Some of my friends have urged me to write about my experience with weight loss surgery. So often I think you hear of the horror stories and not too many of the success stories. As far as weight loss surgery goes I suppose I am a success story.....well, no.....I know I'm a success story. So here is the story of how I came to decide to have weight loss surgery.

As a child I was a thin gal. I always had to wear a belt to keep my pants up. I can remember my parents thinking I was ill because I was so skinny. My dad always called me 'Skinny Minnie'. Well, that didn't last too awful long. I was pretty stocky and a healthy 150 pounds when I graduated from high school in 1972. I stayed that way pretty much up to when I was married in 1976. During my first pregnancy I had several complications that created a disorder called Hyper-emesis gravidarum. One of the things that goes along with it is the inability to stop vomiting during your pregnancy. I vomited every day, whether I ate or not!! I also had problems with swelling, low blood levels and eventually high blood pressure. But that's another Hub......this one is on weight loss surgery. Needless to say I didn't gain weight during that pregnancy. My second pregnancy was in 1980 and I gained enough weight to put me right at 200 pounds. After delivering a healthy baby girl in April 1981, I quickly got right back down to my 155 pound range, which may sound like a lot more than most people want to weigh, but it's actually a pretty normal range. Trust me, at 150 pounds I look good!

Only one year later, problems began to develop in my marriage and the weight began to come on. During the first year of separation from my husband, I managed not to gain, due only to the anxiety and depression caused by a traumatic divorce......ah, but that's another Hub too! Trust me, you won't want to miss that one!

About four years after my divorce, age 32, I began developing problems off and on with blood pressure. Nothing was too bad, but it was there. By the time I was 40 years old, I weighed over 250 pounds and was very inactive. I was under treatment for major depression and high blood pressure. I didn't pay much attention to my health problems for some time. At age 42, I decided to go to one of those 'quack' doctors who were just in the business for the money, who without any physical exam or any tests, would quickly write you a prescription for phentermine (an appetite suppressant) and dyazide ( a fluid retention, which, when taken together, act just like 'speed' to your metabolism and burn fat like crazy, and, take away all desire to eat. Oh, I lost weight. I lost 90 pounds in 8 months. I thought I looked great, and for a while I felt great, but little did I know I was creating more physical health problems and mental health problems too, than I could imagine.

Okay, on with the story. On my 45th birthday, while living and working in Vacaville CA, I began the day as normal but around 10am, I began having severe chest pains. I became nauseous and clammy. I drove myself to the same-day clinic and told the nurse my chest hurt, but that I had recently had a cold. I was worried that I had come down with pneumonia. She listened to my chest and then hooked me up to have and EKG run. I laid quietly on a table while they took the test. The nurse left the room and when she came back, she had a whole herd of folks with her. More nurses and a doctor. Everyone was doing something and moving very quickly. Before I knew it I had an IV started in my arm, a Nitro-glycerin tablet under my tongue and a doctor standing over me telling me he believed I was having or had just had, a heart attack. The nitro tabs made my head feel like it was going to explode. Soon my headache took over from the pain I had in my chest. I was only 5 blocks from the hospital but the insisted I take an ambulance ride there, instead of driving myself. I felt foolish, but later realized it was the best thing to do. I was put through a gamut of test for a day or two and even underwent an angiogram to place a stint in my left anterior descending coronary artery. Tests results turned out to be my worst nightmare. I was a Type II diabetic, had extremely high blood pressure, high triglycerides, high cholesterol, an unusually fast heart rate and congenitally small arteries. I knew nothing of these health conditions before this day. My doctor painted a pretty grim picture telling me that if I didn't change my ways.....and my weight, which had a lot to do with these problems, that I'd probably be dead before I was 50.

The next few years were terrible. Full of doctor appointments and a lot of medications. I felt like I had joined the group of very old people you see who come into the doctor's office with their bottles of medicine in a large, gallon size, baggie! I was a mess. My only saving grace was a wonderful therapist, my Health and Wellness Coach, that I had been working with over the previous year, Mrs. Sandra Warnken. I had initially sought her out to help me loose weight in a more positive way other than with the use of drugs. Now I needed her to help me work on staying alive. She was my 'life coach'.....and we had a lot of work to do. I didn't really get on a healthy road until I changed doctors which was not until I was 50 years old...five years later. I still weighed a lot, as much as 290 pounds.

