(unknown)

[Guest guest]

Peggy, my nutritional consultation with Dr. Blackstone's nutritionist was

incredible. She went over all of the things I would be doing post surgery

and made recommendations about things I might begin modifying now. It was

SO informative. I learned things about the WHY of many of the post-surgery

requirements that I had no clue about. Here's an example:

Why do I have to drink 64 ounces of water a day? (winter dosage in Arizona)

1) Your pouch will always have less surface area to create digestive juices

2) Saliva is the substitute

3) You can't produce Saliva if you don't have sufficient hydration

4) People with BMIs over 40 are difficult, if not impossible, to hydrate

sufficiently.

Why can't I drink with my meals?

1) Your pouch will always have less surface area to create digestive juices

2) Your intestines don't like undigested food

3) Fluids with your meal cause your food to exit your stomach way too

quickly to be properly digested.

4) You will get hungry much less quickly if your food stays in your stomach

longer.

You'll love your time with your nutritionist! Take all your questions with

you!

kindly,

Patti in Tucson

BMI 44

Waiting for CIGNA insurance approval

At 05:07 AM 8/4/2003 +0000, you wrote:

>Can anyone tell me what the nutrionist (spelling sorry) might be

>covering with me tomorrow ..

>thanks

>Peggy

[Guest guest]

Peggy, my nutritional consultation with Dr. Blackstone's nutritionist was

incredible. She went over all of the things I would be doing post surgery

and made recommendations about things I might begin modifying now. It was

SO informative. I learned things about the WHY of many of the post-surgery

requirements that I had no clue about. Here's an example:

Why do I have to drink 64 ounces of water a day? (winter dosage in Arizona)

1) Your pouch will always have less surface area to create digestive juices

2) Saliva is the substitute

3) You can't produce Saliva if you don't have sufficient hydration

4) People with BMIs over 40 are difficult, if not impossible, to hydrate

sufficiently.

Why can't I drink with my meals?

1) Your pouch will always have less surface area to create digestive juices

2) Your intestines don't like undigested food

3) Fluids with your meal cause your food to exit your stomach way too

quickly to be properly digested.

4) You will get hungry much less quickly if your food stays in your stomach

longer.

You'll love your time with your nutritionist! Take all your questions with

you!

kindly,

Patti in Tucson

BMI 44

Waiting for CIGNA insurance approval

At 05:07 AM 8/4/2003 +0000, you wrote:

>Can anyone tell me what the nutrionist (spelling sorry) might be

>covering with me tomorrow ..

>thanks

>Peggy

[Guest guest]

Peggy, further to your next post...

You will lose some weight if you begin SLOWLY applying the post-surgical

rules now. Just as important, though, you will begin working through some

of the painful issues associated with following those rules. I'm going to

give you an example. We don't talk much about emotional issues on this

board for some reason, but there are HUGE emotional issues behind all of

this stuff.

My nutritionist handed me several sheets of paper full of information. As

I scanned through the Pouch Rules and the other behavior modifications, I

got hit in the gut with this one:

" ...and avoid eating while engaged in some other form of

distraction (watching TV, reading, or computers). "

Now, I've worked on my emotional stuff for 25+ years and am skilled. But I

got hit with a panic attack like nothing I'd had for years. I had to just

keep breathing deep in to my solar plexus and letting it hurt. I felt

panic rising in me and I felt nauseous and dizzy and wished I could fall

through the floor. I just stayed with it.

Driving back to Tucson from sdale I started having what I call little

" feathers " of memories. I just kept breathing into the discomfort and

letting them collect. My " feathers " were quick glimpses of chrome rimmed

kitchen table... chrome legged kitchen chairs... a threat from the

left... a feeling of being trapped... a fear of putting down my fork...

I just kept letting it come and kept trusting what was coming. By the time

I got home, I had collected the whole picture, and it was SO excruciating

painful that I thought it was going to kill me. That's how old, repressed

pain is... it's very dark and very scary.

Bottom line? Living in my house with my family of origin was a scary

time. The tension at the table was outrageous. My father was always very

upset about everything and he had a full time job controlling his five kids

and his wife at the table. At any moment, if you weren't eating, or if

you'd put your fork down, you could get backhanded. I wanted to run away

during every meal, but I was the good girl in the family, so I ate, and ate

fast, and never put that fork down. I literally hid from my father and

from the threat of punishment from behind my fork.

So, slowing that down, staying present for a bite, chewing my food, setting

a fork down, felt like a threat to my safety. VERY scary stuff.

But as I've felt it, shared it with my support person who just listens and

cares and doesn't try to fix me (get one of those) and allowed my soul to

stretch beyond the boundaries of that fear, I'm finding myself

automatically eating mindfully and slowly SOMETIMES.

kindly,

Patti in Tucson

BMI 44

Waiting for CIGNA approval

At 10:21 PM 8/3/2003 -0700, you wrote:

>Will she do anything to help me lose before surgery i am the verge of

>being put on bp meds and i dont want them.

>Thanks

>peggy

>322 waiting

[Guest guest]

Peggy, further to your next post...

You will lose some weight if you begin SLOWLY applying the post-surgical

rules now. Just as important, though, you will begin working through some

of the painful issues associated with following those rules. I'm going to

give you an example. We don't talk much about emotional issues on this

board for some reason, but there are HUGE emotional issues behind all of

this stuff.

