My Process Couldn't Have Been Easier...really.

[gaarmywife06 2]

Hi. I'm Lizzy and I've battled my weight for as long as I can remember. Growing up, I never really thought too much about weight, but I do remember being too bashful to change for PE at school or participate in any of the activities and I certainly didn't get involved in sports. No way. Both of my parents were overweight. However, none of my brothers were and my older sister certainly wasn't. My younger sister and I were the exceptions. (A couple of my brothers are now overweight.) I had low self-esteem and didn't respect myself in high school...or afterwards for that matter. In 2001, I married one of my best friends, who was a US Marine stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

I was told by doctors that I would probably never have a child and if I did manage to get pregnant, it would probably do me more harm than good. Hubby and I tried for quite some time to no avail, even seeking the help of a fertility doc. In 2003, my husband got out of the Marine Corps and the insurance for the fertility doc was no longer available. In December of that year, I was angry with my husband and uttered, "That's it! I don't want children!" A month and a half later, I was pregnant. I was also sitting on 300 pounds! I was concerned by my OB/GYN didn't seem as much. When I asked about it and asked how I was going to deal with cravings and my weight, he simply told me to eat what I craved because if I didn't, it would just torture me. I was fortunate enough to not end up with gestational diabetes. I didn't gain any weight until I was 4 months along and then, it was only 5 pounds a month for 3 months. One morning, during my 7th month, I got up to eat Breakfast. Suddenly, it felt as if my heart was going to take off running right out of my chest. I tried resting, but it just wouldn't slow down. I went to the emergency room. They were perplexed. Since they didn't have a cardiologist on hand, they transferred me to a nearby hospital with one. They connected a monitor to me that would record my heart beat/rhythm so they could hopefully determine the issue. At one point, I started feeling nasty. I went into the bathroom to clean myself off. That's all I did. I came out of the bathroom to find the doctor and a nurse standing there looking stunned. I said, "WHAT?" The doctor asked, "What were you doing in there?" I said, "Cleaning up. I felt disgusting." He said, "From now on, you let the nurses take care of that. Your heart rate jumped up to 180 beats. That's too high!" I was in shock. I stayed in the hospital the entire weekend so that they could figure out what med to put me on and at what dosage because the med they prescribed also lowered my already normal blood pressure. The problem as it turned out: MY WEIGHT. My cardiologist was optimistic the problem would go away after having the baby. I ended up gaining 53 pounds with her! Thank goodness, that cardiologist was right about the problem going away. My weight on the other hand, didn't go away. It went down some.

In 2006, my husband joined the Army. In 2007, I was diagnosed as having sleep Apnea. We started out at Fort Leavenworth, then while he did a year in Cuba, I went home to stay. In 2009, he came back and we were sent to Fort Lewis, Washington. My weight didn't improve. To make a long story a little shorter, I was diagnosed by my Gynecologist as having Endometrial Hyperplasia without Atypia in May 2010. Basically this means that my uterus produces a lot of cells, causing a thick lining, however, there's nothing abnormal about the cells themselves. My Gyn asked me if I'd ever considered weight-loss surgery, which I had, but just not to a deep extent. She put in the referral for me to have gastric bypass. I decided against following up with it because I knew we were moving soon and I wasn't sure how long the process of getting approved would take and I didn't want to A) get started in the process in one location and then move and risk having to start over again or I didn't want to move while recovering. I told my husband that once we got settled at his next station, I would go for another referral.

And in March 2011, that's exactly what I did. The doctor didn't hesitate and put the referral in right away. She didn't mention whether it would be gastric or lap-band and to be honest, at the time, I didn't really know anything about lap-band. I don't remember if I knew it existed at the time either. But anyways, once I got my referral authorized by the insurance company in April, I made my appointment. I went to Weight Loss Surgical Center in Overland Park, Kansas. That particular day, April 11th to be exact, I weighed in at 361 pounds. That's the highest weight ever recorded for me. I sat down and talked to the PA, who took my measurements and calculated my BMI. He explained to me that they would submit a request for the surgery to my insurance company and that if they required me to do any extra things (like seeing a Nutritionist, doctor-supervised dieting, etc), I would just need to do those things and then I could have my surgery. He said I should hear something within 30 days. If I didn't hear from the insurance company or their office, to give them a call back.

Thirty days came and went without further word from the insurance company. I called the office as instructed. They tell me, they didn't take my insurance. As it turned out, when I went to see that office in April, they were in the process of getting approved by the government insurance companies (TriCare/Medicaid) to perform the surgeries and they just hadn't got the approval yet so they just started telling patients that they didn't accept the insurance. I was devastated. I would have to find someone else to do the surgery and start over again. I gave up though. I had too much on my plate. My dad's health had deteriorated terribly. The following month, we lost him and I left the state of Kansas and went home to be with family.

