flamingowatcher

I'm 50 years old with Type II diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and arthritis.   I have had seven surgeries on different joints so far.  And last month, at 5' 11" I weighed 273 lbs.  That's not the most or least I have weighed over the years but seems to be my average.  Ten years ago, 250 was my average.  Things weren't looking good for me.Ten years ago, when I was still "permanantly single", I dated a man who, at one time, weighed over 600 pounds.  When we met, about 8 months after his gastric bypass, he was in the high 400's.  During the six months or so that we dated, he lost about another 100 pounds.  He was looking great and feeling great.  Unfortunately for him, he didn't follow up with the psychological counseling or group meetings that had been recomended.  When I talked to his sister during the year after my friend and I stopped seeing each other, she said he had put back on nearly two hundred pounds.  I knew when we were dating that he couldn't come to grips with the changes in his life after his surgery.  While his outside was slimming down and his world was changing because of it, he was still a very fat man inside.  He couldn't cope, so all of the emotional baggage that put the weight on in the first place brought the weight right back again. I tell my friend's story here because it played a big part in my decision to have lap band surgery instead of the gastric bypass.  He doesn't get a second chance.  Not long after my (very enjoyable) time with my friend, I met a wonderful man whom I married a short time later.  At 41, it was the first marriage for both.  Around us friends and family were celebrating marital milestones - silver and golden anniverseries abounded.  When we married, we agreed that we would spend a minimum of fifty years together. What can I say, we like the color gold.  Anyway,  it turns out that we are each easily influenced by the other and not always in good ways.  When I taught him to cook, it was pasta and sauces and breads, oh my!  We each gained about 40 lbs.  Not a good move for us. I decided one day, after long and careful deliberation, that I couldn't handle it anymore - something besides the seams in my clothes had to give.  I told my hubby we were signing up for Weight Watchers and we were doing it that day.  He looked at me like I was nuts and agreed.  I lost 48 lbs in the first 3 months and hubby lost 47.  Then the real estate market in Florida crashed, taking my career with it.  I went from one real estate related job to next, with each consecutive company closing it's doors as business got worse.  And I ate.  I ate while I watched tv.  I ate while I read.  I ate while I filled out job applications.  I ate while I went from one temp job to the next to keep the bills paid.By the time I got a stable job with good benefits, I had gained back 25 of those lost lbs.  And so had my hubby.  He followed my lead into couch potato(chip) land.  My blood sugar spiralled out of control.  My joints were hurting all the time.  I started having early indications of nerve damage in my hands and legs.  My head always ached.  My back always ached.  I had my gallbladder taken out - lots of nasty little stones.  That fifty years of marriage I promised my husband wasn't looking very likely.I started hearing about the gastric banding about 3 or 4 years ago.  At the time, it intrigued me but I couldn't see doing something to myself that would require regular maintenance for the rest of my life - after all, I had at least another 45 years to go.  But as things got worse for me physically, I began to look into the band as way to help me change my life for the better.  I researched it for several months, talked to people who had done it and thought about it... a lot.  Last January, I told my husband I was going to have the surgery.  He thought I was nuts because it was the first time I had brought up the topic with him at all.  I checked out the bariatric surgeons in my area, read their reviews, looked at their hospitals of choice, checked my medical insurance plan and got going.  We went to a seminar in late January.  I made my initial appointment with Dr. Renkhe for March and every thing has gone from there.  I had three months of primary physician visits, nutritionist visits, psychological testing, ekgs, blood tests, x-rays, you name it, I had it.  Last Friday I was BANDED.  Everything went great.  My down time was very minimal.  I was back at work on Monday.  Luckily for me, I can sit at my desk in my comfy chair at work just as well as I can sit on my sofa  at home.  My job definitely is more mental than physical.  After 3 weeks, (2 pre-op and 1 post-op) of liquid diet, I've lost 20 lbs.  I've been freezing even though the temps here are in the 90's so I needed a way to warm up.  The perfect exercise was going through my closet and taking out all the clothes that were too big already (or that I just plain  didn't like) and getting rid of them.  I have my clothes lined up to see me through next 20 lbs.  After that, it's another closet purge and SHOPPING!!!!!  Oh yeah, another little thing.  I've dropped 3 of my diabetic meds completely.  I'm down to one low dose insulin shot per night.  I'm like a pin cushion from all the blood sugar checks I've had to do.  Hmmm...maybe some of the weight loss has been blood loss.... A lot of blood has gone out of my fingers in the last few weeks.  But it really is amazing what not eating will do to the blood sugar levels.  My primary care doc says that going from 300+ to 70s in 3 weeks isn't the norm, even on a liquid diet.  I'll take it though.  I know I'll have to keep monitoring my bsl, especially when I go back to normal food, even in very reduced portions.As the readout goes down, down, down on my scale, my future is looking brighter and brighter.  I can't wait!