My nutritionist handed me several sheets of paper full of information. As

I scanned through the Pouch Rules and the other behavior modifications, I

got hit in the gut with this one:

" ...and avoid eating while engaged in some other form of

distraction (watching TV, reading, or computers). "

Now, I've worked on my emotional stuff for 25+ years and am skilled. But I

got hit with a panic attack like nothing I'd had for years. I had to just

keep breathing deep in to my solar plexus and letting it hurt. I felt

panic rising in me and I felt nauseous and dizzy and wished I could fall

through the floor. I just stayed with it.

Driving back to Tucson from sdale I started having what I call little

" feathers " of memories. I just kept breathing into the discomfort and

letting them collect. My " feathers " were quick glimpses of chrome rimmed

kitchen table... chrome legged kitchen chairs... a threat from the

left... a feeling of being trapped... a fear of putting down my fork...

I just kept letting it come and kept trusting what was coming. By the time

I got home, I had collected the whole picture, and it was SO excruciating

painful that I thought it was going to kill me. That's how old, repressed

pain is... it's very dark and very scary.

Bottom line? Living in my house with my family of origin was a scary

time. The tension at the table was outrageous. My father was always very

upset about everything and he had a full time job controlling his five kids

and his wife at the table. At any moment, if you weren't eating, or if

you'd put your fork down, you could get backhanded. I wanted to run away

during every meal, but I was the good girl in the family, so I ate, and ate

fast, and never put that fork down. I literally hid from my father and

from the threat of punishment from behind my fork.

So, slowing that down, staying present for a bite, chewing my food, setting

a fork down, felt like a threat to my safety. VERY scary stuff.

But as I've felt it, shared it with my support person who just listens and

cares and doesn't try to fix me (get one of those) and allowed my soul to

stretch beyond the boundaries of that fear, I'm finding myself

automatically eating mindfully and slowly SOMETIMES.

kindly,

Patti in Tucson

BMI 44

Waiting for CIGNA approval

At 10:21 PM 8/3/2003 -0700, you wrote:

>Will she do anything to help me lose before surgery i am the verge of

>being put on bp meds and i dont want them.

>Thanks

>peggy

>322 waiting

[Guest guest]

patti

Wow that was a lot of information.. Thank you so much..

i love to hear from people...

Peggy

Smile and Count your blessings life is to short

[Guest guest]

patti

Wow that was a lot of information.. Thank you so much..

i love to hear from people...

Peggy

Smile and Count your blessings life is to short

[Guest guest]

patti

Wow that was a lot of information.. Thank you so much..

i love to hear from people...

Peggy

Smile and Count your blessings life is to short

[Guest guest]

((((HUGS))))) Elaine'

What a story. I'm so sorry for your losses. I also have a miracle child that

was born after an emergecny cerclage. Unfortunately I only lasted from 18w

to 28w and she was born at 28w3d after PROM, but thankfully today she is

3.5 and as healthy as an ox. I lost my son at 15w after a prevntative stitch

at 12w. I had the abdominal placed pre-pg in April and we are in our 3rd

month of ttc. I pray that you will soon be able to put your grief to the

back a bit and start looking towards a future with an abdominal stitch. It

has a great success rate and offers loads of hope.

Blessings

Shona

mumtotwinangels wrote:

This is

really long so I apologise for that now, but it was really

theraputic for me to write. Its really hard to be mourning our

babies and trying to think ahead to maybe trying again. For those

who read my story I thank you for taking the time.

My first pg was going smoothly although due to my medical history

(biopsies etc) I had a nagging concern about my cervix. My OB (who I

adore and have been seeing for many years) wasn't concerned but noted

that he should keep an eye on it. At 24 wks we where on holiday

interstate and I had some bleeding. After phoning my OB he

recommended I go to a local hospital at some stage to be checked

before flying home the following week. It turned out my cervix was

fully effaced and shortened to .8mm. I was given shots for our son's

lungs and told I would probably deliver in the next couple of days.

My husband was told to go and rent an apartments as if the baby was

ok we would be here for about 3 months. I phoned my OB at home and

he convinced us to fly home and come to see him. On arriving home we

went straight to his rooms and after checking me he admitted me

straight to hospital for an emergency vag cerclage. After the

surgery my normally calm OB was very concerned telling me I had

started dialating and that I would remain in hospital for the rest of

the pg. He actually ending up letting me home around 28 wks on

strict bed rest. After 11 weeks of resting my waters started

trickling and I had our son at 35 weeks. After all the concerns of

keeping him in my tummy we thought his birth would be a breeze but it

ended up being very traumatic. It was Easter Sunday and after about

1 hour at the hospital I had a cord prolapse. There were no dr's

around and a midwife had to hold our baby of the cord for 1 hour

until he could be delivered under general anesthetic by emergency c

section. He was born blue and floppy with an apgar of 1. He is now

16 mths old and doing wonderfully. It wasn't until recently that the

dr's told me they didn't expect the emergency cerclage to work, and

then with his birth complications it wasn't certain how he would

recover, so we are truly truly blessed that he's here with us. When

my son was 11 mths old I discovered I was PG again. I was so excited

as I wanted our children close together. This time it was planned

for a preventative cerclage to be done at around 14 weeks.

It was my childhood dream to one day have identical twins. At 7.5

wks pregnant that dream came true. I was both excited and scared,

excited to be havin twins and scared as I knew from my previous

pregnancy things weren't going to be easy. On the Saturday night

before surgery I woke up to feel a trickle of fluid. I went to the

bathroom and discovered I was bleeding quite badly. When I returned

to the bed to wake my husband the bed was blood stained and I thought

the pregnancy was all over. I was sure that at least one of my

babies was probably laying on the bed as I felt around in the dark.