In the middle of June, I got a call from Weight Loss Surgical Center informing me that they finally got their approval and they wondered if I was still interested. I was still grieving and it was the last thing on my mind...and besides, I was still out of the state. I told them to call me back some time around the middle of July because I should be back by then. On Friday, July 22nd, I got another phone call from WLSC. They asked me if I was still interested in having the surgery with them. I told them if they could get my insurance to approve it, I certainly was. She told me they would be submitting it to insurance on Monday morning and that I should hear back within 30 days. On Thursday, July 28th, as I was celebrating my 33rd birthday, I got a call from a nurse with TriCare informing me that I'd been approved - THREE DAYS after they submitted it to insurance. I asked her if I needed to do anything else. She simply said, "No ma'am." Five minutes after hanging up the phone, I got another call from WLSC letting me know that my insurance had approved the surgery (which of course, I already knew). She then set up an appointment for me to meet with the doctor to go over everything with him. The appointment was August 11th.

Funny thing though....the following week, WLSC contacted me again. This time, they wanted to know if I would be interested in having the surgery on August 11th. I was in total shock! The 11th was the following week. I had so many questions. All the information that was given to me back in April pointed to the patient being on a pre-op diet for about 2 weeks prior to surgery. When I asked her about that, she said that the information in the booklets were recommendations and that not every patient has had to follow everything in those booklets to every letter. I questioned whether I could change my lifestyle in a week. But my husband made a couple of good points. He said, "If you wait till you're ready, you're never going to have the surgery." This was so true. Then he said, "It's like when I quit smoking. It was hard. And some times, it's still hard. There was no 'right time'. I just had to suddenly go for it." I knew he was right. So I agreed to having the surgery. I asked her about the doctor doing the surgery. She said, "I can schedule you an appointment to meet him if you'd like." I said, "Uh, yeah, I would kinda like to shake the hand of the man that's going to rootin' around my gut before he does it."

So, on August 10th, I met with the surgeon, Dr. Drahota. I may have had 2-3 questions. The next morning, day of the surgery, I weighed in at 358 pounds. The surgeon even gave me a picture of the Allergan Lap-Band he'd used.

You may wonder, "How'd you go from gastric bypass to lap-band?" When my referral came in for the surgery, it specifically listed Weight Loss Surgical Center. I discovered they only dealt with Lap-Band surgeries and so then, I researched the hell out of the lap-band. I discovered that I didn't like the thought of the side effects gastric had if I ate something that didn't agree with me or that I got stuck. Lap-Band...sometimes a little pain, but you basically just throw it up and you're good to go. You may also be wondering how I've done since my surgery. Good. I've lost 80 pounds in 9 months. It could have been better. Over the holidays I struggled terribly as I was dealing with the grief of losing my dad and not having him to call for the first time ever on Christmas Day. But I'm getting back on track.

Feel free to ask me anything. Sorry my story was so long. Good luck on your journey.

[Rebecca Cain Salpacka 100]

It may be long, but its inspiring. You fought a good fight and it lead to a better healthier you! So happy that you were able to have the baby after being told you wouldnt be able to. I tried for 4 yrs before finally conceiving my son and i said the same thing just 3 months prior (im done, i dont even care anymore if i get pregnant) they say if u stress over it, it can effect you getting preg so dont stress and it will happen...im a firm believer lol.

Way to go on the 80 pounds...i cant wait to reach that mark. my highest weight ever was 357, im down 21 lbs but only 3 of that has been since surgery 2 weeks ago. Its hard not to get discouraged when its not coming off in bigger chunks, but i know it will once i get a fill, and i know that the slower it comes off, the easier it is to KEEP it off.

thanks again for sharing your story and good lukc with your continued success.

[gaarmywife06 2]

Thanks for the response Rebecca. I hope this message finds you in good spirits this morning.

You will get there. How are you doing on exercise? To be honest with you, the only exercise I do is walking. I don't like watching exercise videos. They just irritate me. I have a friend who suggests religiously to do the videos and says to me, "So what if you can't keep up...just walk in place when it gets too crazy for you until you can catch up. At least you'll be moving some still." I get what she's saying, I just don't like the damn videos. Anyways, walk walk walk! It's hard at first, especially if you still have pains from the gas and plus the surgical incisions and stuff. But it truly does help. Even if you have to start just walking around your living room every 30 minutes for 10 minutes (which is what I did). Good luck to you hun. Keep me posted on your progress.

[Bamabander 111]

Wow!!! Thank you for sharing.. You are an inspiration. Congrats on your success and hard work, sounds like you are doing fabulous despite the tragic loss....

[Rebecca Cain Salpacka 100]

Thanks for the response Rebecca. I hope this message finds you in good spirits this morning.

