C. Zibrowski
12/3/06 - I had a tummy tuck and thigh lift on 10/30/06 and they removed about 6 1/2 pounds of skin. Dr. Christopher Jones in Noblesville, IN did the surgery and I couldn't be happier with the results. The recovery from this surgery was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. I am still uncomfortable and can't walk a lot yet with out quite a bit of swelling. I think that the tummy tuck alone would not have been a big deal but the thigh light was a whole different story.
6/7/06 Yeah after 3 years and 2 months I am finally going to have plastic surgery. On June 17 I am getting my arms redone, getting the bat wings removed. Then on October 30 I am scheduled for a extended tummy tuck and a thigh lift. I can't wait until next summer when my body will look better than ever. I am so excited but the 17th seems so far away.
12/7/05 Well I can't believe that it has been 2 years and 8 months. I also can't believe that I haven't updated for about a 1 1/2 years. Time has went by very fast. I did end up gaining weight back up to 150 pounds, that happened over a year ago when I kind of resumed normal (what is normal for us)eating. I look better now then when I was at my lowest weight. Everyone that I work with said that for a while I got to thin and didn't look healthy. I do fluctuate about 2 -3 pounds and yes I do still panic even when I gain a pound. I am still very much afraid that I will gain the weight back and that would be the absolute worsest thing.
I am still very sensitive to sugar and can no longer eat ice cream at all - it just isn't worth feeling that bad.
I also thought I was having a blood sugar problem. I thought mayne my blood sugar was dropping if I waited to long to eat. I went to the doctor and they ran a bunch of test and found that my B-12 level was very low. So I started getting monthly B-12 shots a couple of weeks ago. The doctor thinks that this is what was causing the low blood sugar feeling and says my blood sugar is fine. Since I got the B-12 shot I haven't had an episode so maybe that was the problem. Also, because of the B-12 levels they think my allergies are hypersensitive. I have had 2 several allergic reactions to random things. They think the B-12 is causing my immune system to not handle normal everyday allergens. We'll see!
For now that is all - I wish everyone as much success as I have had. I feel like this saved my life.
7/6/04 Well it has been a while since I posted. I am maintain right around 130 pounds and wearing a size 6. I do love that part of it.
Although since April I have been fighting a problem with itching. They now think that I possible have a food allergy. They want me to stop eating egg, milk, wheat, fish and nuts. Now what do I eat? I can't even drink my protein shakes because they have whey in them. This is really a pain and not very comfortable. Hopefully we can figure this out - if anyone else is experiencing this I would appreciate hearing from you.
I also can not eat strawberries - I discovered that one on my own. Twice over the past weekend I tried tham and got deathly ill for about a half hour.
3/15/04 Where was everyone for the Support Group meeting last week - only 3 of us showed up. We really need to be there to support each other and the new people coming on board. I know that I need the support group meetings to help keep me on the right track and get advice from others who may have struggled in the same areas as I am.
Well I got myself way out of wack on what I should be eating. I am still eating good meals and drinking my protein shakes, but I am also eating hard candy, gummy bears, and candy orange slices. I am starting to slide back into old habits and I don't like it one bit. I decided today that I had to get back to the way I ate after surgery and also drink my water.
Well I did drink 40 ounces of water as well as 3 cans of diet caffeine free cokes. I had my protein shake for breakfast(5:30am), then later in the morning(8:30am)I had one scrambled egg with some ham and cheese, then for lunch(11:00am) I had 2 slices of colby jack cheese with 4 crackers, then for a snack this afternoon(2:30pm) I had 2 slices of cheese and 2 slices of turkey from a snackable with crackers and 1 ounce of almonds, then for a late afternoon(4:30pm) snack I had one serving of teddy grahams, then later did snack on a few gummy bears, and then dinner(7:30pm) I had a 1/2 cup of lasagne.
I still feel like I am eating constantly, but I am not gaining any weight, as a matter of fact I have still been losing when I don't need to lose anymore.
Well hopefully can get back to eating more of the right stuff. Anyone else have any suggestions on getting past this send me an email.
3/2/2004 Well it has been quite a while since I updated. I am almost 11 months out and feeling great for the most part unless I do something stupid. This past week I was in Las Vegas and tried a couple of things and really paid the price. I tried a Krispy Kreme donut and a mint chocolate chip ice cream cone - boy was that a mistake - both of them made me incredibly sick. I guess that I am glad of that - it kind of discourages me from trying them again for a while.
