Kristi H.

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A long time ago, before food was as easy to get at the corner market, when a woman had her child, her body would let go of it's stores of fat it had to keep the child fed when the woman couldn't eat.  It might hold onto the fat if the child was breast feeding.  But we are doing is normal part of the cycle, so the body lets go of the fat it doesn't need to have, because there is no baby to care for.  I believe that is what is going on

This is a story and a warning, even if you are a year out.

I am on the road on tour as a living.  I left home on Jan. 2nd.  Have never had a complication from the surgery and lost most of the weight I want too.

A week ago, in Ottowa Canada, I threw up after eating canned chili.  I noticed the color was red, but it was the color of the chili.  The next day, as I walked in for dinner to catering I started to get light headed.  I sat down and waited for food.  Got up once to get food, and sat back down.  Finally got food and ate.  As I was sitting at the table I started feeling hot and sweaty.  I asked a friend if I was pale, he said yes.  I got up to go to the bathroom to look.  I got there, looked in the mirror, and new I would never make it back to the diningroom.  So I went out in the haul and layed down as I went out cold.  The paramedics were right there.  My BP was 80 over palp.  

At the hospital they pumped me full of IV fluids, did blood work.  Told me I had a B12 deficiancy and was animic. (sp)  This turned out to almost cost me my life.  I wasn't enimic from B12 deficiancy at all.  They did no other tests, ones that could have stopped what came next.

Went back to the theatre and we went on to Montreal.  I didn't drive that night.

The next day I did load in, still a little weak, but ok.  Parked my truck and had to decide if I was going to go home to get this taken care of. Alot was going on and this was real stressful.

At around 9am I started to feel that feeling again.  I layed down, still felt that way.  Got up to get my phone to call for help, didn't know how to use it.  Looked out the door and some other drivers just pulled up.  I opened the door and yelled "Dennis Help"  That is all I remember until I was being bounced around from a friend carring me across the street into the building.  They put me on a table, I rolled over and threw up what was definately blood, with clots, bright red.

The paramedics didn't even start an IV, they thru me in and got me to trauma.  The night before my hymogloban was 93, it was now 73, normal is around 110.

They did a scope, the most horrible thing I ever went thru.  It hurt and made me throw up.  So they vented me. Now I am a severe asthmatic and never went on a vent.  They say I fought it, it took 6 times the amount of sedative as normal.

They finished the scope and sprayed an area near the staple line.  It was a small vein and the eppy stopped it, they were very surprised.  There was no sign of ulcers at all.  They don't know why it did this.  It could never have healed, it could have just been a weak vessel.

I got 5 units of blood by midnight.  I was stable after 8pm the first night.  Spent 2 days in ICU and 3 days in the hospital.  I woke up with the vent still in, the most horrible thing I ever went thru, couldn't move, it hurt like mad.  I had a central line in my neck, an iv or 2 in the arm and one in the foot.  The people were nice and saved my life, but it was very traumatic.

I am writing this because I had no real symptoms.

I had been a little tired, but who isn't.  I thought I threw up blood, but now sure.  I had darker stools, this is the real symptom here, but you all know what you eat comes out pretty much the same.  I had been having coffee and hot cocoa each day.  Thought the cocoa had colored the stool.  Now I know better. I never had pain, ever.  I did have a feeling like I was suddenely full without eating, but another thing that can happen sometimes.

It all happened so fast.  I was going to go home to my surgeon, just needed a couple more days to get out of Canada and get my truck over to another tour. (was switching from Rod Stewart to Celtic Woman so I could be on tour with my Hubby)

I am fine now.  The docs in Canada said it will never bleed from there again.  I flew home with my Mom and got here yesterday, Sat. Mar. 3.

I will call my surgeon Mon and let him know what went on and hopefully see him then.  See what he says about it all.  I will follow up on that.

