Msdragonz
I wasn't always overweight. I was curvey, but not too heavy for my height. I never had a big problem with keeping weight off either. That is until I went into the NAVY. During bootcamp I learned to eat-BIG TIME. It didn't matter at that time because they were running us ragged so nothing stayed on with weight. After bootcamp I married my first husband and went to my first duty station at a desk job. Same appetite-no exercise-AT ALL. I partied and ate and cried and ate some more. (My marriage was pretty bad so I ate to stuff the pain) After having my 1st son, more stuffing, more pain, infidelity of my husband, more eating..well you get the picture. That was to be the cycle for a long time. I did remarry a wonderful man, but I always delt with everything by eating in excess so the lifestyle was already in motion. With every child-more weight....it never stopped. I ended up being almost 300 lbs.
On December 13, 1999 I had what I thought was an RNY-turned out to be a mini-gastric-loop, but at any rate I lost around 80 lbs and stopped...then the pounds just started creeping back on again slowly until I'd gained a lot of it back. Feeling like I'd failed the surgery, ( I thought "Who does that, fails a surgery??) I tried to numb the pain with anything I could, food money, drugs-you name it My weight was not the only source of my pain, but it was/is a huge part.. I had this big problem with self-loathing and the weight didn't help.
Eventually, I hit what I call my "Holy Shit Moment". (Some people call it rock bottom) and ended up in the fellowship of NA-which saved my life. My problem was not just the drugs, but a defect in the way I thought. I could have used anything (and did) and gotten the same results. (NA focuses on the problem of addiction, not the particular substance, so it covered everything) I began to work the program, slowly and methodically, following direction, sharing my pain and learning to live through it. I started to realize that as bad as pain felt, it wasn't going to be there forever. As long as I could hold on, pray and lean on my network of support I could get through it, and that maybe next time it wouldn't be as hard. I also learned that I didn't have to be perfect about it, and just had to do it. (Imagine that huh?) Anyways, enough about that.
I really thought that there was nothing I could do about the failed WLS. I thought I had my one chance and that was it. But a friend of mine who had her 1st surgery last year said "Hey, maybe you could get a revision?" I never thought of that. I thought it was crazy to think about going through it again and I knew my DH would lose his mind-which he did,, but more on that later. She gave me her surgeon's number and I called. I had an appt and some tests and he said he could help me-he would do a revision to a true RNY.
It's was almost like the next day when I started checking out the DS board-just out of curiosity, wondering what it was. The more I read the more I felt it was for me, so I checked out surgeons of the DS website and after looking at his credentials decided on DR Greenbaum. I emailed back and forth with his coodinator Tina, she mailed me some test orders and set up a phone consult with DR G. I finally got to talk to him for a while about the DS and he kept circling back to the RNY. Feeling defeated, I got off the phone, thinking I was destined to have the RNY-(which I was certain I would fail at also) I called my original surgeon and decided to go back to him. I stayed away from the boards on OH for almost three weeks-I was so depressed. I don't know why, but for some reason I decided to peek in on the DS board and see what was up. There was a post about a woman whose dctr was trying to talk her out of the DS. Someome told her that they thought her dctr might be testing her committment to having the DS. (I think they had experience with that particular dctr) Anyhow, a lightbulb went off in my mind-maybe that's what was going on with DR G.!!! Well, long story shot, I kept my appt with him, determined to be firm in my choice and got my wish granted-he will do the DS if at all possible, if he can't I will get a distal RNY!!!-(small pouch, less absorbtion.)
Well, that pretty much brings me up to date-more to follow:)
About Me
NEPA, PA
Location
39.9
BMI
Surgery
01/26/2009
Surgery Date
Jul 02, 2008
Member Since
