Finally Updating after Many Months-140lbs down n at plateau!

1/05/2004 Hey There Y'all !! I realize it has been forever since I updated my info and I appologize but alas life has really been actually happening since my Fobi-pouch on March 5th,2003. I really can't believe how incredible I feel both physically and emotionally!! I have had some ups and downs as far as side effects go but I guess I will start by saying that I would do this again in a heartbeat ABSOLUTELY!!! Of Course I was scared to death that I would die on that operating table....BUT I was MORE AFRAID of only EXISTING and SUFFERING EVERYDAY as I watched life pass me by as I stuffed my face with my binge eating of mass quantities of those wonderful OREOS(and everything else too) that I never even tasted after the first bite yet finished off the package in one sitting!! I couldn't breathe, I could barely walk, I was never happy with anyone or anything ever, I hurt all over, I was sick all the time, and always angry with myself that I could let myself get to the point I was at. I really had tried every diet out there and was actually successful at most of them but I just could never keep off what I had lost and I was always overwhelmed with how much more I always still had to lose! I am very grateful that I never gave up on myself and that I was willing to find out MOST IMPORTANTLY-WHAT N THE HEC WAS GOING ON INSIDE MY HEAD!!!! About 2 yrs. after I met hubby#2, I was put on anti-depressants...and rightly so as I definately was depressed! I worked for a couple of years with a therapist to dig up and face all the garbage I could and for some time the MEDS helped but then they'd stop working, or they'd make me sleep all the time or my memory would become foggy and I'd forget what I would be saying right in the middle of a sentence! How aggrevating! When FINALLY ONE DAY I woke up and I realized that YES, the MEDS made me feel just fine-ALL THE TIME-NO MATTER WHAT-OR HOW HORRIBLE ANYTHING WAS....EVERYTHING WOULD BE OK!!ooohhh wheee=)...NOTHING EVER BOTHERED ME ANYMORE-EVER!!! Even being almost 600 lbs. was OK??? I had NO PASSION FOR ANYTHING...NOTHING anymore!! So THAT was when I decided it was time to face EVERYTHING about me head on WITHOUT MEDS, and from that day on just dealt with the harsh realities of my life. I continued to see my wonderful therapist and little by little, I finally came to realize I WAS NOW READY to become ALIVE..I really knew that for quite some time I was just a big fat LONELY UNHAPPY miserable DEAD person, a mummy so to speak and I was finally sick of it. What was the point of living life that way? I DO NOT-I REPEAT...I DO NOT WANT TO IMPLY THAT I WANTED TO KILL MYSELF UNDER ANY CONDITION!!! ON THE CONTRARY...I FINALLY WANTED TO LIVE-AS I HAVE ALWAYS FELT I WAS ALREADY DEAD!! So that was when and how I knew I was ready for this drastic, life altering surgery. I admitted to myself that I could NOT do this alone. I also want to stress that I did NOT do this surgery to lose weight..I am VERY GOOD at LOSING weight...I did this as a TOOL to help me KEEP IT OFF so that when I got that first 100 lbs off, I could keep going even if I hit an emotional bump in the road, which I have learned to expect. My trip home from California TO the Upper Penninsula of Michigan after surgery was to say the least quite uncomfortable as having to get out of the car and walk every 2 hrs. was frustrating. But I got thru it! My x-boyfriend was a prince MOST of the time and that surely made things easier. I am very lucky to have a friend like him! The months of recovery that followed were tolerable. I healed well without any side effects as far as incision problems go keeping myself VERY CLEAN and doing EVERYTHING the Drs. told me to do exactly as they said I should!!! I would say tho the most frustrated I have been was with hair loss. I did not go bald but have lost massive amounts of hair and it seems I lose it mostly when I have a big weight loss in one wk. I am religious with my vitamin and mineral supplements-high quality only-mega doses-but have not been able to get enough protien in-in a day which I am sure contributes to the hair loss too!! When I went for the surgery I had an umbilical hernia which the Drs. told me would most likely return-and it has!!! It is uncomfortable but at the moment not life threatening so I am trying to wait as long as I can to have it repaired so I can have the Tummy Tuck done at the same time. I have only had problems with nausea occassionally and I will puke if I eat too fast or swallow too much at one time and/or drink any liquid right after I swollow. This last month, aside from gaining wt.,I have had discomfort when I eat ANYTHING at times and I am now scheduled for an endoscopy to see if I have developed an ulcer or if the silastic ring may be eroding-scary thought because if it is I will have to go back to California to have them remove it-EEWW=(. When I first found out I was accepted as a patient by Dr. Fobi at CSTO( Center for the Surgicial Treatment of Obesity), I WEIGHED 546 LBS. As I prepared for my trip to California for this life altering surgery, I HAD LOST 48 LBS and by the time I reached the operating table I WEIGHED 498LBS. So now here I am at my 10 month anniversary ...I HAVE LOST 139LBS, since my surgery!