Rusty K.
08/27/02
I can't believe it's been over 8 months since I last updated my profile! I've lost 120 lbs and still have 50 or 60 to go. I'm what most consider a slow loser. In addition, I seem to hit long plateaus, often...one as long as 4 months. Now that I've come to terms with how I lose weight, I'm much happier. But, for now, my weight loss is on hold since I'm 14 weeks pregnant. I gained over 70 lbs with my last pregnancy (pre wls) and kept gaining afterwards. It should be interesting to see how this pregnancy goes, as well as losing the rest of the weight afterwards. So far all my lab work is normal and I haven't gained an ounce, but just this week I've been hit hard with major cravings! Uh Oh!
12/13/01
I have to admit that my life is so busy that I hardly have enough time to check in and write my updates! According to my doctor's scale this morning, I am now down 99 lbs. It's incredible. Amazing. I feel great! I'm a little surprised at the toll gravity has taking on my body, but other than that I can't complain. :) The quality of my life has improved so much. My self esteem has...well, let's just say I have some self esteem again.
11/14/01
Well I'm almost 6 mos out and I'm feeling pretty great. For the most part, the weight is coming off slowly, but surely. Still having some trouble getting my exercise in, but I'm so much more active than ever.
08/27/01
It's hard to believe that it's been 14 weeks since my WLS. I feel pretty great. I've lost over 63 lbs and feel like I'm getting healthier. I still struggle with whether or not I'm eating too much, but for the most part, my head hunger has decreased substantially. My next big goal is to get up off my butt and get some more regular excercise in.
07/27/01:
I'm now about 9 weeks out and 46 pounds down. Thankfully, my nasty seroma is gone. I am, however, at a plateau that has been a little frustrating. I know it's normal so I'm not going to worry too much about it. Everything seems to be going pretty well. I am still struggling with "phantom head hunger," but it get easier every day.
06/11/01:
Today is my 3 week anniversary since my WLS. Everything went really well. The doctor's office and the hospital were absolutely wonderful. I did end up having an extremely painful seroma that my husband is still cleaning up and bandaging daily. Every day the seroma gets better...and pretty soon it will be gone.
Although I am down over 28lbs, I still am struggling with my "food demons." Every day it gets better and I want forbidden food less, but I'm still having trouble with some food commericials and watching my husband and son eat foods that I psychologically crave.
05/10/01:
Well, everything is in order for my surgery on 5/21. The last thing I have to do before I check in for all my preop stuff is the psych evel, but other than that I'm ready to go. I feel terrible because I can hardly focus on work or get anything done. I constantly think about the surgery and my new healthy life. I'm still very excited and not very nervous, but, of course that will change by next weekend.
Now I just wait until we leave for San Diego on Wednesday...just 6 days until we leave and 11 days until I'm on the other side. :)
05/03/01:
The feelings I'm having lately are very strange. I KNOW I should be more apprehensive and worried about my surgery, but I'm not. My birthday is this weekend, but all I can think about is May 21, the day of my WLS. Very soon I'll be on the other side...the lighter side. I can't wait to have it over with and get on with the business of my life. My family and friends have been very supportive and loving throughout this whole process. I feel very lucky.
Yesterday I had to spend 4 hours at the local medical lab having my blood taken for testing. I was drained. ;) Literally. My sweet husband came with me to keep me company so it wasn't nearly as boring as it could have been.
Now I just wait. We leave for San Diego on May 16. We're driving down since I hate flying because it's so uncomfortable. I have to check in for my pre-op stuff on the 18th.
Since we have to be in the San Diego area for over 2 weeks we've rented a 2 bedroom condo on the beach. I could think of worse places to recuperate. A lot of my family is already in the area so they'll take turns relieving my husband and taking care of our son.
04/22/01:
I'm almost 32, have a wonderful 3 1/2 yr old son and a great husband. Although I've struggled with my weight my entire life, I've only been seriously overweight since my mid-twenties. I've researched the gastric bypass procedure casually over the last couple of years, but always thought I would be able to get my weight gain under control...diet, exercise, diet pills - nothing worked.
After seeing Carnie Wilson's dramatic transformation, I contacted her surgeons and began what I thought would be the slow process of investigation. Since my insurance policy has an exclusionary clause denying the surgery (go figure) I knew I would have to pay for it myself. I just started my own marketing consultancy, so I didn't expect to be able to schedule and pay for it for quite awhile. In addition, my husband and I just bought a house in November. As it turned out, Dr. Clark's office had a cancellation of some type which provided me with an opportunity that I *really* didn't want to turn down.
My parents saved the day (and probably my life) by offering to pay for the surgery. I'm scheduled to have my GBP on May 21, 2001! I'm scared. I'm excited. I'm nervous. I'm elated.
The one big drawback to having the surgery so soon is not only am I in a big rush to get all of my preop stuff done, but I also had to find a place to stay (they are 9 or so hrs away) for 15 days for my family.
Anyway, that's my story in a nutshell. I'll update it as things progess.