Lisa's Story - Page 15 - ThinnerTimes

LisaBoston · 10-10-2006, 10:21 AM

Down 3 pounds this past week, so only 4 pounds to be overweight, not obese!...then comes one-der-land.

Went to the city for our anniversary.......went to Tony Roma's for supper. My husband, daughter and I shared one dinner and a few side dishes - this is what we had:

Combo plate with steak, ribs and shrimp
Side of veggies and garlic mashed potatoes
Side ceasar salad with chicken
Firery shrimp
Garlic bread and cheese toast...

so what did I eat:

1 rib, bit of steak, few shrimp, veggies and salad with chicken. Quite the variety. I was a little worried about the rib with the bbq sauce, but was fine. I felt like I had a feast, and out of the normal, but I think I did fine.

I found out that the complimentary breakfasts at hotels really don't have much for me....tons of carbs - waffles, bagels, toast, pasteries ect. Even the yogurt was full of sugar. I had corn flakes with milk and my protein bar.

Went to Sears and took 3 pairs of jeans into the dressing room. ALL 3 FIT! Never in my life have all the pants I take into the dressing room fit. Mind you there is a little stretch in them and I walked out with 2 pairs in size 16 for $39! Only crappy part is having to cram the skin into the pants or have it hang over the top....any hints on this?

Penningtons.....I had a gift certificate to use, so I thought I had better do this soon as I won't be into their sizes for much longer. I bought a X shirt and a blouse in a 16.

Overall very successful shopping trip!

Had a very, very stressful week at work last week, even went home in tears one day. The hormones are really out of wack...plus lots of human relations issues which are always emotional. 5 meetings over the next 4 days uggh.

My doctors apt. was cancelled as the doctors dad died, so I have rescheduled for next Monday. No problems with the lower tummy, like I had a few weeks ago, so I really think its "female" issues...which still need to be addressed.

Until next week...........

rivercanyon · 10-11-2006, 01:14 PM

Lisa,

Sounds like you had an awesome time away with your husband and daughter. The shopping alone would have made it successful for me and to lose three more pounds on top of that way to go!

Hang in there at work and hope all goes well for you at the doctor and you get feeling better again.

Have you heard much about Dr. Farries in Red Deer I think it is? I just read on the canadian forum that some people are seeing him. Not sure what to think about the few posts I've read. Is it worth looking into? What made you go with Nohr instead?

Thanks and keep up the good work,
Tawna

LisaBoston · 10-11-2006, 03:53 PM

Tawna, yes I looked into both. Both are good doctors and only do the open procedure. Nohr did 4 or 5 LAP RNY this year and selectively picks out candidates for lap.

Farries - only books patients once a year starting May 1. You must have your referral into him well prior and be accepted. On May 1, your doctors office needs to constantly phone his office to get a consult appointment on this day only. Not too many appointments after the 1st, so your docs office needs to cooperate and realize the importance of phoning. When you get your consult, he requires you to follow his diet and loose 30lbs over the next 3 months and keep a detailed diary. If you don't follow his directions, he won't do surgery on you. Once you loose the 30lbs, he schedules you for a scope and xray and then you will get surgery in the next 6 months or so.

Nohr has a 3 year wait list for a consult then about another year for surgery. You can call in on Tues and Wed to get a cancellation for consult (I did) and then you get a surgery date and you can once again call for a cancellation. They called me and bumped my surgery from Sept to Jan (8 months early!). He has a requirement that you have a BMI over 40, yet under 55 (i think) and be in a specific age range. He doesn't do any pre-op tests except blood a week before surgery and a pulmonary test the morning of surgery.

When I asked to be referred, I was sent to Nohr as I heard the wait list in BC was very, very long. I was disappointed to hear the wait was so long, but happy that I could call for a cancellation. I didn't know about Farries until well into the journey, or I would have gone to him as the wait time was much less. In the end, it worked out for me and I really liked Nohr. I plan on a panni with him too.

If I were to do it again, I would get my name on EVERY wait list that I could and phone every day that I could for a cancellation. Which ever came up first, I would take. Of course, I would only have my name on a list of a doctor that I had checked out!

rivercanyon · 10-11-2006, 05:22 PM

Lisa,
Wow thanks for the quick reply. My gut instinct really tells me to stick with Nohr or maybe that is just what I am most comfortable with. I have two close friends that had their surgery done with Nohr and that is who my gp has done his research on and is familiar with.

I am not sure about Farries' practise of having his patients lose 30 pounds in three months. If it was that easy then I wouldn't have this problem in the first place. I can understand that that weeds down his patient load though.
Three years ago I think that I was in very good shape. I had trained and walked a 40 mile walk and during that whole time of training for about 6 months I only lost 20 pounds. How would I ever lose 30.

I am so pleased to hear and it gives me hope that I can keep phoning in and try to get a cancellation. I will definitly keep that up. I phoned Nohr's office last week and found out from Michelle that my referral has been approved and she said that I can start phoning in and asking about cancellations. I guess I can only hope and pray that it won't take too long. Anything is shorter than three years though right!

Did you phone weekly to check on a cancellation? I told Michelle that I didn't want to drive her crazy because I could only imagine how busy she is but she said that was okay to call. Do you think that she is use to us desperate overweight people calling?