I still drink a protein shake everyday, but didn't take any to Vegas with me. So it was the first time that I totally depended on whole foods for the entire time. It seemed kind of strange since I always drink a shake for breakfast. I tried a muffin one day - but that kind of sits funny in my stomach and makes me feel yucky. I really no longer eat bread of any sort other than crackers. It seems like bread is too heavy or something. I used to love bread and now I could care less if I have bread, as a matter of fact it doesn't even appeal to me. That just seems so strange.
While in Vegas though I walked the almost the full length of the strip several times and felt great. I even ran up a couple of sets of steps and wasn't even out of breath. What a great feeling!
1/18/04 Well I think that for the most part I am a goal. I saw my dietician on Wednesday at a support group meeting and she kind of indicated that I didn't need to lose any more weight. I am struggling a little with that since I originally set my goal at 130 pounds and have not yet reached it. Although my goal in clothes was to be able to wear a size 10 pants and I am wearing a size 6/8, so I am actually smaller that I planned there. I told the dietician that I will feel like a failure unless I get to 130 pounds and she told me I need to just concentrate on the size I am wearing instead and to realize that I am not a failure. Okay so I will work on that.
I am also struggling a little with the eating thing now that I figured out that most sweets don't bother me. I haven't really eaten any chocolate, but I do like to get hard candy and suckers, which are still pure sugar. I need to work on this. Plus the fact that I was getting a cappuccino everyday on my way to work and today one of the gas station's had the nutritional information posted and it has like 450 calories and 69 grams of sugar in a 24 oz cup - YIKES! Time to forget that back to just drinking water.
12/8/03 Okay so I am officially 8 months post-op and have lost 125 pounds. I can't believe that it has already been 8 months.
Thanksgiving was kind of a challenge - I ate some foods that I shouldn't have, but like my husband said I only ate a little bit of the stuff rather than 3 or 4 pieces of pie or a half a pan of bars. Some of it didn't make me feel so good though. I ate a peanut butter cookie and boy I started to sweat and felt really crappy for a while. I guess I won't have one of them again for a while. I also made a 4 cheese chicken fettucine and who would have thought - it came back up right away almost faster than it went down. It was really rich though - it was made with cream cheese and heavy whipping cream as well as 4 different cheeses.
I also had a headache (probably from all the stuff I shouldn't have been eating) so I took 3 advil on an empty stomach. My stomach started hurting the next day, kind of like a pulled muscle deep inside my stomach or like someone had punched me. It didn't matter whether I stood or layed down, ate or didn't - the pain didn't go away. I called the surgeon's office and they thought I had probably just aggravated my stomach and to eat soft foods for a couple of days and it would probably get better. They told me to try that and if I wasn't better to call them in two days and let them know. In the meantime I had went to my family doctor for something else and told him about the problem. He decided that the advil had probably started to ulcerate my stomach and put me on ulcer medicine. Within a few hours my stomach quit hurting and has been fine since. I have been told that I probably shouldn't take advil again and especially not on an empty stomach. Another lesson learned.
Well that is enough of my rambling.
11/12/03 - Well I went back today for my checkup. It was kind of exciting. Dr. Gomez was showing my before surgery picture to everyone because I don't even look like the same person. Boy was I fat, YUCK!!!! Dr. Gomez did tell me that with the proper weight exercises I will probably not need any plastic surgery, especially on my stomach. I really don't have any skin hanging down on my stomach and he said that the loose skin would tighten up with exercise. I don't know about my arms - I don't think there is any hope for them.
I went shopping over the weekend and actually bought a size 8 pants. I tried on a size 10 and my husband was "like aren't those a little to big, how about if I get you the next size down." I thought that there would be no way, but the size 8s fit and weren't even the slightest bit tight. Although my husband did express concern over me getting skinny and then divorcing him, why would I do that after 22 years of being married to the most loving and supporting husband a woman can find. He is stuck with me!
I also sent in a new picture today so that it can be added to this page. I figured it was about time.
