This is me in December of 2021.  I hate how heavy I am, I couldn't find a picture of me that is more recent.  As we continue with this blog, you will see why this picture is so significant.  With that being said, I need to share what got me to today.

I have been heavy my whole life.  It didn't matter what diet or what type of exercising I was doing, the weight would not come off.

My Health background.  When I was 26 years old, I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS).  I was trying to start a family and I was not able to get pregnant.  The doctors told me at the age of 26 that I had a 1% chance of getting pregnant.  Later that same year, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis.  This is an auto immune disease, my anti bodies attack my thyroid.  I was put on thyroid medication and was told that both the PCOS and the Hashimoto's cause weight gain.  Just what a I needed, not one disease but two diseases that cause weight gain. 

October 2022

I drive Uber part time to make ends meet.  I had been driving for almost 2 years at this point.  I picked up the nicest lady, she needed to go to the airport.  On our ride to the airport we started talking.  At this point in my life, I had my hopes on moving to Las Vegas.  My Uber passenger and I were talking a lot of small talk.  She brought up religion, I am not one to enjoy this topic of conversation, especially with strangers.  This was different.  I am not going to get into detail, but this passenger asked if she could pray for me.  I agreed that prayer would be wonderful.  She started her prayer and something came over me, I had never felt this before.  By the end of the prayer, we were at the airport and we were both crying.  They were tears of joy and happiness, not of sadness.  

About six months prior to this, I once again hurt my left knee.  I went to an orthopedic doctor, he informed me that I had a torn MCL and would need surgery.  He also told me that it would be better if I lost weight before having surgery.  He gave me a referral to "weight management".  Nobody ever wants to hear that they need to lose weight, especially since you already know that.  I did NOT make that appointment for weight management. 

After taking that passenger to the airport that all changed.  I didn't like going to restaurants, I had a hard time sitting in a booth because I was too heavy.  I am a huge sports fan, I love to watch all sports.  I did not want to go to any sporting events because I was too fat to be able to sit in the seats comfortably, not to mention, I could not walk that far.  Between my joints being in bad shape and being overweight, walking is very difficult for me.  There were so many things I wanted to do, but I couldn't because I was so over weight. The prayer that passenger said for me made me rethink everything.  All of the sudden moving to Las Vegas was not as important.  The very next day, I called my doctor and told him I wanted to proceed with weight management.

I made the appointment with weight management.  I was nervous as I did not know what to expect, but I knew I was ready for anything he thought would help.  To be honest, surgery had not crossed my mind.  I have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, Lupus, PCOS, Rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia and my BMI was 49.  Oh boy, I was NOT healthy!!!  Dr. Fuller and I agreed that gastric bypass would be my best option.

March 9, 2023

My surgery is today.  I am nervous and excited.  The time has finally come.  Cindy picks me up at my apartment at 8:45 am.  It is a sunny, but cool day.  My surgery is at Scripps Mercy Hillcrest.  My pre-op nurses were amazing.  Abbey was my main pre-op nurse.  I told her my anxiety was high and she helped me to relax.  They were behind, so once I got back to pre-op everything started happening very quickly.  Abbey was trying to start my IV, I have rolling veins, I warned her.  I told her "I know how you nurses are, my mom is a nurse, you love great veins."  Abbey responded with. "you know how guys like porn?  I like vein porn."  we both laughed and this was very helpfully for my anxiety.  Thelma was my OR nurse.  She came to my pre-op room to get the report on my from Abbey.  Abbey told her that I was feeling a bit of anxiety.  Thelma is 70 years old and the sweetest person.  She started singing for me, she has the most beautiful voice. The sound of her voice instantly calmed me down and the next thing I knew they were wheeling me into the operating room.  

I woke up in the recovery room, the surgery was over.  I did it, I made it!!!

I was taken up to my hospital room, I was in room 714-2.  Shortly after getting to my room, Cindy and Molly came to visit me.  They were only able to stay for a few minutes as the nurses were still getting me situated and visiting hours were coming to an end.  They brought me a blue stuffed bunny, I have named him Benny the Bariatric Bear, he will stay with me through my journey.

