Profile: Nancy K Surgery: Already had Weight Loss Surger Linton, IN, USA Personal Comments I am a 43 year old wife and mother of 2 girls. They are 24 and 21. I have been married for 26 years! Wow hard to believe that, lol. My family is my major support right now, hubby and girls are sooooo supportive, probably couldnt do this without them. So I have them, along with a couple of close friends. Have one friend that is only 112 lbs soaking wet but she is the best for me!....if you read this Sharon...I love ya, and thanks!!! My goal?? Be healthy and get off these meds!!! 8/3/04 Had my stress test, chest xray and blood work today. All ok as far as I was told. Now I just have to wait for my PC Dr to get the results to my surgeon. I know the day will come quick and I really appreciate all the support out there. Im keeping busy, going to work and when Im home, I have been doing a lot of cleaning so I wont have to do it afterwards so much. (thats pretty funny huh? not have to clean...right LOL) Anyway thanks again for all the support. "talk" soon. 8/6/04 Want to thank you all for your letters of support! Time is going fast...been working extra time too, helping to fill in for someone off because of a surgery and someone off because they are getting married. So my time has been really crunched lately. Havent had too much time to think, which can be a good thing...I think...but I told all my coworkers about the surgery. They were pretty supportive, some were wondering how long I had looked into it and was I really sure that this was what I wanted. I know they were talking from concern but they dont have a weight problem and dont really understand. But one thing came out of it...another girl had already met with a surgeon about having an RNY! She hadnt mentioned it to anyone, but now she is like non stop on talking! lol. My boss had known for quite a while and is extremely supportive. I think it helps that I work in the health field and we see so many people with problems from the comorbidities. Anyway, thats it for now hoping all is staying ok for my Aug 17th date...and that I may even have a roomie from here!!!!! Talk to ya all soon 8/15/04 Only 2 days to go, getting nervous and excited. Im sure you all know how that feels. Was touch and go for a bit whether it was to be postponed or not, was having some difficulty getting all the pre-op results sent from my PC's office. Thanks to Robbie and Dr Peters, all is a go for Tuesday. Will have my daughter update and let you know how it all went. And should be coming home by next Friday. Talk to ya soon!! :) 8/18/04 Mom had a successful surgery yesterday and is on the road to recovery. I think she's in a little more pain than she expected, but the surgery was a success and they did have her up and walking last night. She's still scheduled to come home on Friday. (Genny) 8/27 Sorry guys for such a long time to update! My updater (daughter) stayed in Scranton with me after the first couple of days. Had some unforseen complications and ended up in the ICU for a couple of days, but all is good now. Got home at 4:30 pm on Thursday 8/26 after getting a clean bill of health from Dr Peters. Walking around great, some pain, but nothing that is not able to be handled. Was great to be able to meet Tabitha and George at the hospital and put faces to some names! Thank you all for the letters of support and your prayers. I am thinking thin and "believing in the magic of my dreams" thank you very much. My dream was to get off my meds....so far its coming true already !! No more diovan for high blood pressure, no zocor for cholesterol and off most of the diabetes meds, just need some still for coverage if too high. Who would have thought a person could be off that stuff in a week!! Doc...you are a miracle worker!!!. I sure put my Doc thru a tough week, but Im so grateful to him and his wife Robbie, and all his staff. They were all wonderful. Will update more and talk to you all soon. 10/2 Been a while since I updated. Everything is going very well. Down 45 lbs as of today...yeah!!! Pretty much can eat what I want, just smaller amounts and much smaller bites of course. The protein is the biggest thing, finding one that I like is hard. Im not into sweet drinks so its difficult but still looking and trying them. So far so good, good luck to all of us "losers" :) 12/10 Yeah!!! Down into the 100's now!! Finally reached a milestone, weighed in at 198. I have not been under 200 for probably 15 years at least so this is really a huge deal :) Things have been going well, my girls are loving that we can share clothes (tops at least) Im into a medium top and a size 16 pants-havent seen that in a long long time. Although I think my girls love the fact that Im getting new clothes and they can borrow them lol. My friends are glad that I still go out to eat w/them, that was a huge concern to them. Of course now I scope out the restaurants that will do half portions. I did find some proteins that I actually like, they are nectars instead of the thick milky shake drinks. Found them online at one of the bariatric sites. Just add water and good to go! Been swimming and exercising 5-6 days a week for an hour a day, really hoping to curb some of this excess skin, dont want to have to have any extra surgerys if I can get to a point that is ok to live with. But like most, that is a ways away to think about and will deal with it when the time comes. Im lovin the way I feel, no regrets, hubby likes it too :) More later, hang in there everybody, there really is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!! 