Thank you for reading.
 
my surgeon says it is an ulcer, small and not seen easlily.  getting another scope in 6 weeks.  nothing i could have done to prevent it and nothing i did caused it.  it is because the intestine is not use to the stomach acids.  i am on meds for a month to stop the acids and then we will see.

This is an answer to a post I wrote to someone who was gaining weight after a year.  It is here to remind me someday of what I will always need to do to be where I am now.


The pouch is a tool, you have to use it.  In order to gain weight you have to eat more calories than you burn.  Now, how many calories are you eating?  Are you exercising?  Are you getting all the protein you are suppose to?  How is your water intake? When was the last time you went to see your surgeon?  Are you still following all the rules?

To keep loosing you have to follow the rules, eat high protein, no sugars at all, and limit the carbs and fats.  You have to exercise, not drink when eating (if you were told not to)  If you  have no idea if you are doing any of this, then you need to track every bite and drink you have each day.  Use fitday.com for this.  60g plus of protein a day, protein first, if not only.  64oz. of water a day.  30 min. minimum of exercise a day. NO, NO NO sugars at all (we absorb every calorie sugar has).  Limit calories to around 1200 a day, unless you were given another number by your Doc.

If you follow the rules, you will continue to loose weight.  I am sure one of the things I listed is where the problem lies.  I would also guess you haven't followed up with your surgeon.  These questions would have been addressed by them if you had.  This is also a no no.  This is a life time adventure, with continued medical follow up.  Best of luck

Oh and unless you are over eating every meal to the point you throw up sick, then you haven't stretched your pouch.  You can eat more if you graze or take a long time to eat a meal or if you eat alot of high calorie soft foods.

Not sure this title will still fit when I am done here.  I am traveling and feeling a little alone these days.  I love what I do, but I am not with friends that I can pall around with, so I am spending alot of time with myself.  I think too much in these times.  I know I look better, look great.  I also know that my arms are saggy, I have a waddle under my chin, alot more wrinkles on my face, and wont even describe my thighs and stomach.  But I also know these are much better on me than on others.  But I guess I am having a pitty party and am not happy with it right now.  I am going to Mexico in Apr. and would love to wear a bathing suit, but even a one piece wont work without a skirt I think, or maybe nilons  :)  I still have rolls on my stomach, I don't see those going away.  It isn't all that bad, but they get me.  But the worst part is the boobs.

I have always been a decent size.  42D to DD at my largest, could find a bra most times.  But now I am a 34 D, I can only find these in full size bras and they cut into my arm at the front shoulder causing numbness in my hand.  And those bras are few and far between anyway.   I also am way lower than I was.  My daughter and Mom and good friends keep coming up and pulling up on the bra straps.  Guess what, that only works for a minute, you see, you are pulling up everything from  my breast to my saggin stomach below my waistband.    It has all slipped.  Now I see why they do the whole body lift.  But that is all out.  I spent enough not working from this surgery, I wont put us in debt for vanity surgery.

Guess I just needed to sort of say this out loud.  I am very happy with the results of the surgery.  I am finding I fight the boredom and wanting to eat alot.  Out here when there is a show, sometimes the only thing you have to do is sleep, shower and eat.  So you look forward to meals.  Then when you are in the truck, and nothing else to do, there is the want to snack.  I am working hard on this.  I eat such small amounts and want to keep it that way.  I think I am still loosing, wont know for a few more months, but my new pants are getting looser.  I am wearing 10's and think 8s would work now.  SF jolly ranchers are great to snack on, but boy do they give me gas.  Tooting away right now,  ok, TMI.  But I still eat them, when I know I have time away from other humans.  I miss my popcorn.  I think I will check with catering and see if they have a microwave that I could use to make up a few batches at a time.  Put them in zip lock baggies and butter spray it just before I eat them.  They should stay fresh enough.

This is a little bit of a downer post, don't have alot of thoughts like this honestly.  It is actually a success journal here, as in that I haven't/can't eat away these feelings and I haven't turned to anything else either.  I have to deal with them, but I am doing so.

