Melanie H.
February 21, 2007
Feb 21, 2007
All my wounds from my TT healed by Christmas. Now mind you that is more than two months of being cleaned and packed twice a day by my loving husband. He asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I said to have my wounds healed finally. God was gracious and they did heal by Christmas.
I had a final check in January with the new Surgeon because mine had moved on. I just asked her a question which was What do we do with the OHIP approval for my breast reduction? Her answer floored me. She said well lets get it put in my name and we will do the reduction/lift this month. I said yeah right I wasn't going to do any more surgery. Oh gosh this was just to tempting. I went for it.
I had my surgery on February 16th. It was quite easy this time for some reason. They also took a cyst from my thumb. It is quite sore. Ok now you know how when you get a really special gift and you want to show it to everyone? Well that is how I feel about my new ummmmm as Kevin calls them TaTa's. Oh my gosh I can't believe what she has done for me. Dr. Fortin you are wonderful in my book.
Many years ago, I had a friend whose mom had a reduction. I had never met her mom but we had to go over to her house for something and she met us at the door and raised her blouse and said look what I got. I was shocked to say the least. Now these 30 or so years later I UNDERSTAND. Oh my gosh. What a treat. The expression on Kevin's face when he took his first look was PRICELESS!!! I will never forget it. I have to say the man has worked hard for me to have this new look he deserves it. I love you Kevin!
November 20, 2006
Nov 20, 2006
Well it has indeed been a long time since I have posted. I went in for a panniculectomy and hernia repair on the 2nd of October and it turned out that I got an abdominoplasti and hernia repair and I love it. Now let me say it took me a full 6 weeks to get to that point. I had a rough time and once again I have wounds that have to be packed twice a day every day. I have decided that any more extra skin will just have to stay. I will live with it. My poor body does not like surgery. I had to receive three units of blood after surgery. I had to have the incision opened at the T and it has to heal from the inside out and I got a seroma on my hip. It was not fun but now I can say I LOVE the results.
August 19,2006
Aug 19, 2006
Well life has a way of hitting you upside the head when you least expect it. One day you think you have things figured out and then along comes life and knocks you down again. I am very thankful for friends that I can call and ask for prayer. I don't want to explain everything right now but will when I find out what the doctor has to say next week. Thanks Debbie for being there for me and giving me some Scripture to fall back on. I am chosing to walk in faith not in fear. So I am going to put the Scripture that I am standing on for my strength for today:
Psalm 34: 1-7
I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak his praises. I will boast only in the Lord: let all who are discouraged take heart. Come let us tell of the Lord's greatness: let us exalt his name together
I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me, freeing me from all my fears. Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy: no shadow of shame will darken their faces. I cried out to the Lord in my suffering and he heard me. He set me free from all m fears.
Psalm 34:17-20
The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles. The lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those who are crushed in spirit. The righteous face many troubles, but the Lord rescues them from each and every one. For the Lord protects them from harm not one of their bones will be broken.
So I am standing on these verses and praying that fear stays away from me at this time. When it begins to creep in I will read these verses again and again. I will remind myself that fear is not from God but from satan the destroyer.
Another verse that was just brought to my mind is
IITimothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, love, and sound mind.
Ok now he has given me the power to stand in Faith and not fear this is what I will endeavor to do from this day forth.
Just for the record this has nothing to do with my upcoming plastics. It has nothing to do with WLS at all. I will explain when I can.
Well it was a very long weekend. My niece came in on Friday and I thought what a horrible time for her to have to be here with this other information hanging over our heade. I decided to make her time with us enjoyable and to continue to walk in faith. On Monday it was time to go to the doctor and I asked Kevin and Carrie to take me so I would not have to worry about the parking. They did and I went in. This day there was very little wait time and I was taken right in. Once the doctor looked at me and examined me he said there is absolutely nothing to biopsy. He said the other doctor must have been being extra cautious but that there was nothing wrong except a dermatitis. He made me an appointment with a dermatoligist and said good bye. PRAISE GOD THERE IS NOTHING WRONG!!!!
My niece was here for a week and we had a marvelous time and now on to plastics. I am scheduled for surgery October 2nd.
