Luvbenme
NOTE: MY SURGEON IS DR. Noel Williams of Philadelphia Pa. - IF ANY OTHER SURGEON OR CLINIC ANYWHERE USES THIS PROFILE AS A TESTIMONIAL, REFERENCE OR ADVERTISEMENT, PLEASE CONSIDER IT A MISREPRESENTATION.
I am a 35 year old woman, who has had a weight problem for the last 13 years. Every pregnacy I have gotten heavier and heavier. I tried all kinds of diets, from pills to Weight Watchers. With some short term success. Only to gain back all the weight plus more. I was hospitalized in August of 2003 for addiction to diet pills. So they are out of the question for me. I am now 252 pounds and at my ropes end with this horrible battle. I am only 5'4" tall. I have three small children 11, 9, and 2. I am really struggling with caring for them, for I am a divorced mom. I have trouble walking and doing all the things I would love to do with them. I hope if I am approved for surgery,(G-d willing), that my whole life will change.
8/17/04 I have gone to my consultation!! I was sooo nervous. I don't think I slept a wink last night. I am really excited about this and have been for along time. Dr. Williams came in to the room and I swear I think I must have looked at him like he was G-d. He must have thought I was a nut. He was really nice and very informative. I keep asking him how Keystone Mercy is with paying for the wls and he told me they do pay for it. I I said to him well thats good, cause they have been fighting me tooth and nail about paying for certain perscriptions. That doesn't make sense that they will pay for wls but not my reflux meds. Go figure. As long as I don't have a problem with them with the wls, I don't care what else they won't pay for...lol.
9/26/04 I did most of my pre-testing I needed to do and everything is going good. My health insurance says I need to have my pshyc. evaluation/ nutrition papers in before they will even consider me for wls. So I have that appiontment on Sept. 28th. Then I will really be a nervous reck. I have been talking to some people on this site who have the same insurance as me and tell me that they approve pretty fast. I hope so cause I would like to sleep...lol.
9/27/04 I just called to make sure that everything is on track with my appt on weds.(pshyc/nutr). The secretary told me she needed my Keystone Mercy ID#, because I thank g-d I don't have to pay the 200.00 for eack appt. I wanted to call my Dr's office and find out how far in advance they are scheduling surgery. They told me in August when I went for my appt. that they were scheduling surgerys for november which I told them that was good since my mom is getting her wls in november so I wanted to wait until december or january. They said that definitley should be no problem. My father finally ordered all the protein powders and shake stuff and vitamins for us out of this booklet were he gets his stuff. I told my mom that we should not order too much cause you might not like it after the surgery. All the stuff should be coming soon, so we can taste test everything. I am sure that if we don't like it now we definitely won't when we get surgery. So we will see what happens. I went on that site bariatriceating.com and I can't wait to pick up Susan Maries book. I think I will definitely get a copy for us this weekend.
9/29/04 Well I just got my profile spruced up. Wow they did a really great job..I had tears in my eyes. Today I have my "BIG" appointment. The nuritionist and Psych. evaluations. I am really freaked out. The weather here yeaterday was horrible from hurricane Jeanne. Thank g-d my appointment wasn't set for yesterday. I wouldn't have been able to go. They closed down like every major road in the tri-state area. Well g-d does work in mysterious ways. I have many angels watching over me. I am going to be out all day with my appointment. I will finish my update when I get home from my appt. Well everything went good as far as the nutritionist part. I really already knew everything, because of this web site. When I went out to the waiting room for my next appt. they told me that the Psychiatrist was not here, that he had to go to Washington, D.C for some conference. I was totally pissed. They told me that they will call me and schedule me for sometime in the next two weeks. They better!!!
10/8/04 wow I am not sure but it feels like forever since I updated my profile. I went to get my Pulmonary function test done and everthing went great. He was such a nice doctor. I wish my PCP was as nice. I went to my first meeting at the hosptial (University of PA), with my mother. It was informative and I met some really nice people. I really new everthing they were talking about thanks to this web site. I have my overnight at the hospital this friday night for my sleep apnea test. That should be real interesting. I was really pissed off about the Physc. eval people, they never called me and I think they were blowing me off. I now have my appt. for the Physc. eval on Oct. 20th which pissed me off cause I had talked to a few people who told me that now they are booking surgerys in late Jan. to early Feb. I am soooo mad. I wanted my surgery in the beginning of Jan. because I have my best friends wedding and this is gonna cause a problem because she wants to get the bridesmaid dresses in January. Well I guess I will just get a smaller size and have a big goal for myself.