After a long and lonely night the on call OB took me up to his rooms

for a scan and saw that both babies looked healthy and he felt that I

was probably having a bleed from the placenta which would settle. On

the Tuesday my OB decided to go ahead with the surgery and everything

went well although my stitch wasn't as good as they'd hoped, they

suspected my cervix had already started to change. I was discharged

a couple of days later. Things continued along nicely and at 19.4

weeks I was due to have my ultrasound to check the babies and find

out the sex. Both babies looked really good, with one measuring

slightly ahead of average and the other slightly below average. The

big news of the scan was that we were expecting identical twin

girls. I was totally blown away as I was sure I'd have boys. I had

an internal scan to check my cervix and this became the downer as he

discovered that my cervix had shortened down to the stitch. He was

still confident that everything would be fine, but I was really

worried, I felt quite sick. When we left our heads were still

spinning at the fact that we had two daughters. While I was

finalizing our account the lady told me that I was a lucky duck and I

felt exactly the same way. On the way home we couldn't stop smiling

and giggling. Neither of us had ever really said we wanted a

daughter but we were absolutely chuffed that we were going to have

two. That night after having take away I was feeling a bit

uncomfortable and having some pains which felt a little tightening.

We went to bed that night dreaming about little girls. During the

night I woke feeling more pains and this continued on and off all

night. By morning I was getting concerned and decided to ring the on

call doctor. She told me to come to hospital and bring a bag. We

called my mum and she came to stay with Matt. I cried when we left

because I knew that I was probably going to spend the next couple of

months in hospital and not be home with my little boy. I also knew

though that it was totally worth it.

The on call OB checked my cervix and found mucous but my cervix

appeared to still be closed. They started me on Nifedipine to stop

the contractions and told me I would be in hospital for the duration

of the pregnancy. I was mildly relieved, it was always a struggle at

home to rest and I was always torn between doing things with Matt and

resting for the babies. This way I had no choice but to rest. By

the end of that day (Saturday) I had a throbbing headache, which was

a side effect of the Nifedipine. I was given pethidine and

paracetamol but nothing helped for very long. The contractions never

stopped but I went through times when they weren't as bad as other

times. This went on all day Sunday and into Sunday night and of

course the terrible headache. On Monday morning my OB was back on,

he came to see me and organized for a scan. The scan lady told us

she thought everything would be fine but I would have to stay in

hospital resting till the end of the pregnancy. When the doctor came

in and did some measurements he seemed quite concerned. He then

phoned my OB to come down and have a look at the scan. When he

arrived they told us that Paige (twin a) was now considerably bigger

than Amy (twin and it looked like my previous concerns of Twin-to-

Twin Transfusion Syndrome had become and awful reality. The was

still more bad news to come and this was that the stitch wasn't

holding and I was 5 cm dilated. Contracting for 3 days had placed a

terrible strain on my already struggling cervix. The bag of waters

was bulging down like an hourglass into my vagina. I started to cry

and my OB started explaining that things weren't' looking good. My

husband went really pale and looked like he was about to pass out so

they put him in a chair. Steve started explaining so choices we

needed to make, and I asked him what he would do if I were his wife.

He said we needed to wait around 24 hours to see if things settled

down. If they did they could try more surgery with a balloon to try

and push the waters back up and then re stitch. But he wasn't sure

if I'd last 24 hours without delivering our babies.

We went back to our room and cried together for we both knew deep in

our hearts that our babies weren't going to make it. My husband

later told me that the worst torture you can give a man is to tell

his wife early in the morning that her babies weren't going to

survive and then watch her suffer all day waiting for something to

happen. I don't really remember what we did for the rest of the day.

The day seemed to pass by faster than any other day in my life. I

was desperatiely trying to hang on to every last second that I could

to keep our babies with me. We talked a lot about our shattered

dreams, and at some stage I told my husband we needed to settle on

some names. We agreed on Paige Maree for the first baby and Amy Kate

for the second. We cried some more and the major part of the day

seemed to pass by in a blur. Toward the end of the afternoon I got

up to go to the toilet. As I was coming back to bed I said to

, "If this is going to turn our for the worst I hope it happens

sooner rather than later". Well one of my prayers were answered

because not long after I lay back down on the bed my waters started

gushing. I buzzed for the nurse and she came and checked me and put

towels all around me. For some reason I'm not sure why I didn't want

to move. I wanted to stay in that same position forever and keep our

babies with me even if that meant laying like that for an eternity.

A little while later they wheeled me into labour and delivery. I had

to get up as they wanted to change the bed and clean me up. I took

my nighty and underclothes off and told them to throw them all in the

rubbish, I never wanted to lay eyes on them again. At stage I went

into complete denial and wasn't thinking at all about what was about

to happen. I lost myself in the pains, and actually felt better like

the physical pain was covering up the agonizing pain that was in my

heart. A minsiter came and annointed me and the babies before their

birth and around 1/2 hours later at 20 weeks they were born alive but

only lived a short while before passing away wrapped safely in my

arms. There was a big difference in their colour and size, and the

DR is unsure whether treatments could have been successful in such a

severe case of twin to twin transfusion.

It turned out I had an infection in my placenta, so we don't really

know what caused the contractions - infection? TTTS? or my cervix?

But the doctors are fairly certain I should think about an ab

cerclage next time.

My heart will always weep for my babies, and I will always wonder

what might have been. I can't understand why we were blessed with

two beautiful babies only for them to be torn away from us.

