Wow almost at the end of the year and I'm still struggling with my weight, I'm not getting desperate, but I wish I could be a size 10 at least, I'm still on 18, the weight is almost the same, but I'm happy about it because even if the scale is not moving much, my size is going down, my stomach is getting smaller and smaller every day and I feel sexier. LOL

One thing that I hate, and I know I just have to be patient is the extra skin that now is hanging everywhere, even on my neck, it makes me feel and look older, I will wait until I get at least to 200 to even start thinking on the plastic surgery.

still 40 more pounds to go and with the holidays coming ouch! what is going to happen, only God knows, but I will do my best. I'm working really hard now to loose as much as I can before Christmas, that way if I don't loose anything during the Holidays on January I won't feel as guilty.

I need to take picture of my hole body, I will and will post them with one of before the surgery so you can compare, but I'm still pro the gastric bypass, it is the best thing that ever happened to me and I will strongly recommend it.

Thank you so much for following my blog and have a safe and happy Holiday Season.

Chris

Still doing good

Wow! This time it's been a little harder, I have been doing great but if you ask me, yes it's been harder, I don't know why but my brain seems to be stuck in the I love fried foods,LOL, so yes it's been hard to fight against it, besides with the kids off school, my brother visiting and so many friends coming over for dinner, bbq's etc, etc, it's hard to follow any diet, but I did it, ok almost all the time, I have to recognize that I sinned a couple of times, but it was only for brain sanity.

I've lost 20 pounds or more so far, I saw Dr. Pehrsson yesterday and he said I'm doing really good, he said that after a revision surgery, people loose weight slower, so I'm doing good, I'm on solids now, phase 5 and I'm really afraid of messing my pouch again, so I'm taking it easy.

I've also been doing a lot more exercise than the first time, I've been walking a lot and I started dancing Zumba, oh and also riding my new bike, so that should also help.

Wish me luck..!

Thanks for stopping by,

Chris

3 weeks after the surgery

~o~

Finally I had my second Gastric Bypass, or as they call it the Revision Surgery, whatever it is called it has been helping me to loose weight again, so far and since June 24th the surgery date, I've lost 12.4 lbs, pretty good ah?

It hasn't been easy, maybe even a little harder than the first time because my brain was used to big meals again and to all that yummy food, and to go from that to clear liquids again, it's been a pain, but this time I'll do it.

I stayed in the hospital for two nights, one more than the first time, the doctors wanted to be sure that there wasn't any liking from the stomach which could cause a mayor problem, he said it is dangerous because they staple on top of the staples, but I didn't have any problems, I was ready to go home the first night.

I have been weighting myself every day, sometimes the numbers go down, sometimes they don't and I know that I shouldn't be doing that because when I don't see it moving I get frustrated and I get anxiety and my day is harder, but you know how we women are, I love to see when it goes down a pound or two in a day.

I will try to post more often, stay tuned.

Thanks for reading, and if you are, please leave a comment, I would love to hear from you, also if you have questions or you are planning to have your surgery soon, I would love to hear from you.

Chris

A revision surgery

Finally and after gaining some weight, and fighting with my surgeon and waiting and waiting, I got the date for my revision surgery, I'm just waiting for my cardiologist approval and that's it.

They need to re shape the stomach and close the esophagus and the canal that goes to the intestine so the food stays in the stomach and makes me feel full instead of allowing me to eat, and eat and eat, without feeling that I had enough.

In the meantime, I need to loose some weight! Can you understand that? If I could loose weight without the surgery, what would I want the surgery for?????

Anyway, they told me I need to loose as much as I can before the surgery that is set for June 24, 3 days before my youngest son's birthday, I know poor guy he is going to spend the day in the hospital with mom.

They told me that this surgery will be a little more risky than the first one, because they will staple the stomach on top of the other staples, and if that happens, then they will have to go back in and fix it. They will keep me in the hospital for at least 3 days this time.

If you are planning to have this surgery, make sure you ask all the questions, even the most absurd ones, like if the stomach will regenerate and got together again, that is something that my endoscopist Dr. Patel told me, I didn't know that was possible, but he said that they have seen cases where the stomach gets back together again....

Also it is very important that in your first year you loose at least 100 pounds, that and I don't know exactly why it is the clue to the success.

One of the reasons that my surgeon told me my second surgery wouldn't be worth it is that I "only" lost 70 lbs on the first year, and he said that doing the second surgery would only help me loosing another 20 lbs or so....