10/18/04 Well I went for my sleep apnea testing. It is just incredible how they expect you to sleep with all that junk all over your face, head and legs, and especially the wires running into your nose. I really loved having the pulse checker thing on my finger all night.....LOL. What an experience that was. Of course I do have sleep apnea. I thought I might since I am constantly waking up during the night feeling like I am being suffocated. At last I will finally be done all my testing and appointments on Wednesday. I have my Physc. eval. and then the waiting game starts for my approval, I hope it won't take too long, I am sooo excited.
10-20-04 I just came back from my Physc. evaluation. I am sooo excited she said I was an excellent candidate for wls, my mother on the other hand had a date set for Nov.8th and the Psyciatrist wanted to see her again, which was the appt, right before mine and he told her as of this time he was not clearing her for the surgery, so now she is really upset. I told her that she had to start living a different lifestyle...but she did not take my suggestions. So now the Phyciartrist said they were gonna try and get my her date. I am happy for that, but of course not happy that my mother cannot get it done right now. I know that everything happens for a reason though. Well I will let you know when I am called about the date. Keep prayin' for me...
10-21-04 Well they called me this afternoon with the good news that I was approved and they gave me the surgery date oF Dec. 17th. Yippeeeee!!!! I am sooo excited I can hardly contain myself. Soon I will be on the loosing side as well. It is weird, I am soo happy and sad for my mom at the same time. It is a strange feeling. I do have to say, I am releived though to be getting the surgery first. I have wanted her to put up a profile on this site which has I swear been the best thing I could have done. Documenting my journey has been so spiritual and enlightening to me. I have made friends on here and i hope to really get even more involved when I am post-op.
10-28-04 I am on my way to see the sleep doc. I have no idea why I have to go all the way town and spend at least thirteen dollars on parking for them to tell me I have sleep apnea. I mean I don't want to get a machine, because if I am having surgery won't it go away? My friend Anni who I met on this web site is in surgery right now. I have been thinking about her all morning. Saying many prayers for her. I will check back in when I come home from the doc. Well I am back, the sleep doc told me that I really didn't have much sleep apenea...so I guess thats a good thing. She told me that she would like me to get another one done, cause from what I am telling her about waking up through out the night she seems to still think I have it more than the sleep test showed. So maybe I will get it redone after my wls...
11-03-04 Well Kerry didn't win what a bummer...I just called the Physciatrist who did my psyc. eval, because it has been 2 weeks and nothing has been sent to my insurance company...I am soo sick of my surgeons office telling me not to worry that Keystone Mercy covers wls, but I want to hear it in full words, "your approved".
11-05-04 I finally got them to send the fax of medical nesesicity form to Keystone Mercy, so now is the waiting to get approved. It shouldn't take that long they say as long as I meet the criteria, which of course I do. I was sick and had no voice and was still on the phone trying to find out obsessivly. I even called another surgeons office for my mom, cause I don't think that the Physciatrist is going to clear her for surgery, but she is waiting to hear from her PCP, and see what he has to say, or if he called to talk to the Physciatrist to find out what the hell is going on. My moms doctor works at UofPa, so if anyone can find out exactly what she needs to be cleared he will find out for sure. I think the way she explains the way he is with her that it might be a conflict of personality. I did get her an appointment at Temple Hosp. on the 19th of Nov., so I will go with her to that so we can find out if that would be better for her to just switch. Well I will get back to you when I get an answer on my approval...
11/12/04 I got my approval today....yipeeeeee!!!! I am sooo excited, I got the call at 11 am today and started to cry uncontrollably. I mean it feels like such a weight lifted off of you when you hear those two little words. I have been given this wonderful gift, and I am going to not take advantage of it. They might have to do an open rny, which I am not so happy with but whatever...I will survive.
12/1/04 I havn't wrote in awhile, afarid I am gonna run out of space. I am getting really nervous now. 17 days to go...wow time is just flying by, turkey day was fun...just me my parents and grandma and the kids...excellent year so far. I am going out to dinner Saturady night for my last big dinner before surgery. My wonderful family and friends are going with me to The Chart House. It is gonna be a blast. This is gonna be a really emotional month in my life...I can't wait to start my new journey on the loosing side.
12-9-04
Hi all, I have been extremely anxious. Only 8 days let, OMG I can't believe it is almost here. I have to be at the hospital tomorrow for my pre-op testing. They told me it takes a couple of hours so I am going to take my knitting that Dale my therapist bought me for hanukkah. I am so grateful for her, she has helped me in every aspect of my life. My mom found out yesterday that the Physciatrist she for her physc. eval is not going to let her have surgery until she goes through three months of therapy. That sucks. But at least I will be good and can take care of her when she has her wls. I am going to out to dinner with my girlfriends tonight cause I won't see most of them until after my surgery, so we all wanted to get together. I got together with my whole family last Saturday night and that was alot of fun. I am going to see my PCP today, cause I want to see if he will give me anything for this anxiety. I also want him to check my blood presure and make sure it is not too high, I have been getting dizzy spells the last couple of days...very scary.
