loisannkuiper

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loisannkuiper 15 years, 4 months ago

Just to clairify, the message dated 12/7/2010, 53 years old, is actually my profile, it would not convert, so I cut and paste it as a comment. It was actually sometime in 2004, just before my surgery.

loisannkuiper 15 years, 4 months ago

Just to clairify, the message dated 12/7/2010, 53 years old, is actually my profile, it would not convert, so I cut and paste it as a comment. It was actually sometime in 2004, just before my surgery.

loisannkuiper 15 years, 4 months ago

12/7/2010 6 years... I can hardly believe it. I've kept about 100 pounds off. I am much more active, walk alot, occasional workouts using "on demand" tv exercise channel. Bowl on Monday evenings, love it. I would not have done that 100 pounds ago. I am so much more social. You can not wipe the smile off my face when I am with family and friends. Laughing comes easier. I can eat anything, just not that much of it. Sweets still can lay me out.. I'm glad, keeps me on my toes and very aware of what I eat.. I am diligent about eating three meals a day, taking Vitamins, calcium (has to be citrate) or I get leg cramps, B12 under the tongue, D, and Prilosec, no other meds. I haven't had any medical problems at all. Hardly go to Dr - hadn't gone for two years so just had my blood worked up. Aced that, no problems... People still ask to see before picture, so carry one with you always... they love the before and after. Me too, I look 10 years younger than my pic that's 6 years old... gotta love that.. Like I tell everyone tho... it is not any different than any diet you've ever been on, you still have to eat right and move your body a lot. Difference is, you'll feel like doing that...

loisannkuiper 15 years, 4 months ago

12/7/2010 6 years... I can hardly believe it. I've kept about 100 pounds off. I am much more active, walk alot, occasional workouts using "on demand" tv exercise channel. Bowl on Monday evenings, love it. I would not have done that 100 pounds ago. I am so much more social. You can not wipe the smile off my face when I am with family and friends. Laughing comes easier. I can eat anything, just not that much of it. Sweets still can lay me out.. I'm glad, keeps me on my toes and very aware of what I eat.. I am diligent about eating three meals a day, taking Vitamins, calcium (has to be citrate) or I get leg cramps, B12 under the tongue, D, and Prilosec, no other meds. I haven't had any medical problems at all. Hardly go to Dr - hadn't gone for two years so just had my blood worked up. Aced that, no problems... People still ask to see before picture, so carry one with you always... they love the before and after. Me too, I look 10 years younger than my pic that's 6 years old... gotta love that.. Like I tell everyone tho... it is not any different than any diet you've ever been on, you still have to eat right and move your body a lot. Difference is, you'll feel like doing that...

