Michelle A.

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It has been forever since I have posted anything to my blog or even come to OH to check things out.  It seems like so many of us get so excited in the beginning and then sort of fade away (I see the same thing at support group).  Anywhoooo,  I saw my surgeon in Feb of last year, right after having my baby, for a yearly update.  I told him at that time that I was really struggling.  While I wasn't gaining I also wasn't losing the 20 extra pounds from being pregnant.  He decided hewanted to see me back in 6 months.  So, a couple weeks ago I went to see him again.  I told him that the symptoms haven't changed and I am STILL struggling.  I guess I just figured this was as good as it's gonna get.  I am stuck at 194 and have been for a year.  After the meeting he thought about it more and decided to send me for an upper GI, just in case.  I had it done Monday of this week and got a call on Wednesday to come see my surgeon.  Saw him on Thursday and found out that I have this strange complication.  He has only seen it one other time.  The top of my pouch formed a sort of weakness and that skin has stretched enormously and created this second pouch that hangs down like a uvula.  It runs parallel to my small intestines.  He said when he saw this on someone else it made her intensely sick.  I haven't been sick, thank god, but he said this second pouch can hold 3x more food than my small, initial pouch, and that is why I am so hungry and able to eat large quantities of food.  I go in on the 18th to have it removed surgically.  In some ways I am bummed about going through the tummy pain but I am thrilled to find out that this might not be the end of my weight loss.  He anticipates that as soon as he is done with the surgery I will feel like I did a couple years ago when things were still nice and tight....YIPPEE!!!  Well I will try to update once it is all done.  Still so thankful for the surgery

Well, It has been forever since I posted but I wanted to give an update.  I gave birth to a very healthy baby girl on December 23rd, 2009.  Paige Keller Adams entered the world weighing 7 pounds, 10 ounces.  It has been 7 weeks  now and I have lost a good deal of my pregnancy weight (I gained about 30 pounds and have 12 or so to lose to get to my pre-pregnancy weight).  I never thought my life would be blessed in this way and while I was not TRYING to get pregnant I absolutely can't imagine my life without her.  Now it is time to get back to work to lose the rest of my weight and focus on my eating.  I developed some bad habits while pregnant due to the fact that I had difficulty eating what I would normally eat.  I had WAY too many carbs and my body still craves it but my mind says "NO!"  Let's hope my mind wins in the end

Well yesterday I was 14 weeks pregnant and finally into my second trimester.  So far things are going well.  Baby was very active at the 12 week ultrasound.  My biggest problem right now is double....A) I seem to get sick everytime I eat.  I don't have nasea all day but as soon as I begin to eat I feel sick and have to lay down.  at my 12 week appointment I had only gained 2 pounds which is okay but I am concerned because I am not gaining anything now.  It has just stopped.  B) I am terrified of gaining too much weight.  I am trying to be careful about the foods I chose to eat.

Other than that everything is going well.  I will keep you all upated.  Thanks for the prayers and well wishes

I can't believe this but I am PREGNANT!!!!  I am almost 38 and pregnant for the first time in my life.  I can't believe it.  I must have taken at least 5 tests before I started to believe it.  I had my first ultrasound last week and today I am 6 weeks.  This is a divine miracle in my opinion as I have not prevented a pregnancy in the 14 years I have been married.  My precious 11 year old was adopted at birth (a miracle in it's own right).  I just can't believe this.  Good thing I lost all my weight first.  I am going to try and not be too paranoid about gaining because I know that is part of the routine but I am not going to be stupid about it either.  SO EXCITED....AND SCARED!

It's been a long time since I have updated my OH profile.  The last year has flown by and my, how my life has changed.  I thought things would get easier with time and in some ways they have gotten better but in other ways it has become more difficult.  It is easier now to make the best possible food choices each and every day.  I find it easier to make sure I get exercise.  What I find most difficult is attention.  I am not easily able to take a compliment (although inside I love receiving them).  When men look at me it is hard for me to imagine they are thinking anything positive.  While I know I am not obese anymore I still feel much the same inside.  I have a lot of work to do still :)  The good news is that my 12 month post-op appointment revealed I was down to 176 and am still losing.  I am comfortable in a size 10 pant (and encroaching on a size 8).  I am ecstatic at the work I have accomplished but I also knwo the hardest part will be maintaining this for life.  I am up for the challenge!!

