Kayla W.
10/24/05
I am a 28 yr old single mom from San Diego. My son, Jacob is 8 years old and I think he is the sweetest kid in the world. He is also a big reason I am getting really serious about having WLS. About a month ago, I was laying on the couch and he came up to give me a hug and told me he wished I had a smaller tummy because he knows that eating too much makes you "old". I think he just doesn't want me to end up like my mom. She has been overweight for as long as I can remember and now has high blood pressure, diabetes, and it seems as though every joint in her body aches.
I'm hoping my having the surgery will encourage her to do so as well. She seems so much older than she is and I know her losing the excess weight will add years on her life.
I want to do this for all the right reasons...like being healthy and being more active but on the other hand, I have a clothing and shoe fetish. I would love to buy my clothes somewhere other than the plus department at Macy's and Lane Bryant. And I'd love to be able to wear my pointy toe stilettos for more than 30 seconds before my feet start killing me.
I am just really starting this journey after thinking about it for over a year. My current PCP has referred me to their weight loss clinic where I have to see a nutritionist for 6-8 months before they will even consider WLS as an option. I've tried every diet there is I think. Some of them worked but the weight just came back on. I do need to try and fail with a nutritionist for another 6-8 months and prolong me getting on to my new life! I'm currently looking to switch PCP's and hopefully find one with less "red tape".
04/06/06
Playing the waiting game. I am done with my 6 months with the weight management clinic. Now I have my appt with Dr. Bohyrul on May 11th and a bunch of other test and appointments between now and then. It looks like I'll be able to get surgery in about 8 weeks! So if everything goes as planned, I'll be much skinnier by Christmas and my family and friends can buy me cute clothes!! = )
5/31/06
I saw my surgeon on May 25th and he said he had no reason to deny me surgery! I'm so excited with that news and especially because I had heard from a lot of people that he would want to see me more than once. But I went in there with 3 months of food and exercise journaling and he was happy with how prepared I was. So now I'm just waiting for approval. I'm scared that my insurance is going to give me the run around.
In the last month or so, I've really been paying attention to what I eat. I've been keeping under 1500 calories a day and exercising almost daily. I've become an exercise-aholic...I love it! I do 25 minutes on the treadmill, 30 minutes circuit/weight traning and then usually another 10-20 minutes on the bike. I've also stopped drinking soda and started drinking at least 100oz of water per day.
I'm a little disspointed that with all the changes I've made in my life, I've only lost about 10 lbs. But then again, I've only been going at this hard core for about 2 weeks. So I suppose 5lbs a week, is good. I can see myself getting dissappointed with 1-2 lb per week, though.
I think I'll call the Dr.'s office tomorrow and make sure we're on track for getting this approval!
6/07/06
I have a date!!
Last Saturday I received my approval in the mail. Monday I called the Dr.s office and they still hadn't gotten it so on Tuesday I faxed it over and called to follow up and got my date! It's July 3rd! At first after I hung up the phone I was scared to death. It's real now. In the back of my mind, I never thought I would get approved so easily. I mean, I've heard the horror stories....So the "pre-buyers remourse" lasted a few hours and now I feel much better. I'm excited, I think I'm ready for this. I'm not going to go overboard on a final feast but I am going to the Macaroni Grille this weekend and have my favorites...and then I'll keep up the healthy way I've been eating for the last 6 weeks or so.
The Dr.'s office called me back and offered me a date of 6/14!! Unfortunatley because of work, I'm not able to take it. It's probably for the best because I think I would get overwhelmed at the thought of having surgery next week.
I "get" to start my 10 day liquid diet on June 23. I still haven't been able to find out all that entails but it doesn't sound fun. I'm just looking forward to the weight I'm going to lose on that....
June 27th, 2006
Well today is starting my first day of liquid dieting. I'm only allowed clear liquids which translates to protein powder mixed with water (I also add a little SF kool-aid) , chicken or beef broth, water, jello. I can't say I'm enjoying this...I'm STARVING! I just can't wait until my surgery though. TOmorrow is my last day of work. I have Pre-op on the 29th and I'm just going to take the 30th off and do something fun with my son. I can't wait to go see my Dr. on Thursday. I want to see how much weight I've lost in the last month. I've been eating really well and this pr-op diet should add on to that well.
July 11, 2006
I am banded. I will spare you the boring details of my hospital visit but I was banded July 3rd and I started back at work yesterday. I'm drinking protein shakes and soup and I can't wait to move on to some chicken or something of sustance. Good news is that I lost 13 lbs in 1 week. At least that's according to the scale at the gym. I really hope I can keep going at a fast rate like that but I know that's not going to happen. A girl can dream though, right? I go see the doc on thursday and we'll see what he says then about fills and diet, etc. But so far so good!!
August 22,2006
Long time, no update. I am doing ok. I had my first fill via fluoroscopy at about 2 1/2 weeks out. A little soon compared to what's recommended but everything went ok. They put 4.8ccs in my 10cc band. It felt a little strange at first and I don't think I was restricted much (if at all). I was able eat pretty much anything. However, I did feel food get stuck for the first time. It happens when I take too big a bite or don't chew well enough. It just kind of sits there and burns and then eventually goes down.
My 2nd fill was on 8/17. He added another 1.8ccs. That brings my total to 6.6. I think this one has made a difference. I get heartburn a lot but it goes away quick. I hope I've got a jump start here. I only lost 3.8 lbs in 5 weeks and that's a little discouraging. I'm ready to get on the train to Onederland! Right now I am at 249 which is 26lbs gone since May 1st. I wish it were more but at least I know I'll never see them again!
