Leave of Absence

Yesterday was my last day of work. The day of surgery is getting closer and closer. I had a Great time at Celebrate Recovery last night and can't believe I won't be back for three weeks. Today's agenda, shopping for Stage 2 foods. Stage 1 foods are only while i'm in the hospital. Which consists of clear liquids. (chicken broth, vegetable broth, diluted juice, sugar free Popsicles, and sugar free Jello, water, and decaffeinated coffee) I'll be in the hospital for only 2 days. The day I come home I start Stage 2 foods, which consists of soft blended foods. (cottage cheese, yogurt, protein shakes, sugar free apple sauce, milk, and strained soups, no lumps.) well, off to the store I go.

Pre-Op Appointment

Yesterday was a very exhausting day. It started at 6:30 am as we headed to Kaiser South San Francisco. I had my pre-op appointment with the surgeon, next met with the anesthesiologist, then more blood was drawn, one for pregnancy and other for type screen. Next off to the business center to file for disability. and last to end the day, a Pre-op support class that prepared me for the hospital stay, as well as what to expect from the time I was admitted until 2 days later when I get to go home. by the time that was over it was 4pm and I was completely exhausted. tomorrow is my last day of work. I start my leave Friday.

My Decision

I think I called 5 people as soon as I got home, between my family, my friends and my accountability partner. I explained the crazy day I had had and asked for prayer and guidance. I was also happy that it was a Thursday all this went down because that meant I got to go to Celebrate Recovery that night and talk to my girls in my support group . With an overwhelming amount of support, I pretty much went to bed with my decision made. I was having Surgery on August 4 2010, and I was getting the Gastric Sleeve.

The Surgeon

The surgeon was busy at the moment and I was finished talking to the doctor, so I was asked to go downstairs to get a chest x-ray and EKG and when I was done, come back up and by then the surgeon would be ready to see me. Mike says to me, “Honey, it looks like they have you on the fast track” I was still fixated on having a baby, or even the idea of being able to have one. We’ve tried several times in the past. And I looked at him and said. “We could have a baby” He just smiled at me. When I was done getting my chest x-ray and EKG, I headed back upstairs. The Surgeon walked into the room and asked me if I was ready to have surgery tomorrow. I am not kidding I about fell out of the chair, the gasp and my loud NO, was all it took for him to start laughing. Whew, I thought, he was joking. But no he wasn’t. Yes he was about the tomorrow comment, but not about having it very soon. He talked about the gastric sleeve and what it would entail, and commented on my weight loss in 4 weeks. He then asked my husband if he could use him to teach other people how to eat, since my husband was the one that did all the cooking for me. They both laughed but I’m still in Shock. He asked me if I was ready for August 4^th. I told him no that I would need to go home and think about it, Talk to my friends and family and most important pray about it, he was very understanding.

Change of Plans?

I began to tell the doctor that I wanted to lose as much weight as possible within the year and then I wanted the LAP-BAND® to keep it off. He asked me if I was open for suggestions. When someone asks you if you’re “open to suggestions” that usually means they want to change your mind about what you want. I looked at my husband and said, “I guess, what are you thinking”? He said, “It looks like your portions are under control and that you’re doing a great job sticking the pre-op diet, the LAP-BAND® will only teach you what you’re already learning, portion control. He went on to say with your PCOS, you will have to work out every day and stay very strict on your eating the rest of your life to keep any of the weight off, as well as get the rest of it off. I had no clue where he was going with any of this until finally he said, “However if we do another procedure called the Gastric Sleeve, it will not only get the weight off, it will cure your PCOS”, and he looks at my husband and says “and if you want a baby, you could probably have one.” I would love to say that I didn’t have to think about it at all and said yes right away but I didn’t. Before I could really say anything else, he proceeded to say, “by the way the surgeon wants to meet with you today as well”. Normally you don’t get to meet with the surgeon until you hit your weight loss goal, Not only was I never given a goal weight, but this was still my first appointment and I’m only 4 weeks into my 1 years journey.

