Kary Loredo-Welch's Blog

8/25/09 – 230.5 (108.5 lost since surgery / 169.5 total lost)

I had my one year appointment last week. I weighed in at 230.5 down 108.5 pounds since surgery and 169.5 pounds since orientation.

The pain in my knees is gone. I used to have to wake up 30 mins before i wanted to get up to take 2-3 Aleve in order to be able to get up, now there are days I barely take a Tylenol.

When we used to go to the movies we always had to sit in the chairs that the arms went up because I didn’t fit in the cool rocking chairs, now I can sit in those chairs and my daughter can rock all movie!

The skin is not too bad, not as bad as I thought it might be. I do use what I call my “cheaty pants” (girdle) with some outfits to minimize the giggle… but before i couldn’t even get it on.

I save money by doing my own pedicure now because i can reach my toes. When i do get a professional pedicure it’s because i want to, not because i have to.

For the first time in my life, I am not the largest sister of 4 girls. I was the baby and on my first diet at 8 years old. I couldn’t borrow their clothes because I would stretch them out. And growing up I got bigger and bigger and even when my sister started putting on weight, i was always larger. I am flying to Florida (first time in a plane since surgery) and can’t wait to see her.

These are some of the good things. I wanted to share that with everyone… no matter what… i am VERY THANKFUL that I made the decision to have this surgery… i cannot imagine where i would be now with my weight if i hadn’t had this… probably 450 pounds and a heck of a lot more depressed… so i am grateful for each and every day that I am feeling physically good.

Kary

August 18, 2009 – Today’s Weight 235.5  (103.5 post-op / 164.5 Total lost)

Hey there everyone. Today is my one year anniversary and I’d thought I’d share what’s going on in my head with you.

The Good Stuff…
- I’ve weight 235.5 today that is 103.5 pounds down from surgery
- Soooo much less pain! I could barely walk before starting this journey, now I hardly take Tylenol
- Feel better physically, can go up and down stairs, sit in chairs that i couldn’t fit in before, cross my legs and so many more things that i had forgotten.
- Healthier eating habits and healthier body. I hadn’t had labs run before i got into the surgery process but i have never been as focused on vitamins and nutrition like i am now… so i MUST be healthier!

The Bad Stuff…
- I didn’t reach even my doctors goal let alone my own personal goal. This is hard because although I should be very happy with the good stuff, this still looms over my head.
- I let a bad conversation with a doctor derail me. When I got into an argument with the doctor I quit doing things out of ‘spite’ and in the end it only hurt me.
- I quit losing weight at the 7 month mark. After the argument with the doctor, i got off track and it took me 3 months to figure it out, then it was too late to fix it.
- The depression and mood swings have gotten worse, not better. I’ve been struggling with severe mood swings and the docs have even tried different medications that haven’t seemed to help.

Overall…
I am sooooo very glad that I had the surgery. I need to come to grips that I may never get down to my personal goal and take responsibility for it. I am still stuck on the things that made me fat in the first place like not exercising and making some bad choices with food. I am happy that I am almost 200 pounds less that when I sat at orientation and need to focus on the good stuff.

Life Lessons…

This journey is definitely more mental than physical. I was asked in my psychiatric evaluation “What if you don’t loose the amount of weight that you want to?” and my answer was “I would be happy with the weight I do lose.” Now i have to learn to walk my talk because it’s easier said that done. Hugs, Kary

Today my best friend got married. It was an amazing day! I’ve known Luis for 9 years and he has helped me through so many ups and downs in my life that words cannot describe how grateful I am for him in my life. He is calming, caring and a very good man. A few years ago he met a lovely woman and he brought her as his date for my wedding to Mark. I was always concerned that he’d find a woman that I didn’t click with and we’d lose our special connections as friends. Well… that fear was unfounded because I have become very good friends with Rachelle and am excited to say that the four of us get along very well. Over the past few months in fact her and I have become very close friends and now I am grateful to have two great friends in my life!

The wedding was beautiful! I was blessed to be a part of helping organize and being a support to them both before the wedding, during and after! The church was gorgeous with a traditional Catholic wedding. The reception was held at a local hall in Hayward and was filled with laughter, tears and freindship!

Now you might ask why I am posting this under my ‘weight loss’ tab. Because… i found it facinating that I had a hard time sitting down at the table with my own family and friends. There was alcohol and lots of food and it seemed that each time I sat at the table I found myself wanting to eat or drink. So I would sit for 10 minutes then get up and run around helping clean or talking to people or keeping myself busy.