12-15-04
Well here we go ...tomorrow I start my bowel prep and they told me that after I eat a early breakfast to take the magnesium citrate and four Dulcolax tablet...yuck...this should be real fun...NOT. I am trying to get everything ready, washing my clothes and the kids clothes. It has been a really hard week. Slader my youngest son has been really sick. He has a really bad cold and conjuctive eye infection. I have to give him a nebulizer every 3 hours. All my kids have Asthma. I am so worried about sending him to his dad's house. I think that is the only thing I am worried about. I am really not too nervous at all about the surgery...YET. It is more the anxiety about leaving my kids with there father for a whole week that really has me freaked out. My friend Mindy is sleeping over tomorrow night. She took off form work to go to the hospital with me, that is really cool of her, she is a great friend!!! My mom was of course gonna go to, but then of course my kids father decided he has to work on friday, so my mom is gonna take care of Slader and then his dad is gonna come and pick him up at 3 pm, so my mom can get to the hospital at around 4. Well I have to put the kids to bed. Until tomorrow.....
12-17-04 Wow it is finally here...!!!! I don't have to be at the hospital until 12:15 this afternoon, so the baby is still sick and I had him sleep home instead of going to his dad's house and maybe get sicker. Also I sure am gonna miss my little bed buddy while I am in the hospital, I love him soo much. I know my other two kids are fine, they are really strong. I talked to them this morning and they sound real good, I love all my kids to death!!! So anyway, I took the bowel prep stuff and I was sick all day yesterday, YUCK!! that stuff is nasty. I am glad that yesterday is over cause I was soooo hungry, and it's weird now I'm not. I guess it must be the nerves. I did have altille trouble sleeping and I can fell the butterflys in there spinning around. I have a small rash from my nerves on my neck and chin. But other than that I am doing real good. I know I will even feel better when I get into the shower. I am all packed, which you really don't have to pack much, a few shirts, PJ pants, to walk in the hall, and especially can't forget my pillow. Some other small stuff and thats it. Well I will see ya on the LOOSING SIDE!!!!!! Bye for now....
12-21-04
I wanted to post when I got home to tell everyone that everything went well with surgery. The staff at the hospital were good except one nurse on Saturday, who kept telling me that she had paper work to do, when Sat. was absolutely my worst day. Cause I had to get up to go to the bathroom when they took the catheter out...Other than that everone was okay. I have a nurse coming today to check my JP drain, which I already know how to empty that. But whatever. I am getting tired so I will post more later.
My Pre-Op Measurments-12/17/04
Neck-15 1/4"
Upper arm-16"
Wrist-7"
Breasts- 43"E cup
Waist-48"
Hips-57"
Thigh-29"
Calf-17"
Ankle-9 1/4"
Shoe size- 9w
12-24-04
I had alittle trouble last night, with coughing, and we all know how much that totally kills to cough. I guess I definitely need to walk around alittle to move the crap around in my lungs, especially after quitting smoking I had a feeling the cough was gonna come sooner or later. I am glad though today it has been alittle better, cause I will tell you, when you cough it feels like your someone is twisting your stomack muscle from the friggin inside. It is extremely painful.Other than that I have been doing pretty good. I really only get depressed when I think about my kids, who have been over at there dads house since last Thursday. I miss them sooo much, it is hard not to cry when I think about them. I did talk to them today, and I did start to cry with my daughter, but that was also because I went through a coughing fit. I am sooo glad I had this surgery, that, I for sure do not regret at all....I am gonna go over to my friend Mindy's house tonight just to hang out on Christmas Eve. I am getting sick of laying in bed here at least and watching television.
1-17-05
Everything has been going great. My body has been changing, it is hard to keep up with it. I have gone down from an XXXL stretch pants from Old Navy, to just a regular L. I am so excited!!!. This is gonna be a great year. My new stats are:
Pre-op ......../ Post-op
Neck- 15 1/4"........./ 14 1/4
Upper arm- 16"........./ 15 1/2
Wrist- 7"......../ 6 1/2
Bust- 43"........./ 40
Waist- 48"......../ 44 3/4
Hips- 57"......../ 52
Thighs- 29"........./ 28 1/2
Calf- 17"......../ 16
Ankle- 9 1/4......../ 9
Shoe- 9......../ 8
*Total inches lost to date- 15 1/2 inches!
