Saturday, July 17, 2010

Referral

In my mail today, I received a letter from DownEast Orthopedics! I was so excited to finally hear from them. It is my referral to Dr. Walsh, a surgeon who specializes in difficult hip and knee replacements.


Now, for the bad news. They can't see me until November, 11th. I guess I should be glad that it is during this year. Ray pointed out that this will give me time to lose even more weight before I see them, hopefully making me a better candidate for surgery. Thank you for finding the silver lining for me darling ♥

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Update

Hello everyone. I have been told that I need to update this blog. I have been trying to decide what I need to tell you all. The thing is, that this has become so much a way of life for me that I don't really think about it that much. Nice huh? :-)


It has been seven months since my gastric bypass surgery. I have lost a total of 141 pounds so far, which includes the weight I lost prior to surgery. The blood work at my 6 month follow-up was perfect.

I rarely have trouble eating anymore, as long as whatever I eat is low sugar and low fat. Eating slowly and chewing thoroughly have become ingrained habits at this point. I listen closely to the feedback from my pouch to know when to stop eating. This is just a way of life now.

When I started this process, my ultimate goal was to lose enough weight to be able to get my hips replaced. Well, I recently saw an orthopedic surgeon to determine if I am ready for the surgery yet. This time, the x-rays showed much more than previous x-rays were able to, because I weigh less. Apparently, how thick you are affects the quality of the x-ray.

What we could see is that my hips dislocate in certain positions and then slip back into the socket in other positions. My left hip does this more than the other. The doctor said that my hip sockets are too shallow and it is a congenital condition that has worsened with time, wear and tear. There are little shards of bone and bone spurs through out both joints. He is referring me to another orthopedic surgeon, because he said that he is too old and my case is too complicated for him to handle. So now I wait for that referral to come through.

Well, that is where I stand now. I will try to update at least once per month or when I get some big news. I hope you all are doing well out there. Keep the faith in yourselves!