I was excited to feel great physically and be able to move in between the tables filled with people easily. I was happy that I could work on my feet for hours on end and realized that I hadn’t even taken a tylenol. I cut the cake without craving eating 2 peices

July 24, 2009 – 11 months Post Op

Today’s Weight 234 (105 lost post op & 166 total lost)

So things have been good although I’ve been on a plateau for a while now and haven’t lost hardly any weight. Although that is frustrating I’m am feeling really great about what I have accomplished and how great I feel everyday!

My best friend is getting married tomorrow and I had a hard time shopping for a new dress. Even now at the stores I reach for dresses that are too large and are ‘frumpy’ to cover my body… although I look so much better now in tighter fitting clothing.  I did by my first belt in YEARS!!! I have a couple pair of pants that fit just perfect and look great with the top tucked in.

I have also had some epiphanies recently that I can share with you. The first was that I was trying to ‘hurry up’ to get some things done. I wanted to book a cruise, ride a Harley and looked into getting a tattoo. I was driving my husband crazy because I had to get everything done now. I realized (with a little help from my therapist) that I had to hurry up to get things done because the weight was going to come back… because it always has in the past. That was a pretty major breakthrough for me because I realized how mental this journey is and I was setting myself up for trouble.

The second thing that I figured out is that I am scared of doing things that are physical. Over the years being 350-400 lbs I would try to do things to get more active. For example, I bough a bike, a bike rack, a helmet and a lock and started riding around the neighborhood. Then my sciatic was aggravated and I ended up at the doctor and on medication because I couldn’t move for three weeks. My doctor told me to get rid of the bike and it sat for a year before I finally sold it last summer… now I want to get back on a bike and I am afraid. Realizing this in itself has helped quite a bit and doing things at the gym is helping get over the fear of hurting myself also.

There is one more thing that I would like to share. I had been drinking. It started at Christmas with one little sip of wonderful Mexican Tequila. Then it was Friday nights while we played cards with our friends. Then in June my girlfriend came to stay for 10 days and we drank every single evening. After she left I had some alcohol that ‘needed to get used up’ and continued to drink daily. Then one night I reached for it as a NEED, not a WANT. For the first time in my life I realized what it was to need the alcohol to relax me in the evening. I reached out to my therapist right away and have not had a drink since that night. It’s been three weeks now and I am feeling good. I was embarrassed at first to talk about it because I was the first one to spout about “addiction transference” before my surgery and how you have to be really careful to deal with the behavior or it could transfer over to another addiction like… ummm… alcohol. Tada!

That is the update for now, things are good although I am nervous that I am stuck at this weight and will not lose any more before my one year anniversary. I am working on it and will let you know how it’s going.

Friday, December 19, 2008; 17 weeks Post-op

Today’s Weight 280 (59 lost post op / 120 total lost since Dec 2007)

Happy Holidays everyone!! I cannot believe it’s been almost a month since I’ve posted… I am soooo sorry about that! Things are going well. I lost a couple pounds after Thanksgiving then plateaued the last two weeks due to my period. Now that that’s behind me I am losing again and feeling great!

The support group has been GREAT and I’ve met some nice new people (if you are one of those reading my blog… hi there J ) There have been some good discussions about the excess skin after surgery, coping at work after surgery about what to say to coworkers and so much more.

Each week at Fremont Kaiser they do 12 Gastric Bypasses because they have 4 surgeons on staff. One surgeon is out on maternity leave so they are only doing 9 a week for now. They are truly an excellent team, have a great set up and have an amazing tract record!

Okay… I am still itchy… I am going with the theory that when I am burning more fat that my body is releasing the toxins. Over the past couple weeks when I was on a plateau the itching had almost stopped, but now its back in all it’s glory (even more when I think about it) and I am switching between Claritin and Zytec and using the Eucerin lotions to be able to function.

I took new photos! I was so excited that the pants on the left I had to literally force myself into before my surgery, now there is a three inch gap in the waist of them! I had really noticed the weight loss in my upper body but lately I am noticing the lower body losing more also. I hope you can see the progress made so far… I am past the half way point to my goal of 185 so keep checking in and we’ll see how I do!

Happy Holiday’s to each and every one of you! Be safe and enjoy each moment!