1-24-05
I went to my one month check up, and it was great!!! I have lost 32 pounds!!! I can't believe how good i am doing. I feel so comfortable in my clothes and don't feel like everyone is staring at me anymore. I think that was in my head before i had the surgery, but I guess thats because i felt so friggin crappy about the way i looked. I am going to this concert on March 4th to see a band I havn't seen in along time. I am sooo excited of the prospect of actually weiging less then 200 lbs. by then, that would be soo awesome, even if it was only 199....Well we shall see. I am going on friday night to buy my treadmill....yeah, I am soooo excited to get it. It is the coolest one out I think. My friend just got it and I tried it and I just loved it. Well needless to say everthing is going great with my mom, she went for her pre-testing today and it looks real good that she is gonna have her wls on Jan 31 st. She is really happy, she is finally gonna get hers too. I will keep you all poated on her recovery as well as mine. I actually was shocked when the nurse said I don't have to go back for a check-up until 6 months. I will update every month now. Ciao for now!!!!
2-17-05
Hi!! all has been good except for a few sickness and bouts of the flu in my family. I am just getting over the flu and my son had the pnemonia. I have lost a total of 47 lbs. I am down to 205, I am sooo happy wls has been great to me...I have been using my tread mill, even though I did fall off of it today and hurt my knee. Well you know the summer is coming up and I am very anxious. I have my 2 month post op measurments:
neck- 14
arm- 13.5
bust- 37
waist- 42
hips- 48.5
thighs-27
calf- 16
ankle- 9
wrist- 61/2
----------------
Total inches lost to date- 27 1/4
3/21 190 lbs
Doing real good except for being alittle tired recently. Have got to get my protein in I guess. But as always the good thing is is that I am down 10lbs. under 200....I am sooo siked. I have gotten back into the dating scene, and my god some real cute guys out there, some who are nicer then others. But as for that I am having a great time!!!
Measurments
neck-
arm-
bust-
waist-39" 11 inches lost
hips-48" 9 inches lost
thighs-26 1/2" 2 1/2 inches lost
calf-16
ankle-9
wrist-
2/26/2006 104 lbs.
I am officially underweight. I am now 104 lbs. I had my wls on Dec.17th 2004 which would put me at 14 months out. I have a problem with eating. I have three stomach ulcers and a hiatel hernia. I take 80 mlgs. of Protonix a day which does seem to be working. The pains I had in my stomach are going away. I still do not want to really eat. When I do eat it is only healthy items. I eat cottage cheese, Boca burgers. I try to stick with meats and chicken. If I do eat any carbs, I only will have a piece of wheat bread with cottage cheese or some type of cheese on it. My family is scared I am going to die. I feel ok now, I have been eating pretty well the last few days. I had a seizure two weeks ago, because my blood sugar dropped to 53. I was in the hospital for the day. I am happy with my life even after all I have been through I wouldn't have givin up having wls. I am happy with the way I look and feel really comfortable in my skin now. I can wear anything and feel comfortable now. I live with my boyfreind and my three kids and his two kids. We are having fun and everyone seems to really get along well. I feel very lucky to have my life. My new measurements are as followed:
Neck: 12"
Arm: 9.5"
Bust: 33"- 34 C
Waist: 26"
Hips: 34"
Thighs: 18"
Calf: 12"
Ankle: 7.5"
Wrist: 5.5
Shoe size: 7
Total inches lost- 85.75" Yahoooooo!!!!
How tall are you?feet,inches.
(Note: don't put " or ' marks in the spaces above.)
How much do you weigh?pounds
www.obesityhelp.com
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Profile spruced up byon 9/29/2004
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Photos
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Before pic
190
3/21/05
Member Interests:
Animal Rescue
Theater - Love all kinds of shows and plays...NY here I come...
Meeting People
Movies - Love Horror movies, seeing them with your friends is a blast!!!
Tattoo - have about 10
Rock - Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Velevt Revolver, and so much more
Hair Stylist - Havn't worked for some time but hope to get back after my new life has started..
Body Piercings - Eyebrow, had tounge done three times
Click here to see interests of other ObesityHelp members.
Surgeon Info:
Surgeon: Noel Williams, M.D.
Dr.Williams was a very nice, and informative doctor. I am very happy that I picked him for my wls. His office is nice and the staff are great. They really answer all your questions, extremely professional. University of Pa, is a top rated hospital, so I really have no worrys.
Insurer Info:
Keystone Mercy, HMO
They are just wonderful company. They are from the state. I had absolutely no problems with them. It took I think two days, when they finally received all the paper work from my docs office to call and say I was approved. They actually called my dr.'s office and then they called me.. They require the nutr/psych. evaluation before can get approved.