KellyK
10/27/04 I have been contemplating WLS for more than a year now. I didn't think my health plan would be very receptive to it. A call to Dr. Bell's office and an appointment with my primary and I am waiting for my appointment to request a referral.
11/2/04 - I went to my first support group meeting. There was a speaker. His slide show was about metabolic syndrome and the medical treatment of. It was very interesting. Dr. Bell was there as well as his staff and many post-op and pre-op patients. Afterwards, I spoke with two post-op's (3 weeks out). It was nice to talk with them. They are doing good.
11/3/04 - My PCP appointment! Okay so now I have a referral to see the endochronologist. My PCP said they don't like when you go over to them to schedule an appointment, they like to review the request and then call you. So now I wait for the first of many calls.
12/7/04 - Back to my PCP tomorrow. She realized since our last meeting that I do not need to go through endochronology and that is a good thing since I couldn't get in there until January. So now she can write the referral directly to Dr. Bell's office. It then bounces and gets referred to Doris Foel she is a case coordinator at the Health Plan and will contact me with what I need to do next. So tomorrow I have an appointment with my PCP and then an appointment with a Nutritionist - not "THE" nutritionist appointment that we all wait for but still a nutritionist. I quit smoking on 11/13/04 and I have gained a few pounds but I no longer smoke! I am so excited that I am no longer a smoker. Next on the healthy checklist is eating and exercising! I can do this and hopefully with the assistance of surgery! Afterall, I thought I would never stop the smoking and I did! Well enough for now....I will write the next time I have movement forward in my quest for surgery.
12/13/04 - I have my psych consult appointment and the appointment with the nutritionist. They are January 6th and December 27th. I am very excited. This might actually happen!
12/27/04 - Had my appointment with the nutritionist. She said she would be forwarding her report to Dr. Bell and the Health Plan and that she would be saying she thinks I am a good candidate! Wheh! Now the Psych eval.
I spoke with my mom about the surgery. She is not happy. She actually said to me "Who is going to take care of me when I'm old if something happens to you". I am use to her saying the wrong thing so I wasn't like oh my god how selfish and besides...I am feeling like maybe this is a littel selfish of me. Well then she said can't you just stop eating? Well yeah I suppose if I could I wouldn't be putting myself through all this, right? Well I think we have agreed to disagree but if god for bid I have complications....she will throw it in my face and say I told you not to do this. I almost feel like, if I am approved, I am not going to tell her my surgery date. She would be really mad at that but I also do not want negativity around me. Well I will keep you posted on the mom issue.
1/8/05 - I had my psych evaluation a couple of days ago. The Dr. there said that it takes her about 3 weeks to get the report over to Dr. Bell's office. I am trying very hard to not be impatient and not rush through this whole process. I believe it is a whole process and does take so long because it isn't something to be rushed through. With that said....I can't wait another month! No just kidding. I am settling in with the idea that April or May or June maybe even July I will have surgery.
A few months ago I was very excited at the prospect of getting this surgery. In the past couple of weeks, a conversation with my mom didn't make me feel so good and now my best friend heard from a friend that two of her friends knew people who died of complications after surgery. I know of the death rate but I guess....well knowing people who know people who know someone that did actually die hits a little more closer to home. Of course I began to question well why did they die, what were their circumstances etc etc. I didn't get any answers and it still scares the hell out of me. Luckily I went to another support group meeting and the room was filled with the living success stories and I am beginning to feel better about my decision but I am nervous too.
2/2/05 - still waiting for the psych eval to be sent out. It has been 1 month since my appointment. Now I am getting antsy. Every step takes a long time and I know about not rushing in but I have made the decision and I want to move forward.
Keeping my fingers crossed.
2/16/05 - I called Dr. Bell's office today. Liz called me back and asked if I could make tomorrow's group consult appointment. I said yes. And then she told me my doctor didn't send the correct referral and they need to do that or they won't let me in. I belong to the Yale Health Plan. It is like breaking into Fort Knox over there. I can't get anyone on the phone. I left a message with the nurse and I emailed my doc so hopefully they will fax it over.
2/17/05 - I went to the group consult today. I feel more confident in the complication/mortality rate issue. Dr. Bell and Dr. Duffy are very confident and I know they are doing their best which is the best!