10/20/03 Wow I can't believe that it has been over 3 months since I made a journal entry. I am now down about 106 pounds and I am wearing a size 12-14. It is so great to be able to go shopping in any store. I am starting to get real selfconscious about my weight loss people can't get over how much weight I have lost in 6 months. I hadn't seen some of my friends since before the surgery and they just kept looking at me and telling me how great I looked, it actually gets embarrassing. This week I seen someone who I seen about 7 months ago and he said that if I hadn't told him I was coming to meet him he wouldn't have known it was me. He said that he couldn't get over the changes he saw in me. I guess I should be proud but sometimes I feel like people think I did it just for the compliments. I did it to feel better and I feel absolutely wonderful, I feel like I am 25 again.
On a funny note - one day last week I was walking past a store front and was looking at my reflection in the window and didn't realize it was me. I was kind of like who is that skinny person and took another look and was like wow I have lost weight. I still see myself as the fat person I was.
8/5/03 This past weekend I went shopping and what a great feeling to be able to shop in regular stores and regular sizes. Also, my sister-in-law and niece were more exhausted then I was.
I have finally hit the bottom of my closet and had to go shopping for some clothes. Nothing fit anymore - what a great feeling.
I tried some homemade pizza the other night - it tasted real good but my new stomach didn't like it. It has probably been 5-6 weeks since I threw up anything. I guess I will skip the pizza from now on.
7/16/03 - Well I just spent the last 3 weeks romping around England, Wales, Belgium and Germany and oh what a great time I had. If I hadn't had this surgery I don't know how I would have done it. We probably walked 5 - 10 miles a day and I felt great the whole time. It is wonderful to feel good again. I have so much energy that even I can't always figure out where it is coming from. I feel like a totally new person.
Also, when I got home I had to go through and empty out part of my closet. I have went from wearing a size 24/26 to wearing between a size 14/16/18 depending on the brand - and I am loving every minute of it.
Today was my first day back to work since my vacation and people kept coming up to me and telling me how great I looked. I only lost 12 pounds while I was gone, but these 12 pounds seemed to make the biggest difference in clothing sizes.
7/16/03 - Well I just spent the last 3 weeks romping around England, Wales, Belgium and Germany and oh what a great time I had. If I hadn't had this surgery I don't know how I would have done it. We probably walked 5 - 10 miles a day and I felt great the whole time. It is wonderful to feel good again. I have so much energy that even I can't always figure out where it is coming from. I feel like a totally new person.
Also, when I got home I had to go through and empty out part of my closet. I have went from wearing a size 24/26 to wearing between a size 14/16/18 depending on the brand - and I am loving every minute of it.
Today was my first day back to work since my vacation and people kept coming up to me and telling me how great I looked. I only lost 12 pounds while I was gone, but these 12 pounds seemed to make the biggest difference in clothing sizes.
6/11/03 Everything is going great. I am currently wearing 2 sizes (3 sizes in some brands) smaller than I did before the surgery. It feels great to be able to wear clothes that fit comfortably. I now enjoy going to stores and strolling through them and shopping. It used to be that I hated to shop. I still don't buy many clothes - I feel like it is a waste of money; if I wait a few more weeks I can buy a smaller size.
I am going to England and Wales in two weeks and can't wait. It will be interesting to see what I can eat over there. I was worried about getting in my protein and don't like the dry protein mixes; luckily we are going to my cousin's house first so I had the Vitamin Shoppe send the protein shakes to my cousin. They will be waiting when I get there.
As far as the eating scene, it really doesn't bother me to watch other people eat or to go out and eat. I still can't eat steaks; they seem to lodge themselves and then I have to go and vomit or stay uncomfortable. I have finally been able to eat a burger off the grill (2 ounces) and can also eat shrimp. It does feel good to finally eat some normal food.
5/26/2003 Well I thought that when they told me that I didn't have to eat pureed foods any longer that the food thing would be easier - I think that it has gotten harder though. I have to force myself to eat. I am hardly ever hungry, but I have been making sure that I get two protein shakes a day so that helps some. I am afraid to try a lot of things I am worried that I will have to throw up. YUCK!!!5/4/03 Well I seem to being doing okay. I haven't weighted myself this week since Tuesday so I don't really have any idea how I have done. I hope to have lost a few pounds, but who knows. If anyone has any suggestions for pureed food please let me know. I don't seem to be able to eat pureed meats.
