Mary B.
August 15, 2002:
My husband has been approved and is scheduled for gastric bypass surgery. I am in the process, insurance company is waiting on further information from surgeon's office. Feel there is a very good chance I will be approved also. I am 56 years old, my husband is 55 We have both always been overweight, and have lost hundreds of pounds together and gained it back together also. We were on a liquid diet for about 8 months, Michael lost 200 pounds and I lost 100, then after starting to eat again, we slowly but surely gained it all back plus some. Michael has sleep apnea and degerative disk disease, in in pain with his back at all times. His orthopedic surgeon feels that this surgery is medically necessary for him, and our PCP recommends him also for the surgery. He is weighing in at about 450 now. His surgeon is Dr. John Baker in
September 6, 2002:
I have decided that this is a "Waiting Game" You wait for letter from insurance, wait for call from Dr. Office, wait for lab work, wait, wait, wait. I finally have a consultation date, but it is Oct. 30. I am so disappointed. Three weeks ago when I called the doctor's office, I was told that I needed to get my lab work done and faxed to them, and at that time the next available consult date with my Dr. was 9-12. I went the next day for the lab work, and it was faxed to the doctors office on Tuesday, Sept. 4. I finally got to talk to someone from the doctors office today, and my consult date is Oct. 30, he is booked up until then. She said she will keep me on the list to get the consult sooner, if someone cancels, etc. However disappointed I am, I am still glad I finally have a consult date. I just wish it was before Michael's surgery instead of about 3 weeks after. Would make it so much easier on us, as we live 2 1/2 hours from our surgeon.
September 9, 2002:
Well wonders of wonders, small miracles do happen. I got a call from Dr. Bakers office today, and they have a consultation cancellation for Wed. sept. 11. Wanted to know if I wanted it!!! Yes Yes Yes was my answer. So day after tomorrow I have the consultation that my insurance requires before giving the final decision...I am so excited. Now I am hopeful again that I can get the surgery scheduled before the end of the year.
September 27, 2002:
My consult with Dr. Baker on Sept. 11 was great, Michael went with me, and we both benefited from the consult. It was a refresher course for us, as we were both present at Michael's consult in April. Now just two weeks later I have a surgery date. My date is Feb. 4, 2003. Dr. Baker was already scheduling into January, and as I have prior committments in January, I opted to pick my own date in Feb. I am really excited, and also of course a little anxious. I am going to use the next 4 months continuing with my water aerobics, and trying to lose a little weight before the surgery. Mike's surgery is Oct. 8, and we are getting real close to that date.
Oct. 19:
Michael had his surgery on Oct. 8, and everything has been just great for him. He was up walking the evening of the 8th, after a 1:00p.m. surgery. He nearly wore out the soles of his feet walking over the next few days. He has had no complications thus far, and is doing exactly what he was told to do. He is walking 3 times a day, increasing the times each time. I can tell by looking at him that he has lost weight, but we don't have a scale to weigh him, so will have to wait until his follow up visit to Dr. Baker on 11-7 to see how much he has lost. The sursing staff on 6a at Baptist in
November 9th:
Mike had his follow up visit on 11-7. He has lost 60 pounds, is weighing in at 390 now. Got his g-tube out, and is doing just great. He is walking faithfully every day, and has had no complications of any kind. He gives his b-12 shot, and has no problems with the vitamins or citrical. I think he is doing just fantastic....setting a very hard act for me to follow in February.
December 16, 2002
Mike was in
February 3, 2003
Tomorrow is the big day. We are leaving for
Feb. 13, 2003
Well, I am home, came home last Friday after a very successful surgery. My hospital stay was a very positive experience. I was in recovery by 9:15, but did not get a room until 3:30 due to shortage of rooms on floor I was assigned to. We were in a private room, and everyone was very nice to us. My husband Mike, was a good support, he made me walk, walk, breathe, breathe, and cough, cough. Everything went really well, and we came home on Friday afternoon, driving about 2 1/2 hours. We stopped every hour for me to walk around the car. Our surgeon visited every day, and as far as I am concerned is the "best".