We cuddled and held our babies for hours after, but I long for them

back in my arms. How can a few hours with your babies ever be

enough. I pray that any of you embarking on this journey right now,

deliver lovely healthy babies. For those of you suffering a loss or

losses my heart truly bleeds for you.

God bless us all...

Elaine

[Guest guest]

((((HUGS))))) Elaine'

What a story. I'm so sorry for your losses. I also have a miracle child that

was born after an emergecny cerclage. Unfortunately I only lasted from 18w

to 28w and she was born at 28w3d after PROM, but thankfully today she is

3.5 and as healthy as an ox. I lost my son at 15w after a prevntative stitch

at 12w. I had the abdominal placed pre-pg in April and we are in our 3rd

month of ttc. I pray that you will soon be able to put your grief to the

back a bit and start looking towards a future with an abdominal stitch. It

has a great success rate and offers loads of hope.

Blessings

Shona

mumtotwinangels wrote:

This is

really long so I apologise for that now, but it was really

theraputic for me to write. Its really hard to be mourning our

babies and trying to think ahead to maybe trying again. For those

who read my story I thank you for taking the time.

My first pg was going smoothly although due to my medical history

(biopsies etc) I had a nagging concern about my cervix. My OB (who I

adore and have been seeing for many years) wasn't concerned but noted

that he should keep an eye on it. At 24 wks we where on holiday

interstate and I had some bleeding. After phoning my OB he

recommended I go to a local hospital at some stage to be checked

before flying home the following week. It turned out my cervix was

fully effaced and shortened to .8mm. I was given shots for our son's

lungs and told I would probably deliver in the next couple of days.

My husband was told to go and rent an apartments as if the baby was

ok we would be here for about 3 months. I phoned my OB at home and

he convinced us to fly home and come to see him. On arriving home we

went straight to his rooms and after checking me he admitted me

straight to hospital for an emergency vag cerclage. After the

surgery my normally calm OB was very concerned telling me I had

started dialating and that I would remain in hospital for the rest of

the pg. He actually ending up letting me home around 28 wks on

strict bed rest. After 11 weeks of resting my waters started

trickling and I had our son at 35 weeks. After all the concerns of

keeping him in my tummy we thought his birth would be a breeze but it

ended up being very traumatic. It was Easter Sunday and after about

1 hour at the hospital I had a cord prolapse. There were no dr's

around and a midwife had to hold our baby of the cord for 1 hour

until he could be delivered under general anesthetic by emergency c

section. He was born blue and floppy with an apgar of 1. He is now

16 mths old and doing wonderfully. It wasn't until recently that the

dr's told me they didn't expect the emergency cerclage to work, and

then with his birth complications it wasn't certain how he would

recover, so we are truly truly blessed that he's here with us. When

my son was 11 mths old I discovered I was PG again. I was so excited

as I wanted our children close together. This time it was planned

for a preventative cerclage to be done at around 14 weeks.

It was my childhood dream to one day have identical twins. At 7.5

wks pregnant that dream came true. I was both excited and scared,

excited to be havin twins and scared as I knew from my previous

pregnancy things weren't going to be easy. On the Saturday night

before surgery I woke up to feel a trickle of fluid. I went to the

bathroom and discovered I was bleeding quite badly. When I returned

to the bed to wake my husband the bed was blood stained and I thought

the pregnancy was all over. I was sure that at least one of my

babies was probably laying on the bed as I felt around in the dark.

After a long and lonely night the on call OB took me up to his rooms

for a scan and saw that both babies looked healthy and he felt that I

was probably having a bleed from the placenta which would settle. On

the Tuesday my OB decided to go ahead with the surgery and everything

went well although my stitch wasn't as good as they'd hoped, they

suspected my cervix had already started to change. I was discharged

a couple of days later. Things continued along nicely and at 19.4

weeks I was due to have my ultrasound to check the babies and find

out the sex. Both babies looked really good, with one measuring

slightly ahead of average and the other slightly below average. The

big news of the scan was that we were expecting identical twin

girls. I was totally blown away as I was sure I'd have boys. I had

an internal scan to check my cervix and this became the downer as he

discovered that my cervix had shortened down to the stitch. He was

still confident that everything would be fine, but I was really

worried, I felt quite sick. When we left our heads were still

spinning at the fact that we had two daughters. While I was

finalizing our account the lady told me that I was a lucky duck and I

felt exactly the same way. On the way home we couldn't stop smiling

and giggling. Neither of us had ever really said we wanted a

daughter but we were absolutely chuffed that we were going to have

two. That night after having take away I was feeling a bit

uncomfortable and having some pains which felt a little tightening.

We went to bed that night dreaming about little girls. During the

night I woke feeling more pains and this continued on and off all

night. By morning I was getting concerned and decided to ring the on

call doctor. She told me to come to hospital and bring a bag. We

called my mum and she came to stay with Matt. I cried when we left

because I knew that I was probably going to spend the next couple of

months in hospital and not be home with my little boy. I also knew

though that it was totally worth it.