Isn't that silly? well even for another 20 lbs it is worth it for me. Now and after my cardiologist Dr. Soldo, talked to him, he agreed to do the surgery and told me that it should help me loosing the rests of the weight I need to loose, I'm calculating another 80 or 90 lbs.

I will start with my tests again, the only thing that I will skip is the endoscopy, I already had two, so they don't need to see my insides again.

Wish me luck for the Eco Cardiogram that I'm having on 4/13/10 everything depends on that.

Chris

After the Holidays

The Holidays went by and I gained 5 pounds, some of you will say, well I also gained 5 pounds, but not with a Gastric Bypass, I should have not only not gained any but lost a few.

The truth is that I didn't behaved, my family came over and I chowed, why? Well first of all because I have had always a will power problem and second of all because there is something wrong with my pouch.

Yes, I think that either it's enlarged or the entrance or exit from it is wide open or something, but I can eat the same amount of food that my husband does and I'm ok, I will say full, but not vomiting, and it shouldn't be like that.

I'm now like just before the surgery, the same capacity, why I don't know but I'm like that.

My doctor said that it wouldn't be worth it to do a revision surgery cuz that will give me an extra 20 pounds down, and doesn't consider that enough. I really think that the insurance won't pay for the second or "revision" surgery and that is why he doesn't want to do it.

The reason that I'm saying this to you, is so you make sure that if you are planning to have this surgery, make them explain to you that in some cases the surgery just doesn't work as it supposed to. That is what he told me, can you believe it? after 1 year and a lot of effort and money, he said sometimes it happens, and why he didn't tell me that in the first place?????

Anyway, I don't want to quit form your decision, most of the time, it does work, with me worked a little, and I'm planning to go for those 20 pounds, I'm not sure how, but I will.

In the meantime what I'm doing and it seems to work, is I fill my stomach with turkey slices and strawberries, with one bar of light string cheese and my shakes, and water, oh and some coffee (I can't live without it), I'm loosing some pounds, slowly and not very many, but at least I'm not gaining, the effort is double, cuz my stomach is always hungry.

Wish me luck, I will keep you posted.

Chris

What is going on?

The Holidays are just around the corner an I'm freaking out. I'm still not loosing weight and I even think I'm starting to gain ounces.

I have to confess that I'm a little depressed, I do have some personal issues an that has always affected the way I eat, or I behave, today I saw myself on a video from Thanksgiving and I realized that not only I'm not looking thinner, but I'm getting bigger, so I need to do something.

Starting tomorrow (because it is already 9 p.m.) I will do my best to start again the liquid or soft food diet. I need to loose at least 10 pounds before Christmas, so wish me luck.

Thanks for stopping by. I'll be posting soon.

Chris

And now what???

Hello Everyone:

It's been a while since the last time I posted on this blog, to be hones I have been very busy with my business and trying to take care of my family.

My diet has been the same, I'm still in a kind of a plateau, but let me recap so you know what's going on.

I haven't lost the weight as it was supposed to, why I know that? well when I saw that I wasn't loosing weight, not as I did at the beginning I went to see Dr. Phersson, he sent me with the nutritionist, she gave me a bunch of advises and clues to get to eat whatever was very healthy, don't miss understand me, I was following the rules, at least I thought that, the problem was according to what she said, the way I picked the food and dressings and stuff.

She told me I need to check the labels, I didn't know how to read them, I used to see the calories, or carbohydrates and that was it, but she showed me that what is important to check is the calories, against the calories from fat.

When you pick a salad dressing for example, and the label says that it has 90 calories, the calories from fat can't exceed more than 20 or 25, because if it does, then it is not good for you.

But who told us that???? NO ONE! After I left her office, I was feeling so good, I thought, "Ok my problem is solved"

I stopped at the market and bought all kinds of new stuff and when I got home I toss in the trash every single item that I thought it was "BAD"

The time passed by and the things didn't change, and little by little I realized that I was hungry all the time, I ate and half an hour after or even 10 minutes after I was hungry again, and it wasn't anxiety, trust me I can recognize that, this was real hunger.

So I panic and call the doctor, he asked me to go and see him and I did, he ordered a third endoscopy, he said that my gastric bypass could have stretched open, that was so funny, now after all the problems and years of waiting to have something to help me to loose weight I was sitting at the doctor's office and he was telling me that my surgery was messed up, one in a 100, and that was me.

Anyway, another of the things that made me take the step of going to the doctor was that my diabetes was coming back, so I finally got the appointment with Dr. Pattel, the endoscopist and before I got in, he told me off the record, that he has seen cases where the stomach just gets attached by itself again to the pouch. That wasn't my case, but he has seen these cases, so, I went in and the results were, Yes, the conduct between my stomach (pouch) and the intestine stretched open.

