WLS Center E-Newsletter

A FREE publication from
http://www.WLScenter.com

Hosted by Barbara Thompson
Author of:
Weight Loss Surgery:
Finding the Thin Person Hiding Inside You.

Barbara Thompson
The Voice of Obesity

Hello Everyone,
I just spent a terrific weekend in Park Rapids, MN talking to some wonderful patients of the Dakota Clinic who featured me in their weekend celebration of success. One theme that I heard from many patients is a fear of regaining weight and a fear of doing something wrong.

We all stumble and fall. This journey is not an easy one and we get off track and we make mistakes.  I think we have become so accustomed to failing that we don’t know how to act when we succeed. Success does not come without falling along the way.  That’s how we learn.  So don’t get discouraged and don’t feel alone.  We are all in this Sisterhood and Brotherhood of weight loss surgery together.

In This Issue

* My Take on Recent Events
* Cruise News
* Blogging Along
* Word Search Puzzle: Exercise
* Has Your Pouch Stretched?
* Recipe: Baked Apples in Fruit Sauce  
* Success Story: Kim Jones
* Spreading the Word in Milwaukee; Charlotte, NC; Greenville, PA; Washington, DC; Caribbean; and Columbus, OH

Cruise News

Do you have your summer vacation planned yet? If not, join me on my cruise to the Caribbean August 18^th to 23^rd .

We will be leaving from Miami and sailing to Ocho Rios, Jamaica and the Grand Cayman Islands. Bring you family, bring your friends, or come by yourself.  We will have a grand time. 

Click here for more information and for registration forms http://www.wlscenter.com/cruise.htm

Have questions? Check out our FAQ page.

Here is a hidden word puzzle that is all about exercise. How about committing to just one of these exercises this week? And make it one that you don’t normally do. Try something different. 

Go to Puzzle

Dear Barbara,
I have been receiving the newsletter for some time now. I find them to be very helpful and want to thank you for having them. I have read your books and enjoyed them. I have gained about 35 pounds since surgery, due to many reasons mostly my emotional eating. Here is my question:  is there any way our pouches once they are stretched out can go back again or shrink? I know that must sound like a crazy question but I have been trying to get back on track and not quite sure how to go about it.

Denise

Dear Denise.
If you had RNY surgery, you do not have to worry about your pouch stretching.  The stomach tissue at the base of the esophagus is tough and resistant to stretching. So your pouch probably hasn’t stretched.

What happens more often is that the stoma, which is the opening from the pouch to the small intestines, stretches.  In its original state, the stoma opening should be about the size of a dime. But over time as we force food through that opening, it may stretch. What results is that food doesn’t stay in your pouch as long and slides right through. You don’t get a long sustained feeling of being full.  You are hungrier sooner.

Here is a plan of action to address your problem:

• Talk with your surgeon and ask him or her to check the size of your stoma and how fast your pouch is emptying.
• If your pouch is emptying too fast, there are surgeons who are doing revision surgery on the stoma to tighten it up. Many of them are starting to do it endoscopically, which is down your throat rather than making incisions in your abdomen. In the next year or two you will see more and more surgeons doing this kind of revision surgery.
• Watch your carb intake. What many people think is a stretched pouch or stoma is just your body craving carbs.  Make the carbohydrates complex. Have your source of carbohydrates come from fruits, vegetables and whole grains
• Join my Back on Track Internet Mentoring Program. It is a program that you can work through on a path to success. See the information below.

I don’t often feature dessert recipes in this newsletter, but I couldn’t resist this one.  I hope you enjoy it.

Baked Apples in Fruit Sauce

4 small apples
½ cup (4 fluid ounces) unsweetened orange juice
1 egg yolk
Artificial sweetener

Preheat oven to 350°. Peel and core apples. Wrap each apple in a piece of aluminum foil and bake in oven for 45 minutes.

Whip together the egg yolk and the orange juice. Put in a double boiler and continue whipping until smooth and the mixture just starts to bubble. Add the sweetener to taste.

Remove the apples from the oven and place each in an individual serving dish. Pour ¼ of the sauce over each apple. Makes 4 servings

Each serving:
96 calories; 19 carbohydrates; 2 grams of protein

If you have a recipe that you would like to share in future issues of this newsletter, please send it to me at Barbara@WLScenter.com

I want to offer Kim Jones a special thank you. Here is her story:

A testimony is summed up with one word: proof. Proof that something I strongly believed would happen, did in fact happen. The testimony I want to share is the proof that my life has drastically improved through bariatric surgery.

