Getting to know you
Okay I want to know about everyone on here. So here is about me:
I am a law school graduate who took the July 2005 bar in the state of Ohio. Dont
know if I passed.
I have been married twice. Now engaged and my fiance and I are planning a
wedding for 2007. I have a five year old daughter and he has a four year old.
I had surgery in 1998 (October 7, 1998 to be exact) at BTC in Ohio with Dr.
Flancbaum — who is now at St. Luke’s in NYC if I am not mistaken.
I weighed 348 pounds and now am about 174 pounds depending on the time of month.
My weight is pretty much stable.I gained two lives from surgery — my daughter
and mine.
Come on — someone else post the following:
Name
Surgery date
Pre op weight
Current weight
If you haven’t had surgery why you want it.
If you have had surgery what you gained from it.
Denise Ferguson, J.D.
mailto:dferguson@…
August 9th, 2007 at 1:49 pm
Denise <dferguson@…
Okay I want to know about everyone on here. Come on — someone else post the
following:
Name Nona Miller
Surgery date 12/5/3, tt 9/7/05
Pre op weight 299
Current weight 196
If you haven’t had surgery why you want it. n/a
If you have had surgery what you gained from it. How about: a life, a good job,
the energy to go to college, a renewed marriage, called a ‘hottie’ by my co
workers, called skinny minnie by my doctor, no more ‘Plus’ size clothes, just a
regular 14, able to race walk, wear real jeans with a zipper, fit into booths,
seats, rides, low blood pressure, low blood sugar, the list goes on and on.
Denise Ferguson, J.D.
mailto:dferguson@…
August 9th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
Name Flo
Surgery date 10/5/2004 with Dr. Roslin in NYC
Pre op weight 243
Current weight 150
If you haven’t had surgery why you want it. n/a
If you have had surgery what you gained from it. No more plus sizes,
feeling comfortable in m own skin, getting great compliments all around
especially from my husband and my 2 boys and feeling alot more healthy
then I have been in a long time.
Denise Ferguson, J.D.
mailto:dferguson@…
August 10th, 2007 at 12:28 am
Come on — someone else post the following:
Name: Sheila W. Also from Ohio
Surgery date: Still working on it. Have to do the required things for the
Insurance company.
Pre op weight: 321
Current weight: 321
If you haven’t had surgery why you want it. : Why I want it???? I have
lower back pain, high blood pressure, borderline diabetic, knee pain (arthritis
), can’t walk far or up stairs without being out of breath, all ways hungry,
can’t play with GrandKids like I want, and my Mom has several more health
problems that if I don’t lose the weight I will be looking smack dab in the
face.
I want to be a healthier me who can do what I want when I want and not say I
can’t do it because I’m to fat.
If you have had surgery what you gained from it. Looking forward to telling
this soon.
August 10th, 2007 at 2:33 am
Hey Denise. Congratulations on finishing law school! I’ll cross my
fingers for you on the bar exam results–and be glad you’re not in
Louisiana, I heard that the ungraded tests were all lost in the
hurricane so that everyone in that group has to take them again.
I used to read these groups a lot more than I do lately, and have also
been surprised at how little traffic this group gets any more. The
graduate group is still very active, as are a few of the others. I
suspect that since bariatric surgery has gotten so much more popular
that there’s a lot of info. out there about it, so maybe less need for
people to come here. But that’s just a guess.
You’re one of the people whose posts I used to love when I was a
newbie, they were always so informative. Blunt when necessary, you
always tell it like it is. Barbara Herrera too, I always enjoyed
reading about your journey.
I’m now a little over 3 years out. I’m struggling with about a 20
pound regain from my lowest weight, a common story. I’m now about 168
and wearing a size 16; I used to be a solid 14 and would love to get
back there. Obviously that’s not an “ideal” size for someone 5′4″,
but I was content there and it felt like a realistic goal. But I wake
up every morning thrilled that I’m no longer in a size 32-34, and it’s
absolutely wonderful just to feel normal. Since so many other
middle-aged American women are struggling with their weight, I’m right
in the mainstream. I used to get so impatient with the people at,
say, Diet Workshop who were struggling to lose 20 pounds for a wedding
or something; that all seemed so foreign to my predicament. Now I can
relate more. Weird.
I’m one of the lucky ones with virtually no complications from surgery
and almost no food restrictions. I can eat pasta, meat, raw veggies,
everything. I even tolerate sweets reasonably well, unfortunately,
though I will dump on a very large serving size and occasionally get
reactive hypoglycemia if I eat a lot of simple carbs. I can eat much
more than when fresh out of surgery, and most people watching me eat
would never guess I have different anatomy. My labs are good so far,
fingers crossed, and I have no complaints about my general health. I
need to exercise more….but at least I CAN exercise now! I can fit
in a plane seat and lower the tray table, I can cross my legs, I can
buy clothes in normal stores. I’m wearing knee-high boots today,
amazing. My blood pressure is normal, my sleep apnea is gone. I’m
very very grateful.
Celia
August 10th, 2007 at 7:46 am
My name is Pam, I had bypass surgery on Nov. 18, 2004. I have lost 120 pounds
to date from a high of 350 pounds. I no longer am diabetic, my blood pressure
is normal and overall, I feel great. I want to lose another 70 pounds, I
exercise every day, but still have eating issues to overcome. It’s a struggle
every day.
August 10th, 2007 at 11:37 am
Hi,
I’m a 40 year old Los Angeleno.
