Hey everyone - hope you are all doing well! I have been stalking the site for quite a while now. Since I am now in the pre-op stages of Biliopancreatic Diversion with Duodenal Switch (BPD/DS), I thought it was time to share my story and become a part of the community. I am a 31 year old wife and mother living in Southeastern PA. I have been overweight my entire life. Honestly... there is a picture of me, five years old - with the roundest, Butterball turkey little face you have ever seen. When I was 23, I had my son. I had Gestational Diabetes while I was pregnant with him that I managed very well with diet and exercise. I'm very proud of it. I gained 9 lbs. throughout the entire pregnancy and my son weighed 7 lbs. 1 oz. Let's just say my body is not behaving so nicely these days. When he was about 9 months old, I decided to begin an extreme no carb diet and 3-hour a day workout plan. I can't make this stuff up. I lost weight fast. My highest weight was about 273 pounds (at that time). I am tall, I suppose... but am still always teetering at a 40 BMI. Anyway, back to working out. I lost about 40 pounds in 2 months. I was thin for me, but I couldn't see it. Looking back now, I am kicking myself in the pants... don't we all, though? I would kill to be back to 225 and a size 16. My husband and I began dating when I was still thinner. He always gave me a hard time about my 'rabbit food' and eventually I fell off of the no carb diet. It was inevitable. It definitely was not a lifestyle that I could maintain. Over the years, I began to put a little more weight on here and there. It was not until recently, weighing in at 271, that I realized how bad things had gotten. My husband has also put on a good 40-50 lbs. We are both working hard now to reverse the damage that we've done to our bodies. I was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes and Hypertension about two years ago. It is unreal. I am too young for this. I am heaviest weight now, coming in around 280 pound, give or take depending on the time of day. My clothes don't fit me and while I do love myself, I miss being smaller... but more than anything, I miss being healthy. Diabetes is no joke. My husband and I got married last year and while I didn't really get down to my goal weight prior to my wedding, I was 30 pounds lighter... just one year ago. This is why I am here, today. We decided that we wanted to have a baby. I talked with my Endo and he gave me very specific goals for my blood sugar. To be quite frank, my Diabetes has been so severe since I was diagnosed. I have been on pretty much every medication there is with varied results and many bad reactions. It is poorly managed. It scares me. Within 6 months, my A1C (which I had previously gotten down to 7.7 after a 12.1 at diagnosis) had crept up two full points. I should mention that since we were going to try and have a baby, I switched off of my meds onto insulin only. Coming in at 9.7 at my last Endo appointment was embarrassing. When I say looks of disapproval and mild chastising, I do mean it. I expressed to my husband my concern... how can I get pregnant when I can't even get into the same hemisphere as my 'pregnancy goals', let alone the same town? This is what made me really begin to consider bariatric surgery. I had thought about it many times over the last 12 or 13 years. As I said, I've always been overweight. I have had several family members on both sides have different surgeries... most recently my mother (RNY) in 2008. I have had a couple of friends have surgery in the last year or two as well. Unfortunately, we don't live in the same region of the country, so leaning on them isn't quite so easy. After lots of reading and Googling, I scheduled an appointment with my surgeon. I am a very thorough person, getting all of my ducks in a row quickly. I decided on the BPD/DS. While I know this is sometimes reserved for BMI >50, with my severe and poorly managed Type II Diabetes and Hypertension, I feel it is a good choice for me. I met with my nutritionist, surgeon and psychologist all within the same week. Prior to the appointments, I hit up the lab, radiology, my PCP and whoever else needed my attention. I have Cigna and they require a 3 month WL program, which I am currently completing with my nutritionist. My first month is in the books and we are meeting in a couple of weeks for my 2-month follow up. I discussed BPD/DS with my surgeon and he agreed that I am a great candidate for the program. He felt that my extensive knowledge about my own health and Diabetes was a testament to the quality of patient I might be. We have discussed a modified BPD/DS, leaving my common channel a bit longer (150 CM) and a bit more of my stomach in tact. My hope is that this will slow some of the weight loss for me. I am about 120-130 lbs. overweight and do not want to lose too much and become underweight. My surgery is not yet scheduled, but provided my insurance doesn't throw me to the wolves, I am hoping to have it done December of 2017 or in the beginning of 2018. Leaning towards December since my insurance deductibles will reset. It was a very serious decision to post-pone baby making another couple of years... hello, I ain't getting younger. However, at this point I can't even get pregnant safely, so I really felt that this was a no brainer. I am very lucky to have a supportive husband, I know not everyone is as fortunate. So now that you all know my entire life story, let me give you my credit card number. Say Hello! Share your stories with me. Tell me a joke. I look forward to being a part of this community. -A Updated on 23 Oct 2017: I went to the required support group for my surgeon last week. I was surprised at the number of pre-op patients that were there. We broke into groups and ended up separated by pre-op and ranges of post-op. It was nice to sit with other people and hear their questions, concerns and comments. I may go again next month. I had my second to last nutrition visit last week as well. I lost three pounds, which was a nice surprise. I have one more visit mid-November and then I am ready for insurance approval. I really hope that I don't hit any bumps or snags along the way. I got a phone call from the office on Friday with some news. My surgeon (who I really felt comfortable with) has to have surgery and will be out of the operating room until April. This was definitely unexpected, but unavoidable. My surgeon has given me the okay to have surgery with one of his partners at the center so I scheduled an appointment with him a couple days after my nutrition appt. for next month. I am told the main difference between the two surgeons is that my original doctor performs the surgery by hand and my new potential doctor does the DS robotically. I am interested to hear more. If you've had experiences with either, please leave a comment! I have been experimenting with my insulin and experienced my first 'low' yesterday (come to find out it was a false hypo - 98). My body is so used to running mid-200s to low-300s. I got a little nervous as my husband wasn't home and my son isn't equipped to deal with anything like this. I now understand that I could have just rode it out since I wasn't actually low... it set the bar for the entire day, though... my two-hour post-prandial was 112. I've never seen numbers like this before... not sure what my body is doing! See you soon! A