I was able to sleep in my bed the first night, and have had no problems since then. I am sore, of course, but that is getting better every day. If I continue feeling so well, I may try to go back to work next week a few hours a day. So glad to be home, and on the other side.
April 9, 2003
Well it has been 9 weeks since surgery, and an interesting 9 weeks it has been. I am going to be one of the slow losers, only 37 pounds since surgery, but I am not worrying about it. I have had lots of trouble with throwing up, but that is starting to get better. I certainly have not progressed as fast as Mike did into new foods,(he only threw up twice) but I must quit comparing myself with him....I know everyone does differently. I cannot eat pasta, or ground beef, but can do all right eating slowly with pork roast, chicken, potatoes, etc. I try to drink lots of protein shakes, as I know I am not getting enough protein in, and getting enough water in is difficult also. I am feeling very well, except for the occasional throwing up. When we had our visits with the surgeon at my 4 weeks check up on March 6, I had lost 21 pounds, and Mike had lost 130 since Oct. 7. We have a new treadmill and are trying to really get in the habit of walking on it every day....it gets easier all the time. My energy is coming back, and on the whole I am doing great.We are going to AZ to visit my best friend in May, and have our next appointments with the surgeon in June...I will update after the June appointments.
June 7, 2003:
Mike and I had our check up with our surgeon, Dr. Baker on Thursday. Both of us are doing very well. Mike has lost 154 pounds in 8 months, and I have lost 59 in 4 months. I am still a slow loser, and Mike's weight loss has slowed some, as is to be expected. I have been still having some trouble with throwing up, and the doctor prescribed some medicine to help with that. He was very please with both of us, and we don't go back until October (Mike's 1 year and my 8 months anniversary) We are sort of our of step with everyone else, as the surgeon has us come together since we live so far away. Other than the occasional throwing up, probably because I still have trouble eating slowly enough, I am doing really well, and feeling good. Mike is almost a different person from last summer. He mows the yard (a really hard large yard, all up hill or down hill) with hardly a stop in half a day. Last year had to rest every 5 minutes or so, and it would take him several days to finish. We had a great vacatiobn in AZ visiting my best friend. Went and visited the town of
October 14, 2003
Mike had his 1 year check up, and I had my 6 months at 8 months on Oct 9. We are both doing great. I have lost 88 pounds and Mike has lost 165. Mike's weight loss has slowed a lot, and mine is a little slower also (mine has never been fast). Our surgeon is very pleased with us however. Mike has the problem that he can eat almost anything, and he is going to have to work on that, as he is making some poor food choices. I have a problem still with denser things, such as meats. I rarely throw up anymore, unless I over eat. I did that just last night. I got home from work late, after being off for a week's vacation. Was actually hungry...that does not happen to me a lot. Fixed 2 fish patties and green beans, then had a Blue Bunny ice cream stick on top of that....whooow...went down fine, but all came back up later, with some of the worst hurting I have had so far. My pouch did not take kindly to the big supper!!! Mike still wants to lose about 40 more pounds and I would like to lose about about 25 or 30 more. We are both pretty happy with the way we look and feel these days however. My orthopedic surgeon told me in late June, that it looks like he is not going to get to do surgery (Total knee replacement) on my right knee, as it is not getting any worse...getting some of the pressure off the knee has helped, which is one of the reasons I had this surgery. Our labs were real good, and while I will have labs again in February (my one year anniversary), I don't have to go back to see Dr. Baker until next Oct., along with Mike...Dr. B is making our annual appointments at the same time, which is great for us, as we have to drive 3 hours to get to Little Rock. Over the next few weeks I will try to get some pictures posted, I have my before and current on my computer, but Mike's before is in picture form and will have to be scanned...got to work on that. My scanner is not hooked up to new computer at this time. At one year for Mike and 8 months for me....would we do the surgery again YES YES...do we have any regrets...yes, that we did not look into WLS sooner. We feel 10 years younger, and I think we look it also.My 40th class reunion was a couple of weeks ago. I was no longer the largest woman in the class, and to be immodest, I thought I looked pretty good...we had a wonderful time, and am now looking forward to the 50th with great anticipation. Was great to see all the old friends, some of whom I had not seen in 40 years! Will write some more when I post the pictures.