For those who might read this, be prepared to be honest with yourself.  Realize that your relationship with food is going to change and be willing to change with it.  Don't look for that time when you will be able to have that one food you love, but look for that new food that is good for you and you will learn to love.  I have found cooked veggies in soup are my new favorite.  

I am normal weight now, normal BMI.  I probubly am too thin, as I have some excess skin, at least 10lbs I would say.  I am still loosing, or my weight is redistibuting.  I am finding it very hard to eat more calories.  I am eating more bread, which out here is the best carb I can add.  The other carbs are mostly fried foods.  I am eating salads more, and having a more balanced meal.  I use to eat only protein, now I add other things in after I have eaten protein, or once in awhile I don't even have protein in my meal.  But I make sure I get at least 50g of protein a day, that's where the protein drinks come in.  I have also added a SF coffee mocha to my protein drinks, it adds a few calories and makes it so much better.  I also will have coffee with DIET Swiss Miss Cocoa mix in it.  My new Starbucks.  But read the lables, the no sugar added has 7g of sugar in it, the diet has none.

Well, these are my wondering thoughts, new I would stray from the topic.  But I am lonely and bored.  So this is my friend right now.  Sort of pathetic.  But it gets me by.

How many of us made that same resolution each year?  To loose the weight?  Either we don't need to make it this year or we know we will be doing it and wont use it or if we do make the resolution, we know we will do it this time?

I did not make it.  I am pretty much at goal.  Depends on which height I go by, either 5'5" or 6"  I should be 138 to 144, well I am 141 as of this morning.  I want a couple more pounds, but I think I am pretty much at the medical weight I should be. Who would have thought I would do this. 

I know when we all first got to this site we were afraid of failure.  It isn't to say we havent worked hard at this.  I know some of you are still working on things.  But we all are going to get there.  Most of us are happier than we have ever been with how we feel and look. 

I am here to say that if you stay with the basics, you will get to goal.  I, for some reason, was able to stay with basics all the time.  Except for a day here and there I got all my protein and water in and always took my vit.  I can't say why I was able to do this, just something in me clicked the day of surgery I guess.  I wish I could pass this secret on, all I can pass on is determination to be fit and thin for the first time in my life that I remember.   I have a carb now and then, but it is the third choice in my meal.  I don't eat sugar.  I still believe I dump, not worth it to me.  Even at Christmas I didn't have anything but SF desserts.  I lost weight durring Christmas even.  I know some are still struggling, I wish I could do more than pass on what I did.  I eat very little at a meal, no more than I did at 3 months out. 

Now I still have problems.  I eat too fast or one bite too much or something that doesn't sit well with me, then I throw up.  I can't drink milk.  I dump on sugar.  I am also worried about loosing too much.  I will have to live with the loose skin I have, although it isn't as bad as it could have been.  I hurt when I sit for any lenght of time, and that interferes with my work.  It isn't a cake walk.  But it is a walk, which I couldn't even do before.

These are my thoughts this day.  I wish you all success this coming year.  Where will we all be in a year?  So many have gone away over this last year, will any of us be here in a year?

Well Happy New Year everyone, to the new yous.

The last time I wore size 10 pants was when I started high school.  I had gone on Atkins, when if first came out, and lost some weight.  Of course at the time I didn't realize I was thin and didn't see the weight going up.  I was a size 14 when I got married at 20.  I was wearing a size 26 the day of surgery, 2 kids later here.

Well I just bought size 10 jeans.  Actually my Mom bought them for me for Christmas, I would never spend $80 on a pair.  But they are great.  They have embroidery on the hip and legs.  I love that style.  I also went shopping today at the day after Christmas sales.  I bought a Leather blazer, a brown blazer, 2 sweater shirts, a beautiful basic black dress and a pair of knee high boots.  The clothes are all size 10.