The on call OB checked my cervix and found mucous but my cervix

appeared to still be closed. They started me on Nifedipine to stop

the contractions and told me I would be in hospital for the duration

of the pregnancy. I was mildly relieved, it was always a struggle at

home to rest and I was always torn between doing things with Matt and

resting for the babies. This way I had no choice but to rest. By

the end of that day (Saturday) I had a throbbing headache, which was

a side effect of the Nifedipine. I was given pethidine and

paracetamol but nothing helped for very long. The contractions never

stopped but I went through times when they weren't as bad as other

times. This went on all day Sunday and into Sunday night and of

course the terrible headache. On Monday morning my OB was back on,

he came to see me and organized for a scan. The scan lady told us

she thought everything would be fine but I would have to stay in

hospital resting till the end of the pregnancy. When the doctor came

in and did some measurements he seemed quite concerned. He then

phoned my OB to come down and have a look at the scan. When he

arrived they told us that Paige (twin a) was now considerably bigger

than Amy (twin and it looked like my previous concerns of Twin-to-

Twin Transfusion Syndrome had become and awful reality. The was

still more bad news to come and this was that the stitch wasn't

holding and I was 5 cm dilated. Contracting for 3 days had placed a

terrible strain on my already struggling cervix. The bag of waters

was bulging down like an hourglass into my vagina. I started to cry

and my OB started explaining that things weren't' looking good. My

husband went really pale and looked like he was about to pass out so

they put him in a chair. Steve started explaining so choices we

needed to make, and I asked him what he would do if I were his wife.

He said we needed to wait around 24 hours to see if things settled

down. If they did they could try more surgery with a balloon to try

and push the waters back up and then re stitch. But he wasn't sure

if I'd last 24 hours without delivering our babies.

We went back to our room and cried together for we both knew deep in

our hearts that our babies weren't going to make it. My husband

later told me that the worst torture you can give a man is to tell

his wife early in the morning that her babies weren't going to

survive and then watch her suffer all day waiting for something to

happen. I don't really remember what we did for the rest of the day.

The day seemed to pass by faster than any other day in my life. I

was desperatiely trying to hang on to every last second that I could

to keep our babies with me. We talked a lot about our shattered

dreams, and at some stage I told my husband we needed to settle on

some names. We agreed on Paige Maree for the first baby and Amy Kate

for the second. We cried some more and the major part of the day

seemed to pass by in a blur. Toward the end of the afternoon I got

up to go to the toilet. As I was coming back to bed I said to

, "If this is going to turn our for the worst I hope it happens

sooner rather than later". Well one of my prayers were answered

because not long after I lay back down on the bed my waters started

gushing. I buzzed for the nurse and she came and checked me and put

towels all around me. For some reason I'm not sure why I didn't want

to move. I wanted to stay in that same position forever and keep our

babies with me even if that meant laying like that for an eternity.

A little while later they wheeled me into labour and delivery. I had

to get up as they wanted to change the bed and clean me up. I took

my nighty and underclothes off and told them to throw them all in the

rubbish, I never wanted to lay eyes on them again. At stage I went

into complete denial and wasn't thinking at all about what was about

to happen. I lost myself in the pains, and actually felt better like

the physical pain was covering up the agonizing pain that was in my

heart. A minsiter came and annointed me and the babies before their

birth and around 1/2 hours later at 20 weeks they were born alive but

only lived a short while before passing away wrapped safely in my

arms. There was a big difference in their colour and size, and the

DR is unsure whether treatments could have been successful in such a

severe case of twin to twin transfusion.

It turned out I had an infection in my placenta, so we don't really

know what caused the contractions - infection? TTTS? or my cervix?

But the doctors are fairly certain I should think about an ab

cerclage next time.

My heart will always weep for my babies, and I will always wonder

what might have been. I can't understand why we were blessed with

two beautiful babies only for them to be torn away from us.

We cuddled and held our babies for hours after, but I long for them

back in my arms. How can a few hours with your babies ever be

enough. I pray that any of you embarking on this journey right now,

deliver lovely healthy babies. For those of you suffering a loss or

losses my heart truly bleeds for you.

God bless us all...

Elaine

[Guest guest]

,

Hi, where are you at in Missouri? I'm in Rolla and just received my

insurance approval. Hopefully I'll find out my surgery date tomorrow

morning when I call the doc's office. Congrats on your progress thus far.

It certainly helps me to read about everyone's journey and kind of get an

idea of how long certain things will take (like advancing to food).

Tammy

Pre-Op 257

(unknown)

> Hi everyone!

>

> Well today I had my first taste of REAL food!!! I thought I had died

> and gone to heaven it was soooo damn good!! LMAO My hubby said I had

> this look of sheer happiness on my face. Even though it was the

> amount i'm allowed to eat, it didn't matter. I had gotten so sick of

> the liquid, pureed thing. I was so weak on those stages. I have

> improved so much with the pain, it was the weakness that was getting

> me down. I was sooo weak. It was hard even sitting up for a short

> time. I would walk a bit then I'd have to sit down. I hated the

> feeling. I had my surgery on 8/12/3 and the first 2 weeks really

> sucked!! Thank God for my husband. He's been my rock. He took

> family medical leave for 5 weeks to be my caregiver. He's taken care

> of me, the house our daughter, the shopping, the washing, cleaning,

> everything. He IS my true soulmate.

>

> So far, as of today I have dropped from 277 pounds to 255 pounds. I'm

> really excited about that. I get depressed every now and then when i

> start asking myself if i've done the right thing by having this

> surgery. I have diabetes and high bp and have lost alot of family

> members to those two things. I had tried all diets. This was my last

> hope. So when I get depressed, I come online and start reading

> everyone's messages and it gives me the lift I need. Oh sure...I miss

> eating all the food i use to. I was one who just loved food. Not

> because I was sad or mad or lonely or depressed, etc. I just loved

> the taste of food. I have also asked myself if i would have had the

> surgery done if i didn't have diabetes or high bp. When I was in high

> school I used to weigh 125 pounds. I miss how I use to look. I know

> I'll never be that size ever again! LOL I'm 47 soon to be 48. All I

> want is to be healthy first, then to look decent in my clothes. I

> also ask myself why didn't i do this a long time ago. I honestly

> didn't think my insurance would have paid for it and i had heard so

> many bad things about the surgery.