loisannkuiper 15 years, 4 months ago

53 year old mother of one. My daughter (32) and husband are also considering surgery as we are all at least 100 lbs overweight. My husband is not excited about doing it. His twin sister just had the RNY done and has lost over 80 lbs. She'd really like him to do it but he's a big eater and not inclined to even try to diet. I've had a weight problem on and off all my life. But it's the last 20 years that I've been my heaviest. I'm experiencing flexibility problems and inabililty to work as long and hard as I could in the past. There are so many things I want to do and I just don't have the energy or my legs and feet get to hurting so bad, I have to stop. I hate when that happens. I think I'd be a perfect candidate for surgery. I'm moving forward. We are all going to an introductory meeting on March 16. I will update after that meeting. 9/3/04 I have been moving forward. I took the MMPI (personality test) and passed that, whew!!! Have continued to see Joan Callier, my psychologist to work out any other issues that might be affecting my attitude and mental health. I feel very ready and very good about myself right now. I have been to see Amy, my nutritionist twice. She has me working on eating three meals a day, no snacks, no calorie containing drinks, and regular exercise, also taking 1200 mg of Calcium w/Vit D at her suggestion. I've lost 10-14 pounds since April. (Depends on whose scale I get on.) Went from a tight size 24 to a loose 24. That helps my enthusiasm. Physically and mentally I'm in pretty good shape. I have a little high blood pressure, controlled with Triamterene/HCTZ. Have a hip that bothers during the night, am taking Celebrex for that. I'm wondering how I treat that after surgery. It will be one of my questions to the docs. I'm meeting with Amy again on 9/8. She'll give me the third degree about my eating habits and from there I get to schedule a meeting with surgeons and start the insurance paperwork. Dr. Hartley, HCMC, head of Obesity Clinic said I could schedule my surgery anytime after that. I'm shooting for first or second week of October. Just got my husband through knee replacement surgery. He needs me to do the driving for a few more weeks. But then it's his turn to take care of me. He's been very supportive in my decision to do this. He's considering it himself. But we're kinda hoping once his knees feel better he can walk it off instead. He loses fast when he's active. I've also joined a women's group. We all share some kind of eating disorder. A couple of the ladies have had surgery and are doing okay. Some are just trying to figure out why they overeat and how to control that. It's part of The Emily Program. Dirk, the psycholgist who started the program meets with us as well as my psychologist, Joan. October 15, 2004 Well here it is middle of October and no surgery yet. They didn't get my paperwork submitted on time for their review at the September meeting so I had to wait til the review on Oct 6. I now have a meeting with the surgeon on Oct. 27. That works out okay though because I can't do the surgery til mid November anyway. We have to move out of our office/apt and I do most of the moving so I need to get that done first. We bought a house and I'm excited about that. We close 10/19 and should be moved in by month end. Then I can schedule surgery and relax a while.... I've been going to the women's group for eating disorders, but I think I'm going to look for a different group to get involved with. I have to pay to go to this group. I didn't know that when I got started. I thought it was a support group. It's $90 a week, right now my insurance covers 80%, but come the new year, I'll have to pay full price until my insurance deductible kicks in, $3000. That's too big a chunk out of my budget. So I'm checking for a support group closer to our new home. I'll check back after my appt