Testimonial
On Monday Sep 26, I recieved a very short, but overwhelming e-mail from Ellen. Surprisingly, my insurance (BC/CS TN) had approved the DS on the first try! I was overjoyed! I called my mom crying "happy tears." I ran and told a co-worker who told another co-worker who I have been confiding in about all this. She ran in the room to hug me when she found out. I immediately called to schedule a surgery date. I am going to start a journey to a new life on Dec. 12th.

My story...

I don't every remember life as an average sized person. I began to qualify as obese at the age of eight. At the age of 15, weighing about 250 lbs, my mom drove me to Missouri once per month to see a doctor for a Phen-Fen prescription. I lost 60 lbs on that. When it was taken off the market, I immediately gained back more than that. I was a size 24 when I graduated high school, and I'm still there as I'm about to complete graduate school. I have lost weight and gained it back so many times it'd take some serious thinking to count.

I really feel like this surgery is the right option for me. I don't think I'm ever going to be able to experience life fully without losing the weight and keeping it off. My family is very supportive. I just turned 24 years old. I want to walk up the stairs to my apartment without getting out of breath. I want to go to a theme park and not worry after waiting in line if I'm going to have to get off the roller coaster because I won't fit in the restraints. I want to wear a sleeveless shirt. I want to interact with people without feeling so self-consious. I want to date! I want to go to the beach and be comfortable, not wearing long shorts and a t-shirt over my suit. I want to go for a run some day! I'd like to get married and have kids some day and be active around them. I want to shock my friends and family, and I don't want to get diabetes or have other complications.

I started looking into WLS around March of 2005, I think. I don't remember the defining moment. I was just curious. I was pleased to find CCFOS. It's so comforting to know that the surgeons here do this exclusively. What a blessing that two doctors who are so well trained in the DS are right here in Nashville. I went to a seminar alone in April, and after much thought, I decided to talk it over with my family. My parents came over from West Tennessee to attend another seminar about three months later.

My initial appointment was in the late summer. It was wonderful. I was treated as a person by everyone on staff. Everyone was so kind and knowledgable. Dr. Spaw seems so approachable. I got on top of all the things Ellen needed from me for insurace approval right away. I had the psych eval, visited my PCP (who was very supportive), and got documentation from other sources.

So, here I am. God is good. I feel great about all this, although I must admit I am a bit nervous. I'm going to attend my first support group session in October led by Wanda and Jamie.

UPDATE: February 2006 - I'm so pleased to be on the post-op side of this process now, and I'm feeling very well. I was so impressed with everyone at Baptist Hospital. Those involved in the pre-op testing were really on top of things. I spent very little time in waiting rooms and everyone was so efficient and kind! The same was the case the morning of surgery. From the person at the front desk who checked me in to the person who wheeled me out to the car when it was time to go home and everyone in between (nurses, the anesthesiologist, patient care techs, and Dr. Husted, of course) everyone was so kind and professional! Surgery went very smoothly. When I woke up and for a few days after, my back hurt something awful, but that was really the worst of it. It's been six weeks today and I've lost 30 lbs. I'm tolerating foods well and taking the supplements and getting in my water requirements is no problem.