I have had a really hard time getting in my water. I can't seem to get myself to drink anything else either. I have tried a few flavored waters and YUCK. I did buy some diet lemonade, we will see how that goes. 4/24/03 Well I did about the stupidist thing possible. I am 15 days post op and was looking for something new to eat since everything has to be pureed. I asked my husband to stop at a local restaurant and pick up some cheese soup. DUMB! DUMB! Well I ate about 1 ounce at 8:30pm and dumped from 8:30 to 1:30am. I don't ever want to relive that experience if I can help it. I vomited about 5 times and when I wasn't vomiting I had stomache cramps every 3 - 4 minutes which caused me to curl up into a fetal position they were so bad. I was just about ready to go to the emergency room when the cramps let up enough for me to sleep. I have never felt that bad even when I had the flu. I guess that I will never - never - never eat cheese soup again in my life. 4/22/03 Okay I think that I may have over did it. I went to work again today for about 4 and 1/2 hours, but had to leave because I hurt too much. My stomach feels like I have pulled every muscle in it - I haven't hurt this much since just a few days after the surgery. Hope that I didn't screw up anything. If it still hurts tomorrow morning I may skip work. Lucky for me I have the most wonderful and supportive management team in the world.4/21/03 I went back to work today, everyone was so surprised to see me. They all kept saying "it hasn't even been 2 weeks" and that I looked great. I only ended up staying at work for 5 hours and then I was totally wiped out. But each day gets a little better. Wednesday I get my staples out and then I think that I will feel wonderful. These staples are a real pain and I can't wait to get them out so that I can sleep on my stomache again.
4/18/03 Well it has now been 11 days since my surgery. I am feeling wonderful, I have absolutely no pain and I walked 3 miles yesterday and 1.5 miles so far today. I am not used to being home and I am getting bored. I originally took 4 weeks off from work but I am trying to decided whether to go back next Monday or not.
4/15/03 Well it has been one week since my sugery and I have lost 11.5 pounds so far. Each day I am feeling better. I walked .7 miles to day and felt great when I was done. I am still having a real hard time eating protein - my doctor wants me to have 60 grams of protein a day. I don't know how I am going to ever do that but I will keep working on it.4/13/03 Today I tried to eat pureed chicken and broth - I was only able to eat 1 and 1/2 ounces. After an hour it still hadn't gone down and I ended up throwing it up. Not sure why, everything else I have tried has been okay. I tell you what being only 5 days out and throwing up is about the least fun thing that you can do. I have been eating split pea and ham soupe pureed and it tastes good and goes down fine. I had a liquid vitamin - it was awful I sent my husband to get me Flintstone chewables.
3/27/03 Well I only have about 1 1/2 weeks before I switch over to the other side. People keep asking me if I am afraid - I have to say I am not the least bit scared, only excited. I can't wait.
3/11/03 Had all my pre-op tests done today - one more step towards changing my life.
2/27/03 The surgeon's office called and one of the surgeon's is on vacation the week I was scheduled. My surgery is now scheduled for April 8, 2003. I am so disappointed.
2/26/03 I finally got my date and it's only 3 weeks away, March 18, 2003 - I am so excited. 2/25/03 Well after all that frustration yesterday my insurance company called to say that I have been approved without the psychologist letter. HOW INTERESTING!
2/24/03 I have spent most of the morning on the phone with the insurance company and boy has it been frustrating. The insurance company now says that I need a letter from a psychologist, physchiatrist or nutritionist stating that I have the ability to follow a post operative dietary program. Before they told me that my PCP could write this letter and so I submitted that, now they have changed their minds. The nurse at the insurance company says she isn't going to submit my paperwork up for approval until she gets all the paperwork - I told her to submit it anyway and I will make an appointment with the psychologist to get the rest of the paperwork completed. She said don't be suprised if I get rejected - I told her I would take my chances. I checked with several psychologist and physchiatrists and they didn't handle that. I then spoke to the nutritionist, who works out of the same office as Dr. Gomez and I go to see her on friday. Since my insurance won't cover this I will have to pay out of my own pocket, but she says that she will fax it to my insurance company while I am there.
2/17/03 My insurance company has all the paperwork and told me it can take them up to 30 days to review.
2/11/03 My package has been mailed to the insurance company, now all I have to do is wait and see if I get approved the first time.
