Just Saying Hello.....

I have been a member of this board for about a month now and up this point I have just been reading posts and seeing what other people are going through. Surgery I had my surgery on August 8th of 2005, or about 7 months ago. I had a full open RNY done. I had my surgery on a Monday night and I was released on the following Friday afternoon. The surgery and recovery went as well as could be expected and I have had no complications up to this point. The surgery was done by Dr. Jones at Beth Isreal. I can't say enough about how good he was and how thorough the entire program is structured. From screening, to preperation, surgery, and follow-up, they were top notch across the board. And I think they have created a dedicated recovery floor for patients with specialized furniture and staff. They were the most comprehensive program I have seen to date and I highly recommend Beth Isreal to those of you that can make it into Boston. Eating The 12 week eating schedule was followed strictly after surgery. It started off as a liquid diet and slowly worked you back into solid foods. I didn't push the envelope much, so I had virtually no occurences of the dumping syndrome. In the 7 months from surgery, I have only thrown up maybe 5-10 times, or about once a month. I now eat about 1800-2000 calories a day with virtually no food restrictions, as long as I take my time. The full vitamin regiment is being followed and I use a website to track my eating to make sure I'm consuming enough calcium, protein, and water per day. I had my labs done last week and everything was in line. Exercise I went out and invested in a nice Precor elliptical. It cost me a lot of coin, but it is a quality piece of equipment and I think it will pay for itself over time. I started off doing 10 minutes sessions and I have been slowly working up my endurance. I can do 40 minutes sessions now and I try to do 5-6 of those a week. I turned 30 years old last year and this is the first exercise I have done on a regular basis in my life. Support I go to the monthly support group meetings at Beth Israel and I'm trying to get involved in helping out other patients. Not sure it is helping me much, but I get some satisfaction from being able to help others out and answer any questions they may have. Results (so far) Well, I was 450 pounds when I went in for my consultation, and I dropped to about 440 before surgery. In 7 months, I have lost about 150 pounds and I am now at 290 pounds. That is about 10-12 inches on the waist and I'm on my 3rd different set of clothes since surgery. lol Anyhoo, just saying hello and I wish you all luck with your surgeries and life after surgery. -Patrick

Patrick - that is fabulous WTG!! Keep it up. I invested in a TM & have not regretted it. Lisa 347/321/188/???

Sounds like you are doing fabulous! Keep up the good work! I had my surgery done at Brigham and Women's at the end of August last year. I have lost about 130 lbs. I do water walking and swimming at the Y. Exercise is a big part of feeling better!