But that was not to be... When I walked into mom's house she didn't answer me when I called out. I found her in her bed. She had been dead they estimate about an hour or two by the time I got there. Yes it was the Biggest shock I hope to ever get in my life! And was very tramatic at first. But it didn't take very long after the intitial shock, and once everyone had been informed and arrangements made for her funeral, before I began to feel that actually it was better for me that way, finding her like that did give me a sort of peace and a sense of realizm with her death, that I don't think I'd have felt if I hadn't seen her then. And it made being at the visitation especially the first time a lot easier on me.

I feel I need to explain my mom's health problems to help explain my decision to have this surgery, because they played a big role in that decision from my point of view. The official cause of death for mom was complications of adult onset diabetes. She had been diagnosed with diabetes only 3 years earlier and in October of 1995 she developed pheunomia, and the doctor also heard something while listening to her heart beat that didn't sound right. After treating the pheunomia, he sent her for an echocardiogram. It revealed that her heart was enlarged and that the lower portion was only pumping at about 20% capacity. She was also told that she had probably experienced several "silent" heart attacks and that the bottom half of her heart was damaged. She was still having chest pains and, initally thought it was from the pheunomia. But, they continued so in November she then went to a specialist at MCO and recieved a heart catheritization. That test reveiled no blockage and no actual damage to her heart muscle, although, her heart was enlarged and not pumping enough in the lower chambers. She was still having chest pains, and they started checking to see if something else was causing this because they didn't feel it was from her heart. BUT, The enlarged heart was caused by the diabetes, they were sure of that. She was given medication to help with the chest pains and help strengthen her heart so the blood would pump better. She started feeling better by December and on 12/22/95 we celebrated her 60th birthday. Little did we know that only 18 days later she would be gone.

Until her death, I don't think I realized just how severe complications to diabetes could get. Afterall, she had non-insulin controlled diabetes. She took 2 pills a day for it and watched her diet for sugars. And her routine blood tests were almost always right where they should be. So everything seemed to be under control. Until the enlarged heart was discovered. This is a common side effect of diabetes. And ultimatly lead to her death. It's believed she had either a heart attack or stroke, caused because of the decreased circulation of her blood. But an autopsy was not recommended by the coroner (who was also the doctor she saw for her diabetes) because he said the results could be inconclusive, and he was sure since she was his patient that the diabetes was the root cause.

You will see how this all impacted my decision greatly when I get to that part of the story.

1/17/96 I went back to work in my demoted position as an operator. This is a VERY physically demanding job, involving constant repetative motion, bending, stretching, rotating and lifting for 12 hour shifts. I was demoted from Quality Control Inspector a job I'd been doing for 7 1/2 years. that involved a bit of walking but not much more on the physical side. I had been an Operator for the first 7 1/2 years that I had worked at the plant, and had struggled to gain the position of Inspector. So to be demoted due to downsizing in the department was a huge "pill" to swallow, both on an emotional level and on a physical level. But I tried! I did the job for about 6 weeks, and was in constant pain from the beginning. I developed very severe joint pain in my knees, and shoulders, and lower back pain. I Also had a re-accurance of carpal-tunnel symptoms in my hands that I hadn't had a problem with since being promoted to inspector. And bursitis in my right hip, also another problem I'd had as an operator previously, caused by the constant pivoting, but not a problem with my inspector job. I also have irritable bowel syndrome, causing frequent and urgent trips to the restroom, and in the operators position you don't always have someone around to take your place when you need to go. Because the machines set the pace not the operator, and they're not supposed to be shut down except in emergencies. And this was the cause of some embarassment also. Add to that a lot of allergies and having asthma to boot, You can guess that I was feeling very unhealthy. Nothing life threatening but put them all together and just misery.

I saw my doctor about these problems and he perscribed muscle relaxants and also a low dose of Zoloft to treat the obvious depression that I was going through. But, by the middle of March, I'd already missed enough days from work due to the pain (and an added case of the flu) that it was becoming a problem. It was at that time that I asked the doctor to put me on medical leave, at the suggestion of my employer, so that I could have time to recouperate and try and get the pain under control. I ended up being on leave for 2 months. One for the pain, and the second extended because the depression was still not under control. (I ended up seeing a phyciatrist and having my Zoloft increased to 200 mgs. a day before it was controlled.) I went to physical therapy during the first part of my leave and also "back school" where they showed me ways to bend and lift that should help. I also at this time saw at my employers request the "company doctor" 3 weeks after I had already been on leave. He would not recommend that my condition be considered for workmans compensation because, he said it all stemmed from previous conditions, and the fact that I needed to lose weight. And the depression was all "blamed" on my mom's death. So due to the insurance coverage rules, all the physical therapy and phycological bills for these problems were only covered at 50%. Another added depressant in my eyes!!