>

> So to sum up this long post (hehe), yes...i am glad i had the surgery.

> I'll be even glader (is that a word??? lol) in 6 months when i

> really see a big difference.

>

> Thanks to everyone who let me run off at the mouth!!! Thanks for

> listening.

>

>

> Missouri

> Not in limbo anymore

> Post op as of 8/12/3

> 277/255/?

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Sounds like you’re beginning to make real progress. Hopefully the worst is

behind you. You’re doing good, and giving the rest of us inspiration. And

you’ve got a “gem” of a husband. You’re truly blessed.

Charlotte

Pre-op (tomistic)

(unknown)

Hi everyone!

Well today I had my first taste of REAL food!!! I thought I had died

and gone to heaven it was soooo damn good!! LMAO My hubby said I had

this look of sheer happiness on my face. Even though it was the

amount i'm allowed to eat, it didn't matter. I had gotten so sick of

the liquid, pureed thing. I was so weak on those stages. I have

improved so much with the pain, it was the weakness that was getting

me down. I was sooo weak. It was hard even sitting up for a short

time. I would walk a bit then I'd have to sit down. I hated the

feeling. I had my surgery on 8/12/3 and the first 2 weeks really

sucked!! Thank God for my husband. He's been my rock. He took

family medical leave for 5 weeks to be my caregiver. He's taken care

of me, the house our daughter, the shopping, the washing, cleaning,

everything. He IS my true soulmate.

So far, as of today I have dropped from 277 pounds to 255 pounds. I'm

really excited about that. I get depressed every now and then when i

start asking myself if i've done the right thing by having this

surgery. I have diabetes and high bp and have lost alot of family

members to those two things. I had tried all diets. This was my last

hope. So when I get depressed, I come online and start reading

everyone's messages and it gives me the lift I need. Oh sure...I miss

eating all the food i use to. I was one who just loved food. Not

because I was sad or mad or lonely or depressed, etc. I just loved

the taste of food. I have also asked myself if i would have had the

surgery done if i didn't have diabetes or high bp. When I was in high

school I used to weigh 125 pounds. I miss how I use to look. I know

I'll never be that size ever again! LOL I'm 47 soon to be 48. All I

want is to be healthy first, then to look decent in my clothes. I

also ask myself why didn't i do this a long time ago. I honestly

didn't think my insurance would have paid for it and i had heard so

many bad things about the surgery.

So to sum up this long post (hehe), yes...i am glad i had the surgery.

I'll be even glader (is that a word??? lol) in 6 months when i

really see a big difference.

Thanks to everyone who let me run off at the mouth!!! Thanks for

listening.

Missouri

Not in limbo anymore

Post op as of 8/12/3

277/255/?

[Guest guest]

I just wanted to welcome you to the group. I am so sorry for your loss. Please ask any questions. I lost 2 babies to IC. I now have our little miracle at home after the ab cerclage.Love, P.

"Brayden Austin" 06/02/03 }}Angel {{ (14wks) 6/12/00 }}Angel Trustin{{ (18wks) 7/17/02

>From: "anntwinnettea"

>Reply-To: Abbyloopers >To: Abbyloopers >Subject: (unknown) >Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 02:26:08 -0000 > Help protect your PC: Click here to go to the Mcafee.com free online virus scan.

Hi everyone,

i'am very happy to join your group , this is the 1st time at i have

joined one. My husband and i have lost 2 babies due to IC the last

lost was just this June 28th, a baby girl.I can't begin to explain

how happy I am to have found this group. For so long I've felt

alone, sad and depressed, because I couldn't find anyone who could

relate to my situation. Thanks from the bottom of my heart for

creating this wonderful group. I wish everyone the best of success.

My husband and I were told about the abdominal cerclage while we

were in the hospital, which resulted in the lost. We thought there

was no hope for us to have a c of our baby girl. After being told

about the abdominal procedure we now have hope for the future. I'm

afraid to become pregnant again. I hope through this group to give

support and to get support and to make friends.

Sincerely Anntwinnette

[Guest guest]

Thanks for welcome!!! Poovey wrote:

I just wanted to welcome you to the group. I am so sorry for your loss. Please ask any questions. I lost 2 babies to IC. I now have our little miracle at home after the ab cerclage.Love, P.

"Brayden Austin" 06/02/03 }}Angel {{ (14wks) 6/12/00 }}Angel Trustin{{ (18wks) 7/17/02

>From: "anntwinnettea"

>Reply-To: Abbyloopers >To: Abbyloopers >Subject: (unknown) >Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 02:26:08 -0000 >

Help protect your PC: Click here to go to the Mcafee.com free online virus scan.

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 9/16/2003 12:08:11 AM Central Standard Time,

coprhed@... writes:

hi everybody - persistance paid off and i got an approval for my appeal and

monday the 22nd @ 700 am is my surgery. i'm excited and nervous.

can those who are post op offer any questions i should ask my dr tomorrow?

any complications that i should have my hubby be aware of in case i'm out of

it?

do you have trouble swallowing pills? i'm sure at first its IV pain med then

what - pills? i'm not that great of a pill taker normally so i'm worried

about this.