The nurses brought me water and 1 oz. cups.  My goal was to drink 1 oz of fluids every 15 minutes, but I could not "gulp" the full 1 oz all at one time.  I needed to literally sip it over 15 minutes.  If I drank it too fast, my stomach would let me know by giving me a bit of pain, after all, my stomach is now the size of an egg.  To think that the average person's stomach is the size of a small football, mine was now the size of an egg.  I did not sleep very well that night in the hospital, I was up walking the halls a lot that night.

March 10, 2023

Dr. Fuller and Dr. White came to see me by 6am.  Dr. Fuller told me that the surgery went very well and I should hopefully be able to go home later that day.  In order for me to go home, I had to be able to drink 500 ml's of clear fluids.  Now think about that, 500 ml's, well there are 30 ml's in 1 oz.  Numbers have always been my strong point, so I instantly started figuring out how many 1 oz cups I needed to drink.  Seventeen 1 oz cups.  WHAT???  That means it will be four hours before I can leave, I better get started.

Then I met my roommate.  Her name is Sandra and it was amazing how much we had in common.  We are both very competitive, so we were pushing each other to walk and to get out fluids down.  Before we were both discharged, we exchanged numbers in hopes of keeping in touch.  I was expecting to be discharged around 2:00pm.  Well, 2:00 came and went and still no discharge orders, I had my fluids down, but still not discharge.  As time went on I was getting discouraged about being able to leave today.  My nurse, Diana, was amazing and very protective of me.  All of the staff at Scripps Mercy Hillcrest were so amazing.  Every one of them made me feel like they really cared about me.  It was an excellent hospital experience.  Cindy was going to be picking me up from the hospital.  It has been raining pretty hard all day.  It started getting later and later in the day and I knew Cindy had plans this evening for her birthday.  Finally at 4:00 pm, I was discharged.  With the change of plans, Oscar and Molly came to pick me up.  The drive home was a bit uncomfortable, but Oscar was so kind, he tried avoiding as much of the rough road as he could.

HOME, I am finally home.  I was exhausted, I didn't sleep much the night before and it was after 6:00pm by the time I got home.  It didn't take long and I was out for the night.

March 11, 2023

Good Morning.  I made myself a nice cup of tea.  Tea gets cold very quickly when you can only drink 1 oz every 15 minutes.  I am still having some discomfort from the gas build up that happens with this surgery, but it is getting much better.  There is a bit more surgical pain today, but it is definitely bearable.  I was given a "binder" at the hospital.  I do not have to wear it, it is 100% optional.  At first I did not think I liked it, but I found out that wearing the binder helps alot with the pain.  So on goes the binder.

This is not me, but for those of you that do not know what a binder is, this is a binder...

Now I needed to come up with a way to keep track of everything.  I got out my handy white board and just started keeping track of the ounces by the hour.  The other hurdle is, you can only take one pill every 30 minutes.  So all my medication have to be taken over a longer course of time instead of just taking it all at once, another thing to keep track of.  I am also to start taking the bariatric vitamins today.  The vitamins are chewable, but I have to take one tablet 4 times a day.  Another thing to keep track of.  My whiteboard idea was just enough to keep me organized.

I was very sleepy today.  I took a shower shortly after waking up, oh my gosh did that feel good, but it made me very tired.  I had a hard time staying awake which made getting all of my liquids down a bit tricky.  As the day went on, I was becoming less drowsy and was able to stay awake much better than earlier in the day.

March 12, 2023

Today is pretty much the same as yesterday except today I get to start implementing a protein shake into my diet.  I am excited to implement something new.  The goal is to still drink 4 oz of fluids per hour, 1 oz., every 15 minutes plus 8-12 oz of protein shake throughout the day.  This is an 11oz protein shake.

It is 6:00 pm and I have only gotten through 4 oz of protein shake.  I am still hoping to get 8 oz. in by the end of the day.  I went for a small walk outside.  It was a beautiful day today.  My goal is to go on a little longer walk tomorrow. I am feeling much better, the gas pain I had been experiencing has pretty much gone away.  There is still some surgical pain, but it is not too bad at all.  Overall, I am feeling really good.