I did get better! And in early May went back to work. I only had to do the operators position for one week though, then went back into the lab as an inspector for the summer to cover vacations of the inspectors still in the department. But it was during this week that I made the decision that I could not continue in the job an operator any longer. I decided that when the summer was over that I would seek employment elsewhere because it just wasn't worth killing myself trying to continue doing that job. And that's what it felt like it was doing!! As things worked out I ended up working at a position I could do until March 1997..But that's another story entirely and not that exciting so I won't go into it.

November, 1996 I will mention at this time that thinking about this surgery had been done prior to this because a fellow employee and his wife had, had it done and the obvious results were amazing! We had discussed it but I was hesitant. I'd been heavy and "yo-yo dieting" since puberty, but until the problems with the job occured it hadn't really ever been that big of a health issue to me. Believe it or not, even though the mirror told me different, I never really felt all that fat! I had been for the most part happy with who I am. (although as anyone with a weight problem can affirm, I do have some self esteem problems) I had tried numerous diets with limited sucess and then ultimate failure. I generally ate one meal a day!

There are always complications and possible side effects associated with surgery, and this one is no exception. I will explain some of them when I explain exactly what the surgery is... But in November I decided to go to the Monthly meeting that is held at Wood County Hospital in Bowling Green Ohio, on the Second Monday of every month by Doctor Douglas Hess. (Dr Hess is now retired, but the practice is still there, taken over by another doctor) It is an informational meeting and support group. for people considering the surgery and a way he keeps up with the progress of patients after surgery.

It was here that I learned that this surgery not only cures and controls obesity, but it has been proven to control diabetes also!

Dr. Hess had to that date operated on over 100 patients over the last 8 years who were insulin dependant diebetics and after surgery they no longer need to take insulin or any other medication to control blood sugar

And looking at my family history on both parents side, my chances for developing diabetes was about 99.9% to say the least! And because of the reason it Controls Diabetes, it should also Prevent me from Ever getting it! This added to the other health risks associated with being obese that we've all heard before, i.e. Heart Problems, stroke, arthritis, and on and on and on... is why, I decided that night that I was going to get the surgery done!! If only we had known this before mom died! It was too late for her though, but not too late for me! I also thought that maybe after losing some weight that I'd feel better working at my job.

12/19/96 I went to an appointment at Dr. Hess's office. After being weighed. I'm 5'3" tall and weighed 281 pounds that day (actually up to 292 by the day I went into the hospital for surgery.) having my picture taken (you'll see it toward the bottom of the page) and watching a video explaining exactly what this surgery entailed and many of the possible complications and side effects, I then spoke to the doctor again and he again explained the exact procedure he would be preforming. We then set a date for surgery of March 13, 1997. and a letter of recommendation was sent to my insurance company. I was also scheduled for a battery of tests to be sure no other medical problems existed that would hinder or prevent the surgery. I also recieved and sent a letter of recommendation to insurance from my family doctor and phychiatrist. These were both required by the insurance carrier. So now it was time to sit back and wait for insurance authorization............. Guess what....... They missed the March 13th date! Denied coverage the day after....then after appeal where I had to re-submit copies of all the letters and test results (along with a rather caustic letter from me)** and I'm skipping over a lot of the steps, details, and frustration this caused** I was finally approved. Luckily Dr. Hess had an opening for April 1st! With only 4 days to get prepared to go into the hospital on March 31st, it was a very busy time with the details and last minute arrangements! My only request prior to surgery though, was that he make my incision "smile" since I was his April Fool!!!

Chapter Two

The surgery and what it involves in all the details! in mostly non-medical terms!

First I decided to put these sketches in, The first shows what your intestional tract looks like normaly, The second is what they change during surgery. I will explain this one and it might help to have the picture to refer back to.

{Now, you can see a lot of red chicken scratches on these pictures, The doctor used them when he was talking to me about the surgery, and I couldn't get them "cleaned up" very well without destroying the scans.}

Basically though, what they do in surgery is make an incision between the bottom of the breastbone down to the belly button, and they remove the bulging part of the stomach, leaving it to look like a "hot dog" They then measure your small intestine and measure back 40% and that's where they make the first cut. They reattatch this at the bottom of the stomach under the piloris (the piloris is a muscle that acts as a valve to help keep acids from refluxing back into the stomach, Dr Hess believes this is a very important part of this particular way of doing this surgery, because it greatly decreases ulcer problems at the incision site. ) The rest of the small intestine is then connected at the pancreas and at the lower portion of the small intestines that is where the digestive juices from the pancreas and the food coming from the stomach meet to be digested.

Normally 95% of all food is digested in the small intestine. Because of this procedure much less room is allowed for the food to digest, and since fat's are what it takes longest to digest, the body can no longer absorb the majority of fat's consumed. That's the reason that after losing weight that it will not come back! Unlike the old stomach stapeling surgerys, after the person could eat normally again they would put the weight back on because they could still absorb everything they ate.

The way I understand it, the reason this surgery works to control diabetes is because normally the Bile and digestive juices, from the pancreas and the food you eat meet right at the pancreas. This allows the pancreas to "over react" and causes the sugar problems. And after surgery the "meeting" takes place far enough away from the pancreas that it doesn't react!

