Newbies & Oldbies - check in here please!

Hi Dina, I don't check the OR board very often because it seems like there's not much going on at times so I stick to the main message board--but since I'd like to meet more local people, here goes. I'm a 49-year old wife, mother and grandmother. I live in Springfield and have been married to my prince for 30 years this November. Our daughter is married and lives in NE Portland with her hubby and our amazing and beautiful granddaughter Lily! I had lap rny on 01-17-05. Dr. Hong was my surgeon. I am down about 46 lbs. so far w/100+ to go. I am really excited to see the numbers on the scale going DOWN for a change-is my scale broken??? My main problem now is not being able to keep anything solid down. I am living on cottage cheese, protein shakes and soup. I tried some fish tonight and am urping the results big time. I hope it will calm down enough for me to take my evening meds at some point.... But other than that I'm feeling great! Started water aerobics a few weeks ago and getting more energy all the time. Would love to find a walking buddy in Eugene/ Springfield. I live in Thurston Hills and know some great places to walk! E-mail me if you're interested. Hugs, Stephanie

Stephanie - I love your screen name - so cute! You are doing wonderful with your loss! You should be at least 50 lbs down by your 2nd month anniversary it seems. That's excellent progress! Took me about 3 months and a few days to get 50 lbs off. You'll be skinny in no time! I hope you are able to get more food down soon. Just give it a little time and hopefully things will ease up for you! Dina

Hey this is great. I mainly watch all of you chat and then put a post up every once in a blue moon. Ok, my name is Dawn and I live just outside of Eugene and I am 38 years old. I manage banks. I work way too much and look forward each day to coming home to my wonderful husband of 16 years and my beautiful 14 (going on 23 - ha!) year old daughter and a very cute and cuddly son that is 6 years old. I have my first meeting with the surgeon, Dr. Hong, on March 9th as I have accomplished ALL of those appointments, finally! I am greatful to have found this site and to have heard all of the success out there. I am not so blind as to think there are not complications, but I am admittedly no longer afraid of that aspect of this surgery. It certainly looks as if the benefits are greater then how I live today. I know that I need to pick a protien drink, however, protien drinks and bars have never been my favorite so I have been putting it off...shame on me! I have been working on loosing 13 lbs before suregery and have about 8 of that off now. Thanks for asking for the role call. I am happy to be apart of the the "group" and to make some friends. Dawn

Dawn - welcome aboard! I know what you mean about protein drinks. They can gag me. Try the Protidiet tropical punch or roadside lemonade. It is a gelatin based protein so it doesn't have a funky flavor. They are so yummy and 15 grams of protein per envelope. Just do a google search for protidiet tropical and it should pop up. I think one site I saw was ishophere.biz or something like that. There was another one that was cheaper but I can't remember the URL. Anyway, this stuff SAVED MY BACON when I had surgery. It goes down so easy and doesn't make you nauseous. Glad you joined in - stick around a bit. The boards have gotten quiet lately but there are enough folks starting on their journeys that it should keep things fresh. Funny how you get a few months out and suddenly you just don't have time to be online as much anymore. But when you are first starting out, this place can be a huge lifeline!!! Dina

My highest weight was around 280. In 1986 I had WLS surgery that gradually cause me many problems over the next 18 years. I had gone to doctors and been in the ER several times but no docotr ever connected the forst WLS surgery to the problems I was having. I finally decided enough was enough and went up to OHSU to be evaluated for a revision (a friend in LA had had WLS surgery and knew someone with similar problems) By February of 2004 I was living on vicodin for IBS. My life was very difficult. Turns out it wasn't IBS at all, it was problems from the first surgery, including multiple adhesions that were taken down during the reversal. I had a reversal, revision and a panniculectomy in April of 2004. I ended up in ICU with a cardiac arrythmis and was in hospital for two weeks or so. Released home, I began to deteriorate until I ended up in ER again with dehydration and what turned out to be a metabolic collapse that caused serious liver problems. I was in hospital for three more weeks on TPN and then home. I went through a cardio rehab program once I had gained some strength back. By the end of August, I had been back and forth with exploding (seriously) incisions. In September I had another surgery to remove huge granulomas. It has been all to the good since then. I have lost about 75 pounds since April 2004. My life is so much better now. I take no medication for any pain and all the symptoms of the first surgery are gone. The first five months after the surgery were a blurr. Then, there were the holidays. Even though it is now ten months since the surgery I sort of feel I am just getting started. I still feel very fat. I am struggling to lose another 20 pounds. Some of it just might be the extra skin and fat that exercize doesn't help, but I am going at it anyway. Mostly I feel lucky to be alive. tee

Wow Tee - that is just such a struggle! I cannot imagine going through all of that. Thankfully nowdays with as popular as wls is, it should (hope!) be easier to have wls issues address properly without such a struggle. Congrats on the loss....I know how even though you've lost a lot sometimes you still feel fat. I struggle with that myself. Dina

Hi all, I've just started to post on this site, but I've been watching for a long time and learning. I decided that it was time to have the surgery so I started the program in December. I have an initial appointment with Dr. Hong on March 30th. As for myself, I'm 56 years of age and recently moved to Oregon to be near my only son and the grandchildren. In fact the third one is due any day now. The WLS surgery date will happen well after the birth, so I will be able to help with the 2 year old. I'll keep you posted as to my progress. I am nervous and fear that the surgery won't work. Have any of you had this fear?

Lara - Don't worry, I think most of us had that wild fear that we would be one of the very few this surgery didn't work on. It's a rare thing to have that happen, and usually can be chalked up to a staple line abruption or poor eating habits. Either one can be addressed and fixed. Heck, I'm a slow loser even with the surgery, but even I have lost 116 lbs, so try not to dwell on that too much! Dina

Hi Dena, I need to make this quick......am packing for a long weekend at cheerleading nationals in Seattle, but I didn't want to miss out on saying hi and that I'm lurking out here! I am 46 years old, married with 3 kids. My husband and I have a construction business(22 years) and I just stepped down from my position in the company for the first time ever. I home school my 14 year old. WLS has really become my full time career. I am determined to reach my goals. It sounds like I may be the lone lapbander of the group so far but we all have many similarities. I am four weeks out and so happy I made this choice for WLS. Although I've only lost 15 pounds(not including the 20 before surgery) I am feeling so great and very optimistic about the future. I go back to see Dr. Hong on 3/16 and will probably have my first fill although he says at my 3 week check up I was way beyond his expectations. Best Wishes to All of You, Della

Hi Della! Never fear - you aren't the only lap bander! Diana Iler up there is going in for hers today I do believe! Great job on the loss, and don't feel like you have "only" lost 15 lbs. I lost 17 lbs initially after surgery then spent the next 3 weeks stalled and I had 175 lbs to lose and an open rny! Welcome to the board - nice to meet you!!! Dina