I changed my health insurance provider only to find out it was a blessing in disguise. My new health provider in California was at the Kaiser Medical Clinic and her name was Dr. Kimberly Wiley. She was a jewel, and felt certain that I had too many medical problems for only being 50 years old. I asked her about a gastric bypass. She was very happy to set me up to see a Bariatric Specialist in Richmond CA to see if I was a candidate for the surgery. I was stoked! This could be an answer to many of my prayers.

I went for my initial evaluation in January of 2004. My doctor, Dr. Judith Park, felt that I was a good candidate for the surgery. I had to make it through a few hurdles first. I had a complete physical to determine if weight loss would actually be a health benefit for other factors besides just obesity. It was determined that my diabetes could be corrected by weight loss. I also had sleep apnea, GERD, degenerative disc and joint diseases (back and knees), high blood pressure (hypertension), High levels of cholesterol and triglycerides, and a rapid heart rate, all of which could be greatly improved or corrected all together with a Roux-N-Y gastric bypass procedure. I attended several classes about nutrition and how my life would change after the surgery. There were various stages of eating I would go through before I was at a maintenance level and I had to learn about all of them. I had to learn about vitamin defincency's that could occur afterward and promise that I would take the designated vitamins for the rest of my life! I attended psychotherapy sessions to see if I was mentally ready for the changes that would take place in my life, and believe me, it's not as easy as you think, but somehow you don't realize you will have problems mentally accepting your 'new self' until after you loose the weight and walk by a mirror.

Months had passed and I was waiting to be called in for surgery. Finally in July my last appointment came. It was an appointment with a cardiac specialists to make sure my heart could stand the surgery, after all I was nearly 300 pounds (see my photo..yuck!) I had my tests and then went in to see the doctor knowing that he would see that I had a heat attack and some damage had been done to my heart, which was what I was told by doctors and was easily seen on my EKG. My doctor saw me and said he could see a slight problem with my heart but he thought I was okay for the surgery. Slight problem! I thought he lost it! Man, I had had a heart attack at age 45! I couldn't believe him. I asked what he meant by a 'slight problem' and he said, well, you have a Right Bundle Branch Block, but many folks have them and they are not usually a threat to a person. The worst thing that they could cause was to decrease my heart rate so much that I may need a pacemaker later in life. Wow...now this was blowing my mind. I thought he had the wrong test results. I had never been told this before. I asked to see the EKG (after years of working in a hospital and clinic, I knew alittle about them). It looked like it indeed belonged to someone else. He assure me it didn't and that it was mine. He even had the technician come in and run a new one and showed it to me right there on the spot. I explained my surprise that he didn't see the results of a previous heart attack, but there wasn't any. He was surprised now. He said there was no indication of any heart or muscle damage from a heart attack. Wow, this was unreal. Now my rapid heart rate problem was solved too. My pulse rate was a normal 68 beats per minute that day. I was so shocked, and then I suddenly remember a session I had with my Health and Wellness Coach, Sandy, when I was doing some Guided Imagery and I felt my chest open up. I felt a light so bright shining in my chest and I felt God's hand on my heart. I thought at the time God may have healed me, and Sandy was sure of it, and finally I had the proof, in black and white. Right there on the EKG was the proof that my heart was healed.......aaah...but that too is another Hub.

Now, I was ready for weight loss surgery. The day had come. It was September 22, 2004 and I was ready to go into surgery. My sister Carol and my wellness coach Sandy went with me to the hospital. I said my goodbye and walked into the pre-op room. After being weighed and given IV fluids for about an hour, I was taken into the operating room. I was given the opportunity to see all the equipment they would use and it was very interesting. I had worked in surgery some years prior, but hadn't seen anything like the new technology they had. I felt safe. God was watching over me too!

I was awake about 6pm that evening in my room. I was really out of it but I had come through the surgery without any problems. My wait was over. My day had come. Now, I could only hope and pray that my health would improve. This was a new beginning for me. Read my other Hub about how my life and body changed after weight loss surgery.