Now I have a few pounds left to loose.  If I am 5'5" I need to be 138 if I am 5'6" then it would be 142, so maybe 140 will be right.  I don't think my size will change much.  It might put me in size 8 pants or maybe not.  But I am almost there.

It has been a great journey.  I eat very different.  I still have foods I can't eat, some foods still make me sick one time and not the next.  I still dump on sugar and I can't drink milk.  I eat small amounts too, 3oz. of dense food, usually less and up to 6oz of soft foods like Wendy's chili, I can eat almost all of a small.

I eat about 800 calories a day, that is with a 100calorie protein drink, 25g.  I still cant get enough protein a day thru foods.

The surgery wasn't too expensive, some loss of income.  But now is the cost.  I leave on tour next week and I have to have clothes.  I have 1 pair of pants that fit, size 10s and 2 pairs of size 14.  I have a good amount of shirts now.  Will go to Walmart and get a couple pairs of pants later today I think.

It has not always been easy.  I have cried when I couldn't find something I could eat in catering.  I have gotten sick in parking lots.  I have obsessed over everything to do with this surgery.  I still talk too much about it, even to strangers, well, I tell them how much I have lost.  My sking is looser on my face so the wrinkles show.  My legs, well, we wont go there.  They aren't as bad as some, but I wont be wearing short shorts without nylons.

But is has been wonderful.  No high blood pressure, asthma is better because I quit smoking for surgery and stayed off it because I felt so much better.  I get up each morning ready to go.  I don't sit and watch TV all day.  I am always going.  I have energy, (it took several months to get this by the way).  I look and feel good.

If I had to do it all again, I would do it in a minute.  It is the best thing I have ever done.

I put on my size 10 jeans the other night and came out to show my hubby.  I asked what he thought, he just sat there not saying anything.  Finally he spoke and said he just hasn't gotten use to it.  He helped wash some of my stuff and pulled out a new shirt I had bought.  He freaked, he thought it had shrunk.  He even showed it to our sons girlfriend, she thought the same thing.  Well, the shirt was fine.  He said no way could I be wearing that.  He is so wonderful.  He was gone for alot of the weightloss.  Would only see me every couple of months, so it is harder for him to wrap his mind around it.

I do see myself thin.  But when I am told I am thinner than someone else, I can't see that yet.  I still see where I could loose.  My lower stomach and thighs.  I guess that is normal.  Not sure that is something that will go away with out PS.  That is something that is not in the cards for me.  So I just hope it keeps firming up like it has.

I love my new life.  I see very few down side things from it.  Traveling is a little harder and my life cost a little more, because of the protein drinks and such.  But it is all wonderful.

I am very happy with my life and what I have accomplished in the last 11 months.  I am down to 149, 1lbs under my Docs 150 he said he could get me to.

I went shopping today, not to Walmart, where I have shopped because the clothes get too big too fast, but to Coldwater Creek.   My Mom bought me stuff for Christmas.  I am feeling very guilty over it.  It was $125 for a dress and jacket.  I think and so do the others here, that the dress is too big.  They also say it is too old for me.  Anyway, where I was going with this.

I am wearing a small top, size 8.  In pants I put on 10's and they fit.  I haven't been in 10s since I started highschool and lost alot of weight.  I was a 14 when I got married.

My skin has tightend up alot.  There is some loose skin on the stomach and my arms have some bat wings, but mostly it has tightened up well.  But I was hoping it would be worse, so I could try for PS thru my insurance.  Well, it wont go.  I don't have any over hang, so even with sandpaper I don't think I could convince the insurance of rashes.  I guess this is bothering me some.  More at times.

It hurts when I sit down.  I think I broke my tail bone when I had my son 22 years ago.  But with the weight, it wasn't a problem.  Now when I sit it hurts and I sit alot when I drive.  I drive all the time.  I will ask my surgeon about this when I see him for my 1 year next month.

Now for how things are with food.  I still hurt when I eat some foods.  I also throw up at times too.  Mostly from meats, like steak, and alot with chicken.  I find I eat alot of Chili from Wendy's.  I know it wont bother my stomach.

