Cindee Krechting

- RNY, April 24, 2006

       

I was tired of being unable to anything. Literally, I could do very little without getting very tired very quickly. I had a BMI of 41, uncontrolled high blood pressure, an enlarged heart, sleep apnea, was borderline diabetic and had long bouts of depression complicated by anxiety. My life was going nowhere, quick! I had tried many diets including Weight Watchers and South Beach. I had tried over the counter diet pills. I had tried the old “eat less, move more” diet as well. Nothing seemed to work. Oh, I could lose some weight, but it went so slowly that I got easily discouraged and would give up.

In 2005 I began to look at alternative weight loss ideas. This included surgery. I looked at a lot of web sites and read different things pertaining to the different types of WLS available. I then checked with my insurance and found that they did cover RNY, if I had a BMI of over 40 or a weight related illness. I had both.

At this point, I decided to call around to different Bariatric Surgeons and just “see” what I could find out. I called MISI, and spoke to Amy. Amy was very well versed in asking me the right questions and really was instrumental in getting me to make an appointment to talk to Dr. Hausmann. That phone call was the best thing I ever did for myself.

My first appointment with Dr. Hausmann was very scary for me. I had made a long list of questions to ask and tried to be prepared to gather as much information as I could. My past experience with Doctors had been that they were all in a rush to get in as many patients as possible. I was shocked by the amount of time that Dr. Hausmann took with me to explain the different procedures available. By the time he was finished explaining, I didn’t have any questions to ask as he had answered all of them. I was very impressed with the time he took with me and the fact that he never made me feel like he was in a hurry. I was also impressed that he actually read my medical history and asked about it. I had NEVER had a doctor even look at it before let alone read it.

I had my surgery on April 24, 2006. I had no complications whatsoever. Since that time, I have followed Dr. Hausmann’s instructions very closely and have lost 117 lbs. I have my life back! I am back to being the happy go lucky, outgoing individual that I was 25 years ago. I no longer have any of the medical problems that I had prior to surgery. I am healthy and happy. I am not afraid to try new things. I can walk, skip and jump without losing my breath or feeling like I’m going to pass out! I have a sense of humor again, sarcastic, but humor none the less. I actually enjoy living life again. For this gift of life, I thank Dr. Hausmann and the staff of the Surgeon’s Group.

Taking it personal: Trainer helps Lori take journey to ‘next level’

      

Lori Chelette’s precious little daughter wasn’t being mean when she called her mother “fat” in the middle of J.C.Penny’s in August 2005. That little remark, however, sparked her to take control and make the needed changes to better her health.

Chelette says her daughter, nearly 4 at the time, was just being honest and she looked at her little girl thinking “You know what? I don’t want you seeing me that way any more.”

Two months later, Chelette had gastric bypass surgery to help turn the tables on the effects of obesity. ‘Help’ is the right term in Chelette’s case because although she had great faith in the tool that RNY provides, she said she also knew that surgery alone was not the answer for her. She needed to pair it with an aggressive exercise routine.

Speaking to a group of weight loss surgery post-ops, Chelette urged them to exercise ‘from day one,’ not just to aid in the weight loss, but also to help deal with the toning and excess skin issues often experienced after bariatric surgery.

Chelette was already on her way to becoming a weight loss surgery success story when she kicked up her commitment to exercise and fitness. She began to see that some plastic surgery and reconstruction was going to be needed, but first, she got a personal trainer.

She describes her decision to get a trainer as both proactive and preventative. “If I’m going to get plastic surgery, let me at least see what I have to get done,” she told herself.

Enter Charles Lambert who became her trainer, her drill sergeant and, often times, her biggest cheerleader. Lambert is a trainer at Foxy’s Health Club, a club that Chelette has been a member of, except for a brief stint, since she was 16 years old.

Chelette believed that Lambert could help her zone in on her problem areas and see what ill effects of massive weight loss could be addressed with exercise. “I wanted to make sure I had done everything under my physical power before plastic surgery,” she said.

Chelette was pleased to learn that she could add to the impressive results she had already experienced in her weight loss. “He did wonders with me in 10 sessions. It’s amazing the difference it makes. I have curves I didn’t have in high school,” she explained.

She works out five to six times a week now concentrating on cardio four or five days a week and adding her workout regimen two days a week.

Her time with her trainer is best described as ‘intense,’ but efficient would rank a close second. “It was just a 30-minute workout, but he would hit everything,” Chelette said. “He would look at me and then off we would go.”

Lambert’s careful evaluation of Chelette’s body helped him decide the specifics of her personal workout sessions. “That’s the importance of having a trainer. They can see your body and evaluate it and change your workout accord,” she said.

