Lisa M.

Send Message

Block

Add Friend

NOt sure exactly what i had planned to write here...i need to get back into this again.  I've lost 200lbs in the past 10 months.  and after the tummy tuck, thighs, arms and boob job I will probably end up at 120lbs.  I hope not I dont want to look sick.  I am turning 42 today. and I have to say 42 is the new 22 when you've lost 200lbs.

If you're reading these profiles because you're giving gastric bypass some thought....do it.  just make an appointment...get some insurance or file for disability but just do it.

I have a life now.  I had a life before but i wouldn't wish it on anyone. carrying around 2 extra people sucks BAD. I was living dead and now i am living. LIVING. and its not just me.  My husband doesn't have to carry my weight anymore.  my children don't have to even think about what others think about me or the way i look.  Its made not only my life better but their lives too.  THey dont have to take care of me anymore...i can enjoy taking care of myself and taking care of them.

Just do it.

What to say What to say?  Its been 5 months since my surgery and i feel terrific.  I would do it again if i needed to.  After having said that I should probably give you some reasons shouldn't i?  Lets see....i cant keep my pants on.  Both because their too big and slide off and because wow my husband is EXCITED!!!  I'm 40 but i havent had this much energy or this much interest in me in years!!!  its kinda nice.  My surgery was not easy.  I wont lie or try to make it sound like it was a breeze.  Reducing the size of your stomach kind of makes you start all over.....hence the liquid then soft then graduating diet.  No i am not able to sit down and eat a huge meal.  and i have to work hard to build up an appetite just for the twice a day i do try to eat.  But i can eat pretty much anything i want.  I can drink anything i want.  I was told there would be so many limitations but really there arent.  I can decide to eat pringles or cheetos and drink a coke if i want to. and sometimes i do.  having this tool just enables me to not over do it.  

I havent had my first go around of blood work yet.  I dont know if i am suffering any kind of mal nutrition.  we'll see next month.  but i am trying to eat a variety of things and take my vitamins and tumms.

i've been getting sleepy in the mid morning mid afternoon time frame lately.  not sure if that is due to anything.  oh and i have been going to the gym 3 times a week and physical therapy 2 times a week.  whew its a  lot. but i really enjoy the fact that i CAN do it now.  

blessings to all where ever you are in your journey....if you haven't gotten there...DO NOT GIVE UP.  the psych i went to for the disability approval told me that i was going to get denied 3 times and that i would win the final appeal if i just didn't give up.....i never forgot what he said and he was right....i went back and i went back and i GOT IT!!!! and now instead of being a size 34 on a good day....i am now a 14/16....and im only 5 months post op..... DO NOT GIVE UP....i repeat...DO NOT GIVE UP

its been a long time since i posted on his blog. to myself. lol. anyway. its been great having a relationship with a physician...just got a CPAP. of course i would prefer not to have to deal with fat issues. i keep telling myself..not too much longer, not too much longer. Ok so i got the insurance..i went to dr. steinberg's lil seminar and now i know that the DS (duodenal switch) is a better fit for me than the RNY.  two dr's in atlanta do the DS.   Dr. A  teaches...and the other one only does it open.  Seems like a clear choice here...dr. A who teaches and does laproscopic vs Dr. B who only performs open surgery.  Road block is that Dr. A. had trouble with being paid by Medicare...its resolved now but he's not sure he wants to take Medicare again.  YUCK.  i do not like this. and i've been ready and waiting since september.  I just turned 41.  I dont wanna wait anymore.. so what do i do? keep waiting until he decides? or have a nice big scar down my middle and a lot more recovery time?

iono, i know im sounding whiney but i dont think God would have given me all this without a reason. (all this being the doctor at the seminar that spent so much time with me and mom telling us about DS and how it would most likely be a better fit for me.)

ok so we'll call Dr. A's office again today and ask if they've made a decision.  Wishing lost pounds to all my girls.

whew..i spent the better part of the day in the social security office.  i kept thinking..im too young for this! lol but i thank GOD that i decided one day um 4 years ago? (after spending hours and hours and hours online reading about RNY) to see if having a BMI of 63.2, with all the issues, came under the heading of disabled. I never found anything clear..until after about 10 hours straight...i found a little tiny comment that led to a very obscure article that said Medicare was "considering" covering RNY...I remember feeling like dancing around the room...but i would probably be short of breath..lol...ok so i went straight to the Social Security website and just did it..I applied. Felt completely guilty as soon as i did.  Fat people don't deserve help. Fat people shouldn't ride a cart in the store..Fat people shouldn't get a handicap parking place...they should diet..they should park as far away as possible..they should sweat..they should ...as one dietician actually said to me OUTLOUD and then wrote on my chart..."stop driving through for every meal".  Oh i have heard it all, i have seen it all...but yeah...i totally agreed with them.  SHAME ON YOU LISA!!  ok so when i got the first denial...i was completely expecting it. But something happened.  During the process of applying for Disability..they make you see a Psych Dr. I remember waiting in his waiting room with all of these "people" of various problems..all different..all there to see this man and have him tell Social Security that they indeed deserved disability.  I was there a while..lol interesting bunch.  I kept thinking..am i crazy enough? do i have to be crazy? should i be like her...the lady who kept rocking back and forth trying to light a ciggarette that wasn't there?  the dude talking to the plant? this was crazy..im not crazy and i dont deserve this ..i should just buy a treadmill. Let these poor people have my slot.  I should feel guilty just being here..they called my name..no way to sneak out now.  I know God kept me busy during that time so i would not leave. I went into this man's office and sat down and he started asking questions..weird questions...other than do i ever feel like giving up and just killing myself..every other question seemed more like he was qualifying me for bariatric surgery.  I finally said...sir..i'm confused..and i didn't even get to tell him what i was confused about when he interupted me and just started talking..he told me that psych evals for Social Security was his side job..he spend the majority of his practice doing insurance evaluations for bariatric physicians in Atlanta.  That he hoped i WOULD get approved because Medicare is now paying for RNY and that he deemed me an excellent candidate based on my file and how i handled myself in his office and during this interview.  He would whole heartedly approve me for surgery.  I was shocked..i couldn't speak.  It was the FIRST time anyone had ever even talked to me about RNY outside of my family.  Every physican, every emergency room..EVERYONE i had ever talked to in the medical community said..YOU DONT HAVE INSURANCE...go on a diet.  start walking. Any time i went to the hospital for anything wrong with me ..no one has ever prescribed anything..treated any illness i have ever had other than to tell me that i needed to lose weight.  and here's this man telling me..it would change your life.  He told me i was going to get denied.  He told me i was going to get denied twice!  The third time i would go before a judge..he told me to stick to my guns..that it would most likely take me 3 years to get approved.  But he said i should fight it to appeal before Georgia Supreme Court if i needed to because he had that kind of confidence in how WLS would change my life...SO.  Here we are...that was April of 2004...this is August of 2007.  And i DID IT!!!  I know i still have a long road ahead.  I dont even have a dr yet.  BUT..I just got a letter in the mail yesterday that says...and i quote  "you are approved for medical benefits..if you need to seek medical attention prior to receiving your card..use this letter to prove your eligibility"... amen glory hallelujah...we are cookin with gas now!!!!! I will be calling Emory Bariatrics in the morning to make an appointment.  Pray they take disability medicare! typers cramp..hugs and pats to all who have read this far! i may not know who you are..but if you're reading..I LOVE YOU!