Psalm 34: 1-7
I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak his praises. I will boast only in the Lord: let all who are discouraged take heart. Come let us tell of the Lord's greatness: let us exalt his name together
I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me, freeing me from all my fears. Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy: no shadow of shame will darken their faces. I cried out to the Lord in my suffering and he heard me. He set me free from all m fears.
Psalm 34:17-20
The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles. The lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those who are crushed in spirit. The righteous face many troubles, but the Lord rescues them from each and every one. For the Lord protects them from harm not one of their bones will be broken.
So I am standing on these verses and praying that fear stays away from me at this time. When it begins to creep in I will read these verses again and again. I will remind myself that fear is not from God but from satan the destroyer.
Another verse that was just brought to my mind is
IITimothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, love, and sound mind.
Ok now he has given me the power to stand in Faith and not fear this is what I will endeavor to do from this day forth.
Just for the record this has nothing to do with my upcoming plastics. It has nothing to do with WLS at all. I will explain when I can.
Well it was a very long weekend. My niece came in on Friday and I thought what a horrible time for her to have to be here with this other information hanging over our heade. I decided to make her time with us enjoyable and to continue to walk in faith. On Monday it was time to go to the doctor and I asked Kevin and Carrie to take me so I would not have to worry about the parking. They did and I went in. This day there was very little wait time and I was taken right in. Once the doctor looked at me and examined me he said there is absolutely nothing to biopsy. He said the other doctor must have been being extra cautious but that there was nothing wrong except a dermatitis. He made me an appointment with a dermatoligist and said good bye. PRAISE GOD THERE IS NOTHING WRONG!!!!
My niece was here for a week and we had a marvelous time and now on to plastics. I am scheduled for surgery October 2nd.
August 15, 2006
Aug 15, 2006
For the past four months I have been going through a course called “Mastering Food”. The purpose of the course was to help me figure out what makes me eat. What emotions trigger the eating binges, and what is causing the “rebellious little girl” in me to want to sabotage my progress towards a healthy happy life.
In this program they ask you to go back in your life and try to see when the process began. I thought in the beginning of the course that it was a bit simplistic but have since changed my thoughts on the whole process. Kevin my dear husband, knowing I was struggling in this area has been very supportive to whatever steps I felt I needed to follow in order to find peace in my life and learn to master my food addiction.
The first 14 months of my wls journey seemed to be very easy for me. I never felt the need to eat anything off program and then one day like a rushing wind it came back. I can’t explain why but it started happening again. I was desperate to figure out what was going on so I joined the course Mastering Food. I never want to gain the weight back so I needed to get this figured out.
It has taken me a lot of digging and even contacting someone in my past with whom I needed to get some closure from. I have since discovered that I am angry with myself for being passive and afraid to speak up and voice my opinions, thoughts, and desires with the conviction that I feel inside. What I have also come to realize is that I put myself into this self destructive “prison”. Circumstances helped but I turned the key and locked the door. I also know that the key to this “prison” has been in my possession all the time, I just had to want to open the door strongly enough to turn the key. I don’t have all the answers yet but I am continuing to work on the problem and am confident that one day the answers will be there and I will truly be in charge of my life. No “rebellious little girl” holding me back and sabotaging me. My thought for this time in my life is “Whatever situation I find myself in, I put myself there”. I am responsible for the decisions I make. I can’t blame other people or circumstances for the decisions I make.
This part of my journey would have been very difficult if I had not had the support of Kevin. He sat with me many nights while I wrote my feelings down. He listened while I read them to him and even when they were things that could be painful to him for various reasons; he listened and never judged me or asked me not to delve into things. I could have made the journey without his support because it was my decision, but he made the journey easier by supporting me through it.
I don’t have all the answers yet but I am closer than I was in the beginning and I have more control over my eating now than I did when I began this part of the journey a few short months ago. Kevin is my rock and he shows his love to me in so many ways every day so I am putting this song in my profile as a tribute to him. Thank you Kevin for all your help and support. I don’t know much but I know that I love you and that may be all I need to know.
In this program they ask you to go back in your life and try to see when the process began. I thought in the beginning of the course that it was a bit simplistic but have since changed my thoughts on the whole process. Kevin my dear husband, knowing I was struggling in this area has been very supportive to whatever steps I felt I needed to follow in order to find peace in my life and learn to master my food addiction.
