Carolyn L.
I'm going to use this as my PRE-OP story. I haven't been great about updating anything but pictures post-op so I'll start the post-op stuff in the blog. Here's a pre-op time-line:
01/25/2006 - Got referral from PCP
01/26/2006 - Attended New Patient Instructional Meeting
03/01/2006 - First appointment with the surgeon's office - 4 hours long, included appointment with psychologist, nutritionist and surgeon, plus blood tests.
03/02/2006 - Attended Community support group meeting (required)
03/09/2006 - Attended '0 to 6 month' support group meeting (required)
03/22/2006 - Appointment with surgeon.
05/23/2006 - Preop - Blended Diet Review Group
06/07/2006 - Appointment with surgeon.
06/13/2006 - Gallbladder Ultrasound
06/13/2006 - Pretesting
06/20/2006 - SURGERY!
January 2006
1/20/2006 - I am a 33 year old (soon to be 34) stay-at-home mom of 5 year old boy/girl twins. I am 5'2" and currently 230lbs (BMI 42.1). I was a slim child and teenager until my senior year of High School. After some major traumas, beginning with the death of my older brother, the weight began to climb. With the weight climb came the yo-yo dieting that put 20 - 50 lbs on each time. By the time I met my husband I was hovering around the 200 lb mark and in the last 9 years I've bounced around from 200 to 240, mostly 220-240.
I am meeting with my PCP next Wednesday (1/25) to ask for a referral. Right now I think I'm going to go with Newton-Wellesley.
1/23/2006 - I applied online for an appointment with Dr Gazmuri at Newton-Wellesley and they just called to set up an appointment. My first (4 hour) consult with him (and everyone else there) is March 1. I'm nervous and getting a little nauseous now. Am I jumping the gun? I haven't even met with my PCP to get the referral yet. Hope she give it! I've also got the New Patient Instructional meeting Thursday night. My husband, Keith is coming with me. Now if I can just get through Wednesday...
1/29/2006 - Dr Antkowiak (my PCP) was great about the referral, so that was no problem. That was Wednesday and Thursday night I went to the New Patient Instructional Meeting at Chestnut Surgical & Newton-Wellesley Obesity Associates (http://newtonwellesleywls.com/content/16.htm). My husband, Keith came with me and he came home feeling better about the whole thing. I also told my sister, who is a primary care doctor and a size 4 after 4 kids, and she was really supportive about it. She told me that she had been thinking I should do it for some time but didn't want to push me if I wasn't emotionally ready. Next weekend is my birthday and we're going down to my parents' house on Cape Cod. I'm planning on telling them at that time. I'm grateful my sister will be there on my side. My parents, like my sister are thin and healthy and really don't understand why I just can't stop eating and lose the weight already! We'll see...
February 2006
2/4/2006 - Happy Birthday to me! I'm now 34!
2/6/2006 - Well, I talked to my parents this weekend and despite all my fears, they were great. They are happy I'm going to be doing something to get healthy and are willing to help me out when the time comes. Also I signed my twins up for Kindergarten today - eek! I can't believe how big they both are.
2/26/2006 - I've got 2 appointments this week. Monday I meet with my neurologist (migraines) and Wednesday is the big 4 hour appt with Dr Gazmuri (the surgeon) and his practice.
March 2006
3/1/2006 - My appointment with the surgeon and his psychologist and nutritionist went well today. They all approved me!! They'll be sending in my paperwork to the insurance company tomorrow. YAY!! They tell me I should be able to have the surgery in June. I'm very excited! My surgeon requires me not to gain weight between now and the surgery or they'll postpone it! So I need to stay on the straight and narrow and try to lose some weight.
For "Light-Weights" with a BMI just over 40 like myself (about 42) I can allay a fear I had. I was worried if I lost weight like I'm required to and my BMI went below 40 that the insurance would un-approve me. But the only weight the insurance sees is from your first visit or from your PCP's referral, so that's not a problem.
03/13/2006 - I have a date!! I got a letter in the mail today and my surgery will be on June 20th! YAY! I could have had it in May, but I'll still be in school and so will the kids (preschool) so I chose to wait until June.
03/22/2006 - Had my second appt with the surgeon today. I was down 4 pounds (YAY) and everything else went well. My next appt with be the blended diet review on May 23rd.
