Leisha
My Story: I'm not really where to start. I think I'll just start from today. My sugery date is April 23rd 2007. My husbands good-luck number (since we were in high school) has always been 23. My grandson Tyler's b'day is April 24th. (I think he and I can celebrate our B'day's together for ever. My real b'day is Aug 5th. But I feel that having 2 birthdays a year can be a good thing!!!
I feel very lucky because I only started this process in Jan. My family doctor suggested it in Dec 06, because I am 43 and need to have Total Knee Replacements on both knees. All 5 Ortho doctors that I've seen, from Mass General in Boston to Maine Medical in Portland, Maine, have told me that I am too young and too overweight to have my knee surgeries. I had 2 Ortho doctors tell me that if I lost weight, they would consider doing the knee surgeries. I thought I could loose the weight myself. My family doctor even gave me Phentermine (a diet pill) a couple of times, but when I went back in Dec. 06 I hadn't really lost any weight and he didn't really want me on Phentermine, because my dad had heart attacks. So he looked at me and said,"I think it's time we talked about WLS." He said he thought I was the perfect candidate. No other co-morbities. Just bad knees. I told him I would think about it, go to support group and the informational meeting and let him know. At the 1st support group meeting, I left there crying all the way home. I don't know if it was nerves or happiness that I could actually be thinner someday. Probably a little of both.
There were so many people there that were so brave. If they could do it , so could I. I saw My surgeon on Jan. 30th and off I was, on my way to a major life changing journey.
Everything happened so fast, my x-rays, EKG blood work,Nutrionist and phych. appt. Then on April 6th I got my surgery date!! 9 weeks from when I started I got my date!! My friends that have had this done were so amazed that it happened this fast...me too.....doesn't give you much time to worry....My family doctor is so excited!! He's seen me go through so much pain for the past 4 years. Ok, I'm gonna finish later, got to do some running around.
4-16-07 As of today, I have 7 more days till my re-birthday!! I've lost 12.5 pounds on my Unjury shakes. My doctor requires that we drink them 2 weeks before surgery. One week down and one more to go. I just can't imagine being thin....I have not weighed under 200lbs for at least 15 years. Sometimes I get mad at myself for wasting all those years. But I'm not gonna kick myself in the ass everyday, because I believe everything happens for a reason. There must have been some "lesson" there somewhere.
