Amity L.
STARTING BMI: 51
March 22, 2006~ Well so far I have had my intial nutrional consult, my nutrion assesment, my surgery consult, my psychological test and taken care of getting my PCP on board. My EKG is scheduled for friday 3/24 and I will also have all my bloodwork done at that point as well. All that I am waiting on at this point is a callback from the hospital to schedule my EGD and abdominal ultrasound. My nurse said she faxed them the referals yesterday and they say they havent recieved them. Frustrating!
April 12, 2006~ Well I have been bad about updating my profile, but I have been so busy! I have spent more time at Dr's appts lately than at work. Good thing they are understanding. I got the run around from the local Dr that does EGD's so I called my surgeon on March 24th and he had me in the next day and did it himself! Gotta love that service! I have now completed all the rest of my testing and finished all my appt's too. I did all of the pre-pay stuff and now I just wait for April 24th!! Yay! I am on the 2 week pre-op diet of high protein, low carb. It is tough, but I am dedicated and will stick to it. I have included a picture of me from the first part of April. I was the Matron of Honor in my friends wedding, and my 3 year old daughter was a flower girl. I am in another friends wedding the end of July so I cant wait to compare the two pictures!
May 8, 2006~ I had my surgery on April 24th! It went great. I spent 3 days in the hospital, had excellent care and no complications. I was uncomfortable from the surgery, but never truly had any pain. I went in for my post-op appt on May5th, 11 days post op, and I am down 19 pounds! Yay! That puts me down 39 pounds from my highest weight.
May 28, 2006~Well, I went in for my 1 month post op appt on the 23rd and I was officially down 24 pounds since my surgery, and 44 pounds from my high weight. I was concerned because I had not lost any weight in a week and a half and I was exhausted all the time, even after having a B12 injection. I track all my food and exercise on FITDAY.COM so I brought those in for my nutritionist to check out. After looking everything over they said they believed I was stuck because I was eating far to few calories, around 400 average, and exercising too much, every day. I was burning off the little bit of calories I was taking in. So, I upped my calories to 800-950 and was told not to exercise for a month, so my body could heal. They also suggested that I get more sleep. I have followed Dr's orders and lo and behold, after a day of no exercise and higher calories, I started losing. I am now losing again, at the rate of 1-2 pounds a day. In just a few pounds I will be at my first mini goal of UNDER 300 pounds!! Yay! So, if your reading this and having this problem right out of the gate, try eating a little more. I bought an Elliptical Trainer and picked it up a few days ago, but for right now I can just look longingly at it. It is so foreign and odd to be told "Eat MORE, exercise LESS". I giggle every time I say that out load. My only other problem is that the plumbing seems to be a little rusty and I have had to add some fiber supplements to my meals to try and get them back in working order. I have been adding ground Flaxseed into my food and it seems to be working. I also like the taste of it, and it adds a few extra calories in which helps. I have to be very, very diligent to get my calories in, because I really cannot eat much. I did have my first food incident last week. All I can say is, HALIBUT IS EVIL! Apparently my new pouch does not like it! It was awful. It stuck going down, and then it sat in my stomach like a molten rock. Thank god for Papaya enzyme and left over pain medicine. I learned I cannot puke. I can heave and gag, but nothing comes up. I think I pulled every single muscle in my stomach and almost a week later, I am still sore. Ahh, the joys of learning your new body. Other than that, things are going well and I am feeling better and better every day!
June 28, 2006~ I am terrible about writing in here. I update my weight weekly, but I need to journal more. I have discovered that I am a "stairstep loser" meaning I have a weightloss pattern that is lose 2 pounds one week, 10 the next, 2 the next, 10 the next and so on. Now that I realize this I have come to grips with it, but it sure was frustrating in the beginning! I feel good almost all the time now. My only problem is I tend to eat too fast, then things get uncomfortable, but I am working on this. I get tired occassionally too, but nothing like in the beginning. I decided to put up the money and buy the Bariatric Advantage vitamins so that I know I am getting in what I need. I am hoping that levels out my energy a bit. Other than that, not much to report. I need to get some updated pictures up here soon!
August 2, 2006~ Just wanted to pop an update in telling everyone how everything is going. I feel wonderful! My life has changed so drastically over these last few months. I am down close to 90 pounds and it has changed my whole outlook. I rarely sit down and have tons of energy to go, go, go! I play with my daughter, work around the farm right alongside my hubby and never get winded. I feel better and by feeling better I am more positive which rubs off on everyone around me. I am so excited that I am so close to the 100 pounds lost mark. My 7th wedding anniversary is August 21st and I sure would love to have the 100 pound mark as a present!
September 7, 2006~ Life is great, I am feeling great, everything is great! I am currently hovering at 256 pounds, so only ONE pound to go and I am officially in the Century Club. I cannot wait! This also means I am more than halfway to my goal! Yay! I weigh less now than I have for over 10 years. My new attitude and overall happiness is contagious too. My husband is happier, my daughter is happier, everyone is happy. Once again I will say it, this was a life changing experience!
October 5, 2006~ Well, I am in the Century Club finally, down 107 pounds from my high weight. I have been waiting for weeks to get my CC Card from OH, but havent got one so far. I feel great, I am constantly told I look great, and I am truly so happy. I would still like to lose another 80 pounds, but I must say, I am okay with losing slowly from this point. For the most part I am happy with the way my body has slenderized as well. Lucky for me the boobies are still up where are supposed to be and with the exception of my tummy and upper thighs, my skin seems to be shrinking well. I do have a horrible hanging panni though that will have to be removed someday. That is the one thing that really bothers me. I did start losing hair around 4 months and lost about 50% of it, which was scary. I lightened my naturally dark hair to a very light blond to make it not so noticable. Thankfully though I have a ton of new hair growing now. My scalp is covered in what looks like 3 day stuble. I check is growing "progress" every morning. :-) In another few weeks I am going to look odd with a ton of couple inch long hairs growing up through my hair. It wont help that it is growing in jet black and the rest of my hair is currently very blond! That was a very small, and very easy price to pay for the huge improvement in my life though. I have said it 1,000,000 times before and I will say it 1,000,000 times again: GBS changed my life!
February 7, 2007~ Not much to say! I am currently at 230 pounds, which is a loss of 125 pounds in 9.5 months. I have a "normal" life now and I enjoy every minute of it. I have been very lucky and have minimal problems and have adjusted well to my new way of living. I am looking forward to my next goal of being in the 100's.