The Whirlwind began June 28th

Once Lifestyle Changes and Nutrition 101 was checked off my list, the first doctors appointment was scheduled. First up, the psychiatrist. I met with a very nice man for about an hour. We talked about my past diets, my childhood, as well as my reason for wanting the LAP-BAND® as well as what it would mean to me if I were to meet my goal weight. I said, “It would mean I could shop for clothes and not take all day doing it because I literally had to try on everything. The appointment went well and I laughed a lot. You know, it’s ok to laugh at yourself. Getting back to the whirlwind, when I finished seeing the psychiatrist I had one more appointment that day and it was with the Nurse Practitioner. This is where one weighs in, gets a goal weight for surgery, as well as gets a physical. Then the doctor orders more blood work, as well as a chest x-ray and EKG. He also talks about what type of surgery you're leaning more towards, and begins to make sure you have a clear understanding of what the surgery entails. My official 2^nd weigh in reads 203 lbs. In the past 5 weeks, I had lost 11 lbs. I was so excited. I knew I lost weight, because like clockwork, my period started again. But I didn’t know how much.

Lifestyle Changes

After my second orientation and weight in, I was then scheduled for two more classes, Lifestyle Changes and Nutrition 101. Lifestyle Changes was a 2 hours class where we discussed feeling your body for the first time in a long time for some of us. We started by wiggling our toes, “yep there still there I thought”, then tightening and releasing our calves, then our thighs, then our stomach then our chests, we then worked our way up to our shoulders, and then back down again. We were asked to do this weekly. We talked about emotional eating and writing down your feelings on different types of foods.

I then realized my fixation on Chinese food stemmed way back to when I was a teenager I was watching movie where a guy and girl were straddling each other on the couch eating Chinese food, I became addicted to Chinese food because I associated it with sex. Now when my husband asks me what I want for dinner and I say Chinese food, it’s free pleasure. “wink” it’s very good to become in touch with the reason we eat different foods, I once had a pickle eating contest with my sister when I was young so whenever I wanted to feel that great childhood feeling, I would want a pickle. Knowing really is half the battle (G.I. Joe ® )

My Journey began

Day one began and I felt on top of the world, I thought, this is it, I’m going to have a doctor monitor my weight loss and tell me what I’m doing wrong/right. I went shopping and filled my cupboards with all the food I was allowed to have and cleared out things I couldn’t have, oh and the no drinking with meals, I would love to say that was the easy part but actually, that was the hardest part for me. Every diet I’ve ever been on said drink lots with your meals so you get full on water, what they don’t tell you is that water goes out of your stomach before food, and then you feel hungry again sooner because you weren’t able to get that much food in with all the water. I can honestly tell you it took me two weeks to get this right. I didn’t just stop drinking with meals, I weaned myself off, by getting a smaller cup each time and then spreading out the timeframe I would wait to drink, 15 minutes after I ate, then 30, 45 until I finally reached that hour. Now the only problem I have is remembering to drink starting that hour after I eat and drink lots in between meals.

The Meal Plan

Phase 1 started with another 3 hour orientation that went into a lot more detail about the surgery. I also got to hear from the Dietitian, the Dr/N.P, the Surgeon, and the Case manager. I stepped on the scale, weight was recorded and picture was taken. Weight was 214 lbs, picture showed a big smile. I was nervous and excited. By the time the Dietitian spoke about the pre-op meal plan I was hooked. I was going to make this 1 year count for everything. I had it set in my mind that I would start the meal plan the following morning, and I was going to lose as much weight as I could before that one year was up. Then I would get the LAP-BAND to keep it off.

The Meal Plan for the year.

Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
2 Protein	2-3 Protein	3 Protein
1 Fruit	2-3 veggies	2-3 veggies
0-1 starch	1 starch	1 starch
1 milk	1 fruit	1 Milk
1 Fat	1 Fat	1 Fat

1 oz meat, whole egg, or cheese = 1 protein

½ cup cooked or 1 cup raw = a vegetable

8oz milk or 6 oz yogurt = Milk

5-6 crackers ½ potato, or 1 slice of toast = starch

1 apple or peach, ½ banana or 1 cup berries = fruit

Eat every 4-5 hours drink 64 oz of water between meals. Don’t drink 15 minutes before your meal and up to 1 hour after your meal.