April 2006
May 2006
05/03/2006 - I guess April just wasn't the month for me to update! I've been having trouble keeping my weight down. I've gained back the 4 pounds I lost between the first and second appts. Actually, I gained more than that, but I managed to get back down to my 'start' weight (from my 1st appt with the surgeon). I have a month until my next appt and I'm getting nervous.
05/10/2006 - Well, being sick with either a stomach bug or bad food for 2 days sure helped with the weight loss thing - I'm down to 220 - nine lbs less than I was this time last week. Definitely not a good way to do it. Actually yesterday I was 217, but I gained back 3 lbs once I re-hydrated myself. Hopefully I can keep off the rest or at least gain back less than 4 lbs.
05/26/2006 - I had the Blended Diet Review this week. It was very long and very informative. They actually covered a lot more that the diet. They also covered everything that will happen at the pre-op testing and everything that will happen during the time that we're in the hospital. My doctor likes to keep his patients in the hospital for 4 days after surgery so it looks like I'll be going home on Friday (surgery on Tuesday the 20th) which is good because the kids will be with my MIL from Monday until Sunday, so I'll have a couple of days home before they are there. (Weight back up to 227)
June 2006
06/13/2006 - I went through pre-op testing today. I had to bring the twins down to my parents at the cape last night, so I left the cape at 5:45am this morning to head up to Newton-Wellesley. With morning rush hour the normal hour and 1/2 ride took 3 hours so I got there just in time. The gallbladder ultrasound went well - no stones and the gallbladder looks really healthy, so that's good. Then it was across the hospital and up 6 flights to the surgeon's office for the final weigh-in. I'm back down again (to 224) so all is well there. They signed off on me so it was back across the hospital for pre-testing with the surgical center. I answered questions for a nurse, then an anesthesiologist, then an intern (who actually asked me if I've tried dieting... DUH!) then the intern's resident, then another nurse, then I went for a blood draw. By the time I left 3 hours later my brain was fried. But, my last hoop has been jumped and in 7 days my new life begins!!!!
Weight Loss Chart:
Date Weight Loss / Total
Preop 232.0
06/20/06 222.0 ( 0.0 / -10.0)
06/27/06 212.2 (-9.8 / -19.5)
07/04/06 207.6 (-4.6 / -24.4)
07/11/06 202.0 (-5.6 / -30.0)
07/18/06 197.0 (-5.0 / -35.0)
07/25/06 192.5 (-4.5 / -39.5)
08/01/06 188.0 (-4.5 / -44.0)
08/08/06 186.0 (-2.0 / -46.0)
08/15/06 180.4 (-5.6 / -51.6)
08/22/06 176.2 (-4.2 / -55.8)
08/29/06 171.2 (-5.0 / -60.8)
09/05/06 169.0 (-2.2 / -63.0)
09/12/06 163.6 (-5.4 / -68.4)
09/19/06 162.4 (-1.2 / -69.6)
09/26/06 158.4 (-4.4 / -73.6)
10/03/06 154.0 (-4.0 / -78.0)
10/10/06 151.8 (-2.2 / -80.2)
10/17/06 151.8 ( 0.0 / -80.2)
10/24/06 147.6 (-4.2 / -84.4)
10/31/06 144.8 (-2.8 / -87.2)
11/07/06 144.4 (-0.4 / -87.6)
11/14/06 142.4 (-2.0 / -89.6)
11/21/06 141.6 (-0.8 / -90.4)
11/28/06 140.8 (-0.8 / -91.2)
12/05/06 139.8 (-1.0 / -92.2)
12/12/06 137.8 (-2.0 / -94.2)
12/19/06 137.2 (-0.6 / -94.8)
12/26/06 134.8 (-2.4 / -97.2)
01/02/07 134.6 (-0.2 / -97.4)
01/09/07 133.4 (-1.2 / -98.6)
01/16/07 132.6 (-0.8 / -99.4)
01/23/07 133.6 (+1.0 / -98.4) *new scale - mine broke
01/30/07 134.8 (+1.2 / -97.2)
02/06/07 131.8 (-3.0 / -100.2) *Broke 100!!
02/13/07
02/20/07
