KerryfromSA
Well hello everyone. I am living in Johannesburg, South Africa and had a Roux en Y gastric bypass on 23 October 2007 (nearly 5 months post op). I weighed in at 114kg (approx 250 pds) and as of today 18 March 2008 am 85kg(187 pds). Am feeling great and have been told by all who know me that I am looking great. There are no sites like this in sunny SA, so decided to join this one. Will try and post some photo's when I get the chance.
I wanted to have this op a couple of years ago, but chickened out due to being cash strapped. Last September my hubby suggested we look into it again and its the best thing I have ever done for myself. I found a surgeon at a local Private Hospital who specialises in Gastric bypasses and went to see him (Dr Jansen-Van Vuuren). He told me the in's and outs and sent me off to see a dieticien, bio-kineticist, physician and a psycologist. Seeing all of them took about 2 weeks. I wanted the op asap, so booked it for 23 October and after having to pay cash for it as it is looked at as "cosmetic surgery" in this country, I had the op.
Waking up from the op was the ONLY time I thought "what the hell have I done?" It was A-for-away from there! I spent 3 days in hospital (very tired out) and a week at home (also tired as hell). But felt much better after the 2nd week. Started losing straight away and am now averaging a kg (2.2pounds) a week. My goal is to get down to 65 kg's (143 pds).
The only negative thing about this op (but worth it), is the hair loss. At 3 months postop (like clockwork), I noticed a lot of hair falling out especially when washing it. At least what looked like about 100 hairs each time I washed it. About 3 weeks ago I went for a trim and told my hairdresser to be gentle due to my hair being delicate - she immediately recommended ZINC which I gladly went and bought( they are so cheap) and can honestly say that I am now only losing 2 or 3 hairs (that I notice) each wash and also noticed this morning in the shower that I have all a whole lot of new growth coming out. Hopefully it will carry on growing and getting thicker.
Please feel free to contact me. Am flying to Australia on Sunday 23rd (if my Visa comes through in time) with my hubby. He is going for a job interview in Melbourne and they offered to fly me over as well - cant wait!! Will be back on 30th - jetlag of note!!!