Now for possible problems with this surgery...

For the rest of my life I will need to take vitimin suppliments so I don't end up with mal-absorbtion syndrome. Vitamins A,D,E,and K are all Fat soluable vitamins, and since my body no longer absorbs much fat these vitamins don't have time to be absorbed from the food I eat anymore. So I take water soluable forms of supplements of Vitamin A & D And a multivitimin to get the K and E that I need. I also take a calcium supplement every day. (I use tums for this but others use various types of vitimins such as citracal, I ended up being slightly allergic to that right after surgery though, so tums it is for me)

I will have my blood checked about every 6 months for a while to be sure all my levels stay where they should, and after a couple of years will continue with yearly blood work.

Another problem expierienced by a very low precentage of patients is "leaks" Any time there are incisions and sutures involved with the digestive process there is a chance that this could happen. I didn't have any problems with this but some do. It usually involved another surgery to correct the leak and a longer period of recouperation. I can't really say too much more about this because I didn't experience it, except to say that the two people who I have met at the monthly meetings who did have the problem, did say after it was all over. and they had lost their weight. That as bad as it was for them at the time they would do it all over again concidering the end results! They are much happier now.

As with any surgery of any type, let alone one this extensive, there is always the possibility of not surviving. The percentage for this is Very Very low though, and was never a real concern to me.

All in all I experienced much less discomfort during my recouperation after this surgery than I did after having my gall bladder removed about 20 years ago. The incision is about the same size overall, but due to improvements in pain control This was actually much less painful overall. Dr. Hess uses an epidural in the spine for pain control for the first few days after surgery. This keeps a constant amount of pain killer in you and it's Much nicer than waiting till you can't stand it anymore and taking a pain pill. Then waiting for the pill to work! Even when I was taken off the epidural, because I developed a rash as a side effect from it, at the point where it was inserted. And I had to start taking pills, I was given them on a regular basis, Before I was in discomfort! My hospital stay lasted a week and about 3 days after coming home I didn't need any pain killers at all anymore.

Over all the worst part of the procedure for me was the nasal gastric tube that they have down your nose to the stomach to drain the fluid from the stomach for the first 2 days after surgery. This felt like someone had put a sharp golf ball down my throat everytime I swallowed. And for some reason the epidural didn't help that pain!! I couldn't wait to have that tube removed. But once it was I felt about 200% better!

I will say that many people have more trouble after surgery than I did. That's part of what the monthly support meetings are held for too. People can ask questions about what others might have experienced and maybe get some help with problems they might be having. Some have problems starting to eat again once they are allowed to. I didn't. Some have an intolerance to all dairy products after surgery too. This causes cramps and gas. I do have this problem in a mild form. It only seems to affect me if I drink a whole glass of milk at a time or eat garlic or onions though. Some have problems digesting bread and meat. This is another problem I don't have. Many of these things are discussed in the initial meeting with the doctor, and he gives you a handbook to read that helps answer many of the problems.

It did take me about 3 months before I seemed to have much energy after surgery. I feel that this is in part due to the fact that I had the flu about 3 weeks after surgery, and that seemed to set me back a bit. It was Early July before I really seemed to get my energy back.

Since then I've been doing great! I eat small portions of food often. I have learned not to stay hungry for very long. I will get shaky if I do. I eat about every 2 to 3 hours during the day and am doing just fine with that. When we go out to eat I either order child portions of food, or if I order a full dinner I will bring the rest home for my next meal. No buffet dinners though! I don't feel the amount I eat justifies the cost. Eventually the stomach will stretch again and one will be able to eat normal sized meals. But due to the way I absorb them I won't re-gain any weight because of it! As long as I don't overdo eating sugar's, because they are still fully digested.

Overall this has been the Easiest weight loss program I've ever been on!! A couple of weeks of discomfort.(and like I said the gall bladder surgery was much worse!) And the weight is just going! With no effort on my part! I just love that!

I did quit my Job rather than returning when my medical leave would have been up in June. I was still very low on energy at that point and felt there was no way that I could return and do the job required. I'm still not sure it would have helped all that much with all the problems I had doing that job anyway! And I'm much happier being at home. I no longer need to take Zoloft for depression, That's problem went away with the job!

There have since been MANY other changes in my life since surgery. Another whole book in progress really and I'm not going to go into it all here.

This is my before picture taken at the doctors office. When I reach the after point they will take another one.

As of 3/23/99 I have officially lost 136 pounds! that actually fluctuates to 140 even.

I believe I'm at the weight I will probably maintain.

I don't have an "after" picture taken at the doctors office, and probably won't get one since I've moved to another state. But below you will see my wedding picture taken January 24, 2003

*I must apoligize, I can no longer keep up with replying to emails sent to me. Good luck if you choose to have this surgery. It remains for me now 7 years later the best thing I could have ever done for myself. I hope you get the same results. Please consult a physician if you have medical questions about if surgery is right for you, and what to expect. There are many types of Weight loss surgeries, and your doctor can help you make the right choice for your life. Again Good Luck!