Well Tonya if possible they will have you on liquids but things at home you

will have to check with your GP to see what can be opened , crushed, etc. I

have had to crush tylenol for headaches and it really taste bad but I would

rather taste the bad than have to wrestle with some of those headaches.

Wolfie

Lap Rny...August 27,2003

Dr. Lee A. Schmitt

Birmingham, Alabama

Keep 'Em Laughing!

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 9/16/2003 12:08:11 AM Central Standard Time,

coprhed@... writes:

hi everybody - persistance paid off and i got an approval for my appeal and

monday the 22nd @ 700 am is my surgery. i'm excited and nervous.

can those who are post op offer any questions i should ask my dr tomorrow?

any complications that i should have my hubby be aware of in case i'm out of

it?

do you have trouble swallowing pills? i'm sure at first its IV pain med then

what - pills? i'm not that great of a pill taker normally so i'm worried

about this.

Well Tonya if possible they will have you on liquids but things at home you

will have to check with your GP to see what can be opened , crushed, etc. I

have had to crush tylenol for headaches and it really taste bad but I would

rather taste the bad than have to wrestle with some of those headaches.

Wolfie

Lap Rny...August 27,2003

Dr. Lee A. Schmitt

Birmingham, Alabama

Keep 'Em Laughing!

[Guest guest]

,

Congrats on the approval and the quick surgery date.

As far as pills, i was told not to swallow any pills. They need to be crushed.

Or use childrens liquid or chewables. I also found that the new Excedrin Quick

Tabs work great. They dissolve on your tongue. Right after the IV came out, I

was given a liquid pain reliever and that's what I took at home.

Debbie R., WI

RNY 8/7/03

286/255/150

(unknown)

hi everybody - persistance paid off and i got an approval for my appeal and

monday the 22nd @ 700 am is my surgery. i'm excited and nervous.

can those who are post op offer any questions i should ask my dr tomorrow?

any complications that i should have my hubby be aware of in case i'm out of

it?

do you have trouble swallowing pills? i'm sure at first its IV pain med then

what - pills? i'm not that great of a pill taker normally so i'm worried

about this.

visit our website

www.geocities.com/tanyarn96/countryside.html

www.poncetihomes.com

[Guest guest]

the info i got yesterday from my dr said to get the chewable form - i haven

t gone shopping yet so we'll see.

visit our website

www.geocities.com/tanyarn96/countryside.html

www.poncetihomes.com

-- (unknown)

Hey all!

Quick question....Does anyone have a problem with swallowing pills

now? I got some calcium citrate and it's a big pill. I tried

swallowing it halfed and it got stuck (and let me tell you I

freaked!). Is there a liquid calcium citrate or chewable one anyone

can tell me about?

Thanks!

Missouri

crossed over on 8/12/3

277/241/?

[Guest guest]

Hi Jodi and a warm welcome to abbyloopers. I can't honestly remember if

I've sent a welcome mail yet do forgive me if I'm repeating myself (the brain

is not working well these days LOL).

First off so sorry to hear about your loss. Unfortunately most of us here

know all too well the heartache. Secondly congratulations on your pregnancy.

Risks as far as the abdominal go are generally the same as with a vaginal

although I have heard that the risk for infection and PROM during procedure

are lower. There is a slight risk of uterine rupture, but from all the info

I have found that risk is minimal and there hasn't really been a case in

quite a number of years. If you have a look at the abbyloopers site on Yahoo

and go to the databases, there is a list there of doctor information. I can't

remember offhand who is there but you might find someone else.

As far as bedrest goes, I think that is totally dependant on your doctor

as well as on how your cervix behaves. We have some members that are or

were on full bedrest, some on partial bedrest and some worked throughout

their entire pregnancy. So far we have had around a 97% success rate (1 failure,

but the baby was born at 26w and is doing well) on this BB.

Please let us know if you do go for the abdominal. I'd like to put you on

our preggie list if you go that route.

Blessings

Shona

Caitlyn born 22nd March 2000 at 28w (emergency cerclage at 18w) now 3.5

born to Jesus 3rd June 2002 at 15w (preventative cerclage at 12w)

Abdominal cerclage placed pre-pg 24th April 2003

jmsowards wrote:

Hi there.

I am so glad I found this board! It's the first and only

one I've ever joined.

My brief history is:

In 1996 I lost a baby due to incompetent cervix at 25 weeks. Now, 7

1/2 years later, at the age of 34, my second husband and I are

expecting a baby. I just went to ob yesterday and he says I am 8

wks. pregnant and will definitely need a cerclage this time. His

concern was that after my last pregnancy, my cervix only measured

about 2.4 and he thinks I may need an abdominal cerclage at 13

weeks. I live in ville, FL and the only doctor in town that

was experienced with this uncommon procedure is now in Tampa. So I

may need to go there for the procedure.

>From what I've read, it sounds like the abdominal cerclage is the

way to go vs. the vaginal cerclage. What are the risks to the

unborn baby when doing an abdominal? It seems so invasive.

I'm looking for some insight, reassurance, drawbacks, results,

limitations after procedure (bedrest requirements), etc. from others

who have already gone through this. I found out about your board by

entering "abdominal cerclage" in Google and reading a post there

referenced the board. I am so excited I've found you guys!

Thanks for any insight and/or suggestions...

Jodi

[Guest guest]

Hi Jodi and a warm welcome to abbyloopers. I can't honestly remember if

I've sent a welcome mail yet do forgive me if I'm repeating myself (the brain

is not working well these days LOL).