The first 14 months of my wls journey seemed to be very easy for me. I never felt the need to eat anything off program and then one day like a rushing wind it came back. I can’t explain why but it started happening again. I was desperate to figure out what was going on so I joined the course Mastering Food. I never want to gain the weight back so I needed to get this figured out.
It has taken me a lot of digging and even contacting someone in my past with whom I needed to get some closure from. I have since discovered that I am angry with myself for being passive and afraid to speak up and voice my opinions, thoughts, and desires with the conviction that I feel inside. What I have also come to realize is that I put myself into this self destructive “prison”. Circumstances helped but I turned the key and locked the door. I also know that the key to this “prison” has been in my possession all the time, I just had to want to open the door strongly enough to turn the key. I don’t have all the answers yet but I am continuing to work on the problem and am confident that one day the answers will be there and I will truly be in charge of my life. No “rebellious little girl” holding me back and sabotaging me. My thought for this time in my life is “Whatever situation I find myself in, I put myself there”. I am responsible for the decisions I make. I can’t blame other people or circumstances for the decisions I make.
This part of my journey would have been very difficult if I had not had the support of Kevin. He sat with me many nights while I wrote my feelings down. He listened while I read them to him and even when they were things that could be painful to him for various reasons; he listened and never judged me or asked me not to delve into things. I could have made the journey without his support because it was my decision, but he made the journey easier by supporting me through it.
I don’t have all the answers yet but I am closer than I was in the beginning and I have more control over my eating now than I did when I began this part of the journey a few short months ago. Kevin is my rock and he shows his love to me in so many ways every day so I am putting this song in my profile as a tribute to him. Thank you Kevin for all your help and support. I don’t know much but I know that I love you and that may be all I need to know.
August 6, 2006
Aug 06, 2006
I remember when I first went to see Dr. Genaw I told him one of the reasons I wanted to have surgery was so I could be around to enjoy my gandchildren. Well the last 6 weeks I have spent with two of my beautiful grandchildren. We spent 3 weeks in Missouri with my daughter and her family. Tommy is 1 1/2 and Victoria is 8. We had such a good time playing with the kids, and I should add that my daughter runs a daycare service from her home and has 5 extra kids between 1 and 4 years old. I have to say that we had a great time with ALL the kids. Grandpa and I played in the yard with them and swam with them and generally had a great time. When we left to go back to Canada we took the 8 year old with us, Victoria. She was coming home with us for two weeks. Well she had such a good time that after the two weeks she begged to stay another week so her mommy changed her ticket and let her stay. We did so many fun things while we were together. We went to the Folk Festival, the Rib Festival, The Balloon festival and many other things. I was able to walk and even run with her. We had so much fun. We even had a slumber party night for her with friends she met here at Grandma and Grandpa's house. I know that if I had not had my surgery I would not have been able to do any of those things without the use of an electric cart. Oh I am so thankful for this surgery. It truly has given me my life back.
Today we took Victoria to the airport and said goodbye and then spent the day shopping in Marysville, and Port Huron. We left the house at 7:00 this morning and were on the go until 9:00 pm when we finally got back home. What a wonderful summer this has been.
Two comments that Victoria made that I want to tuck away in my heart are: After she went to the Hillary Duff Concert with her Aunt Janine we picked her up and she was really quiet in the back seat and I said Honey what's wrong and she smiled and said "I was just thinking I am the luckiest girl in the whole world." The other one was after we ran quickly across the street at the Balloon Festival she stopped and looked at me and said "Grandma that's the first time I have ever seen you run."
Life has changed in so many ways. I am not sure I would even be here now if I hadn't taken the chance and had the surgery. I have not been unhappy even one day for making that decision. There are things I can't have but there is so much life I can have now. What a change.
Today we took Victoria to the airport and said goodbye and then spent the day shopping in Marysville, and Port Huron. We left the house at 7:00 this morning and were on the go until 9:00 pm when we finally got back home. What a wonderful summer this has been.
Two comments that Victoria made that I want to tuck away in my heart are: After she went to the Hillary Duff Concert with her Aunt Janine we picked her up and she was really quiet in the back seat and I said Honey what's wrong and she smiled and said "I was just thinking I am the luckiest girl in the whole world." The other one was after we ran quickly across the street at the Balloon Festival she stopped and looked at me and said "Grandma that's the first time I have ever seen you run."