I still only get from 600 to 800 calories a day.  That is with one protein drink.  I also have found I love popcorn.  I have the microwave popper and use "I can't believe it's not butter" spray.  It is great.

When I am on the road I have beef jerkey, SF jolly ranchers, almonds with me.  I also try to keep Dannon Low Carb lite and fit yogart with me too.  I also have Southbeach protein bars.  I have a personal blender that I make protein drinks with when I can wash it out after.  Protein is yucky and hard to get out of plastic and glass containers.

I realize I will be at a weight soon that I will want to stay at.  I see the biggest challenge coming up, eating enough not to loose, but not too much so I don't gain.  It is going to be hard.  I know that I will push to under eat and may find I keep loosing.  They say your body will stop, I hope it does.  I know it will be hard for me to eat more and to add carbs back in.  Without that I have lost the weight I have never thought I could.  I have never been thin, I am now.  Some pugj left, but that should go away I hope.  

I guess that is all for now.  I just want to pass on what I have learned to others might get where I have gotten.  I don't want to flame those who don't follow the program or their surgeons prodicals (sp) but it scares me and I want them to see the truth, not something sugar coated.  Some choices can be fatal.  Some can cause them to fail at something I know they can succeed at.

Well, that is it for now.  I will try to put up another post at 1 year.  I will try and post the inches lost and the pounds too.  Will be interesting to see what they are by then.

/22/06 Lets see, I now know I dump on sugar and it doesn't take much to do so. Bar b q sauce did it to me the other day. The first was popcycles, thought they were SF, they weren't.

I've gone back to work. I don't know how catering is going to work, because we have been going to Casinos and get Buffet tickets. That is where I had the bar b q sause, glad there was a bathroom near by. First time I threw up.

I found a little blender that makes 12 oz. at a time and it will run off an inverter in my truck, so I can get my protein shakes made when I need them.

My weight is dropping again, at least for now. Will see in a few days if it keeps up.

5/1/06 Well the weight loss has slowed again. I lost 10lbs last month. I wish I could get it up to 15 for at least one month. Nothing seems to make a difference on the loss. I loose with less protein, more protein, water or not, carbs or not. It just happens as it wants to happen.

8/12/06 Been awhile since I updated. I am over 7 months out. I don't obsess as much over the surgery, but I do some when it comes time for food in catering. Tonight I tried some chicken that they prepared for me with garlic and onion and a red sauce, sounds great, it wasn't. No taste and the chicken was dry. I had wanted to stay away from carbs, but the only thing I could eat was stuffed pasta shell, stuffed with cheese.

I believe I am loosing at 8 lbs a week. Checked the other day at gym I went to with the band. But scales can be different so I will wait until next Fri. when I get home.



This surgery is the best thing I ever did. Yes it is hard, you have to change your relationship to food. But it is hard to mess it up. If you make up your mind, the tool will keep you on track. My hair loss is slowed down, still lossing some, but unless you know my hair real well, you wouldn't know and I had alot fall out. I took biotin, did not help at all, so don't waste your money on things like that. Take your vit. and eat your protein. It wont help, but it wont add to the problem either.

I see how much I have lost and feel so thin, but then I get a reality check and see how much I have to go. I am not thin yet. I guess it is partly that I never saw myself as big as I was. I also know when I started high school I didn't see myself as slim as I was. I think that is all of our problems to one or another degree. We see the scale go up a pound or know we had to wear larger clothes, but we say it was only one. We didn't work to get back down that one pound or one size. We decided to be happy with who we are. We could be until it starts affecting our daily lives, can't walk as far, can't do the hous work, can't have fun at an amusement park with the kids. Reality comes in.

Funny, there has been talk about how society doesn't accept people who are fat. Well, maybe we shouldn't. If you accept something, than less will do something to change it. We might think it was ok to be fat when we were, before we decided to have the surgery, but it wasn't. We had health problems, social problems, and other hidden problems that also contributed to our haveing gained weight over the years.

