but *I* want this surgery so badly that I've basically been running blindly headlong into disaster.  Luckily, I'm blessed to have a Father who cares about me enough to "rein" me in.  

So, during morning prayer, Dr Dean Willis (my employer and friend) said that I needed to stop tearing myself up wondering if this was God's will for me or not.  He said that I'd been given a peace when I decided to have the surgery and that I was letting Satan distract me with obstacles.  Besides, if it wasn't God's will and I did it anyway, but did it sincerely seeking His will and having a heart for what He wanted and just misread the signs, He would honor my heart, even if not my actions.  

Bless his heart ... of all his good advice, the thing that stuck with me the most was this:  He said I should be like Moses when God showed him the Promised Land but then said He didn't plan on taking them in there for a while.  He said that Moses basically said, "Well, if You're not going with me, I'm not going!"  What great advice!  So I decided to wait on God's leading, be it what I wanted or not.

At work Friday afternoon, out of nowhere, I wondered if there were other financing options/companies other than my mortgage company, my credit union, and CareCredit.  I Googled it and immediately found Wells Fargo, whom we'd used before for a financed purchase.  I took a deep breath, bowed my head at my desk and just asked God to please see my heart, that I truly wanted to be in His will.  Of course I want the surgery!  He knows that!  But I want to do what He'd have me do, and I just gave it to Him.  I asked that, if this was not in His will, that He would just slam the door in my face and I'd drop it from now on.  That done, I picked up the phone and called Wells Fargo.

I'll know tomorrow (Monday) for sure, but I think we're approved!  They had to counter-offer since we were asking to borrow a little more than the equity we had in the house.  We were asking $16350, and we're getting $15,400.  It's a 10 year term at 10% interest, so our payments will be less than $220/month.  John still wants to trim all the extras, but I think it's mostly because he's wanted to do that for a while.  We were so much closer before we had all the trappings, so I'm glad for that, as well.  It just means my OH'ing is curbed to lunchtime at work!

More to come!

5/12/07 - On Thursday, 5/10/07, I finally met with my surgeon, Dr. Edward Facundus.  He was wonderful.  He proclaimed me a perfect candidate for WLS and said that I met all requirements already.  I then went to meet with his insurance clerk, Stephanie.  She was very kind.  She informed me that my husband's Blue Cross of Alabama insurance policy did not cover WLS.  It turns out that his company had opted out of that benefit when the plan was implemented.  Obviously, I was devastated.

I cried the entire way home.  My husband, John, is my rock.  He said that he was ready to finance the surgery right then and there if there was no way insurance would cover it.  He is such a huge blessing.

At work Friday morning, I bawled all through our morning prayer time.  Everyone at work is so supportive of me.  God has truly blessed me to have such a loving network of support on all fronts.

The surgery would come to a total of $16,350.  (It's a lot higher if it's billed to insurance, since insurance companies won't pay most of what's billed.)  The surgeon's fee is $7550, Crestwood Medical Center's fee (23 hour stay) is $8000, and the anesthesia fee is $800.  

One option for financing is to use CareCredit.  They're a medical finance company.  If we qualified (and that's a BIG "if"), we could finance it for 60 months at $375 a month with an 11.90% fixed APR.  

The other option is a home equity line of credit.  We'd have to fork out $385 up front for a full appraisal.  The house would have to appraise for $99,500 to get the amount we need.  It only appraised at $83,000 6 years ago when we bought it.  *sigh*

The extra "car" payment would really strap us, but my husband is determined to do it if that's what it takes.  We could kill the home phone and just use our cellphones.  That would mean killing internet and TiVo, as well (you have to have a land line for both).  Unfortunately, that would only add about $50/$60 a month.  We could also kill our DirecTV, which would add another $50/$55.  This would kill our children.  Who knows?  Maybe having "less" would be better for us in the long run.

I'll let you know what we decide.

5/4/07 - Today I met with Hunter Copeland, Dr. Facundus' nutritional counselor.  I was super-impressed by him.  He was without a doubt the most affirming, understanding person I've ever discussed my "dirty secret" with.  We spent an hour going over the why, how, pre, post, etc of how my surgery would affect me and the things I would need to expect throughout this journey.

I'll meet with him for 30minutes each month until early November 2007 (a total of 6 months/7 visits).  This month my goal is to try to gradually increase my water intake to 60-70oz per day, and to try to start avoiding beverages during meals.  

I'm so excited!  I feel like I'm finally moving forward now!