2/17/05 Wow! Cant believe its my 6 month anniversary already. Seems time is flying. Although sometimes it seems like it must have been a lifetime ago that I had this surgery...everything seems so "normal" now. :) Had my appt with Dr Peters last week, everything came back great, all in the normal ranges. My cholesterol was 112! Can you believe that? Diabetes is no longer an issue, no insulin or pills of any kind. The only thing I am taking now is protein, calcium and vitamins. I have lost about 80 lbs. Still swimming 5 days a week for at least an hour. I have added weights to my routine in the pool since it was getting to easy. Im down from a size 24 to a 14..yahooooo!!. I liked my life before but now? Cant believe everything I was missing and didnt even realize it. I put on weight when I went on the pill when I got married (child bride, got married at 17 lol) went off it to lose weight and got pregnant instead, sigh, forget about the weight loss from that point on. So for the last 25 years I have not seen below 190 until now. Last 15 not below 200! I love the fact that this surgery has given me back so much. If I could tell everyone that is having wls to chose this surgery I would. I know though that its not the choice for everyone, but please please check it out before making a decision! My weight loss has slowed some, but I'm not at all worried about it. I know with the DS that even in another year or more the weight will still be coming off. As long as Im exercising and doing all the things my dr says then Im good. Will update again probably in 3 months unless something comes up before then. Have a great spring, TTY in May! Ok, its May! Here is my 9 month update. Not much weight loss over the past 3 months, but all good still. Im down just about 90 lbs and hoping to hit the century mark by my 1 year anniversary. Im into a size 12, so to me that is pretty normal, and if I didnt lose another pound it would be ok. (but still would love to hit that century mark lol) All my labs were within normal levels so that was good to hear. Finally got to go to one of Doc Peters support group meetings. We have meetings here in Elmira once a month at Barnes and Nobles but I really wanted to go to his and see what it was like. Traveling 2 hrs each way makes it difficult to do on a regular basis. It was really interesting to see the different people that I have seen pics of on the site, and to hear their stories. Everyone looks so great! Such a tremendous amount of weight loss in that room! I took a friend with me and we stayed the night since I had scheduled my appt for the next day, she was amazed by everything and everybody. You guys are an amazing group, keep up the good work!! OH....got a bike! that is something new for me, lol. So now I still swim 5 days and have been adding in some cycling now and then. Had to get a padded get seat for it though, those seats are killers! I have had a few people call me that were given my name by friends who are interested in having wls, and it upsets me that they dont even know what DS is. How can people be looking into a surgery and not know all the types to choose from? So I give them an overview and some information sites to go to and tell them to please look into all their options before making a decision as to what type to have. Im a firm believer that not one type of surgery is the right one for all people. Look to what will suit you the best. For me, the DS was absolutely the right choice! My life is soooo much better and "normal". Im looking forward to going to the amusement park this year. Last year there was one ride I couldnt go on and its going to be the first one I ride this year. Also hubby and I are going to Las Vegas in a week for my niece's wedding, then off to LA where we leave on a cruise!. I have never been cruising out of California so really looking forward to seeing different ports this time. Also will be interesting to ride a plane for the first time since the DS. Really looking forward to it. I love to fly! Thank you Doc for giving me back this life that I can actually look forward to flying instead of dreading if the seatbelt is going to fit or not. So thats my update for now. Talk to you on my year anniversary in August! 09/08/05 Wow! Year has gone by quick. Didnt get to go to Drs in August, I was in New Orleans moving my daughter down there. She is a teacher in one of the schools there. I guess I should say was...will be again? Right now she is safe and back here in NY, but anxious to get back to her "kids" and make sure they are safe too. So today I went to Dr Peters for my one year check, a few weeks late. Everything is going great, labs were on track, except for potassium is a little low, will have to get that checked w/ pcp and eat more banana and drink more oj. Never need an excuse to do that! :) I didnt do a before and after pic but will go through what I can find and send them to Dr and Robbie to see if they can put it on their site. Im not as good as Amanda and some of you about keeping a monthly record of what I lost and what labs were but I will put preop and 1 year out info: Weight 8/04 262 lbs now 162-165 and still going down slowly BMI 8/04 43.6 now 27 still says "overweight", but who cares? Off all meds, including insulin, oral diabetic meds, high blood pressure meds, inhalers, cholesterol meds, pain meds, everything now I only take vitamins and calcium!! Blood pressure is normal. Labs: 2004-Fasting glucose 163 (usually much higher) Now 94 Total Cholesterol 215 Triglycerides 238 (before diabetes meds was over 500) Now 74 HDL 31 Now 20 low, but working on it and the ratio between the two is much better. LDL 141 Now 64 All other labs are normal, but these are the ones usually your PCP is looking at for major problems. Its really been a life changing year. Hard