Daniel R. Cottam, MD

I'm 4'11". When I tell people "I need to lose weight" they would always argue with me. Which has contributed to my obesity problem. I look in the mirror and don't realize how obese I was/am. My BMI on the date of my surgery was 30.5. I met with my surgeon for the first time, two days before my Gastric Sleeve surgery. He said that because I was so healthy and had such a low BMI, he'd be able to operate in two days. I wasn't put on a liquid diet like most people who have surgery. Surgery took about 45 minutes. After which I was in recovery for about 5 hours. I'm very nauseated after General Anesthesia. The medical staff was concerned because I wanted to vomit and to rid myself of the nausea. I didn't have anything in my stomach to vomit so I spent the next two days dry heaving. It was very awful. The gas pains combined with the nausea was severe. I've had several abdominal surgeries ie: C -section, and uterine cancer removal. This gas/nausea pain was by far the worst of the three. I took as many pain medications as I could that caused drowsiness and was able to sleep most of the first two days, which was helpful. If you are prone to post-anesthesia nausea, make sure you let your doctor know. They sent me home with 4 anti-nausea medications. I was still so sick I wanted to cry. I haven't had any discomfort from the stitched or incisions at all. Haven't even felt them. I removed my own drain on the morning of the third day. It was a cinch. No pain. I'm positing this on day 3 and feel much better! So far today, I've eaten .5 ounces of Dannon fat free cherry yogurt and 2 sugar free popsicles. My husband bought a huge bag of pebble/bubble ice and I've been crunching on this for the last three days. I highly recommend buying some before hand. I'm still finding it very difficult to swallow (feels like heartburn) even when drinking tiny sips of water. I hope this goes away in time. I've been diagnosed with "insulin - resistance" which I believe is a politically correct way of saying, "too much sugar consumption" which is causing my cells to block the sugar, rather than break down the sugar and use it for fuel. I've received scripts for: Metformin, Hypothyroidism. I don't want to be on pills for the rest of my life. I've been diagnosed as 'pre-diabetic.' I had to do something extreme and this what my surgeon agreed was the best course of action for me. I've been on diet pills (OTC and Prescription) for the last 20 years. I'm tired of yo-yo dieting. I believe that the plethora of appetite suppressants have damaged some cognitive functioning. I'm often forgetful, and short-tempered, with mood swings. I'm certain that my sugar addiction has contributed to this state of mind. I've been able to lose weight with medication. As soon as I stop taking the weight loss medication, my weight shoots back up. I was diagnosed with PCOS about 9 years ago. My OB discovered I had uterine cancer. She removed my ovaries and uterus. I'm active and overall very healthy.