The Begining

I decided to start a blog because I have been trying and failing to lose weight seriously for about 4 years now. After 2 years working with my doctor and not having any significant results, I made the decision to undergo bariatric surgery. I guess the start to every story is the beginning.

I started getting heavy in high school. I didn't overeat too much then, I just didn't eat the right foods, and while my friends and I basically shared the same diet, lots of soda (the sugared kind), I started to gain weight. I gained about 40 lbs. in my four years of high school.  I really started to put on the weight with my first pregnancy, about 80 lbs., and didn't lose, or rather, try to lose any weight. I thought that breastfeeding would take it off. Now add in 2 more pregnancies with more weight going on than coming off, you get the end result, 330 lbs. Really.

For the most part my weight didn't bother me too much. My family would talk, lecture and plead with me to lose weight, and I would give it a half hearted effort. I didn't have a full length mirror in the house to see what was really happening to my body. Why worry about it if my husband still found me attractive and I felt pretty good, what did it hurt? Well I found out.

It started in little ways, as the kids got older and much more mobile I had a hard time keeping up with them and became a couch potato mom. , more directing them from the couch than actually interacting with them. We still did family activities, just most of them revolved around the couch and the TV. I began to realize that the kids needed me to be more involved. This is when I became big and beautiful or fat and fabulous. I know it sounds crazy, but I started working outside the home, I dressed nicer and fixed myself up more. I felt better and was really healthy. I did try to slim down and my weight would fluccuate about 20 up and down. It was a constant yo yo. Still I wasn't all that worried.

The breaking point for me was an accident at work. I went running down a flight of stairs at work and missed the last step and fell hard. I had to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance. It took three men to lift me onto the gurney. Ouch. I also found out that my injuries would not have been so severe if my weight was not so high. At this point, I realized that my enormous size was not so fabulous. I had torn 2 ligaments and damaged a tendon and needed surgery to repair the damage. I started to work with my doctor on creating a diet plan. I spoke with a nutritionist and we set up a diet for me to follow. I was also in physical therapy three times a week.

I followed the diet and gained weight. I went to PT religiously for over a year, the doctor put me on medication, phentramine. Nothing! I didn't lose a pound or inches the whole time! I didn't feel better either. My knees and ankles hurt, I had back pain, and my cholesterol levels went into the high range. The good health that I thought I enjoyed was gone. I continued to work with my doctor about my options, different diets to try. Nothing worked. So we decided that surgery was the best option. It took two years to come to this decision.

I had to decide on a surgery, there were only two options that I knew about, the lap band, and the gastric bypass. I had some experience with the lap band and was considering this option. I attend a webinar from the first doctor that I wanted to use. I learned about the gastric sleeve and decided that that was the right surgery for me. It was restrictive, like the lap band without the ability to cheat around it, but didn't have the malabsorbtion like the gastric bypass. I was set.

I started to work towards my insurance requirements and hoopla. I had to complete a 6 month doctor supervised diet plan with consecutive monthly visits. I had to get cardiac clearance, pulmonary clearance, 2 doctor’s letters confirming the diagnosis of morbid obesity, a psychological evaluation, and meet with a dietician.

I had a hard time with the 6 monthly visits with the doctor; I think this is a requirement for the insurance to weed out those that want an easy fix. I would get four or five months in and miss an appointment and have to start over. I didn't know what else to do so I worked with my doctor and he gave me a reference to a doctor that he had worked with before. I opted go to a different clinic on the advice of a friend who had the surgery and recommend them.

I had five months of visits under my belt and decided to do another seminar with the new doctor. I went made the four hour drive to the clinic and had the seminar with the nutritionist and did not feel quite right about it, I also had a consult with the doctor. He told me about this great surgery that is less common than the gastric bypass, which he claimed wouldn't work for me because I was super morbidly obese. It was the biliopancreatic diversion with a duodenal switch (DS), and it was the only one that would work for someone my size. I had an even worse feeling about the doctor than I did the nutritionist. After leaving the office my husband and I didn't feel that this doctor was the right fit for me. I decided that I would contact the doctor that mine had suggested in the first place. (I am one of those people that have to learn the hard way). Then I missed another appointment.

I started my appointments with my doctor again in July 2010. I set the seminar with Dr. Schlesinger in October, on my birthday, as a present to myself. This was cancelled and rescheduled for November 2010. I wanted to find out more about the DS procedure. I researched it on the internet and listened to what was said about it at the seminar. The doctor required that anyone wanted this surgery had to wait 2 weeks between the seminar and a consult. I found out the pros and the cons of the surgery. My husband and I decided that this was definitely the surgery for me. I met with the doctor in December and had my consult. I really liked Dr. Schlesinger. He was honest with me. He told me in frank terms the risks of the surgery, which can be serious. We decided to move forward with the surgery. I had actually made it through my six months with my doctor in December as well. One step closer.

I have had ups and downs with this, especially with my health. Due to my weight I developed a hernia in my C-section scar and had to have it repaired. I have had constant ankle problems since my injury. I developed a seroma, or a fluid filled pocket, due to the hernia that was massive and had infection. Finding this took months of being sick, many blood test, three specialists, an ultrasound, a ct scan and surgery to insert a drainage tube that I had for 2 months to drain the fluid. I was also on antibiotics for four months. This delayed moving forward with the surgery.

I am now back on track. I have had my pulmonary consult, in which I learned that I have asthma (this could very well resolve when I lose weight), and possibly sleep apnea (another test that I will have to take). I have had my cardiac consult. I had to have more extensive testing that just an EKG; I have yet to get my results on my echo and stress tests (coming in April). I have had my psych testing, and contrary to popular belief I am not totally crazy.  Lastly, I have met with a dietician and am starting on a new meal plan (I am not calling it a diet).

Why, you might be asking yourself, have I rambled on about all of this junk. Well let me tell you. I have been told that I am taking the easy way out by having surgery. I wanted everyone to see that this is not the easy way out. I have made an informed decision that to live I have to do something to change and I have tried other options that have not worked. I want people to see that this process is hard work and takes dedication.