First off so sorry to hear about your loss. Unfortunately most of us here

know all too well the heartache. Secondly congratulations on your pregnancy.

Risks as far as the abdominal go are generally the same as with a vaginal

although I have heard that the risk for infection and PROM during procedure

are lower. There is a slight risk of uterine rupture, but from all the info

I have found that risk is minimal and there hasn't really been a case in

quite a number of years. If you have a look at the abbyloopers site on Yahoo

and go to the databases, there is a list there of doctor information. I can't

remember offhand who is there but you might find someone else.

As far as bedrest goes, I think that is totally dependant on your doctor

as well as on how your cervix behaves. We have some members that are or

were on full bedrest, some on partial bedrest and some worked throughout

their entire pregnancy. So far we have had around a 97% success rate (1 failure,

but the baby was born at 26w and is doing well) on this BB.

Please let us know if you do go for the abdominal. I'd like to put you on

our preggie list if you go that route.

Blessings

Shona

Caitlyn born 22nd March 2000 at 28w (emergency cerclage at 18w) now 3.5

born to Jesus 3rd June 2002 at 15w (preventative cerclage at 12w)

Abdominal cerclage placed pre-pg 24th April 2003

jmsowards wrote:

Hi there.

I am so glad I found this board! It's the first and only

one I've ever joined.

My brief history is:

In 1996 I lost a baby due to incompetent cervix at 25 weeks. Now, 7

1/2 years later, at the age of 34, my second husband and I are

expecting a baby. I just went to ob yesterday and he says I am 8

wks. pregnant and will definitely need a cerclage this time. His

concern was that after my last pregnancy, my cervix only measured

about 2.4 and he thinks I may need an abdominal cerclage at 13

weeks. I live in ville, FL and the only doctor in town that

was experienced with this uncommon procedure is now in Tampa. So I

may need to go there for the procedure.

>From what I've read, it sounds like the abdominal cerclage is the

way to go vs. the vaginal cerclage. What are the risks to the

unborn baby when doing an abdominal? It seems so invasive.

I'm looking for some insight, reassurance, drawbacks, results,

limitations after procedure (bedrest requirements), etc. from others

who have already gone through this. I found out about your board by

entering "abdominal cerclage" in Google and reading a post there

referenced the board. I am so excited I've found you guys!

Thanks for any insight and/or suggestions...

Jodi

[Guest guest]

Rita,

I have a 9-1/2 year old son with RSS. He did have development delays

(especially speech) until about 4. Complete sentences did not come to almost 5.

He

actually had some behaviors normally associated with autistic children (not

sure if the late speech has anything to do with the behaviors). As he got

older, the speech became more of a control issue or habit or both.

I don't know if the late speech is related to RSS. My son has been formally

diagnosed with RSS by several doctors. He, like your son, did not have all

the characteristics (mostly the ones you mentioned plus the incurved pinky,

which interestly enough runs on my husband's side of the family - they all have

it).

I will telll you that he almost never stops talking now.

Hope this helps.

[Guest guest]

I just wanted to quickly update some physician information.Someone from our group contacted my doctor about doing an ab-cerclage andwas unable to either see him or he couldn't do the surgery.I don't remember who it was.

Gosh, I think I called his office in my quest in trying to find a physician who would do an abd cerclage (prior to finding Dr. Haney). I was told that he is no longer accepting new patients, only patients for infertility treatment.

Was it me?

Chele

[Guest guest]

I just wanted to quickly update some physician information.Someone from our group contacted my doctor about doing an ab-cerclage andwas unable to either see him or he couldn't do the surgery.I don't remember who it was.

Gosh, I think I called his office in my quest in trying to find a physician who would do an abd cerclage (prior to finding Dr. Haney). I was told that he is no longer accepting new patients, only patients for infertility treatment.

Was it me?

Chele

[Guest guest]

I just wanted to quickly update some physician information.Someone from our group contacted my doctor about doing an ab-cerclage andwas unable to either see him or he couldn't do the surgery.I don't remember who it was.

Gosh, I think I called his office in my quest in trying to find a physician who would do an abd cerclage (prior to finding Dr. Haney). I was told that he is no longer accepting new patients, only patients for infertility treatment.

Was it me?

Chele

[Guest guest]

YUP! It was me...(see below).

Date: Thu Sep 18, 2003 2:39 pmSubject: Re: Re: Need Advice..please

Ginger,

Thank you for the information. I did call BC/BS and they told me exactly what you did....yes, it's covered, submitted to the state, etc.

I just called Dr. Bonaventura's office and they aren't seeing any more new patients, only for infertility. I also called Dr. Moodley's office and they said that they aren't familiar with abdominal cerclages...but she took a message for the doctor to call me back.

<moving on down the list>

Anyone have any other suggestions? I guess I'll start with a general radius outside of Michigan and move out slowly.

Chele

[Guest guest]

YUP! It was me...(see below).

Date: Thu Sep 18, 2003 2:39 pmSubject: Re: Re: Need Advice..please

Ginger,

Thank you for the information. I did call BC/BS and they told me exactly what you did....yes, it's covered, submitted to the state, etc.

I just called Dr. Bonaventura's office and they aren't seeing any more new patients, only for infertility. I also called Dr. Moodley's office and they said that they aren't familiar with abdominal cerclages...but she took a message for the doctor to call me back.

<moving on down the list>

Anyone have any other suggestions? I guess I'll start with a general radius outside of Michigan and move out slowly.

Chele