1/24/03 My doctor was very impressed with the letter and said that I must have really done my homework because I knew more than he did about the surgery. He signed the letter and we faxed it to the surgeon's office so that it can be included in the paperwork that goes to the insurance company.
1/23/03 Just found out that Mailhandlers has changed their requirements and I need a letter from my PCP stating what weight loss programs I have done, for how long and how much I lost. I also need a nutritional assessment done by my PCP, a pshychologist or a nutritionist. I called and made an appointment for tomorrow with my PCP. Thanks to this site I was able to draft a letter so that all my doctor has to do is sign it and I won't have to wait for his staff.
1/14/03 Well I had my consultation and Dr. Gomez and is staff are wonderful. Now to wait on the insurance approval, they told me that it will take them about 4 weeks to get the paperwork all prepared and sent to the insurance company. So now the wait is on again.
11/27/02 I spoke to Sue from Dr. Gomez's office a few weeks ago and found out that Federal BCBS doesn't always cover RNY. BCBS told me that I don't need approval from them to just go ahead and have the surgery and then they will make a decision as to whether they will pay for it or not. Are they nuts? I am switching to Mailhandlers, effective January 13, 2002 - they have already told me that they will approve the procedure.
I am scheduled for my consultation with Dr. Gomez on January 14, 2003. Dr. Gomez's staff told me that Mailhandlers Insurance is one of the easiest insurance companies to deal with. I am hoping for a March surgery date, although sooner would be better.
This waiting is driving me crazy!
Weight Loss History | |||
| Date | Current Weight | Weight Loss | Total Weight Loss |
| 4/7/03 | 266 | ||
| 4/15/03 | 254.5 | -11.5 | -11.5 |
| 4/22/03 | 245.5 | -9.0 | -20.5 |
| 4/29/03 | 241.0 | -4.5 | -25.0 |
| 5/6/03 | 237.5 | -3.5 | -28.5 |
| 5/13/03 | 233.5 | -4.0 | -32.5 |
| 5/20/03 | 229.0 | -3.5 | -36.0 |
| 5/27/03 | 225.5 | -3.5 | -40.5 |
| 6/3/03 | 222.5 | -3.0 | -43.5 |
| 6/10/03 | 218.0 | -4.5 | -48.0 |
| 6/17/03 | 214.0 | -4.0 | -52.0 |
| 6/24/03 | 210.5 | -3.5 | -55.5 |
| 7/15/03 | 198.5 | -12.0 | -67.5 |
| 7/29/03 | 194.5 | -4.0 | -71.5 |
| 8/5/03 | 190.5 | -4.0 | -75.5 |
| 8/12/03 | 187.0 | -3.5 | -79.0 |
| 8/19/03 | 182.0 | -5.0 | -84.0 |
| 9/2/03 | 178.5 | -3.5 | -87.5 |
| 9/9/03 | 174.5 | -4.0 | -91.5 |
| 9/23/03 | 170.0 | -4.5 | -96.0 |
| 9/30/03 | 168.0 | -2.0 | -98.0 |
| 10/7/03 | 162.5 | -5.5 | -103.50 |
| 10/21/03 | 158.5 | -4.0 | -107.5 |
| 11/4/03 | 154.0 | -4.5 | -112.0 |
| 11/11/03 | 150.0 | -4.0 | -116.0 |
| 11/25/03 | 147.0 | -3.0 | -119.0 |
| 12/2/03 | 145.0 | -2.0 | -121.0 |
| 12/9/03 | 141.0 | -4.0 | -125.0 |
| 12/16/03 | 139.5 | -1.5 | -126.5 |
| 12/23/03 | 137 | -2.5 | -129.0 |
| 12/30/03 | 136 | -1.0 | -130.0 |
| 1/13/04 | 135.5 | -0.5 | -130.5 |
| 1/29/04 | 134.0 | -1.5 | -132.0 |
| 2/10/04 | 133.0 | -1.0 | -133.0 |
| 3/2/04 | 132.0 | -1.0 | -134.0 |
| 3/9/04 | 129.0 | -3.0 | -137.0 |
| 12/7/05 | 150.0 | +20.0 | -116.0 |
| 12/3/06 | 136 | -14.0 | -130.00 |
About Me
Before & After
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