with surgeon. He only does surgery on Monday, so I'm thinking my surgery will be 11/15, 11/22 or 11/29. Here's hoping.... August 1, 2005 Where's the time gone. Well I had the surgery. Back on December 6, 2004. Had a little problem in that they knicked my spleen and had to remove it because they couldn't get the bleeding to stop. I felt pretty good. Hemoglobin levels dropped but nothing drastic. Was doing fine until January and then I was getting back aches that were nearly unbearable. I ended up using my pain medication to alleviate that pain. I thought I was getting better, but then one night visiting with a friend, I had the sudden urge to vomit. It was all fluid as I hadn't had much of an appetite all day. I got sick again a couple of hours later. There was a hint of blood this time so my husband loaded me up in the car and off the emergency room we went. I ended up having EKGs, cat scan, and chest xrays. My whole left side had filled with fluid. They sent me by ambulance to HCMC where they did more EKGs, xrays and cat scans. Ended up with a chest tube to drain the fluid off, 3 quarts of it.... They kept me in the hospital for 6 days on pain meds, anitbiotics, oxygen and chest xrays every day....I was still vomiting fluid the day I left. They took me off the antibiotics and it let up. Sure took the wind out of my sails. It took me a few weeks to get back up to the energy level I had just three weeks after surgery. Today, I'm down almost 90 pounds from what I was when I started this journey. At my heaviest I was 264. I'm now at 175 and feeling wonderful. I can't get over the changes in my body. I'm constantly surprised at the clothes I can get into now. March 27, 2006 A little update: I've lost about 115 pounds. I'm bouncing around my goal weight of 145. (On paper they had my goal at 131.2, the nutritionist and I set my goal at 145) I've been at this weight now for about 3 months. This morning I weighed 150. I think this in part to eating a little more, drinking some wine, and doing toning exercises. I feel wonderful and have not had any bouts of dumping or filling for several months. (Short of trying bread pudding from Applebee's, it was terrible and way too sweet.) I can easily put in 12-16 hour days now. My husband and I own our own Contracting company and I do all the books. But I also help on the job. Last week I helped lay tile, sheetrock and put up glue boards. I'm up and down ladders, working on concrete and loving it. I actually like the physical work better than sitting at the computer all day. Most people ask two questions, how much did you lose?? and what size are you now?? I tell them 115-120 pounds and size varies from a misses size 6 levi jean to junior's size 11. I've learned sizes vary even more in the lower ranges than they did in the upper ranges. But it sure feels good to put on a size 6 and still have room in the hips...amazing... I've become quite the clothes hound. But I do 90% of my shopping at the Savers stores. I've got a beautiful wardrobe for very little money. (Mondays are 99 cent days. All tags of a certain color are just 99 cents.) I've gotten wool blazers that still have tags on and pockets sewn shut for just 99 cents. Marv, my husband, had the surgery 3.5 months ago and he's lost 90 pounds. (20 before surgery).. He's loving it too and is completely free of all of his diabetic medications. Amazing.... He feels so much better. We can sit in booths at restaurants, he walks faster, has so much more stamina. He's delighted with his progress. Me too. It's made a huge difference in our relationship too. We're so much more romantic. It feels like we are falling in love all over again.... can't beat that... Next month we are going to Vegas. Marv never would have agreed to go if he hadn't lost the weight. We didn't fit together on a plane. We tried it once and were miserable. I know we'll have a great time this time....

