OT: My 2-year surgiversary (xposted)
I'm going to keep this post short and sweet. Mostly due to the fact that I'm 9 months pregnant and have pregnancy brain from hell and am lucky that I can string a full sentence together.
Today is the 2 year anniversary of my RNY. When I originally looked into WLS I was just over 315lbs. I saw myself going down the same path my mother did. By the time she had WLS available for her (10 years previous) she was tipping the scales at 500 lbs. This was a path I did not want to take.
So off I went and being the lazy type and all... I googled "OHIP and "gastric bypass" and came up with information that provided me my very first stepping stone. The very first hit was for Barix Clinics. Now typically, I wouldn't have called Barix but they have a location literally 10 minutes from my where I grew up and where my parents still currently live so I gave them a quick call and was surprised when they told me that although that particular location doesn't work with OHIP, their Michigan location does and I could come in for a free consultation. So I asked when was the soonest I could get an appointment and almost passed out when she told me "Monday, July 1st". The day was Friday, June 29th. At this point, I hadn't even discussed anything with my husband. So I asked her to please reserve my spot for the consultation and I would call her back in about 10 minutes to verify if I would be able to attend as I needed the support of my husband. Not to my surprise, he was very supportive and off we went to make a weekend out of the visit. I have a lot of family in Michigan so we visited a few relatives and then went to see the consult.
After meeting Dr Kam, I knew Barix and WLS was the right decision for me. What was the next step though? Luckily, my patient representative at Barix had provided me with a website that she said a lot of people from Ontario post on. The site... www.obesityhelp.com . So once I got home, I looked up this new website and found that I needed to make an appointment with my family doctor to fill out a special form asking permission for OOC. My doctor appointment was now booked for July 5th.
When I saw my family doctor, he was as unfamiliar with the process of OOC as I was. So I told him that I would do the leg work and research and rebook an appointment with him for the following week and that I just needed his support. He was fully supportive. I saw him again the following week with the form needing completion and off we faxed it.
3 days after faxing my OOC form off, I received a purolator notification. I had been approved! And within a few hours of getting the purolator approval Barix called to advise they also received the approval and would be calling me back in a day or so to book surgery. I received my approval notification on July 18th and got my schedule for Pats and surgery on July 20th. My Pats will be Aug 6th and my surgery date... August 14th! I couldn't believe how quickly everything was coming together. It was a total whirlwind. Off I went to surgery. It was textbook perfect, as most of them are.
So here I am 2 years to the day later. I've not had any major complications. Yes I suffer from low B12 and Iron and now have reactive hypoglycemia. All of which are very easily monitored and controlled. By December 2008 I had lost over 185 lbs, weighing in at 145lbs.
By January 2009, I found out I was pregnant for the first time ever! Even after years of trying to conceive. The pregnancy was a complete surprise to my husband and I and we couldn't be any more excited. We patiently /anxiously are awaiting for our little baby boy Alex to enter this world in the next few weeks. A lot of people have asked me if WLS has made it a difficult pregnancy. As far as I know (since this is my first pregnancy) and according my my obstetrician I have a picture perfect pregnancy. The baby is growing perfectly, my levels are all nice and steady and my weight gain is pretty on-key. Yes, I have gained weight. In fact, I have gained over 30 lbs. Thankfully, my friends and family are great and they reassure me that it's all baby. I tend to believe it's more like all brownies and ice cream, but oh well. It will come off again. Im determined!
So WLS has totally changed my life in more ways than just losing the weight, and getting healthy. It gave my husband and I a chance to expand our family and love for one another. Something we had totally given up on before my RNY.
Here are a few pics of me... Pre-surgery, Pre-pregnancy, and now 9 months pregnant. I love my RNY!
July 2007 @ 315+ lbs
November 2008 @ 145lbs (My birthday)
August 10, 2009 @ 179lbs and 9 months pregnant.
Today is the 2 year anniversary of my RNY. When I originally looked into WLS I was just over 315lbs. I saw myself going down the same path my mother did. By the time she had WLS available for her (10 years previous) she was tipping the scales at 500 lbs. This was a path I did not want to take.
So off I went and being the lazy type and all... I googled "OHIP and "gastric bypass" and came up with information that provided me my very first stepping stone. The very first hit was for Barix Clinics. Now typically, I wouldn't have called Barix but they have a location literally 10 minutes from my where I grew up and where my parents still currently live so I gave them a quick call and was surprised when they told me that although that particular location doesn't work with OHIP, their Michigan location does and I could come in for a free consultation. So I asked when was the soonest I could get an appointment and almost passed out when she told me "Monday, July 1st". The day was Friday, June 29th. At this point, I hadn't even discussed anything with my husband. So I asked her to please reserve my spot for the consultation and I would call her back in about 10 minutes to verify if I would be able to attend as I needed the support of my husband. Not to my surprise, he was very supportive and off we went to make a weekend out of the visit. I have a lot of family in Michigan so we visited a few relatives and then went to see the consult.
After meeting Dr Kam, I knew Barix and WLS was the right decision for me. What was the next step though? Luckily, my patient representative at Barix had provided me with a website that she said a lot of people from Ontario post on. The site... www.obesityhelp.com . So once I got home, I looked up this new website and found that I needed to make an appointment with my family doctor to fill out a special form asking permission for OOC. My doctor appointment was now booked for July 5th.
When I saw my family doctor, he was as unfamiliar with the process of OOC as I was. So I told him that I would do the leg work and research and rebook an appointment with him for the following week and that I just needed his support. He was fully supportive. I saw him again the following week with the form needing completion and off we faxed it.
3 days after faxing my OOC form off, I received a purolator notification. I had been approved! And within a few hours of getting the purolator approval Barix called to advise they also received the approval and would be calling me back in a day or so to book surgery. I received my approval notification on July 18th and got my schedule for Pats and surgery on July 20th. My Pats will be Aug 6th and my surgery date... August 14th! I couldn't believe how quickly everything was coming together. It was a total whirlwind. Off I went to surgery. It was textbook perfect, as most of them are.
So here I am 2 years to the day later. I've not had any major complications. Yes I suffer from low B12 and Iron and now have reactive hypoglycemia. All of which are very easily monitored and controlled. By December 2008 I had lost over 185 lbs, weighing in at 145lbs.
By January 2009, I found out I was pregnant for the first time ever! Even after years of trying to conceive. The pregnancy was a complete surprise to my husband and I and we couldn't be any more excited. We patiently /anxiously are awaiting for our little baby boy Alex to enter this world in the next few weeks. A lot of people have asked me if WLS has made it a difficult pregnancy. As far as I know (since this is my first pregnancy) and according my my obstetrician I have a picture perfect pregnancy. The baby is growing perfectly, my levels are all nice and steady and my weight gain is pretty on-key. Yes, I have gained weight. In fact, I have gained over 30 lbs. Thankfully, my friends and family are great and they reassure me that it's all baby. I tend to believe it's more like all brownies and ice cream, but oh well. It will come off again. Im determined!
So WLS has totally changed my life in more ways than just losing the weight, and getting healthy. It gave my husband and I a chance to expand our family and love for one another. Something we had totally given up on before my RNY.
Here are a few pics of me... Pre-surgery, Pre-pregnancy, and now 9 months pregnant. I love my RNY!
July 2007 @ 315+ lbs
November 2008 @ 145lbs (My birthday)
August 10, 2009 @ 179lbs and 9 months pregnant.
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