to believe its gone by already. I feel so so much more alive. I have always loved to dance, put music on and I was moving, but at my heavy weight I would basically just move in place. Now, Im all over the place. My sister thought it was great at her wedding in July! So many wow moments that its hard to remember them all but I guess my funniest was that I kept feeling these "lumps" after I had lost some of the weight, of course the first thing you think is "great, now I have cancer" but as time went by and more weight came off I realized those "lumps" were just bones and cartilage that I couldnt feel before through all the layers. Was a relief, and kinda funny too. Overall I would not change a thing. I love being the size I am, if I dont lose another pound that is fine. Im a size 10 which I think is great! I can go into a store and buy off the rack. I can fit into any chair, airplane or amusement park ride. I can eat in a restaurant and not feel like everyone is screening what I eat. I can be NORMAL! Thank you Dr Peters and Robbie, I know you hear it often, but words alone can not express everything that the heart feels. I owe you so much. I truly feel the DS was the best choice I could have made to get my life back and would recommend it to anyone. Enough rambling for now. Will try to be back with some pics soon. 9/16 Just have to add this that I just posted, I dont ever want to forget it: Went to Dress Barn, (my new favorite place to shop) and was looking for an outfit. Had a couple of people with me trying on. Well I put on a pants suit, that I and they thought looked great. The employee came over to tell me she was going to give her opinion. I thought uh oh here it comes....but....she said it was too big! She actually said "you have a cute little (catch that word, little?) figure and to show it off" I was so floored I felt like crying. I told her I wanted to just give her a hug, that she didnt know what those words meant to me. Im going to be 45 yrs old next week and I have NEVER been told I have a cute little figure. So thank you to all of you for support, info, tears and laughter throughout all this process, the months before surgery and this past year post op. I dont always post but Im on here every day reading, learning, laughing and crying with you all. Hoping everyone has their great moments, we all deserve it, dont we!! 8/14/06 Wow!! I can not believe all that has been happening in my life in the past month. I am now living in New Orleans with my daughter Genny. She is a teacher down here. I am currently in the process of a divorce and now going to school down here. Going to work and full time school will certainly be keeping me busy. I love it down here though....no more cold winters for me!!! yeah! As for the weightloss and surgery, it is still the best decision I have ever made. I would never hesitate to have to do it all over again. I am down to anywhere from 148-155 depending on the day lol. I am in a size 8 which I never ever seen before, think I passed that by in jr high school without ever stopping to see what it was like :) . So I am loving life, a whole new start for me. Life with my husband was not the greatest for many years but like many of you, it was a scary thought to be away from the "security". When I talked to him about going back to school, it was his idea to have me move down here for schooling since it would be cheaper. I knew our already rocky marriage would not survive a 4-5 yr separation so made it permanent before coming down here. That is something else I do not regret, only that I did not do it sooner. Sighhhh, what we do to ourselves because we think we are not worthy of someones love. Never again!! I have learned to love me, thanks to this surgery and to my wonderful Dr and his wonderful wife Robbie!!! Thanks again you two. So it will be 2 yrs since my surgery in just a couple of days....wow, it seems impossible that it has been 2 yrs but on the other hand it seems like this is who I have been forever. For all you who are going through the process and waiting....DO NOT GIVE UP! It is worth the wait of getting the surgery that is correct for you. Hang in there. I will try to update more often but no promises lol. Although I will try to update again after I get my next lab results. See ya all soon. 152 Bermuda May 06 Surgeon Info: William S. Peters (Peckville, PA) I met with Dr Peters for over an hour on our first consult. I found him to be very forth coming, which I personally really appreciate. I want to know what to expect, the good, the bad and the ugly! I especially like that he wants to meet the spouse or significant other, to make sure all are on board with this decision. Robbie who takes care of all the paperwork is a wonder. She is really on top of things and extrememly helpful. Since I have only met once and will be going again in a few days I dont have a lot of other information at this time. Insurer Info: geisinger With geisinger ins. you have to use their drs in the network. There is a dr close that does wls but he is not in the network even though the hospital is so i could not use him unless it was a medical necessity that i could not travel. Dr Peters is in the network and 2 hrs away and geisinger was very helpful in finding him and getting me in to see him quickly. I didnt find them to stall, just the opposite, using this site and others made it easy to know just what had to be in the letter, with everything in the letter, I was approved in 2 days! My recommendation is to make sure your letter is professional and through. Call them and ask what exactly needs to be in it and then, make sure it is there. I also sent a personal letter along with my Drs letter.