loisannkuiper 15 years, 4 months ago

53 year old mother of one. My daughter (32) and husband are also considering surgery as we are all at least 100 lbs overweight. My husband is not excited about doing it. His twin sister just had the RNY done and has lost over 80 lbs. She'd really like him to do it but he's a big eater and not inclined to even try to diet. I've had a weight problem on and off all my life. But it's the last 20 years that I've been my heaviest. I'm experiencing flexibility problems and inabililty to work as long and hard as I could in the past. There are so many things I want to do and I just don't have the energy or my legs and feet get to hurting so bad, I have to stop. I hate when that happens. I think I'd be a perfect candidate for surgery. I'm moving forward. We are all going to an introductory meeting on March 16. I will update after that meeting. 9/3/04 I have been moving forward. I took the MMPI (personality test) and passed that, whew!!! Have continued to see Joan Callier, my psychologist to work out any other issues that might be affecting my attitude and mental health. I feel very ready and very good about myself right now. I have been to see Amy, my nutritionist twice. She has me working on eating three meals a day, no snacks, no calorie containing drinks, and regular exercise, also taking 1200 mg of Calcium w/Vit D at her suggestion. I've lost 10-14 pounds since April. (Depends on whose scale I get on.) Went from a tight size 24 to a loose 24. That helps my enthusiasm. Physically and mentally I'm in pretty good shape. I have a little high blood pressure, controlled with Triamterene/HCTZ. Have a hip that bothers during the night, am taking Celebrex for that. I'm wondering how I treat that after surgery. It will be one of my questions to the docs. I'm meeting with Amy again on 9/8. She'll give me the third degree about my eating habits and from there I get to schedule a meeting with surgeons and start the insurance paperwork. Dr. Hartley, HCMC, head of Obesity Clinic said I could schedule my surgery anytime after that. I'm shooting for first or second week of October. Just got my husband through knee replacement surgery. He needs me to do the driving for a few more weeks. But then it's his turn to take care of me. He's been very supportive in my decision to do this. He's considering it himself. But we're kinda hoping once his knees feel better he can walk it off instead. He loses fast when he's active. I've also joined a women's group. We all share some kind of eating disorder. A couple of the ladies have had surgery and are doing okay. Some are just trying to figure out why they overeat and how to control that. It's part of The Emily Program. Dirk, the psycholgist who started the program meets with us as well as my psychologist, Joan. October 15, 2004 Well here it is middle of October and no surgery yet. They didn't get my paperwork submitted on time for their review at the September meeting so I had to wait til the review on Oct 6. I now have a meeting with the surgeon on Oct. 27. That works out okay though because I can't do the surgery til mid November anyway. We have to move out of our office/apt and I do most of the moving so I need to get that done first. We bought a house and I'm excited about that. We close 10/19 and should be moved in by month end. Then I can schedule surgery and relax a while.... I've been going to the women's group for eating disorders, but I think I'm going to look for a different group to get involved with. I have to pay to go to this group. I didn't know that when I got started. I thought it was a support group. It's $90 a week, right now my insurance covers 80%, but come the new year, I'll have to pay full price until my insurance deductible kicks in, $3000. That's too big a chunk out of my budget. So I'm checking for a support group closer to our new home. I'll check back after my appt with surgeon. He only does surgery on Monday, so I'm thinking my surgery will be 11/15, 11/22 or 11/29. Here's hoping.... August 1, 2005 Where's the time gone. Well I had the surgery. Back on December 6, 2004. Had a little problem in that they knicked my spleen and had to remove it because they couldn't get the bleeding to stop. I felt pretty good. Hemoglobin levels dropped but nothing drastic. Was doing fine until January and then I was getting back aches that were nearly unbearable. I ended up using my pain medication to alleviate that pain. I thought I was getting better, but then one night visiting with a friend, I had the sudden urge to vomit. It was all fluid as I hadn't had much of an appetite all day. I got sick again a couple of hours later. There was a hint of blood this time so my husband loaded me up in the car and off the emergency room we went. I ended up having EKGs, cat scan, and chest xrays. My whole left side had filled with fluid. They sent me by ambulance to HCMC where they did more EKGs, xrays and cat scans. Ended up with a chest tube to drain the fluid off, 3 quarts of it.... They kept me in the hospital for 6 days on pain meds, anitbiotics, oxygen and chest xrays every day....I was still vomiting fluid the day I left. They took me off the antibiotics and it let up. Sure took the wind out of my sails. It took me a few weeks to get back up to the energy level I had just three weeks after surgery. Today, I'm down almost 90 pounds from what I was when I started this journey. At my heaviest I was 264. I'm now at 175 and feeling wonderful. I can't get over the changes in my body. I'm constantly surprised at the clothes I can get into now. March 27, 2006 A little update: I've lost about 115 pounds. I'm bouncing around my goal weight of 145. (On paper they had my goal at 131.2, the nutritionist and I set my goal at 145) I've been at this weight now for about 3 months. This morning I weighed 150. I think this in part to eating a little more, drinking some wine, and doing toning exercises. I feel wonderful and have not had any bouts of dumping or filling for several months. (Short of trying bread pudding from Applebee's, it was terrible and way too sweet.) I can easily put in 12-16 hour days now. My husband and I own our own Contracting company and I do all the books. But I also help on the job. Last week I helped lay tile, sheetrock and put up glue boards. I'm up and down ladders, working on concrete and loving it. I actually like the physical work better than sitting at the computer all day. Most people ask two questions, how much did you lose?? and what size are you now?? I tell them 115-120 pounds and size varies from a misses size 6 levi jean to junior's size 11. I've learned sizes vary even more in the lower ranges than they did in the upper ranges. But it sure feels good to put on a size 6 and still have room in the hips...amazing... I've become quite the clothes hound. But I do 90% of my shopping at the Savers stores. I've got a beautiful wardrobe for very little money. (Mondays are 99 cent days. All tags of a certain color are just 99 cents.) I've gotten wool blazers that still have tags on and pockets sewn shut for just 99 cents. Marv, my husband, had the surgery 3.5 months ago and he's lost 90 pounds. (20 before surgery).. He's loving it too and is completely free of all of his diabetic medications. Amazing.... He feels so much better. We can sit in booths at restaurants, he walks faster, has so much more stamina. He's delighted with his progress. Me too. It's made a huge difference in our relationship too. We're so much more romantic. It feels like we are falling in love all over again.... can't beat that... Next month we are going to Vegas. Marv never would have agreed to go if he hadn't lost the weight. We didn't fit together on a plane. We tried it once and were miserable. I know we'll have a great time this time....