You will get there. How are you doing on exercise? To be honest with you, the only exercise I do is walking. I don't like watching exercise videos. They just irritate me. I have a friend who suggests religiously to do the videos and says to me, "So what if you can't keep up...just walk in place when it gets too crazy for you until you can catch up. At least you'll be moving some still." I get what she's saying, I just don't like the damn videos. Anyways, walk walk walk! It's hard at first, especially if you still have pains from the gas and plus the surgical incisions and stuff. But it truly does help. Even if you have to start just walking around your living room every 30 minutes for 10 minutes (which is what I did). Good luck to you hun. Keep me posted on your progress.

actually my exercise was nil the first week post op..but last fri and this tuesday, i went to the gym, fri i did 10 mins on treadmill and then some 5lb weight exercises that the trainer has me doing...i did them on my own at my pace and will meet with her again in a week or two when incisions are all healed completely lol. Tuesday tho, i upped the treadmill to 20 mins (both days were with an incline) plus did the weights. I use a heart rate monitor with chest strap at the gym cuz its more accurate then machines plus u can see what u burn with the non machine exercises lol. Fri i burned 315 cal and tuesday 416 cal. Im only eating about 600-800 cals right now, i think i need to up it to 1000 but im so picky with some of my eating that its hard to that many calories with the few mushies and puree things i will eat lol.

I start solids this coming tuesday and will be able to hit that easier...but i am still glad that im losing at all, anythiing is better than a gain lol.

[Annette 9/2012 15]

Your on your way to a new life. Keep it day by day and remember the rules of what you learned so far. Good luck.

[MandaElaine 20]

Amazing story! Congratulations on the weight loss. I get banded on May 16th. I'm super excited and super anxious.

[gaarmywife06 2]

I know I can probably tell you all day long to not be nervous. Everyone is different, but for me, this was probably one of the easiest surgeries I ever went through. I wasn't even nervous and I surprised myself. You have to remember that although this is the first time you're doing this, this won't be the first time your doctor is doing it. Congratulations on getting banded!

[gaarmywife06 2]

actually my exercise was nil the first week post op..but last fri and this tuesday, i went to the gym, fri i did 10 mins on treadmill and then some 5lb weight exercises that the trainer has me doing...i did them on my own at my pace and will meet with her again in a week or two when incisions are all healed completely lol. Tuesday tho, i upped the treadmill to 20 mins (both days were with an incline) plus did the weights. I use a heart rate monitor with chest strap at the gym cuz its more accurate then machines plus u can see what u burn with the non machine exercises lol. Fri i burned 315 cal and tuesday 416 cal. Im only eating about 600-800 cals right now, i think i need to up it to 1000 but im so picky with some of my eating that its hard to that many calories with the few mushies and puree things i will eat lol.

I start solids this coming tuesday and will be able to hit that easier...but i am still glad that im losing at all, anythiing is better than a gain lol.

GIRL, I am VERY PICKY and I still have trouble after all this time. I mostly eat lunch meat with a slice of cheese. The RN at the Weight Loss Surgical Center says that it's okay. If that's what I like, eat it. As long as I get the Protein in that I need and keep the carbs low. My friend is always coming at me telling me that I need to eat some veggies. I don't know how many ways to tell her that I'm fine. Yeah, I realize they are good for me, but my priority is Protein. I don't have to eat anything else. It's bad enough that I've given up a lot of the foods that I LOVE...I'm not going to make myself feel worse by eating a bunch of foods I don't like. LOL

[kah1213 311]

actually my exercise was nil the first week post op..but last fri and this tuesday' date=' i went to the gym, fri i did 10 mins on treadmill and then some 5lb weight exercises that the trainer has me doing...i did them on my own at my pace and will meet with her again in a week or two when incisions are all healed completely lol. Tuesday tho, i upped the treadmill to 20 mins (both days were with an incline) plus did the weights. I use a heart rate monitor with chest strap at the gym cuz its more accurate then machines plus u can see what u burn with the non machine exercises lol. Fri i burned 315 cal and tuesday 416 cal. Im only eating about 600-800 cals right now, i think i need to up it to 1000 but im so picky with some of my eating that its hard to that many calories with the few mushies and puree things i will eat lol.

I start solids this coming tuesday and will be able to hit that easier...but i am still glad that im losing at all, anythiing is better than a gain lol.[/quote']

I'm curious about exercise. I gather that we can get back to walking fairly quickly but what about more stuff at the gym like jogging and yoga? Do we have to avoid ab workout for a month after surgery?

[gaarmywife06 2]

I'm curious about exercise. I gather that we can get back to walking fairly quickly but what about more stuff at the gym like jogging and yoga? Do we have to avoid ab workout for a month after surgery?

For a while, every doctor may have a different answer for this, but yes, for some period of time after surgery will have to avoid more extensive exercises. Stick with walking until the doctor gives you the go-ahead.