Great! and now what? Well Dr. Pehrsson told me that he could have fix it if in the first year I lost 100 pounds or more instead of 70, and that fixing it will only give me an extra 20 pounds, so what is that, am I done?

On the other hand, he asked me to take care of the tumor first, I have the appointment in two weeks, and after that, he will think on what we can do with me and my gastric bypass.

So, I'm here loosing a few ounces a week, and kind of soooo disappointed, I will be posting as soon as I get news, but if you are in my case or planning to do the surgery, make sure your doctor tells you all the possibilities, because it is not fun to have surprises.

Thanks for stopping by

Christina

Recent Picture

Just a quick note to post my most recent picture, look at the door behind me, the old picture is from the morning of the surgery.

Love
Chris

Struggling with food

I have been having a lot of trouble with the things I eat. I 've been anxious and usually I cope anxiety with food, that is a big problem when you are talking about loosing weight. I went to see Dr. Pherrson and he sent me to the Nutritionist and she helped me with what should I eat and how to read the labels. She taught me a lot of tricks which I'm working on but I'm still struggling with the anxiety. I won't give up though, I will be a year out on April 15 and for my first birthday I'm planning to celebrate at least 100 pounds, I'm on 70, so I will need to work really hard.

Wish me luck!

Chris

Bad writer

I just realized than I'm so bad writing, I was in bed with my bad back pain when I posted the last one, that is why it is so bad. I'm still home, but not that bad and now I can write a little tiny bit.

I've been good, the scale is still not going down, but you know what my inches are, besides everyone is always telling me that I look smaller. I need to consider that I still have all that skin that the surgeons will need to fix, and that weights too, so I'm not worry about the scale, I just keep going and trying to walk and do what I have to do.

Last week I went to see Dr, Soldo and he said something that I liked and made me feel better. "You didn't gain the pounds in one day, so it will take some time to get rid of it" and he is right, I need to be patient.

The Holidays were really fun, we spent them with some friends, we made a New Year's Party here in my house and we stayed up till 4 a.m. on New Year, so this year we missed the Rose Parade on t.v. LOL (we were sleeping)

Now we are getting back in track, with the food and with work and school, it is hard though, we got used to pleasant, lazy days so easy.

I can't wait for the summer and to be able to get in the pool again, I really miss those days, and I really need to exercise, in the meantime I'm trying to walk, not much because it is so cold outside, but I will start walking with my friends, that way it will be easier.

Thank you all for reading my blog, I hope that if you are following it, it is because you are planning to have or had a surgery, and that my blog will be a good advise for you. Good Luck! and Happy New Year.

Chris

New Pictures

Hello:

Happy New Year to Every one. I was reading a little about my own process and I thought it would be a good time to post some pictures. I hope that you will see the difference.


Thanks for stopping by.

Chris

65 lbs less and a New Life

Wow! It's been a long time since the last time I wrote on this blog, I lost the login password and of course I couldn't access it, but I'm back.

I haven't loose much weight, I'm really taking it easy, I feel so healthy though, I have lost a total of 65 pounds, and my life is a new one.

Now I can run with my kid, I can walk again for hours on the mall without sitting down every two steps, or running out of breath, I can sleep through the night, without waking up because I couldn't breath.

Of course the relationship with my husband is a lot better, and one of the things that I like the most is that now I can sit on the floor. Yes! for some of you, this could be something simple, but for me it is a big deal, I can tie my shoes, put on my socks, etc.

I'm not in a hurry, my heart is doing really good, I feel it, my diabetes is gone, I'm eating a lot healthier and being a lot happier.


This is the new me, 65 pounds less and a long life ahead, but now it is a happy life.

This is a picture of me, I took it two weeks ago.

Thanks for Reading

The Plateau is Over--- Yippee!!!!!

Great!!

 I think at last I start loosing weight again, I was 267 lbs and now I'm 262lbs. Hopefully this will be the end of the problem.

I went yesterday to buy an outfit for a party that we have on Saturday and I was soooooo happy, because from  size 5X I went to 1X. I couldn't believe it, the lady at the big sizes clothes told me, "Yes Mrs. Kaplan, you should start believing it, you drop down almost 50 lbs, you are thinner now" 

And you know what guys, it felt so good, that I would do it again 100 times.

I push the plateau off of my life I think, I started again having cream of wheat for breakfast, and lots of water, oh and also started taking again religiously my water pills.