2/28/05 - I have a date! It is 3/16/05....That is two weeks and 2 days away! I am very excited about this and nervous too. I am more excited than nervous. This is my chance to do it right. Oh and I will be having surgery done by Dr. Duffy. Not what I had thought from the start but I am okay with that. Well let me get out of here before the snow starts. Oh happy day!
3/14/05 - Two more days until surgery. I am excited, nervous and scared. I am trying to stay more excited. I know that this is going to help me tremendously. Dr. Duffy said his job is about 2 hours and then my lifetime job begins and I am ready! oh my I can't believe it! I get crazy just thinking about it. Well not "CRAZY" but you know what I mean. Excited!
3/29/05 - I had my two week check up and it is official! I have removed 20lbs forever! And I can start on soft food. I could not wait for that scrambled egg. It was an experience. It tasted good but not as good as I imagined. It stayed where it was suppose to which is a good thing. It is now 3/31/05 and I have had yogurt...yummy....2 Tbsp., cottage cheese, egg salad and yams...the yams were gross and I felt a bit stomach sick afterwards. And I also went back to work on 3/30/05...gonna do 4 hrs a day till Monday. The weather is great and I don't want to be stuck inside!
4/12/05 - I am gradually increasing my food. I just started chicken. After April 19th all food is a go. Low Fat/Sugar Free food of course. I am having some trouble with the fluid intake. My pouch is sensitive to the fluid hitting it and it cramps and gives me a pain or very uncomfortable feeling. I am also not losing as much as I thought I should be or wanted to. Well my official weigh in isn't until May 19th. I hope to be down 50 lbs. by then.
5/18/05 - I just had my follow up with Dr. Duffy. I didn't make my 50 lb loss I had wanted last month. I am down 39 lbs. I drink a protein drink every morning. It has 30G of protein in it. I am toppling the 60G/day protein which means my calories are up too. So I am going to cut in half my protein drink and see what happens. I do not have to much trouble getting in food. Night time is the killer for me it always has been. Of course now it is nothing compared to what it used to be but I have to be strict. I go back in September and need to lose 40-50 lbs. That is 10-12.5/mos. So I will get started immediatley making some changes in eating and increasing exercise.
5/27/05 - okay so I have kicked it up a notch and am down to 219! Cutting that shake in half really helped and I have been to the gym and while there I do the treadmil. I walk at 3.8 up .2 since last week and I even go to 4.0 and 4.2 for 1 minute each. When it is that high, I am jogging or that is what I think I am doing not sure what it looks like to the rest of the people :) Oh god, I can't even imagine but I got over it. They don't like it to bad! Still don't like going but heck afterwards I really do feel better. And I actually sleep straight through the night now! I can't believe it. I wake up in the am and say what happened? Is it over already? Before the nights were so long! I am starting to feel more energetic.
7/5/05 - I am on Track and down to 203.5. That is -60.5 lbs. My next goal was to be 200 lbs on 7/17. That is 12 days away and I think I can do that!
7/21/05 - My weight today is 191.5. I flew right pass 200! I feel really good. But I keep hearing this huge voice in my head saying it is gonna stop very soon so I am a bit nervous on how I'll deal with no weight loss. I can not believe it. I just might see 135! 56.5 lbs to go! I think I can do it! I really think I can!
9/9/05 - Today my weight is 174.5. I have my 6 mos. check up in 6 days. I wanted to be 164. I think it is slim that I'll drop 10lbs in 6 days. But I am okay with that. I'll shoot for getting into the 160's.
10/31/05 - As of this morning, I have lost 105.5 lbs. and I weigh 157.5 lbs. I am 17.5 lbs from goal. When I get to 140 I will see about dropping more. 140 will be at the top of the range for me so I am sure the doctors would like me to be a bit less. It is frustrating how the scale moves now. For days it won't budge and then all of a sudden it goes down 3-5 lbs. I am a bit nervous that I am going to get stuck here but I keep moving and eating well.