It has been quite some time since I have posted to the blog.  Things are trucking along and the holidays posed less of a problem then I thought..  In the last month or so I have found that I have no appetite and have to remind myself to eat.  Weight loss has slowed but I am proud to say I am down to 178 pounds.  My personal goal is 165 so I feel like it might just be attainable if I keep focused.  Working out has been a bit harder.  Not something I enjoy.  But luckily I have the diet/eating part down.  I feel awful when I eat sugar and I will never eat Chinese food or other greasy food again.  Just thinking about it makes me sick.  One thing I have noticed, however, is that in my support groups there are quite a few people who just don't look so healthy.  Have you noticed this?  I have seen a lot of people who look anorexic and sick.  It worries me. I don't want to get that way. 

I am comfortably fitting into a size 10 although I realize that sizes have changed and today's size 10 was a size 14 twenty years ago.  I would love to get to a size 8. 

I am also, for the first time, thinking ahead about plastic surgery.  I definetely have ruined my stomach muscles and will require a tummy tuck if I ever hope to look normal in the torso but for now I am just happy with what I have done.

Today I weighed in....184!!  I was pretty happy with that number.  I also went online and checked my BMI.  I was so happy to see that I am finally out of the OBESE category and now just overweight.  I can live with being overweight.  It has been a couple days past 8 months and now down more than 80 pounds.  I never thought I would be this successful and keep waiting for the day  I will wake up and start putting it all back on.  I am finally realizing this might be FOREVER for me. That would make me so happy.

Love my RNY

It's been awhile since I posted so I thought I woudl just post a quicky.  I went to see my new general physician yesterday and happy to report that I am down to 188.  I still want to get down to at least 165 so I have some work ahead of me.  I also have just been loving life a lot more lately.  I went skydiving this last weekend as well as the weekend before.  I am hooked and hope that maybe someday i could actually do it for sport.  Such a feeling of freedom.  If you want to see the video go to youtube.com and do a search on the following words "parachute center lodi michelle and latrisha". 

Till next time.
Michelle

So I went to see my surgeon last Friday for my 6-month check up.  While I had wished I lost more weight (I am down about 60 pounds and 60 % of my excess weight) I was thrilled with my lab results.  My cholesterol is down from almost 300 to 198 and my triglycerides is down from almost 300 to 80.  My protein and iron look great.  B-12 is a bit low but it was low before surgery so I will continue to take sublingual B-12.  Now I have another visitor that I can't stand.....my good old friend, Sciatica.  My but is hurting but I am thankful that at least it doesn't run too far down my leg.  Luckily I still have some lortab elixir left.  I have been taking that at night to help with the pain. 

I have decided that Sept. 13th will be the day for skydiving.  I really look forward to it.  My weight according to the surgeon is down to 192.  At 5'6" I am not complaining.  I bought my first size 12 jeans and feel really good about how things are going.  I am  trying my hardest to keep calories between 800-1200 depending on the day.  My new favorite food is filet mignon and top sirloin steak.  It just sits very hard in the pouch which keeps me from eating too much of other things.  I also enjoy zuchinni and/or a tomato salad with each dinner which helps a lot. 

until next time.
Me

Just when I thought I had hit a final brick wall things have started to pick up all over again.  I hope those of you reading this that are newly post-op will listen when I tell you that your stall will NOT last if you are doing things correctly (or even somewhat correctly).  After an almost 6 week (yes 6 WEEK) stall the scale has begun moving considerably.  Yesterday I was down to 199 and today I am down to between 197 and 198.  I am so excited to be under 200 I can't even explain it.  It strikes me funny  how all of us lose weight so differently (which is why we freak out when we read how other post-ops are doing and we differ in any way). For me the weight seems to melt off and then I hit a stall for awhile.  During this time I have typically continued to get compliments and comments on how my body is changing but the weight isn't coming off.  Then it starts all over again.  I can't remember being under 200 pounds since before I started college (I was teetering fairly close to 200).  My birthday is coming up (August 1st) and I will be 37.  I am considering going skydiving as a reward for being under 200 and being 37.  I have about 30 more pounds to go to get to my goal and somehow I feel like that might be impossible (because even as an 8th grader I can't remember weighing as little as 165).  Either way I am so pleased with my decision to have this surgery and am committed to doing whatever it takes to address my health......Now I need to up my exercise routine (I have been a bad girl) and continue with my low carb lifestyle.

Again I can't emphasize enough the changes the body (at least in my case) is going through during the stalls.  It was during this time that my cycles were absolutely crazy ( perhaps from getting rid of the excess estrogen in my fat cells?) and my body morphed and changed.  Now that the weight IS coming off things have stabalized.  My cycle is back to complete normality and I feel really healthy.   While surgery is not a MIRACLE it sure has done wonders in making me feel that I can actually accomplish this demon that has haunted me for most of my life.  It is too bad that I didn't feel I could hold my head up high as an obese person....but that is another story.