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Surgeon: Dr. Ara Keshishian, Delano, CA
by Vanessa: 8/7/01 UPDATE: I saw my therapist today, and she said she is very happy to write my letter of approval. It cost $50 plus the appointment co-pay, which I thought was extremely reasonable, considering I've heard of some costing upwards of $300! That was my last hurdle before surgery. I see my PCP on Friday noon, and we wrap up the last of my paperwork and he dictates a physical so we can have a nice clear copy of my health. This process has been silky smooth, and I like it like that! Went to Costco tonight and bought pre-op food (meat and vegetables and my favorite potatoes!) and post op food (more meat, vegetables and mashed potatoes). I kid, I kid. It is nice to know that all of the food that I like will still be with me after the initial sore stomach goes away, and I like to cook enough that I think the soft food stage will be fine. My only worry is that I won't want to eat at all. I'll watch that very much, and I know Andy will too. I also bought a big container of Omega3 oil, as I heard it can help with getting your skin to go back where it belongs. I need that miracle! My feelings are: very calm, excited, wondering. It's so hard to realize how much my life will change, I only know that it will. I'm getting so much love and support, I couldn't complain about anything, even if I wanted to, which I don't. My friend, Sheri, said that she was going to buy me a new pair of jeans in a size 12! I can not even imagine being a size 12! The last time I saw that size, I think was in 1979-80. 22 years is a loooonnnnnggggg time. 8/6/01 Update: Wooohooooo!!!!!! I have approval and a date. August 24th, 2001. My new birthday! Maybe I should have waited until September so my birthstone could be sapphire...nawwwww, I'll live with peridot! I'm very excited, not really nervous at all. I had to live with nervousness through the whole weekend, as the surgeon's office called me on Friday pm and left a message that they needed to talk to me. No idea what the call was about, but hoping against hope it was an approval. BOY, IT WAS NICE TO GET THAT CONFIRMATION!!!! This whole process is moving along very smoothly for me, and I'm thrilled. I'm hoping that my very best friend, Billie, is going to be right behind me for approval and surgery. I had an appt with my cardiologist today, who cleared me for the surgery. The took an EKG and the chest Xrays, and I'll pick up the xrays next week. Then went to the lab where they drew about a pint of blood. Now the psych eval tomorrow, and the wrap up visit with my PCP on Friday. All the doctors are enthusiastic about my decision to have the GR-DS, and nobody has pooh poohed it at all. So, my Andy and I will take off for Delano on August 22nd, have my pre-op appt with Dr K on the 23rd, then over to the hospital for pre-admission. 7/31/01 Update: Had my consult with Dr. K on 7/27. I must say, very nice man, very nice staff. Dee and Dawn especially took the time to make us feel very welcome. Had the "orientation" with Dee, andshe took about two hours to cover all the material. Very thorough. Had to take a quiz at the end to make sure I was paying attention! Then an exam with Dr. K. Seems very serious, but does have a nice sense of humor. At least he seemed funny to me, and I crack jokes at a lot of stuff. He asked me to get clearance from my cardiologist (I have super ventricular tachycardia) and have had a cardiac ablation. Dr. K wants to make sure all of the bases are covered in case something unexpected goes on with my heart. I liked that he was thinking ahead. Also need a psych consult, and have been talking to a therapist already, so that should be no problem. Insurance approval is the waiting game. I think I'll wait until Friday morning and see if United Healthcare has received it. Ideally, I would like to have the surgery by the end of August, because I need to be back at work at least part time by the first week in October. My office is being closed at the end of October, and it's very important to me that I be there at the end. So, hopefully all falls into place for that to happen. Oh yeah, perhaps the most important thing. I told my Mom that I would be having the surgery. I had thought that I might get all the "try one more time, you just eat too much, that's so drastic" kind of talk, but she was SO supportive. Said she was excited for me, couldn't wait for my fiance to see the energetic, attractive woman inside all of my "cocoon". Said that I would have to beat her with a stick to keep her from being there for the surgery. I am so grateful to have a Mom that trusts me and what I'm going to put my body through, especially after I read about all the others who have to face this surgery alone because they have little/no support. THANKS MOM! 7/17/01 Update: My consult has been moved to 7/27/01. 10 more days! I'm very calm and settled about my decision to have this surgery. For a while I felt anxious about whether I was doing the right thing, but I now feel that it is a very good decision. I've read all the ups and downs that I can get my hands on, and I am full speed ahead. I haven't told my close family that I'm committed yet, and probably won't until I'm sure of a date. My intial feeling was to tell them after the fact, but if something were to happen to me, that would be awful. I wouldn't want to put them through that. So, I will face their worried, anxious faces and questions, and hopefully that will be all, not fighting and non-support, but not until I'm sure that the insurance has approved and I have a "go" date. 7/01: I'm beginning the process to bpd/ds surgery. My surgeon's office has said that they see no problems being approved for surgery and I have an initial consult appt for 8/17/01. My best friend is going with me on the same day to have her own consult, so we can try to be "surgery twins". My history: I was a skinny kid. I started life at 21 in, and 6 lbs, 7.5 oz. My family called me "spider legs" for most of my childhood and well into adolescence. I started to creep up to normal weight at around 13 or so, and I was 150 lbs at graduating high school. I was also 2 inches taller than I am now! I went into the Air Force right out of high school, and they wanted my weight to be less than 149, so I started off on the diet/exercise kick. By the end of basic training and tech school (12 weeks) I had lost 25 lbs and looked fabulous at 