All people I have met have been so supportive of the surgery. They don't say anything about it being the easy way out, in fact the opposite, they know it was a hard choice and a hard line to tow.

I have lost almost 80 lbs. now, have about 37 to go to goal and will probubly go below that, since I should hit goal around 1 year and the loss should continue for another 6 months after that.

I would recommend this surgery to anyone. But I would say read this board for a few months everyday. Talk to others who have had it and talk to your family. But even if they are against it, it is something you have to decided to do. Even without the support of family, you can succede. I was lucky, my family stood behind me, even now, also my friends.

Sept. 10, 2006

Ok I am down almost 90 lbs. It's 9 months out. I feel great. I love life and I love shopping. Now I did hit some depression, not over the weightloss, just in general. I have heard of this around this time out. So I went and bought a new cockateil, she is a cuddler and loves me completely, it has changed me.

Now I just answered a post that I wanted to put on my profile. It says alot of what has gone on with me since I decided to have the surgery. Here it is.

Everyone else covered the biggest part, that you have to feel ready and trust your surgeon. But I saw a major red flag. This surgery is a tool and if you aren't commited, without major doughts to doing what is needed, then you probubly should wait or try something else. Taking the vit. and exercise are all part of a life change. You have to change the way you live for this to work long term. Yes you will loose in the short run without exercise, without being completely compliant with the rules. But you will never be able to keep the success long term, which is 5 years by most.

I don't deprive myself of food, I choose food I want to eat and that food is good for me. I don't want the fries, although if I really want one, I have one, but it isn't what I choose everyday with lunch. I don't want the fried stuff, it's not that I can't have it, I can, but I don't want it. This has come about because I used the tool to change my life. I haven't craved anything I didn't allow myself to have, because I have only craved things that were no sugar, low in fat and basically good for me.

Now if I hadn't had the mind set to do this, I would probubly not e loosing anymore. I have to eat on the road and it is hard to find the right foods sometimes. I have gone for days eating beef jerkey and nuts and low carb yogart. It is fine with me. I like the way I live., If I didn't I would be eating the chicken fried steak, the french fries, and other foods that would start to put the weight back on.

I only tell you this so you don't do the surgery if you don't think you can do what will be needed on the other side. Please don't let me talk you out of it. It wasn't easy to get to this point, but I would do it all again in a heart beat.

I also had a very short time from when I decided to have the surgery to when it happened. 4 months total and the date came and I had 3 weeks to get stuff finished. That is real short. But I didn't feel rushed, I felt great about it.

So take the time you need. Really feel for what you think you can do and what you don't think you can do. But remember to add in that the weight has to come off somehow for you to really live life. Maybe there are things you haven't tried yet.

But if you finally get to the point where you know this is what you want, you are fed up with your life the way it is and you know nothing else is or has worked for you, then please go ahead with the surgery. It is the best thing I ever did. I have to stop myself from shouting it from the roof top for everyone who has tried and failed to loose weight to do this. I know it is personal and you have to decide, it took me 2 years.

I know this is long, but sometimes just being told to look to yourself isn't enough. I hope I have helped and not hurt your process in this. I hope you have this great surgery and see how wonderful it is. Please let us know what you end up deciding.

sept. 12, 2006 Down 89lbs in 8 months plus

Another thing I posted. I got an email to put stuff in my profile of what I have learned and would like to pass on, so I am going to do this once in awhile.

Yes eat when your body says to eat. If your schedule is all messed up, you have to go with the flow. The big thing is to add the food for the day up. Plan ahead some. I know I can have 2 servings of the beef jerky and one of the almonds a day, that gives me 370 calories. So I can figure out what other foods to eat at the other times. Chili is about 200 calories per cup. The Pbutter sandwich is almost 200 calories. So if I had an extra serving of almonds or beef jerky, my last few meals or last meal might be the yogart, it is 60 calories. I eat about 600 calories a day. On the road I have to watch it close, the almonds can get me past that real fast. At home I eat stuff that is lower in calories, so I don't have to add it as much. Convieniant food is usually higher in calories.

