Yesterday, there was...

Yesterday, there was an article in the Toronto Star about someone who underwent WLS, not too bad as it talks about her ups and downs. I thought I would share it with you. Take care everyone, Sim TheStar.com | living | Losing a big part of herself NUMBERS LOOK GOOD ON HER 37.6 body mass index, down from 61 140 pounds lost since January 58 per cent of her excess weight is now gone. 3 ounces of tuna, with 1 tbsp cottage cheese, 2 strawberries is her typical lunch. Rachel Buttery can now lift her daughter, wear her wedding ring and again sit in restaurant booths Sep 25, 2007 04:30 AM KAREN BRIDSON-BOYCZUK SPECIAL TO THE STAR The words "Mommy, pick me up," no longer break Rachel Buttery's heart. With her five-foot-nine frame tipping the scales at 393 pounds nearly nine months ago, Buttery, 34, would reach for her three-year-old daughter. And as she bent to lift little Kadie Raine, severe pain in her shoulder, hip and knees would force her to immediately put the child down. "It would be disappointing for her," Buttery says of the too-short cuddles. But since losing 140 pounds after gastric bypass surgery in January, the mother of two can now scoop up her 30-pound tyke almost effortlessly. "Even when she doesn't want me to pick her up, I will, just because I can," Buttery says with a laugh. Buttery's husband Paul, who has struggled with his own weight and was teased about his last name as a child, says he's thrilled to see his wife "rediscover herself."It has certainly enhanced our physical relationship," he says with a smile, adding it's nice to see her again wear her wedding rings. Meanwhile, Buttery says it's fun discovering all the new things her body can do. "When I go out to dinner at a restaurant and they offer us a booth, my instant reaction was always to say, `No,' for fear that I wouldn't fit," she says. "But now I go and sit in the booth with a grin on my face." OHIP paid for the Barrie resident's $24,000 surgery (specifically, laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass) in Livonia, Mich., due to waiting lists here and the then-precarious state of her health. Today, Buttery's once debilitating body pain is almost gone. She is no longer borderline diabetic, her sleep apnea has disappeared and her blood pressure is down to a very normal 130/70. Her Body Mass Index reading, off the charts last January at 61 (a normal index is between 18.5 and 25) has also dropped from the super morbidly obese category to 37.6 and the obese category (between 30 and 40) as her weight loss continues every day. "I have bounds and bounds of energy," says Buttery. She now must follow a strict vitamin regimen to support the less-than-1,000-calories-a-day diet permitted by her new stomach pouch, which holds just three ounces of food or drink at a time. And each day she discovers new freedoms the surgery has given her - like playing basketball with her daughters and sitting cross-legged on the floor. The results of her surgery were not, in the early days of the six-week recovery, so positive. For several weeks after the operation - which has a fatality rate of one in 200, the risk of bowel leakage and potentially fatal blood clots - Buttery suffered severe but expected abdominal pain. And that led to some depression. "I couldn't do anything without pain," she says. "I couldn't go to the toilet without help. I was almost in tears for a good part of the time." Then, about a month after the Jan. 3 operation, Buttery began vomiting up every ounce she was capable of eating at one sitting. Diagnosed with a stenosis, a condition of near-complete closure of the opening between the pouch and the intestine, Buttery had to return to Michigan to have a surgical scope inserted to stretch the opening. Her surgeon, Dr. Tallal Zeni, said it was a minor complication, occurring in 10 per cent of gastric bypass patients. "Overall, Rachel is right on track," he says. "She's lost 58 per cent of her excess weight. Generally we talk about people losing about 70 per cent of their excess weight and she's on track to doing that." As well, Buttery has also lost about half of her hair. Zeni said this is another normal side effect that will subside in time. But the pain and most of her complications suddenly stopped after eight weeks' recovery, Buttery said. These days, she eats very small meals and snacks about every three hours. A typical lunch consists of a small, 3-ounce tin of tuna, a tablespoon of cottage cheese and two strawberries. It's a long way from the days when any stress would send her right to the fridge. Buttery says that, with an intake of no more than 800 to 1,000 calories a day, her excess body fat supplements her energy needs and allows her to do cardio and weight training at the gym every other day. Still, Buttery admits she opens the fridge when she's stressed or upset. But eating too much, or the wrong things, perpetuates the shock to her body that is causing the hair loss. So she finds other ways to cope. "If you distract yourself or refocus for just five or 10 minutes, you can get past the urge and regain control," she says. Her body image and self-esteem are also on the rise." When I look in the mirror with clothes on, I do feel a lot better about myself," she says. "When I look at myself without clothes on, it's conflicting because of the sagging skin." Buttery plans to undergo a full-body lift after she loses another 75 pounds for her goal weight of about 175 pounds within the next year. As she's lost weight, Buttery has found she's regained relationships. "Some friends have started coming around a lot more and inviting me out," she says. "But it hurts to think when I was 400 pounds they didn't ask me because they were embarrassed to be seen with me." And, she adds, strangers in stores now look her in the eye. "Personality-wise I'm still me, so that is a hard pill to swallow." ________________________________________ [email protected]

WOW...*laffin*.... I didn't know that would be seen even out in BC....damn *giggles*......

Dear Rachel, I have been following Cheryl Harvey's story for a while as she has been on Global TV a few times. I also like to read the Ontario's message boards too as everyone is so supportive and caring. Take care, Sim