Life has changed in so many ways. I am not sure I would even be here now if I hadn't taken the chance and had the surgery. I have not been unhappy even one day for making that decision. There are things I can't have but there is so much life I can have now. What a change.
May 11, 2006
May 11, 2006
Haven’t updated in about 5 months but I feel a need to write this today. I am 18 months out now and feeling really wonderful, however, I did something really stupid and thought I would share it so maybe it will keep someone else from doing the same thing. I started being really lax on my water drinking. You know like only getting one bottle (16) ounces or maybe two bottles a day in. Well I began to not feel well and my joints began to ache and my esophagus began to have spasms when I would swallow and I felt like maybe there was something going on with my heart. I began to watch carefully what my water intake was and was shocked to find that I was drinking so little. I told my hubby that if I didn’t feel better in two days I was going to the doctor to see what was wrong. I began drinking water water water. Every few minutes I was drinking more and low and behold I began to feel better. Now 4 days later I feel really good again.
I guess the reason for this post is to remind everyone that you MUST be mindful of your water intake. Dehydration is no picnic and really miserable. I am 18 months out as I stated before and I just innocently fell into this situation. Be Mindful of your WATER intake every day. There is a reason for drinking. If you don’t your body will revolt big time.
I guess the reason for this post is to remind everyone that you MUST be mindful of your water intake. Dehydration is no picnic and really miserable. I am 18 months out as I stated before and I just innocently fell into this situation. Be Mindful of your WATER intake every day. There is a reason for drinking. If you don’t your body will revolt big time.
January 04, 2006
Jan 04, 2006
Well it has been a long time since I have updated my profile and thought today would be a great day to do so. All I can say is I am feeling wonderful, today and every day. I am down 155 pounds since I first began my journey. I am able to do so much now and feel wonderful. My weight still comes off slowly and I am now at 205.
This Christmas was the best I have had since my children were small. I spent it in Missouri with my daughter and her husband and two kids. My hubby and I spend a lot of time there. My other daughter flew in from London Ontario to have Christmas with us and my brother and his family joined us as well. I can say this, life is wonderful. I did eat a few things I should not have but am happy to say that I am back on program and will stay there.
This Christmas was the best I have had since my children were small. I spent it in Missouri with my daughter and her husband and two kids. My hubby and I spend a lot of time there. My other daughter flew in from London Ontario to have Christmas with us and my brother and his family joined us as well. I can say this, life is wonderful. I did eat a few things I should not have but am happy to say that I am back on program and will stay there.
February 12, 2005
Feb 12, 2005
Oh my it has been a long long time since I updated my profile. I had my surgery on October 4th, 2004. Mine being a revision from a failed VBG, came with a few more complications than most have. I had a leak test on day two and everything was good but they wanted me to go home wiht a JP tube and a G tube, for which I am very thankful. I also had to be given two units of blood after surgery because my white blood count was so low and wouldn't come up. I was out of the hospital for two days when we realized something was wrong. The JP tube had gone from 200ml of fluid to a day to 800 ml's several times a day. We had stayed in the apartments at Henry Ford Hospital so I was still on the hospital grounds. My hubby saw my doctor and talked to him and he came to see me, Dr. Genaw actually stood outside in the sun with us for about an hour just chatting. One day later, he decided I needed to go to emergency and then he decided to readmit me.
I had developed a leak. I was told I could be in the hospital for another 6 weeks. Dr. Genaw told me he would rather not go back in that he wanted to give my body time to heal the leak on its own.Which looking back now I am so very thankful for because I have heard of many complications that happen often when you go back in for more surgery. After a few days I noticed that my incision looked a bit red and hard at the top so I showed it to Dr. Genaw. I asked what we had to do with that and he said we would have to reopen that part of the incision because I had developed an infection inside and they had to drain it. I felt like I was rotting from the inside out. The smell oh the smell of it all. Kevin was with me the entire time and would not leave my room. I couldn't stand the smell coming from my incision and neither could Kevin but he never said a thing to me. My poor husband thought I was going to die through this. He slept in a recliner chair beside my bed for the entire 18 days I was in the hospital.