The first question I received from everyone when they found out I was going to have bariatric surgery was “Why?” and the very next response was “You just want to be skinny!” Skinny, no; lose weight, yes; improve my health and quality of life, yes, yes, yes!!!

Most of my young life was spent dealing with other people’s ignorance of overweight problems in children and teens. Some people were well-meaning, but most were just down-right cruel. It’s hard enough dealing with your peers much less some adults. Believe me; trying to embarrass or shame someone into losing weight does not work. If it did, I would not be writing this testimony today.

The older I became the more overweight I became. It worsened after each of my two daughters were born. I tried very hard to blame them, but they both refused to accept the guilt trip I was trying to lay on them.

By this time I had hardened myself against the verbal abuse and accepted my weight as just a fact of life. So life decided to put another wrinkle in the plan; in my case several wrinkles.

I became a diabetic dependant on 100 units of insulin daily. Osteoarthritis in my feet and hips had me taking 800 mg of Neurontin. My blood pressure was so out of control that I was on three medications and even then it was not controlled. I was also diagnosed with life-threatening sleep apnea which caused me to be dependant on a CPAP for over six years.

During this time I developed an extreme lack of energy. Just putting in a day’s work would tire me out till I would just go home and sit down for the rest of the evening. I stopped wanting to do anything or go anywhere. I could not take the heat, nor could I walk more than 5 or 6 feet without being out of breath. In effect, I was in danger of dying from any one of these conditions.

Then June 23, 2004 arrived. Thanks to Dr. Davenport, Denise and his wonderful staff, my life turned around completely. My life did not change instantly, but I was given the tool to start controlling my life and start living again.

So far, I have lost 167 pounds. I am no longer on insulin or any type of diabetes medicine. My blood sugar levels have been normal since the 4th day after surgery. With the weight gone, my osteoarthritis does not bother me; so I am off the Neurontin. I am only on one blood pressure medication and it is under control. Six months after my surgery I underwent a sleep study and subsequently was removed from the CPAP; I no longer have sleep apnea.

As far as the energy level goes, this past week I spent my vacation in the mountains of Georgia, camping, hiking and horseback riding with my grandchildren (yes, the horse survived). I even hiked 850 feet up the side of a mountain to see a tower built in the 1800’s by Indians. I made the trip up and back down without any problems. Then we went swimming.

Everyone asks me how much have I lost. The more important question should be how much have I gained? I gained a normal weight (not skinny), a healthier body, a better self-image and the ability to play with my grandchildren in a way I was never able to play with my own children. My body is no longer trapped by obesity, illness and lack of energy.

For those who are reading this and contemplating bariatric surgery, make sure you are doing it for all the right reasons. I was told by some this was just “the easy way out” to lose weight. That statement could not be further from the truth. It is a diet you will never go off of. There is no, “I’ll start my diet Monday.” There is no binge eating if you get depressed.

Dr. Davenport and his staff gave me all the information on what I should eat and when, but I was sometimes my own worst enemy during this time. I learned that you will adapt or your “new” stomach will adapt for you. This is not a “quick-fix,” but a life-long tool to pursue a healthier life. I am right now healthier than I have been in over 30 years.

I am human and I made mistakes while I was learning this new way of life. You will make mistakes too, just learn from them. I would not change one thing about the surgery or what I went through. In fact I would recommend bariatric surgery to anyone who wants to get their health back. 

Kim Jones,
RNY GB 6/23/2004 by Dr. Donald Davenport,
Weight loss 167 pounds.

Congratulations Kim

You achieved your goal, be proud and tell the world.

I love good news.  If you have good news, a success story to share, or inspiration, please send it to me at Barbara@wlscenter.com so that I can include it in future issues.

If you are a nurse and would like for me to speak on positive patient outcomes, patient satisfaction, or obesity sensitivity for your State Nurses Association, please have the conference planner for your State Association contact me. I have a corporate sponsor who will pay my fee and expenses so it is free for your Association. I also speak for many hospitals on the same topics. 

Contact me at Barbara@WLScenter.com or 412-851-4195.