Oh and I don't watch fats. I try to eat good fats, like almonds and other nuts, but I had some bad problems with dry itchy skin and damaged hair early out, all from no fat in my diet. So I don't worry about that, we need fats, just good fats. My choice here.

Glad to see you got rid of the diet thing. Remember, even if you did 'pig out' on the hamberger helper, did you eat anywhere near what you use to eat? It is ok to have something that is not the greatest choice once in awhile, yours was once in amonth, not bad. As long as you didn't over eat it and you only did it that once. We live in the real world with real cravings. It has been proven that if you don't eat what your are craving you tend to eat a whole lot of other things. If you eat that chocolate pudding, sugar free of course, when you crave chocolate, it isn't a bad thing. If you have one hershey kiss, dark chocolate preferabley, that isn't a bad thing either. Before it would have been a whole box of regular pudding and the whole bag of kisses. That is the change we are making now. Learning what our bodies and our minds need. That sometimes we think we need food when all we need is a hug, or to do some exercise, or to have some water, or that sf popcycle.

Anyway, away I went, hope you feel better.

3/25/06 I've lost right about 40 lbs. now. Not as much as I would like, but there it is. I can eat almost anything, still have touble with chicken. I go to the gym every day if I am not working, hard to go when you are in another state. I went back to work and did fine. Actually lost 4 lbs. while I was away.

I've gone from a size 26 pants to a 22 and now wear a large shirt, at least jacket.

It is still a hassle, I could eat any food, but I choose to eat high protein or veggies and have not tried any sugars yet. I eat a few carbs, ususally water crackers with cheese of PButter. It has been my choice of food, not the pouch. I do love Wendy's chili though and it is almost a perfect food for me. Guess that is all for now.

I decided to have the surgery for many reasons. I have been loosing at least one friend a year who's death was primarily weight related. Then there was my not being able to enjoy the things I do, like Renaissance Faire. My blood pressure had hit a point that I was on meds and it was starting to interfere with my work. My best friend had the surgery 2 years ago, and I saw how great it worked for her, so I took the plung.

I had no trouble getting approval. I got all my appointements with specialists that my surgeon required in one day and was on my way. I started the proces in Oct. and my surgery was on Jan.4, 2006.

I had really no problems at all. I had a minor reaction the second night, temp went up a little and I didn't feel well, but no real problems from it. I went home after 4 days with some pain, but nothing that the pain meds couldn't handle.

So far, I have not vomited at all. There are foods that don't sit well with me yet, mostly chicken, but I can eat fairely well. Still only eat about 2oz. a meal, sometimes more if it is Wendy's chili.

I started at 264 lbs. and after 6 weeks I am down to 239 lbs. 25 lbs. in 6 weeks, which is about 25% of the weight I have to loose. My Doc says to aim for about 10lbs. a month from now on. I hope to get to 150 or lower, at 5'5" the chart weight is 139lbs. but 150 is the goal my Doc has set.

I haven't gone back to work yet. I have 2 types of jobs I do. One is a costume designer, I have worked in theatre and films. I also make costumes for individuals. I specialize in period work. My major in college was history and I use that alot in my work. I never went to school for costuming directly, just use my other education to help with it.

My other job is a truck driver. I drive for the entertainment industry, Rock 'n Roll concerts mainly. We also drive for game shows that go on location.

I haven't gone back because I am gone so long at one time and still need to meet with my surgeon. I also have to figure out a way to keep food with me in the truck to eat. I will have a cooler that plugs into an outlet, but no way to cook. I think I have enough food I can eat now that I will be fine. I will be doing my first trip out Mar. 16 for a few days. After that, I dont know what I will be doing or when.