Hugs, Kary

Thursday, November 27, 2008; 14 weeks Post-op

Today’s Weight 289 (50 lost post op / 111 total lost since Dec 2007)

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!! Just thought I’d check in with you to let you know how things are going. Things are going well. LOL

I went to my 3 month post op appointment last week with my surgeon and he is pleased with how things are going. I am on track with my weight loss and doing well with my stomach incisions (all healed with no problems). My next appointment is going to be at 6 months and they will run all the blood tests to check my levels (iron, thyroid, etc).

I am still itchy and the surgeon said he had another gentleman in that very day that is also 3 months out from surgery and is also itchy. We do not know why I am itchy. The dermatologist thought that it was the Whey in the protein shakes, I quit drinking those for 4 weeks and am still itchy. Then the Allergist thought I was getting too much niacin (from my vitamins and high protein foods) so I didn’t take my vitamins for two weeks, I was still itchy. I have gone back on all my vitamins and my protein shakes and deal with the itchiness.

My routine is that I shower with Eucerin shower gel each morning, then slather myself in lotion after the shower. During the day I use Eucerin calming cream if there is a specific spot that gets too itchy to bear. And I take generic Zurtec. Now that is the problem because those are 24 hour pills and they don’t last near that long for me. I have approval from the doctor to take them every 12 hours, however I find that not enough, so I’ve taken it upon myself to take one at 8 am, 2 pm and 8 pm. And now and then if I wake up at 2 am I take one then too. I’ve seen no side effects and it keeps things bearable. DO NOT take this advice for yourself unless you check with your doctor. This is a way I have chosen to handle it but it against the pharmacist’s advice to take so many pills in one day.

Change of subject… I’ve been working on my Christmas presents this year and part of them are to type up recipes and print them out, putting them in an album. I thought I’d share my healthy Thanksgiving recipe with you!

Happy Holidays everyone!! Kary

Monday, November 17, 2008; 13 weeks Post-op

Today’s Weight 291 (48 lost post op / 109 total lost since Dec 2007)

Over the past few months I’ve been asked a lot of questions about having the gastric bypass. Questions regarding the decision process, the surgery, the recovery and the commitment for the rest of your life. I have come up with this analogy and tonight I shared it at a support group. Afterwards I was asked to put it in writing and post it to share… so here it goes.

I liken the entire process the process of choosing to have a child. The first step is the decision; some people choose to never have children, some people the choice is very easy, some people postpone the idea until later in life. This is the same as making up your mind to have this surgery; for some the decision comes easy, from others it takes a lot of fact gathering, questions and thought.

Then, once you’ve decided to go ahead with the surgery it is time to start the process by finding a doctor and going through the classes. I liken this part to the ‘getting pregnant’ part in as much that some women get pregnant very easily, some have a hard time, some never get pregnant. Finding a doctor for some is simple and others have a hard time finding a doctor that is compatible with their insurance.

Once the doctor is found and the process has been started most doctors require you to lose weight prior to surgery. There is the psychiatric evaluation and let’s not forget the waiting (sometimes that’s the hardest part). This I liken this phase to being pregnant. Some women have an easy pregnancy and some have it hard. There are those that are sick all the time, some have a short length of sickness and there are those that aren’t sick at all. There are people that struggle to reach their goal weight, to get through their psychiatric evaluation or have other obstacles to overcome to get approved for surgery.

Then there is surgery day = delivery day. You can ask 10 women to tell you their story of giving birth and find you’ll get 10 different stories. My girlfriend gave birth in 2 hours on a gurney in emergency and on the other hand my beautiful daughter took 36 hours of induced labor to come into the world. Being prepared, having a good support system, having a good doctor and staying focused can make the surgery phase better. There are people that go through the surgery easily and, unfortunately, there are some that go through surgery with some struggles including a few with severe complications. Either way, you come out on the other end of surgery with your body changed and ready for something new.

After surgery you’ve made a commitment for the rest of your life just as you do when you have a child. And, as when you are making the decision to have a child you don’t know if you’ll end up with a girl or boy, whether they’ll be smart or athletic or an angel or troublemaker, but you still take the chance. You love them unconditionally, celebrating the good things and working through the bad things.

Having this surgery is a lifetime commitment and when you make the decision to change your body you do not know how it will end up for you. But it is time to now love YOURSELF unconditionally. You may not know what the future holds, however what you can do is celebrate the good things and work through the bad things.

As in pregnancy, every experience is different. And even though there are some similarities with children, every child is different and unique. So your experience with surgery, although there will be similarities with other bypass patients, your experiences will be different and unique. Always remember why you started this journey, get as much information as you can and make the best decision for YOU!