11/11/05 - I have now lost 111 lbs. It will be 8 months in 5 days since my surgery. I bought a size 10 pair of pants last week. I can not believe that! I had surgery because I wanted to be healthier and I am but I can not get over how good I look! We always say it isn't about looking good but dang I am enjoying it! It is a great extra benefit. This past week I was very bad about exercising....my schedule was just way off. But I am gonna get back on it. I have 13 more pounds to get to goal! Although I found out I am an inch shorter than I thought so I should really go down to 135. That is still only 18 more lbs. I know that it is probably gonna be a struggle but I will let you know when I get there. I am so glad I had this surgery. In the beginning I would get down on myself about having to resort to surgery but you know what, I would have not been able to do this without the surgery.
Today is March 1st. I have lost 120 lbs. I would like to get down to 135 or lower but it has been very difficult. I have only lost 4 lbs. in 2.5 months. But I am very pleased with my progress so far. I really never thought I would get so low. I remember at 2 months Dr. Duffy asking me what I wanted to get down to and I said I would like to see what I feel like at 170 lbs. He looked me in the eye and said you'll still be obese at 170. Well at that time I couldn't imagine myself weighing much less than that. It was the one weight I could remember ever being in my life. Well lets see if I can drop a couple of pounds before my 1 year appointment.
5/24/06 - I have lost a total of 125 lbs. On June 8th, I am going in for plastic surgery. I am having my tummy, arms and thighs done. My insurance is paying for everything and in a couple of months I go back for breasts and back. I have to say that I am not as excited about this surgery as I was the gastric bypass. I was actually giddy about gastric. This surgery is very different for me. I am excited about tightening everything up but I guess it is the scars and pain that is bumming me out.
11/3/06 - Well yes I did have my plastics done on 6/8/06. My incisions for the tummy tuck opened and had to heal from the inside out. It took two months, tons of basitracin and gauge. The scar is not pretty but my surgeon would like to fix it next year. Yes that means getting cut again. Not to sure I want to do that! I am now 124 lbs and I wear a size 2 or 4 or 6 pants/skirt. Of course the 2's come from the stores that undersize their clothes. I know my true size is about a 6. I have gone from a 2x shirt to a small. No more x's. When I look at old photos, I can not believe the physcal change. Which brings me to the emotional change or lack of. I have begun therapy to deal with why I was fat (don't want to transfer to something else) and to deal with my new look and how it affects me and others. I am so happy to be so healthy! I wouldn't change a thing. Thank you to all of you who have helped over the past year and half.
3/19/07 - Well as you can see from my weight chart I have put on 8 lbs. I am watching it closely. I am not to worried. After the plastic surgery I got pretty low in weight, wasn't eating etc. then had some pretty stressful personal stuff and still lost more weight while eating and not exercising, then I got rid of the stress and started to put on the lbs. I have been extremely fatigued. So much that my head hits my desk in the afternoon. I can not stay awake and therefore I can not even think about working out. I haven't been exactly strick with my vitamins and B12 shot so I am going to get that under control and see if it makes a difference. I do not want this to be the start of weight gain. I want to stay at this weight.
3/17/08 - Well I haven't been here in one year. I read last years post and laugh at what denial I was in. I have had a hard last year and a half. I lost control of myself. After losing all that weight and shedding my armour, I was so vulnerable and had no where to hide. The bottom line is I fixed the outside without ever fixing the inside. I am working on the inside now and accepting the outside. This has been a long journey. Rewarding and painful emotionally. But I would do it again in a heartbeat. I might just spend some more time in therapy up front first. The weight is only a symptom of what is going on. And as you can see, if I don't figure it out soon, I will be right back where I started.
Weight Chart:
3/16/05 264
4/21/05 237 -27 -27
5/20/05 224 -13 -40
6/20/05 211 -13 -53
7/20/05 192 -19 -72
8/19/05 180 -12 -84
9/20/05 171 -9 -93
10/12/05 167 -4 -97
10/21/05 161 -6 -103
10/31/05 157.5 -3.5 -106.5
11/11/05 153 -4.5 -111
12/19/05 148 -5 -116
3/1/06 144 -4 -120
5/24/06 139 -5 -125
11/3/06 124 -15 -140
3/19/07 132 +8 -132
3/15/08 149 +17 -115
1/12/09 144 -5 -120
10/20/09 149