Job: Writer, PH.D
Surgeon: Jeremy Korman, MD
Surgery date: 5/10/2004
Pre op weight: 339.5
Current weight: 249
Goal weigh: 139.5
Surgery type: Lap Proximal RNY, 75 cm bypassed
If you haven’t had surgery why you want it: NA
If you have had surgery what you gained from it: Malnutrition, Anemia,
Osteopoenia, Hair loss, exhaustion, frustration, sadness. No, I don’t
think I would do this again. I’m not almost 18 mos. post-op, and I
haven’t even loss 50% of my excess weight. Yes, I’ve followed the
rules. And no one has been able to explain why my weight loss stalled
at about 9 mos. I lost 70# in the first 6 mos. I lost 20# in the
second 6 mos. I’ve lost 5# in the third 6 mos. I cannot afford a
revision, and I’m not sure I even want to go down that road given that
I’m already suffering from fairly severe malnutrition with only 75 cm
bypassed. Do I feel better post-op? NO. Do I look better? NO. Will
I get to goal? NOT LIKELY.
If you have suggestions, I’m open. But please, I don’t need to hear
about the pouch rules or Karen B’s timer plan (which I’m following now
and communicating with her directly) or to exercise more (I do 1-2
hours of Pilates, 1-2 hours of vigorous yoga, 1-2 hours of aerobics,
and 1 hour of slow cadence wt training EVERY week).
So, you asked, and I thought I’d share another side of the WLS story.
Know that I’m not in any way anti-surgery. I think it’s a great choice
for people who are immobilized due to their weight and/or with
significant comorbidites. That wasn’t me. I did this to be THIN and
to LOOK better, and that hasn’t happened. However I know that it has
worked for many, and I know that for those people who start out
physically ill the improvements are remarkable…
So that’s my two cents,
Em Gee
August 10th, 2007 at 8:36 pm
Name: Kim P. from Virginia
Surgery date: 3/7/03
Pre op weight: 256 5′ 4″
Current weight: 145
If you have had surgery what you gained from it. I have gained my life!!! I
am healthy and can watch my son grow and have a mom that is involved and not
hiding in the house. I no longer take medication for blood pressure,
cholesterol or depression. My knees and feet don’t ache constantly. I can
garden without taking continuous breaks or have to stop after a short while. I
haven’t had any problems since surgery and my labs have been normal on all
follow ups. I can eat almost anything at this point…just not a lot of it.
Beef and milk still give me problems though. I do have occasional dumping
(mostly from high fat cream based foods) and some reactive hypoglycemia which
doesn’t seem to have a rhyme or reason as to what I eat to set it off. I can
shop in normal stores, can cross my legs, go to my son’s soccer games and not be
afraid to sit in the “camp chairs”. I was introduced by a good friend to her
brother over 18 months ago and have found my soul mate for life. I don’t think
pre-surgery I would have even gone to meet him with my self esteem and
depression issues. Still have trouble really seeing me as a size 6. It’s hard,
as many who have surgery can attest to, to switch your head from seeing you at
size 24/26 to what you really are today….even after 2 1/2 years! I love
life!!!
August 11th, 2007 at 3:32 am
Hi, I am 4 1/2 years out from lap RNY. I was one of the “lightweights” but
had significant medical issues. Those have all gone away but I do battle
anemia. I would do this again in a second. I can live with the occasional
iron infusion, but not with diabetes, hypertension and killer cholesterol!!!
August 11th, 2007 at 7:37 am
Name: Molly in Nebraska
Surgery date: June 20, 2005
Pre op weight: 303
Current weight: 247
If you have had surgery what you gained from it. I’ve gained a new
love of shopping for clothes. I’ve never pictured myself as m.o. in my
minds eye. I look at myself in the mirror more now rather than just a
quick look to make sure my hair is ok. I feel great! A group of
friends and myself went haunted house hopping last night (one included
a corn maze) I had no problems going up and down the hills in the
field…I could keep up with everyone else. So really I’ve gained some
enjoyment of life.
August 11th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
I had all the questions answered then my computer went kaput. I’ll try
again but they won’t be nearly so informative.
Name: JoAnne. I’m an insurance preauthorization nurse. I live in the
Houston metro area, in Katy.
Surgery date: 9/30/2005 (one month ago today)
Pre op weight: 257# on the day of surgery.
Current weight: 228.5 today.
If you haven’t had surgery why you want it: I have already had surgery
and I did it for my son. I was morbidly obese, a Type 2 diabetic on
insulin, hypertensive and had a dangerously elevated cholesterol. NOw,
it’s only been a month, but I’ve lost almost 30 pounds and I haven’t
needed any insulin since I got out of the hospital. My cholesterol is
probably still elevated, but it’s getting better I’m sure. I’ll always
have essential hypertension, but it would be nice to be able to control
it. Right now I’m looking forward to a long life being a REAL mother
to my son. I’m 46 and he’s 5 so I have to be around for a long time.
The surgery has given me the opportunity to do just that. I guess
that’s what I gained from it also.
I’m not sure I would have the surgery done again considering the
complications that I had (RNY on Friday 9/30 then an exploratory
lap/revision on Sunday at midnight due to excessive bleeding), but I’m
sure glad I had it done.
If you have had surgery what you gained from it: I’m starting to feel
better so that’s a big, huge plus. I also, even after losing only 30
pounds, I feel lighter. I’m looking forward to a longer life than the
one I was destined to when I was my old self and I’m looking forward to
participating in every aspect of my son’s life. I’m also thinking
about dating some day in the future.
My own added question: What do I miss? I miss liquids! I don’t miss
the food, but I really miss water. I always had a drink in my hand,
but I was able to drink as much as I wanted. Now I have to sip real
sips. My old sips were the size of the glass of water I was drinking.
Now I have to learn how the other half sips. That is the only drawback
to this surgery that I’ve found so far. But again, it’s a fair trade
for what I’m hoping to gain.