Debbie P.
My story. Hmmm .... where to start.
I guess I will start with when my weight started creeping up. I was a pretty average kid. I weighed about 130 when I graduated high school. I got married and gained up to about 160. Then I got pregnant with my first child and gained 60 pounds with him. Oh boy. Never lost that weight. Hovered around 200 for quite a while. Had second child, gained about 35 pounds. Lost back to about 215. Had 3rd child -- gained 40. After she was born, weight was about 225. Yo-yo dieted for years. Lost 60 lbs. at one point, but put it back on. Then got pregnant with twins at the age of 38. Only gained about 16 pounds, but started at 242. I got gestational diabetes and was on bed rest. Lost one of the babies. After her birth -- never really lost much at all -- maybe was down to 240.
Was in unhappy married and gained up to 281. My diabetes came back with a vengeance. I was on cholesterol meds. I fell asleep at night thinking I would die in my sleep of a heart attack (heart disease runs in my family). I couldn't play with my kids. I looked terrible. I felt terrible.
Researched different types of WLS for over a year. Decided on DS. I was completely terrified of having surgery (had had one C-section and I'm a wimp when it comes to pain). Cried all night the night before surgery. What if I died on the table? I had a 2 year old at home! Emotions were raw.
Mr. Maguire was my surgeon. He is only about 5 minutes from my house. I liked that he had been doing DS surgeries for years and was well experienced. My surgery was open and I had it on 5/15/06. I was released from the hospital on my 40th birthday. Surgery was rough. I regretted it almost immediately. The pain was horrific. I was informed by Dr. Maguire that during my surgery, he had dropped a stitching needle and they stopped the surgery to look for it, but it was never found. I was X-rayed and it has been located inside of my body, but it would be too difficult to remove it. It is still there today. :/
Around the time of my 2 week check up, I felt terrible. I was dizzy. Sitting upright or standing was difficult as I felt *drunk* or like I would fall over. I remember crawling into the shower that day. I went to my check up. All tubes were removed. I told Dr. Maguire how I felt, so he ordered me to outpatient at MVH for an IV (thinking I was dehydrated) and ordered blood work. They couldn't get my IV started. After about 8 tries and 2 hours, they called in the careflight nurses and an ultrasound machine to locate my veins. I was soaking wet with sweat as this was very painful. IV finally started and bloodwork taken. A few hours later, the nurses rushed over to me and started putting heart monitors on me. I asked what was going on. I was told that my potassium was so low that my heart could stop. I had to take pills, drink potassium (YUCK) and when those things didn't work -- I had to be re-admitted. They started potassium in my IV. OH MY GOSH. This burned while going in. I could feel it burning inside of my veins. They wrapped my arm in these icepack things to help with the pain. I just laid and cried. 3 days of this and I was released. Whew.
I recovered normally after that incident and went back to work after 8 weeks. I developed a hernia by month 6. Dr. Maguire said there was no rush to repair it. I had it repaired in 2008, I believe. I was hoping it would jumpstart my weight loss, but it didn't.
I also have iron issues and have had to have iron infusions. No big deal, just expensive.
I never got down to my goal weight (140). Not even close. After surgery, I lost down to about 193 and stalled out. Then I ended up gaining back up to 221 or so. How depressing. But I was a carb-aholic. :( It was my own fault. Even with the gain, my cholesterol was GREAT and diabetes was kept at bay.
It is February of 2012 now and I am happy to say that I suddenly did lose down to 195. I wasn't trying either. That gave me incentive to lower my carbs (not down to under 50 like is recommended because I knew that would set me up for a binge), but I try to stay around 100. In a month, I've lost another 10 pounds and am down to 185. I feel like I actually CAN get to my goal if I try. I think when I had the surgery -- I didn't think there would be much trying ... and so I didn't and that carb monster/sugar slut in me was released.
That is my story!
UPDATE: 5/14/2014. I remarried and have lost down to 170 or so (did so easily). Still would like to lose another 20 at least ... but we shall see.