I think that it really was water retention, because even my face looks smaller.

Whatever it was I feel awesome, and renovated to keep going.

Wish me luck.

More soon 

Chris

p.s.  If you read my blog and are having or had a similar surgery, please let me know, I'm doing this for you guys, and the feed back is encouraging. 

My Food Diary

Hi everyone:

Oh my God. this is tuff. I don't think I'm doing anything bad, now that I have been writing how much food I'm eating I realized that I'm almost not eating.

The stomach size is so tiny tini that hardly any food fits inside. I'm not hungry at all, besides I'm drinking a lot of plain water..... Can you believe it?

Whoever knows me, knows that a few months ago, 3 to be exact I wouldn't have even try a sip of water, I couldn't even take it with lemon or something like that. The only way that I would drink it was as horchata (lots of sugar though) and now I'm drinking at least 3 bottles of water a day plus all the sugar free popsicles, OMG, I'm doing good hidratating my skin.

All the bad dryness that I used to have all over my body is gone, my legs are clear again. I'm sooo happy. Some of it is that my diabetes is all gone for good I hope, I don't check my sugar level every day, but once in a while that I do it, is always on a 100 or less, not more than 110.

I'm so happy. Besides the inches are going down, and down, and down. No the scale though, but I'll be patient, it will be sooner or later.

Thanks for reading my blog, if you want to see pictures or the links that I have posted you will need to click on the blog link click here, because the automated e-mail won't let you get into the blog.

See you soon.

Christina

My Three Month Appointment

Hello Everyone:

I went to Dr. Pehrrson for my 3 months appointment I was very concerned because I had just lost 7 pounds in a month.

Dr. Pehrrson said that I need to check closely what I am eating, I need to do a food dairy and fax it to the nutritionist to find out what is going out.

He also said that some times the body needs some time to settle down but at the same time I have been loosing some inches (a lot) so I'm less worried.

I posted these two pictures that we took on Tuesday, it's me with Ryan my 6 year old son. and one with my very best friend Nancy.

I feel a lot better as you can see on my face.

I'm starting to use skirts and hills, not very high because I'm tall and I don't need them, but my mood is getting better every day so I feel more like getting a little more girly than before.

I also need to buy some more clothes soon, because even the new ones are getting too big.


Thank you for reading

See you soon.


Christina

My Mom is Coming !!!!

Hello:

Yepeeeee!!!!! I'm so happy because finally the Doctor authorized my Mom to go on trips, and of course she picked come to visit her princesses. (Yeah right, she is coming to see her grandchildren)

Anyway I don't care what she is coming for; The time that she will spend with me in my house I will enjoy her very much because I really, really missed her.

The good thing is that now I can walk a lot more (I don't get tired as much) and we are going to be able to go shopping and stuff (yeah right again, just remember the gasoline prices)

I will post some pictures of her visit, so you can see how beautifull we are and how good all those illnesses did to us. hahahaha.

This picture of her is from last year. I can't believe that it is almost a year without seeing her.

Keep reading and I will keep writing. See you soon.

Christina

Hello

Ryan took this picture earlier today, let's see what do you think,

Love

Chris

Hello Everyone

Sorry I have been away for a while. It's a busy month for me because it is my youngest son's birthday, he is 6 years old and you know how it is to organize birthday parties. Besides I have been very busy with my scrapbook business and classes thank God.

I had my endoscopy and everything was fine, I think my nausea were because I ate some shrimps and maybe one of them wasn't so good.

Anyway it was worth to check everything out.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

I'm not doing very good with my weight loss, I'm having a hard time I don't know why, but not loosing almost anything. I don't want to be discourage, I will keep trying and doing what I have to do, next week I will see Dr. Pehrrson and he will tell me what to do.

I will post more as soon as I know.

Love you all

Chris

New Clothes

6/13/08

271.2 lbs and new clothes 4 sizes smaller the pants and 2 sizes smaller the shirt

Yuck!!! Wrong clothes Chris, you look bigger with the new ones, go back to your old huge clothes. LOL

Complications

Oh no!!!! I think I'm starting with complications. I called my doctor because I had a lot of nausea and I wasn't dumping. He asked me to go and see him. He sent me for a blood test, everything was normal, so he sent me to another upper endoscopy.

As I understood the passage between my esophagus and my pouch is too tight and the solid food can't go through, that is why I'm having nausea, so they need to get in and open it with the endoscope.

I'm not vomiting or anything so I think that the food does go through, but hardly. so they programed it for Wednesday 18th I'm not scared or anything, but I was feeling so good.

Chris