 |
|
|
|
|||||||
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
 |
|||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
Surgeon: Dr. Baltasar, Alcoy, Spain Most recent update: April 26, 2005
By Paige: August 28, 2004
I was about 8 years old when the weight really became a problem. Mental illness runs in my family in the form of anxiety and depression. I was a depressed and very anxious child. I used food as a form of self medication. My environment did not help. I was too young to make proper food choices and driven to eat to soothe myself. Obesity also runs in my family so genetics are definitely not on my side. I also believe physiology plays a role. There is tons of research being done on this. I have read numerous articles about how obese people lack certain hormones that signal fullness, obese people have lower levels of a molecule that signals the brain concerning fat stores in the body, that food stimulates certain parts of the brain more intensely in obese people, and so on and so on. I also had huge weight gains whenever I take birth control pills. In the past, I have been on anti-depressants that are known to cause weight gain. A few years ago I totally gave up diets after failing at the Atkins diet. Atkins was supposed to be the “fat people diet”. The cravings were supposed to get better and better the longer you were on it. My cravings NEVER got better. In fact they got worse. I would lie on the couch with clenched fists fighting a craving. I would fight cravings for 45 minutes or more. I began having dreams about donuts. I have never dreamed about food in my life. I still stuck to Atkins RELIGIOUSLY for 6 weeks. I finally gave in to the cravings hoping it would go away finally. Instead it sent me on a 2 week binge. I had lost 20 lbs, and then gained 30. It was at that point I gave up. I swore I was the only one who had failed at Atkins. I knew if I could not succeed with Atkins, I would not succeed with anything. I made peace with the fact I would never be a normal weight. I wasn’t happy with how I looked, but I was going to focus on more important things in life. I finished college, got married, and my first child. Over the years my weight was slowing getting higher and higher. I was still struggling with depression and did not know it. My whole life I thought everyone felt like I did. My life was going exactly according to plan and I still was not happy. I finally went to a councelor during my second pregnancy. She put me on Zoloft (which does not cause weight gain) and suggested I look into weight loss surgery. I was shocked. I thought it was too risky and too scary. I thought people who had weight loss surgery were vain and just trying to be like models or something. I began researching RNY and wasn’t sure I could live with all the problems like not being able to drink with meals and dealing with dumping syndrome. Then I found this web site and I knew this was the surgery for me. I quickly found out my insurance had a specific exclusion to anything related to weight loss. I did tons of research on Dr. Baltasar and read at least 50 stories of his patients . All of whom have raved about him and would have surgery again in a heartbeat. So I convinced my parents to loan me the money. I am scheduled to go to Spain to have the DS on November 22, 2004 at 3pm. I am making my travel plans and preparing to leave my baby girls. One is 3 years old and the other will be 10 months old. I am doing this to be a better mom. I want to cure my sleep apnea. I want to take my girls to the park. I want to walk with my husband and keep up with him. I want to stop sweating all the time. I want a better quality of life for me and my family. I can accept the risks of this surgery. What am I risking if I don’t have this surgery?
|
|||||||
 |
|||||||
|
Email the site administrator with questions, corrections, or suggestions. Copyright © 1999-2006 by The Duodenal Switch Information Zone, all rights reserved. Text, graphics, and HTML code are protected by US and International Copyright Laws, and may not be copied, reprinted, published, translated, hosted, or otherwise distributed by any means without explicit permission. |
|||||||
I, like many others, have struggled with weight most of my life. It began in childhood. I may have been only slightly bigger than the other girls, but if you were different in any way, you were made fun of. Obesity is a very complex disease and does not have any one cause. Its causes are different for different people. In my case, I believe it is caused by environment, emotional distress, genetics, physiology, and even medical.
Everything went very well. I did have one day where I had these cramps all over my body and the doctor got nervous and ran a whole bunch of tests but it was gone the next day. I think it was low potassium. It was really hard dealing with the language barrier while in Spain. Mostly just in the hospital because most of the nurses dont speak english. I was very glad once I got home. I have small kids and I did have help when I came home for several weeks. The hardest part is adjusting to the small portions. At first you dont seem to mind, but then after a few weeks you want more. I am almost 5 months post op and my stomach has stretched slowly over time. I can eat a small kid portion size. The other night I had 2 med. slices of pizza and one small bread stick. Normally I dont eat foods that carby because it does give me diahreah. So I do watch the carbs but not to the extreme. I make sure I get my protein first, then I can eat some carbs. I have become lactose intolerant, but I can handle cheese and cream. I just cant drink milk. I buy the lactose free and put nesquik in it. It almost tastes like the real thing. I think the lactose intolerance thing will go away with time. I have even been able to eat an ice cream sandwich lately and it doesnt bother me. Other than that not much bothers me. I do avoid soda. I doesnt feel right in my stomach but I do have a soda about every other day. So its not that bad. I have lost 89 lbs so far. But I still have a long way to go.