UPDATE:December 2006 - What a difference a year makes! I still have about 40 lbs to lose, and with some effort, hopefully I'll get that off. As a pre-op I really digested every word post-ops had to share, so I'll share a little of my experience over the last year here.
The weight dropped pretty quickly. Not as quickly as some others, but I'm okay with that! I started exercising and that helped as well.
After about six months, the weight loss really really slowed down. I had moved back to west TN and didn't have access to a gym. I was eating way too many sweets and carbs. I went about two months and only lost two pounds. Then, I joined a gym and cut back on the carbs and sugar and it started coming off again.
My six month labs were great, no adjustments needed.
I attend a support group from time to time in Nashville. It is very encouraging and fun. Now that I've moved to West Tennessee, I don't make it as often, but I really value the times I do go. Dr. Husted's move to San Francisco changed some things, and is sad, but I really appreciate his beyond the call of duty efforts to continue care with ALL post-ops. He even comes to Nashville periodically!
These days I can eat anything. Sweets are really a temptation and sometimes I give in too much. I see myself going back to old habits and I have to make a conscious effort to eat appropriately for a DSer. (I've always been in to easy, starchy food and not so much a meat eater.)
My one year labs showed a deficiency in vitamin D and iron. Dr. Husted prescribed me a megadose of vitamin D to take once a week for two months and repliva, an iron supplementation system. I'm feeling much better after being on these for three weeks. Taking all my supplements is a little bit of a struggle, as you can take only 1/3 of the calcium you need at time and can't take iron with calcium. I wish I could pop all my pills in the morning and be done for the day. I'm taking as much as I can in the mornings now, and I'm pretty good about taking the rest during the day and before I go to bed, but I do forget from time to time.
Going to the gym has become rather routine and I'm glad of that. I can do 30 minutes straight on the elliptical trainer! People ask me how I do that! That's really cool. I'm at a job where people didn't know me before surgery. Lately they have been telling me I look like I've lost some weight. I think to myself "if only you knew HOW much!" Somebody at church the other day said they didn't expect such a big voice to come out of someone as little as me. I hugged him! That was so weird to hear!
This year I have done some cool things. I hiked a mile and a half up a mountain to see a waterfall and then back down. It was easy! I rode roller coasters with no worry about if I would fit. (Well, I was worried at first but I was told that was silliness.) I wrote before about being happy singing in my friends weddings and not being a bridesmaid because I would look atrocious in a bridesmaids dress. I am going to be a bridesmaid for the second time in March, and I enjoy the dresses! I sit in tiny student chairs with no problem. I SHOP AT THE GAP, BANANA REPUBLIC, ANN TAYLOR LOFT, ETC ETC . I absolutely love that!! I love being able to wear knee high boots. I always wanted some. Now I have three pair! I eat in front of people without shame. I don't give going up a flight of stairs a second thought. My family is really proud of me. Among many of my friends, I am now the smaller one… which is freaking weirs as I've been the lone fat girl since elementary school! I don't sleep near as much. I used to take super long naps after work but now I don't usually take one at all. I go out more. Instead of avoiding people I haven't seen in a while when I see them out, I feel happy to go speak to them and I'm not self-conscious about all the weight I've gained.
Not so great stuff: During months 3-6 I did lose a good bit of hair. I eventually just cut my long, long hair short as it was looking really scraggly. Now I have thin hair with new fuzzy hair growing in. It's a challenge and not near as pretty as before, but it's getting better. My skin was always flawless as well, and now I have acne problems and am trying to figure out a cleansing regimen that will work well. I still will not even consider wearing a sleeveless shirt or shorts. My bat wings are terrible. They look worse than they did before. My thighs are large and from the top of my legs to the backs of my knees are lots and lots of droopy, wrinkly skin. My boobs sag nearly to my waist, and I have to just kind of shove them and position them into a bra. I really really really want plastics. I am still not a little girl… still obese according to my BMI (just barely). I have 40 more lbs to lose and I know it is going to be a struggle. So this year (hopefully for the last time) I'm going to that post-holiday diet with the rest of America.

Okay, the picture!! Last year, two days before my surgery, we celebrated my graduation at the Opryland Hotel, and my mom took my picture in front of a huge poinsettia tree. I went back to that same spot exactly a year after that picture was taken to take a new picture. WOW! It's posted on picture trail Click Here I'll try to do it side by side here but I'm not so good at that.
I have lost 107 lbs this year!!!! I was 285 lbs, a size 24/26 this time last year, now I'm 178 lbs and a size 14 petite!
I feel fantastic and I don't feel like a WLS patient. I feel like a normal person! I eat normal portions of normal foods. I feel more like the 25 year old I am! I have much more self confidence.
I love my DS!

Weight Loss Progress:

Date              Weight     BMI
12-21-2005       285     52.1 (leaving hospital)
01-03-2006       265     48.5 (two week office visit)

Date              Weight     BMI    Pounds Lost
01-19-2006       261     48.1     24      Month 1: lost 24 lbs
02-19-2006       250     45.7     35      Month 2: lost 11 lbs
03-19-2006       238     43.5     47      Month 3: lost 12 lbs
04-19-2006       229     41.9     56      Month 4: lost   9 lbs
05-19-2006       219     40.1     66      Month 5: lost 10 lbs
06-19-2006       203     37.1     82      Month 6: lost 14 lbs
07-24-2006       195     35.7     90      Month 7: lost   8 lbs
08-19-2006       190     34.7     95      Month 8: lost   5 lbs
09-19-2006       188     34.4     97      Month 9: lost   2 lbs
10-19-2006       188     34.4     97    Month 10: lost   0 lbs
11-19-2006       184     33.7     101  Month 11: lost   4 lbs
12-19-2006       178     32.6     107  Month 12: lost   6 lbs