The referral process

The referral through Kaiser Permanente is a process of its own. “Hope you’re not in a hurry to get surgery, it’s a 1 year process” was the first thing that they said to all of us day one. Then they proceeded to go through a 3 hour orientation of what the surgery entails, how many different choices they have, and what your diet will be like for the rest of your life, oh and did I forget that there is a pre-op diet to follow, and I will have to lose a required amount of weight before I even get scheduled to see the surgeon. I call this first orientation, “The Gate Keeper”, 3 hours of the good, bad and the ugly. There were 15 people in the meeting with me and I have to tell you, I was second guessing going through with it by the time the class was over. However when the class was completed they said “If you still want to proceed, email your Dr. and tell them yes, this will start Phase 1.”

Bariatric Appointment

I watched my best friend go through bariatric surgery with complete success and I knew that was not for me, or so I thought. I began to see the boost it gave her to get the weight off, and with her continued exercise program and eating right, the more the weight came off. I knew I was ready for an additional tool as well and that tool would be the LAP-BAND® this was just what I needed to give me a head start to lose the amount of weight to get my PCOS under Control. I called my gynecologist and asked her to refer me to the bariatric office.

Bad News

I learned that I have a condition called polycystic ovarian syndrome. What the Heck is that? Well I learned it is a problem in which a woman’s hormones are out of balance. It can cause problems with your periods and make it difficult to get pregnant. PCOS may also cause unwanted changes in the way you look. If it is not treated, over time it can lead to serious health problems, such as diabetes, and heart disease as well as the reason I could not get the weight off, and actually when I would start to lose weight, my period would start and I would bleed for months. My Doctor’s first solution was the Mirena® IUD. This IUD is an estrogen-free intrauterine contraceptive device. This IUD would help control my bleeding and PCOS while I lose weight. Though some women reported actually gaining weight with this IUD I did not. I didn’t lose weight either. So after two years of trying to lose weight with no success, back to the doctor’s I go.

Begin with your Doctor.

I began by scheduling a Doctor’s Appointment to see if there was some sort of imbalance. So off to the Primary Care physician I go. I explained that I have tried every diet out there and for some reason was never successful with losing weight. She decided to do a physical and run some lab test. So you know that’s a white sheet of paper with about 50 different options to highlight and then they draw blood and begin to test, I swear every item was highlighted. I started seeing the lab results come back on my Kp.org site® (which by the way I love) She tested everything from Glucose fasting, TSH, LIPID panel, Thyroid, to HCG, CBC, Iron, Creatinine, Serum, Glomerular, potassium, and everything came back normal, Verdict, very healthy. So next stop, gynecologist. I got my appointment pretty quick and began to tell the story of my sporadic very abnormal periods and failed attempts at weight loss, and she ran some more tests.

My Diet History

Over the years I spent tons of money on all the fad diets, to name a few, Weight Watchers®, Pat Robertson Diet®, NutriSystem®, the Belly Fat Cure®, Jenny Craig®, Cabbage soup diet, and just plain fasting which all successfully took off all about 5 lbs. Now I’m not saying these don’t work, I’m not saying that at all. I started all diets with supportive friends who were very successful in losing the weight they needed to lose, so why was I different? Well after failed attempt after failed attempt, I finally went to the doctor’s.

Introduction

How many times a week do you look in the mirror and are truly happy with what you see? There are many days a week I look in the mirror and realize that I like what I see even though I’m overweight and very short. Not sure if it’s the fact that,for the first time, I can see my weight loss, and I am getting more in touch with my body. Or is it because I know that God accepts me Just the way I am, and I’m very blessed to be married to the most supportive husband anyone could ask for. Allow me to introduce myself and my past failed diets.

My name is Michelle and I am 36 years young. I say young not just because some people think 36 is young but because I still feel like a little kid in High school. I was not a small kid in High School. While most of my friends were that perfect size 6- 10 I was a 14, I was the biggest girl in my circle of friends but they loved an me. Plus I was ALWAYS on a diet of some kind. I got married at 18 and weighed 145, I thought I was still so heavy, again comparing myself to my friends who were 110 - 125, I was heavy. However, looking back now I think I was a bombshell. Ok So I’ve been married for 17 years, like I said to the best man in the world, of course he has his faults, who doesn’t? Remember we’re talking about mine.