I was put on very stong antibiotics. As God would have it I was able to go home after 2 weeks. I had to take my two friends with me the JP and the G tube.
I had to feed through the G tube for 6 weeks while my leak healed. I could take nothing by mouth not even a sip of water. The most I could do was sip swish and spit it out again. Oh boy did I miss water. My incision had to be packed and irrigated three times a day. Yep I couldn't do this part I am too squeamish so my DH had to do it for me. Now my hubby did not complain even one time when it was time to change the bandages but man I sure did. I hated to have it changed because taking the tape off hurt and my skin was breaking down.
I woke one morning to this horrible screaching noise coming from the drains that were still in me and I got scared. I called Dr. Genaw and he sort of chuckled and said well if you can't push it back in a bit then just cut it off. So we cut it off about 4 inches from my skin and taped it until I got to the Doctor's office. The tubes came out the first part of December and I could finally begin the process of introducing my food back like most people do right after surgery. First clear liquids then ... you all know how it goes. My leak was healed and I was healthy again.
My incision took a while to finally close completely. It went real fast for a while and then it took it's time for the last pin sized hole to close. Kevin never never never complained he was just glad to have his wife alive and with him. He did all the work with my incision and it healed really quickly.
I am down from 360 pounds to at my last appointment I was 270.3. I feel great and am able to do so many more things now. Even with the complications I would do it again. In my opinion Dr. Genaw is the best. He spends many hours with you both before during and after surgery. He is caring and very skillful. He is also a joker from the word go. You gotta love this man.
I had developed a leak. I was told I could be in the hospital for another 6 weeks. Dr. Genaw told me he would rather not go back in that he wanted to give my body time to heal the leak on its own.Which looking back now I am so very thankful for because I have heard of many complications that happen often when you go back in for more surgery. After a few days I noticed that my incision looked a bit red and hard at the top so I showed it to Dr. Genaw. I asked what we had to do with that and he said we would have to reopen that part of the incision because I had developed an infection inside and they had to drain it. I felt like I was rotting from the inside out. The smell oh the smell of it all. Kevin was with me the entire time and would not leave my room. I couldn't stand the smell coming from my incision and neither could Kevin but he never said a thing to me. My poor husband thought I was going to die through this. He slept in a recliner chair beside my bed for the entire 18 days I was in the hospital.
I was put on very stong antibiotics. As God would have it I was able to go home after 2 weeks. I had to take my two friends with me the JP and the G tube.
I had to feed through the G tube for 6 weeks while my leak healed. I could take nothing by mouth not even a sip of water. The most I could do was sip swish and spit it out again. Oh boy did I miss water. My incision had to be packed and irrigated three times a day. Yep I couldn't do this part I am too squeamish so my DH had to do it for me. Now my hubby did not complain even one time when it was time to change the bandages but man I sure did. I hated to have it changed because taking the tape off hurt and my skin was breaking down.
I woke one morning to this horrible screaching noise coming from the drains that were still in me and I got scared. I called Dr. Genaw and he sort of chuckled and said well if you can't push it back in a bit then just cut it off. So we cut it off about 4 inches from my skin and taped it until I got to the Doctor's office. The tubes came out the first part of December and I could finally begin the process of introducing my food back like most people do right after surgery. First clear liquids then ... you all know how it goes. My leak was healed and I was healthy again.
My incision took a while to finally close completely. It went real fast for a while and then it took it's time for the last pin sized hole to close. Kevin never never never complained he was just glad to have his wife alive and with him. He did all the work with my incision and it healed really quickly.
I am down from 360 pounds to at my last appointment I was 270.3. I feel great and am able to do so many more things now. Even with the complications I would do it again. In my opinion Dr. Genaw is the best. He spends many hours with you both before during and after surgery. He is caring and very skillful. He is also a joker from the word go. You gotta love this man.
September 18, 2004
Sep 18, 2004
Well I now have a date for surgery. October 4th, 2004. Yikes that is soon. I have known for a couple weeks now but am just getting around to posting it. I have been on an emotional roller coaster for a couple weeks but am feeling better now. I had a few questions and I e-mailed my doctor and he answered me. He indeed put my mind at ease. My Father is coming from California to be a support to my husband while he waits and especially for me. My youngest daughter and my step-daughter will also be there. I am both excited and scared.