The results are both statistical and visual. During her training, Chelette trimmed another 18 pounds off of her weight during a time when some post-ops past the dreaded ‘window of opportunity’ and the weight creeps up a little.

She was a Size 14 on June 24 and after the training, she is wearing a Size 10 and approaching a Size 8. Dropping nearly three dress sizes with less than a 20-pound loss is a statistic only possible with physical conditioning.

Chelette is nearly giddy with excitement. “I’ve lost inches and I’ve gained more curves,” she said. “I never had the curves – even when I played sports – that I have now.”

Chelette is going to continue her workouts at Foxy’s and she strongly encourages bariatric post-ops to arm their tool with the strong three –nutrition, hydration and exercise.

“Exercise is a key component,” she reminds.

Roll up your Sleeve, this fight is ‘on’

“Absolutely not!”

Melanie Bolinger was right to the point when asked if she feels that she’s missing out on anything after having Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy surgery three months prior.

She’s missing nothing and looking forward to everything as she gets further into the journey that promises to free her from the shackles of obesity by way of a promising procedure that has reduced her stomach to a mere “sleeve” of what it used to be.

Bolinger was interviewed three and a half months post-op, but her journey didn’t start April 16, 2007. She’s been exploring weight loss solutions since her weight issues became health and fertility issues early in her adulthood. She finally decided that the Lap-Band would be the best tool to help her regain her health and keep her impaired glucose tolerance from becoming diabetes. She liked the low invasive nature of the Lap-Band, but when she first met with Dr. Mark Hausmann, he shared with her another tool to consider in her fight for wellness – the Sleeve.

Hausmann’s professional opinion had Bolinger’s specific circumstance in mind. She said he explained that her higher BMI, 56, and her path to diabetes made her a better candidate for the Sleeve and it would be the best fit for her.

“I felt that that was the way to go. It was less invasive than the Roux-en-Y and I felt I would get better results with the Sleeve than I would with the Band,” Bolinger said.

Bolinger’s struggle did resemble a fight at times. Her insurance carrier had strict requirements for weight loss surgery approval and she endured a six-month supervised weight loss where she actually gained weight only to later find more obstacles because the Sleeve was fairly new when used as the sole weight loss surgery tool.

She was determined and, you guessed it, she was even more committed to see the process through. She reflected on the decision and recalled the long list of prescriptions she was taking and merely affirmed “you do what you have to do.”

So, she did what she had to do and the one thing she no longer has to do is take the drugs that cost her $250 a month before surgery and were used to treat acid reflux, elevated cholesterol, diabetes and hypertension. “The last one I took was the morning of surgery, and I’ve been off all my medications since that day,” she said.

That day, Bolinger rolled up her sleeve and she joined the fight. Weight loss surgery is often termed a “tool,” but it’s also a weapon in her hands. The top of her profile on ObesityHelp.com explains it all – “I was tired of living life like it was a spectator sport, so I decided to join the game!”

In a little more than three months “in the game,” Bolinger has taken 47 pounds off her fairly short frame. Her BMI has gone from 56 to 47. When asked about her success, she shouts out the most current figures. “I take every pound I can get,” she said. “I’m so excited!”

Bolinger tries to follow her nutritional advice to the letter. She starts her day with a protein bar containing 20 grams of protein so she’s half way to her goal of 40 grams per day. Most of her diet consists of fish or chicken with cheese as a usual mid-morning snack. If there’s room after her lunch and dinner protein, she adds a vegetable. She adds small amounts of almonds or fruit in the mid-afternoon.
She keeps a watchful eye out for carbs and tries to limit her intake to 20 grams a day – mostly from milk and fruit.

If you notice something missing, Bolinger’s replaced it with LIFE. Her first family vacation after the Sleeve was to Gatlinburg, Tenn. She took more tours and less breaks. She feasted on the sights and sounds with her husband and children and actually lost four pounds.

“The best part it is that I feel like I’m in control for once, Bolinger said. “The tool I have now is letting me see progress, so it’s very encouraging. The more I use the tool, the more it gives to me. I don’t regret it for one minute.”

Visitors to Bolinger’s weight loss surgery blog/profile are given a mini concert by Rascal Flatts singing “Stand” and she fuels up whenever she finds life or circumstances presenting huge challenges.

“Well, I feel like you have to get to a point in your life. I find that most people in our situation do for other people in their life, but not themselves,” Bolinger said. “You can’t give up. You have to fight for your life and fight for your health. If I get five more years out of it, that’s five more years, to see my children and their children.”

“You stand up and dust yourself off and keep moving. That was no way to live – I was sitting on the bleachers watching life go by and I decided I wanted to get in the game.”

“Knowing how much better you feel each day is enough to keep you going. Like my little song, you just don’t give up. You just keep going to the next step. I don’t know where that is yet, but I will just keep going until I get there.”