jschlechty
Double Century Mark!
Jan 11, 2009
Needless to say I am very happy with this result, but I also have to wonder where I would be now if I hadn't spent 4 months in the hospital on a TPN bag - which is designed to maintain your body weight. I might be very close to my goal weight of 225 lbs.
The bad news is it looks like the ortho doctor will want me to go back to surgery for my right leg. He is giving me 6 more weeks to see some significant progress with the bone stimulator, but he doesn't sound very hopeful. He says that this time will have to be a long incision (knee to ankle) to be able to chisel the old support plate off the bone, then dig out the broken screws from the bone, saw the bone apart again so it can start with fresh bone, and then replace the screws and plates. I am not excited about starting over on that leg and am very scared to return to the OR after my previous experiences last year. He says that this time should be much easier as I am over a hundred pounds lighter than last time, have better circulation, and fewer co-morbidities than the last time.
I really wish I felt 200 lbs lighter - but with my decreased mobility, I'm not able to fully enjoy my weight loss yet. I was really hoping that I could stay out of hospitals this year. Maybe with enough faith and prayers we can still get the bone to start healing on time - only time will tell.
I'm Obese !!!
Dec 19, 2008
That means since last January 14th, I have gone from "Super Obese" to "Extremely Obese" and now I'm only "Obese"!
I never thought I'd be happy to announce that I'm obese, but in this case, I definitely am.
Update since last post. It appears that the last EGD in August was a sucess - no more problems with strictures since then. I'm finding that I'm able to tolerate most foods except "greasy" stuff, which I shouldn't have anyway.
My ortho doctor thought my legs had healed enough to remove the boots back in October, but unfortunately my right leg re-fractured and broke the screws soon after that. Now I am back in the boot 24/7, and using a bone stimulator for 30 minutes a day. The doctor says that if it looks like my leg is making progress by January, then we won't have to have surgery. If not, then it's back to surgery and new screws and plates. Having a broken leg has really cut down on the exercise aspect of the weight loss adventure. I've gradually increased my walking distance, but am not doing much else.
My weight loss has slowed to 1- 2 pounds a week - sometimes more, sometimes less.
12/28/08 - edited to add: Now it appears that my BMI is at 40 even. I don't know what changed, but it was down to 39.5 - maybe the calculations are somewhat flexible? . . . I guess I'm back in the "extremely obese" category :(
Finally Home Again!
Jul 25, 2008
On March 30th, I was very sick and didn't realize how bad I was. I stood up from the pot during the night , passed out and fell and broke both my legs above the ankles. (bi-lateral tib-fib fractures is the technical name I heard the docs and nurses using).
When they got me to the ER, they discovered that not only had I broken my legs but also had pneumonia, and an infection somewhere in my system. They ended up doing an emergency exploratory abdominal surgery, and discovered that I appeared to have a leak from my stomach pouch and my abdomen had a bunch of sticky white fluid in it. The surgeon patched me up and cleaned me out. About a week later they did surgery to repair my legs. Of course I remember none of this 'cuz they had me intubated and sedated for almost 2 weeks.
During my time in the hospitals, I've also had 3 EGD procedures to try and fix the strictures in my stoma. I have a 4th one scheduled for 8/26, and am restricted to full liquids until then. I've already been on Full Liquids for the last 5 weeks since the last EGD, so needless to say I'm geting very burned out on yogurt and cream soups . . .
8 Weeks Post Op CLass
Mar 27, 2008
On 3/18 my wife and I went in for my 2nd post-op nutrition class. In 8 weeks I have lost 91 lbs, and my BMI is down to 54.5. Another 9 lbs and I will be a member of the "century club"!
Oops - forgot to add that I've been having problems with strictures. Throwing things up for a couple of weeks. I went in for an EGD with DR. Fang on 3/19, and he said the stricture was so tight that they could not get the balloon thing down thru it. Dr. Juarez said to go back on liquids and he would call other doctors and try to find solutions.
Well, fast forward to 3/27(today). Dr. J. called and wants me to go see a Dr. Wadas (GI doc). I told him that about 3 days after the EGD I started eating the mushy foods and that they were staying down and going thru ok. He was amazed, but still wants me to follow up with Dr. Wadas.
Maybe by the next time I go in I will be past the 100 lb. mark! ?
Post Op Report #1
Jan 26, 2008
Today marks the end of my 1st week home from the Hospital. This is the first day that I've actually felt like coming in and sitting at the computer.
I had the surgery on the 14th, and left on the next Saturday, the 19th. Dr. Juarez, as expected, did a fine job. He did the top half of the surgery laproscopically (sp?), but had to do open on the bottom half because of scar tissue from a previous surgery that got in the way. I was kept in ICU until Friday because of, (I think), concerns over my bleeding disorder as well as over a problem in my left lung. They at first thought it might have partially collapsed, but decided that it was a big spot of mucus.
The only problem I encountered (other than the "awake intubation") was the fact that in spite of being told many times over preceding 5 weeks that the hematologist would be taken care of, and the Friday before the surgery that he would meet with me before surgery - when we got to the hospital, there were no orders for a hematologist consult, not even a hemtologist in the hospital that could be called for a stat consult, and in fact, the only thing relating to my bleeding problem was the note that I had hand delivered to the office the previous Friday! If I had not delivered that, I wonder what doctor Juarez would have done? After talking with Dr. Juarez about canceling the surgey, and him calling the hematolgist I had been seeing to get the ok the use the specs in his note, I went on with the procedure.
After that, things were pretty much non-eventful. I can't say enough about the high level of care and professionelism shown by the staff of Good Samaritan (Banner Samaritan?) hospital. I would highly reccomend them for anyone contemplating surgery.
My 1st post-op visit with Dr. Juarez is this coming Tuesday - I'm looking forward to see if I've lost any weight or not.
Totally Frustrated!
Dec 27, 2007
Dec. 27, 2008
I am very frustrated! Back when I finally got ahold of Nicole to schedule my surgery on Dec. 10th, I told her that I needed to get the name of the blood doctor that Dr. Juarez liked to use, because I would like to try to meet with him before the surgery. (I have a bleeding disorder and my current hemotologist insisted that Dr. Juarez have another hematologist on the case before surgery). Anyway, she said she'd get back with me. I waited the rest of that week, and like usual - heard nothing. FInally the follwing Monday the 17th, I called and left another message giving both home and cell numbers. Then again on the 19th, and 20th. Still no reply! On Friday the 21st, I called and spoke with the operator and she assured me that she'd give my info to the office manager and have her call me back. So all this time I've been waiting, realizing that it's the Christmas holidays, etc. . . . then today I decide to call again to find out if the office manager died - and find out that they are closed until January 2nd! It would have been nice if somebody had let me know that clear back in the middle of Decemeber when I first started calling, right! Now, if, and that seems to be a big IF with these people, they call me back when they come back on the 2nd, that leaves me a week and a half to try and schudule an appointment with a specialist. Seems like most of the times you call a specialist, they're always scheduling 3 months or so ahead of time. . . .
Was it this bad back when Angelia was scheduling the surgeries?