March 6, 2004
These past five months have sure flown. I have now lost a total of 107 pounds, and feel great. Mike is down about 175. Both of us have pretty much stayed the same for several months. We are not as compliant as we should be, and are working on getting back on track. We both want to lose some more weight, although we are both feeling great, and looking better than we have in years. We do not exercise as we should, and again are trying to get that going again, especially with spring around the corner. We have a new Welsh Corgi, Sassy, (4 months old) and she does keep us pretty active, she likes to play and take walks. She is adorable. I still do not do very well with most meats. I seem to do better with ground beef fixed in soups or casseroles. I can eat the chicken McNuggets from Macdonalds, but those are probably not the best for me. My anniversary date was Feb. 4. All my blood work was within normal ranges, and I had a bone density test a couple of weeks ago, and that was good also. My surgeon and my PCP are real strict about monitoring after the surgery, and I am glad. At 13 months post op for me and 17 months post op for Mike, we are doing very well, and have no regrets about the surgery at all. It is easy, however, to slip back into old habits, as the appetite comes back. We are very involved in our community theater, and are very excited to be doing "Fiddler on the Roof" in August. We are playing the parts of Golda and Tevia, roles we did about 15 years ago. We are very excited to be doing the roles again. (This time they won't have to age us) LOL. I have sent in pictures to be posted, and will try to get some sent in for Mike soon. (He hates to have his picture taken). I will try to update more often.
January 8, 2005
Boy, for someone who was going to update more often, I sure have been slow. So much has happened, I will try to keep it brief. We did the "Fiddler on the Roof" and it was a great success...Mike was a wonderful Tevia. One of our young granddaughters was in the chorus, so that was great for us. Mike has abdominaplasty (spelling) in September, he did great, and looks so much better now without that huge apron of skin. Insurance paid for his, (he had rashes, etc) however they did not approve one for me. So I guess I will just be saggy. I am weighing in about 150 (give or take a few pounds), and Mike at about 265 (give or take) I can eat just about anything, and nothing seems to make me gain right now. I even lost 3 pounds over Christmas. I still throw up some, but usually only if I eat too fast, etc. We had our annual visit with our Surgeon, Dr. Baker in October, and he is most pleased with our progress. In a month I will be 2 years out and Mike was two years in October. We are very pleased with the results of our RNY. Mike would like to lose another 20 or 30 pounds, but in order to do that, we probably need to go on the
December 31, 2006
Well, a long time has passed, and a brand new year is starting, so I thought I would update. Last time I updated, Mike was weighing about 265, he is probably about 245 now. He had gained a little in fall of 05, almost back up to 300, then suddenly started loosing again. For about 2 months he felt sick at his stomach most of the time, and was eating only soup and drinking protein shakes. He lost down to about 230, and has settled on 245, which is below his goal weight of 250. He is doing real well, except for his back, which hurts him all the time. He is on pain medicine all the time, and is seeing a pain management specialist.
I have slowly gained a little weight, I am up to 175 from my lowest weight of 150. I hope to work on that this year, and at least drop 10 to 15 pounds. I snack too much at night.
We both, however, still feel this surgery was a very wonderful thing for us.....yes sometimes, we both miss being able to really pig out on things we used to love. Our ability to eat some things has vanished. Smoked meats for example, neither of us can tolerate. We still find ourselves getting full plates and then not being able to eat it all of course. However, being able to get around better, and feel normal in our clothing is a great big plus.
I will try to report again about mid year, and see if I have managed to get rid of some of those 25 pounds. Our surgeon does not seem upset that I have gained a little, but I am sure not happy about it. I have some clothes in my closet right now that I cannot wear!!!
Bottom line, we would do the surgery again in a heartbeat!!!
About Me
Before & After
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