(hit that bump in the road last month and did not lose one ounce for 5 straight wks! In fact I gained a total of 3lbs that mo.) VERY UPSETTING AND SO GLAD I HAD THIS TOOL TO GET ME THRU!!! SEE?? =) which brings me to a TOTAL LOSS OF 187 lbs! (And I still go every wk. to Weigh****chers for healthy eating and support even tho I can't eat as much food as the WW program allows). I have lost over 110 inches all over my body.. Lost alot of boobs from bursting out of a 54D now down to shrinking =( out of a 46-48C!! How depressing! LOL!! I was wearing a MENS 7x stretch pants and 7X shirts and now wearing WOMENS-YEAH!!! size 46-48 jeans depending on material, and a WOMENS 3X shirts--DO YOU HEAR ME? 3X...YEE HAA!!! I went from a 14-16(Lane Bryant etc.) underpants to a 10-12 but still have problems fitting the undies right because I have no butt cheeks-flat as a pancake and a big whopping hanging gut that takes up alot of space in front. Looking forward to my tummy tuck when ready! And if I ever can afford it I will have my floppy legs and arms done and also a breast lift... Best of all I can finally BREATHE again, WALK again, MOVE again, clean MYSELF again, TIE MY OWN SHOES again, clean my house, get up and down off the floor to play with my dogs and cats, Feed and care for my horses, AND I AM FINALLY BACK TO SINGING IN PUBLIC AGAIN. I am trying to raise money to make a professional CD and hopefully someone will hear me and say " HMMM>>>I like that sound"- and want to buy it! So all in all folks I am happy and excited about life for the first time ever as I now know I really HAVE A LIFE TO LOOK FORWARD TO!!! I want to say tho that I would never ADVISE anyone to have this or any other surgery without honestly & thoroughly researching every alternative possibility including this type of surgery as this is such a drastic operation. I myself am thrilled I had it done but I still wish I would not have HAD to do it. My Drs. were TRUELY WONDERFUL and quite skilled as Dr. Lee did a BEAUTIFUL job on my long scar! The Nurses on the 2nd floor at Tri-City Regional Medical Center Hospital who took care of me, nursed me back to health, pampered me, sang with me, laughed with me and encouraged me and always made me feel comfortable-They NEVER made me feel I was a pain in the butt and ALWAYS made me feel COMFORTABLE and NORMAL. The hospital gowns were full cut and comfortable(didn't have to wear 2 with miserable tight arms), and the beds were just perfect so my butt wasn't hanging half way off. The only problem or real scare I had was the first night in intensive care there was a nurse that kept drugging me up without my permission. She had the BP monitor set incorrectly to go off every 15 minutes and that sucker is really painful-especially when you are in agony from the surgery and trying to get some sleep...Anyway, every time the monitor went off I would wake up moaning from pain and she kept coming in and telling me"You have to go to sleep..you need your rest". Then she would inc2/12/2004rese my morphine drip! She could have killed me! So I finally was concious enough to call the male nurse and told him-Thank God he believed me-He checked the BP monitor and said I was right!! Sure enough the other nurse came in again and I pretended I was asleep-when she came over to increase my drip again, I SUDDENLY opened my eyes and hollared at her "DO NOT TOUCH THAT AGAIN" I said...I must have scared the S_ _T out of her cause her face looked as tho she'd seen a ghost=)!! And she finally left me alone. But all in all I was very pleased with all the hospital staff! Their care and concern were excellent!! If anyone does decide to have the Fobi Pouch done, I would NOT hesitate to go with Tri-City Regional Medical Center!! Thursday, February 12, 2004 Well hi again folks...Just got back on line as my Puter has been down for a while and I realize I never sent this update...OOOps sorry! So now here it is a bit more then a month since last writing the above... and I am currently quite frustrated...last month when I wrote I had been at a pleateau since Thanksgiving...So I examined everything I was eating with a fine tooth comb, especially realizing that even tho I go to Weigh****chers every week I was NOT doing everything that I should be doing...First of all, I wasn't eating enough of my required points which I just can't get in enough food of course....ane I was NOT keeping a daily food journal which for me is IMPERATIVE!! I also figured I just have reached that dreaded SLOW DOWN point and it was probably time to make some important changes. So I started Journalin EVERYTHING I put in my mouth and I mean everything-so then I knew for SURE if I was taking in too much fat, sugar, salt etc..I also finally bought a "GAZELLE" and started exercizing..Oh my GOSH I LOVE THIS THING!!! Anyway, sure enough I must have done something right as I finally broke my Plateau garbage and lost 6.2 lbs..Bringing me down to 352.6..Oh how happy I was...")..Which of course encouraged me to keep up the good wok right? Well then I go back to my meeting the following week and gained the EXACT AMOUNT of 6.2 back again! Oh my God I was devistated!! I thought I was actually going to maybe break that 350 mark bu NNNNOOOOOOO!!! So of course I am VERY frustrated but I still followed the program 100%, weighed in tonight and AGAIN gained 2/10ths of a pound. So obviously its time for me to start getting back into OBESITY.COM support groups again and If theres anyone out there that is or has gone thru this and can offer any advise, knowledge and experience I would sure love to hear from you...PLEASE>>>THANK YOU!!!! I will also add that I did have that UPPER ENDOSCOPY done and I am waiting for My Dr. here to send the results to my Dr.s at CSTO in California to find out if there is a problem with my esophagus/or silastic ring etc. In the meantime I willget back to you all and update as soon as I know more. Until then..Good Luck to all of you who are working toward moving to the losing side...It really is a wonderful place to be...even with its side effects..Write me ANYONE>>>With Love, Hally Sue

HI Halley Sue, This is Sylvia Burton. We had surgery on the same day at Tri-Cities. I emailed you a couple of times to see how you were doing, but never heard back from you. I am glad to see you recently posted. It is great to hear the you are having wonderful success with the surgery. Me too. I have lost 114 lbs so far and only have 20 to go. But I haven't lost anything for 2 months. I think this may be where I end up. I have dropped from a size 24 to 4. Life is just wonderful!! I just put together a web page, which I don't know if it is working if you would like to remind yourself who I am. http://www.geocities.com/sylburt@pacbell.net/ SylviaShrinking.html I also think my pics are on this site, and Fobi's site. I would love to keep in touch with as we progress. We are coming up on our 1 year anniversary. I was hoping to be at goal by then...but it isn't going to happen. Write back!! Best Wishes Sylvia