Re: Now a 'Missy' Extra Large! :)

[Guest guest]

OMG , congrats to you! It must give you such a

rush to put on new clothes that are smaller and fit!!!

If I can get the surgery and get to goal, I am

certainly going to pay my old PCP a visit. He was one

of those " you must be so lazy if you can't lose

weight " and " You could hibernate with the fat you

have " ... grrrrrrr! I want him to see what a good and

caring doctor can do!

When I went to my workers comp doctor last week, we

were talking about my upper arm where I was having

incredible pain. He had asked me on the phone if my

arm was swollen and I had said, " It's FAT just like my

other one - I can't tell if it's swollen!! " ... Well,

when I reminded him of the conversation, he said,

" You're right, your whole body is swollen " .... Nice

guy!

Anyway, congrats to you and please keep posting - it

really helps us pre-pre-ops to hear these wonderful

stories!

Take care,

dee

--- ruisha@... wrote:

> Hi, everyone! I finally went shopping today because

> my clothes were

> literally falling off of me... I couldn't believe

> that I'm a 'missy'

> extra large! I started out in the plus sizes

> section and then

> moved over to the 'regular folks' section and tried

> on some

> extra-large pants... they FIT! Good Lord!

>

> Of course, this was occasion to get ourselves over

> to Outback

> Steakhouse (so, I still have 8 lbs to go until I've

> lost 100 lbs but

> this was a momentous occasion - being able to shop

> in the 'regular

> section' and get some pants!)... I shared a ribeye

> with my husband

> and the kids had a child sirloin and chicken

> fingers.. The whole

> family even shared one of their huge pieces of

> cheesecake with

> raspberry and chocoate syrup... It was seventh

> heaven along with a cup

> of decaf coffee! :)

>

> I am so blessed to have had this surgery.. and not

> really experience

> any negative side effects. It truly is a miracle.

> Once I get down

> 100 lbs, I'm in for the home stretch --- I want to

> get down to

> anywhere between 160-170 (I'm 5' 9 1/2 " )... I'm down

> to 215 again, so

> maybe this plateau is a short one!

>

> I tell you, I had my surgery when I was 35 and my

> bmi was 45. I

> didn't have any co-morbidities other than joint/back

> pain and a slight

> hiatial hernia (that I only found out about with the

> pre-op

> endoscopy). My blood pressure was fine; cholesterol

> was ok (I even

> had an abundance of the 'good stuff'). I didn't

> have diabetes or

> breathing problems. I was always a pretty good

> walker. However, I

> saw my mother at 60 struggling with her weight and

> facing serious

> obesity-related health problems: High cholesterol,

> high blood

> pressure, arthritis/joint pains, shortness of

> breath, extreme

> exhaustion and she recently developed diabetes. I

> realized that was

> the path I was on and I was much better off trying

> to have the surgery

> NOW when I was in better health and younger. I

> haven't regretted that

> decision for a MOMENT, although I did seriously

> question and

> second-guess myself before I committed. The

> point I always came

> back to was this: I had been able to lose weight

> before (even around

> 100 lbs at one point) but I had NEVER been able to

> keep it off long

> term. My weight ALWAYS came back with a vengence.

> Like any chronic

> condition, it just got WORSE AND WORSE with each

> swing upward.

>

> I'm so grateful my new PCP said 'I think you are a

> great candidate for

> surgery' when I was at my heaviest of 225. I was

> concerned about my

> weight after the birth of my second child but my old

> PCP said I had to

> do it 'the old fashioned way' when I inquired about

> Xenical. Can you

> believe it????? When I asked him for a reference to

> a bariatric

> specialist (not even a surgeon per se), he drew a

> big blank on his

> nerdy face and said 'you should see my

> nutritionist'. I lost some

> weight before my initial consult and weighed in at

> 215. I did try to

> focus more on protein, cut carbs and sugar and ended

> up at 207 the

> week before my surgery about two months later!

>

> I'm SO GLAD I switched and my new PCP is so

> MO-friendly and views this

> as a chronic disease. I kind of downplayed the

> suggestion and he even

> had to check the charts himself because he thought I

> may 'just make'

> the required weight.... Then, he told me my BMI was

> 46 and I

> definately qualified! I think because I'm so tall I

> 'carried the

> weight' so as to not seem as heavy as I truly was.

> I was shocked. I

> knew I was fat; I knew I needed to lose weight --

> but the term

> MORBIDLY OBESE scared the hell out of me. There was

> no way I could

> ignore this problem any more or put it on the 'back

> burner' thinking I

> had all the time in the world to just 'lose the

> weight' or 'get into

> shape'. I felt that I came so close to becoming

> even sicker and

> beling older and with more co-morbidites, at much

> higher risk for

> complications and problems if I had waited to do the

> surgery. Just my

> humble opinion!

>

> all the best,

>

> lap ds with gallbladder removal

> january 25, 2001

> Dr. GAgner/Mt. Sinai, NYC

>

> eight months post-op and still feelin'

>

>

>

----------------------------------------------------------------------

>

[Guest guest]

,

I know what you mean about being so excited to fit in " regular " sizes. I went

out this past weekend and found that I now fit into size 16 jeans. The last

jeans I bought before surgery were size 24. I still feel funny shopping in

regular size departments. I feel like people are staring at me wondering what

the fat lady is doing in regular sizes. Then I have to remind myself that I am

where I belong and no one is thinking that except me.

The other day I caught my reflection in my car window as I was about to get in.

I jumped thinking it was someone else behind me. I didn't recognize that

average-sized person staring back at me.

Kathy M.

DS 7/19/01

213 pre-op

160 today

[Guest guest]

Dear : Am so HAPPY for you (and so jealous). You

are absolutely right that you probably avoided many

uncomfortable and dangerous co-morbidities. I'm now 48

and didn't really start to feel the discomfort until

about the past year. Am praying that I get approved

for the surgery soon so as to avoid a further decline

in my health. It must be so great to walk into the

shops that only carry regular sizes. Congratulations

on your success and thanks so much for sharing!!

--- ruisha@... wrote:

> Hi, everyone! I finally went shopping today because

> my clothes were

> literally falling off of me... I couldn't believe

=====

+Doris in PA+

Hoping for DS

BMI 54

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