On a side note my husband has a great aunt that is very close to the family that lives in Dawson Creek. Her daughter also lives there and I wouldn't be surprised if you know her. The aunt is Mildred and I think the daughter's name is Cindy. I have never met the daughter. I will have to check on names again with my husband and get back to you on that.

Keep up the good work. I am enjoying watching you succeed on your weight loss journey.

Tawna

LisaBoston · 10-11-2006, 08:41 PM

Tawna, I called every week and Michelle was great about it. I am sure she is used to it! I was around Xmas time and they tend to get a few more cancellations around then. I think we are all desperate to get in, but I was persistent and it payed off..some don't like the idea that we can phone for a cancellation, but everyone has the same opportunity.

Let me know the names of those in Dawson Creek, you never know, I might know them. PM me with the info.

Farries is very strict and you MUST follow his diet, very strict and you keep a diary. From what I hear people are successful at loosing the 30lbs and see it as a good way to learn new habits, they struggle keeping off the weight until surgery the hardest. Me, I think I would have had a hard time loosing that much weight in a short time. My average after the first month is 10-12 pounds a month and thats after GBP!

LisaBoston · 10-16-2006, 02:57 PM

Aunt Flo arrived again, so 5 times in the past 3 months! Saw the doctor this morning and he is checking the hormone levels and thinks that has something to do with it. Also doing a full check-up next week.

The good news........ My Blood results are back and my B-12 is up nicely. It was 1000 before surgery, then 368 at 4 months out and now back up to 813. My iron was down on my last appointment to 55 and now up to 62, which is good. Hemogloban was 142 and blood pressure was 105/70.

I am taking flintstones 2 times a day and a b-12 shot once a month now. Outside of taking milk of magnesia or senokot every so often no other meds. All my nutrients are coming from food or protein bar/shake. I am more than pleased.

The weight has remained the same for the past 10 days or so, but the auntie flo happening every 21 days or so is throwing a spin on things.

I feel really, really good, which I think is important. The doctor is very pleased with me. I asked about when he thought a panni might be approprite and he thinks waiting another 12-18 months! Uggh...I think my surgeon might have other thoughts on this.

I have 26lbs to go to my goal and then I will see how I feel then and can stabilize my weight at that time. I would love to see 26lbs gone by the end of the year or at the latest, my one year anniversary - Jan 30th.

Need more pants again......jeans are great...now its pants for work that are needed..........good thing I don't mind shopping too much!

LisaBoston · 10-26-2006, 11:52 AM

Feeling really good these days and my 15/16 jeans are starting to get loose! Oh a good feeling! The scale went down 5 pounds since my last post here and looking for a few more by the end of the month which marks the end of 9 months post op. Onederland is sure tough to get too!

People still don't recognize me, even my staff when I walk with others, don't see me! So funny.

Eating is going super well - no issues at all. If I had any issue at all, it would be 3 cups of coffee a day. Used to only be 1, now up to 3.

Not getting in the Curves workouts like I would like this past 2 weeks, but walking every day, even if its only 20 minutes.

Heading off to the city this weekend for the daughters skating. Also had a call that my mother in law is not doing well and unsure if she will make the week. She has been sick for a very long time and nobody expected her to make it this long. Its a 2 day trip by car to get there, so we are on standby, ready to go at anytime. The family hasn't seen me since 6 weeks post-op.

Until later.....

MiladyB · 10-26-2006, 10:25 PM

WOO Lisa!! Look at you, only 1 pound to ONE-derland!! You go girl!! I'm so proud of you!! Hopefully in a couple weeks I'll be celebrating onederland with you!

LisaBoston · 10-30-2006, 11:19 AM

I would love to report that I hit one-der-land...but I haven't. On Thursday I made it down to 200, so thats a total of 9 pounds in October. Today on the scale I am pushing 200-202....uggghhh. Of course I couldn't get in my regular exercise, so that doesn't help either! 20 pound to goal and I am gonna work my ass off to get this done by the end of the year!

Was away for the weekend, so eating out. Made very good choices and drank what I could, but having a hard time getting in lots of fluids all of a sudden...just feel very full - thus urine output does not seem high. My focus this week will be to get in lots and lots of water and maybe it will flush out of my system.

My daughter won a Bronze medal in her skating free skate this weekend - she placed 5th in her interpretive (a new program and BIG kids!). I am very proud of her. Had to drive home in the 2 feet of snow and mega ice on the road..many people in the ditch. At least we didn't loose power at my house, many others went without power for a day or more! Minus 15 degrees this morning so a snow boot, mitts, big coat day.

Kinda down today....the scale didn't help much....but I keep telling myself, its not about the numbers!

rivercanyon · 10-30-2006, 01:27 PM

Lisa don't get down you are doing so awesome. Like you said in your last post those pants keep getting looser. The scale might not show it right now but those inches continue to come off.

Congratulations to your daughter that is a wonderful accomplishment. She must really love figure skating. My six year old daughter followed her brother's passion and has started hockey this year and she absolutely loves it.

How is your mother-in-law doing? Your family will be shocked when they see you. That will be fun for you and give you the boost you need to keep going on your weight lost journey. Hang in there girl.

Tawna