125. After that, I began the struggle. I went through a lot of emotional upheaval during my 4 yrs in the Air Force, and ended up at 165-170 lbs by the time I left the military in 1983. After that, I just kept going up. Joined Weight Watchers about 5 times, and did just that...watched my weight go up! Actually, I once lost 25 lbs on that, and celebrated by going right off and gaining back the weight and then some. Lots of tries during this time to take weight off, but I am NOT a good dieter. Since I had no experience at it through my childhood, I could not get the "will power" or whatever to make me not cheat the diet from the very beginning sometimes to several weeks after the start. I would lose a few pounds, then get bored and/or angry that I had to be the one not enjoying food and life and would give up and gain the weight back and then some. I also felt very strongly that I should/could be happy as a heavy person, and I hated what dieting did to me and to everyone I knew who was overweight. In 1991 I moved to Southern Calif to go to college. My weight was about 270-275. I lived with an Aunt and Uncle who loved me fat or thin, so I got fatter! Food always available, no limits, didn't even have to pay for it myself. I got up to 290 lbs, and then discovered the carbo addicts diet. I went on that, and between the diet, school, and a job that was working nights, I lost 55 lbs. The most I have ever lost on a diet. Then I moved back to Northern Calif, met the love of my life, and there went the carbo addicts diet! My man and I gained weight together. We discovered we loved cooking and eating and sedentary activities. Although I tried and halted several more diet, diet and exercise plans, etc. I ballooned up to my present wait of 348 over the last 5 yrs. A woman I know at work had the DS surgery about 18 months ago. For the last 14 months, I have known about her surgery, and watched as she slimmed down and energized up. I was sure the surgery was not for me at that time since I wouldn't let myself feel that I had "tried everything", and tried it hard. I have slowly come to the realization that I don't need to complete every type of diet and weight loss program out there to know that I can not sustain that lifestyle without a drastic, forced, change. My fiance is very supportive of me with or without the surgery. He agrees that it will improve my quality of life, especially now that I've seen some effects on my health. He is MO also, but we both feel that my surgery will benefit both of us in the weight loss area. He's easy going, and will eat whatever is put in front of him, so I think it will help him to have me cooking/eating less. Time will tell with that, I guess. 12/6/01: I am now 15 weeks post op, with my surgery date being August 24th, 2001. I am now down 67 lbs, and I feel terrific! The surgery was a complete success. I went in at about 7am, and was out at about noon. I did my first walk around 4pm. It was painful, but nothing more than you'd expect. I had two jp drains on either side of the incision. My incision was about 8 inches long. I was up and out of the hospital 4 days later, and went to a local motel to wait for my 1st week follow up. At that appt the drains and staples were removed. The staples were no problem, but that drain removal HURT! That evening, I had some pains in my side, and some soreness in my calf, so I went back to the emergency room to get an ultrasound for pulmonary embolism. I was fine, it was a false alarm, but I was pretty scared. After I got home, I slept in a rented recliner for 3 weeks, until I felt well enough to sleep on my side in the bed. That was a happy day! My recovery was very uneventful. I did have problems with vomiting for the first month or so, so I did a number of things to try and fix that. I was eating very well after the first 3 weeks. The first 3 weeks I was eating very small amounts. Yogurt, applesauce, creamy soups, rice and gravy, mashed potatoes, etc. I found if I woke up in the night and didn't eat something right away, I would throw up. So, I started keeping yogurt handy to have a teaspoon or two at those times. After about 3 weeks, I was eating 4 oz cans of tuna with a couple of crackers, some egg and bacon quesadilla's and other stuff like that. At 3 months out, it seems that I can eat more than a lot of people have described after having the DS. My surgeon says that he feels that it's a very individual thing, and that as long as I'm focusing on protein that I shouldn't have a problem. I say that as long as the weight is coming off satisfactorily, and I'm feeling healthy, and my labs come back A-ok, I'm not going to worry about it. I feel better than I have in a long time. I have more energy than I know what to do with sometimes, but I also notice that when I'm out of gas, I'm REALLY out of gas! Also, I'm still having some issues around my bathroom habits. I seem to have to go more than I had hoped. I'm trying to figure out if it's something in my diet, or if I should start looking at Immodium or one of those other artificial helpers. Well, I'll get it figured out. I have to remind myself that it hasn't been that long since I had major surgery. I'm already giving clothes away that don't fit me anymore, and trying on some of the smaller sized clothes that I haven't been able to wear before. It's a lot of fun knowing that I'll never be any fatter than I am right now! I even went on a vacation to Las Vegas (food capital of the world), and LOST 5 lbs! And over Thanksgiving too. When has that ever happened to a pre-surgical MO person? NEVER, that's when! Now, I am looking forward to a vacation to Florida, where I will visit a friend from high school, AND attempt to ride the rides at MGM studios and Universal Florida. Plus the added bonus of a plane ride back and forth! I can't believe I'm looking forward to it, as much as I've dreaded that same kind of vacation for the last 4 yrs. My next major hurdle will be my wedding in November of 2002. I hope to be at my goal weight of 150 lbs by then, and look good enough to have my picture taken and not be wondering if my double chin is making an unwanted appearance. This event has been a miracle in my life, and if I never get one more percent back to normal than I am now, it will still be okay. I'm very grateful for everything that the surgery brought back for me, and I hope to be updating more good info as the year goes on.
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