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Surgeon: Dr. Robert Rabkin, San Francisco, CA Most recent update: March 25, 2006
by Kristina:
My story is not rare. I've been overweight for most of my 30 years. I was a chubby child and a fat teenager, but I truly believe that yo-yo dieting has got me to the extreme weight I am today. Every summer I was put on a diet, beginning at age 7. I would lose weight, but during the school year I would eat unrestricted and gain all the weight back plus more. As puberty approached, I took over the dieting madness myself. Oh, the horrible things I did to my body! Stupid, just stupid! When I was 13, I starved myself for four months or so. I ate nothing but toast and bananas. I lost forty pounds, but not for long. After four months, I started to eat a little more each day and before I knew it, I had gained those forty pounds back plus a whole lot more. As for my health, several months later I had to have my gall bladder removed. I had developed gall stones due to all those months of starving (that's why most surgeons remove the gall bladder during wls). All the doctors and nurses were amazed. They had never seen a person as young as myself having their gall bladder removed. Wouldn't you know, a year or so after my open surgery, they developed a less invasive method to remove the gall bladder! I'm hoping Dr. Rabkin can do my surgery lap. If not, I'll have not one, but two big scars on my belly! My childhood is not very nostalgic for me. A lot of people would love to go back and re-live their childhood. Not me. No thanks. The torture a fat girl has to go through is horrendous! Of course, most people these days don't outright call me names to my face, but they treat me like I'm invisible or look at me with disgust or pity in their eyes. Take these things and combine them with the things I wrote in the first paragraph and you have a recipe for what is called: "withdrawal from life." I met my wonderfully supportive husband 3 years ago. We were married in the spring of 2000. I want to have surgery to improve my/our quality of life, for health reasons, for career reasons, so I can have children someday, and quite simply, if I don't do something now, I'm afraid I'll weigh 400 pounds by next year, and that scares the hell out of me. January 31, 2002: I had my psychological evaluation last August, as well as my echocardiogram and I passed both with flying colors. One to two weeks before my surgery I will have my labs drawn. I took Redux for about 4-5 months several years ago, so I'm not sure if Dr.Rabkin will want any additional pulmonary tests since my echocardiogram came back normal. I'm really praying that Dr. Rabkin can do my surgery laparoscopically, as I have a 10-inch gall bladder scar across my belly. I'll post another update when I have more to share... April 12, 2002: May 15, 2002: September 29, 2002: One thing that does bother me are dairy products. I was not lactose intolerant before surgery, but definitely am now. I have no problems when I steer clear of milk products, but look out if I don't!! I can eat yogurt with live cultures, but recently tried some sugar-free frozen yogurt and boy, oh boy, did I suffer with the worst case of gas I've ever experienced. Since I bought it at a yogurt shop, I didn't get to see the label. I've learned my lesson: just because they call it frozen yogurt doesn't mean it's 100% yogurt. There had to be milk in it because yogurt alone does not cause such disastrous results! Glad that's over!! I've posted a more recent picture of myself that was taken in Lake Tahoe at my friend's wedding in mid-August (at the time I was -104 lbs.). Her name is Deborah and she is a DS patient, as well. She also has a patient profile here at the DS Information Zone (although she hasn't updated it in a while - I'll have to talk to her about that, as so much has happened for her over the last year!). Life has improved tremendously; not just physically, but emotionally as well. My self-esteem has sky-rocketed. I am no longer afraid to go out and live life to the fullest! I can fit into an airplane seat, a movie theater seat--any seat, any where!! I have freedom in my life again and it feels great!
My patient page has been down for a while, but it’s back up again with an update! A lot has happened over the past couple of years. First, though, let me get to my weight loss statistics. It has been somewhat of a struggle for me to maintain my weight, as the surgery is a tool and not a complete fix to my weight problems. Hopefully, someday the medical community will come up with a cure for the mind to cure the compulsive behavior with food. But, until that time, I must do the best I can with the tools I have. About 2 years after my surgery, I left my job as an administrative assistant. During this time, when I was basically at home alone with nothing to do, I started to gain back some weight, partly due to my inactivity and grazing out of boredom and loneliness. Before I knew it, I had gained back 10 pounds! This really frightened me because up until that point I could eat what I wanted and maintain my weight. Well, to say the least, something had to be done to stop the weight gain! I was exercising at Curves at that point (and still do), but it wasn’t enough for me personally. I needed some real aerobic fat burning exercise, and after several months of trying different things, finally bought a treadmill. Eureka! I found something that worked! After the first month of using the treadmill almost everyday, I lost 5 pounds without altering my eating habits all that much (I did make a conscious effort to eat less sugar). A year after I purchased the treadmill, I still use it regularly and can actually jog on it now. I don’t run on it, mainly because my excess skin makes me uncomfortable when it gets more strenuous, but I do a low-impact jog. I’m really proud of this major feat. Before my surgery, I always used to say I can’t wait to be able to run and jump around. Well, now I can, and hopefully with some plastic surgery, I WILL be able to run for long distances and maybe even train for a marathon like Oprah! My weight has stabilized at about 173 pounds. My lightest was 165 pounds at 1 ½ years post-op. I would love to get back to that weight, but I’m not going to beat myself up over it. My weight still does fluctuate from time to time now that I’m 4 years out. Because of this I now have internal dialogues with myself like: “If you’re going to eat that doughnut, Kristina, you’re going to have to spend 10 extra minutes on the treadmill tomorrow.” On to the professional part… I have gone back to school to change careers. I’m going into the medical profession as I really like to help people. I would have never done this when I weighed over 300 pounds. It would have been way too scary and difficult for me then. I’m so happy with the new freedoms I enjoy in my life because of my weight loss. I have so much confidence now. I feel like I can do whatever I put my mind to doing. I don’t know if there is a connection to my weight loss, but my mind it so clear now and is like a sponge when it comes to absorbing information during my studies. Whatever the reason, I’m grateful! My health has been pretty good over the last 4 years. I did have a little problem with anemia, but no more. The strange thing was that it wasn’t due to iron deficiency. I had been taking Prevacid for a couple years post DS due to acid reflux, and once I stopped taking it because I didn’t need it anymore, my anemia corrected itself over the next few months. So, if anyone else is having a problem like that, tell your doctor about my experience. I’m due to have my 4th annual labs drawn, so when I get the results, I’ll let everyone know how I’m doing. Until then, take care. |
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Ah, the things skinny folks take for granted! Walking through a turnstile without having to turn sideways (heck, I avoid them altogether now for fear I won't fit at all!); having your behind fit in a MUNI bus seat without any overflow; not having to scope out salons, movie theaters and restaurants to make sure your behind will fit in their seats; fitting in an airplane seat; wearing shorts and a sleeveless shirt in public; going swimming in public; riding amusement park rides... and I could go on and on.
