I hate shakes! I HATE SHAKES!!

I was so excited to start my journey today, I got up took my vitamins, mixed up the shake, drank it and wanted to quit! The shakes are not bad, they are just not nice! I added berries to make it a little more exciting but it wasn’t enough!

The diet I have to stick to is a little strict -

Breakfast - Shake
Morning Tea - 1 piece of fruit
Lunch - Shake and vegetables
Afternoon Tea - 1 piece of fruit and diet jelly
Dinner - Shake and vegetables
Supper - Diet Jelly

So no meat and no carbs! But I need to stick to this. The diet helps reduce the fat on your liver which makes the surgery and recovery easier.

So day one is almost over! Only 10 more days to go!

When I saw Dr Read he gave me a list of suppliments and vitamins he wants me to take to help the Pyrrole Disorder and general health.

Here is a list of what I will be taking -

* Intestamine - Nutritional support for the gastrointestinal tract
* Zinc Sustain - Nutrient Complex
* Ultra Muscleze
* Women’s Essentials - Multi Vitamin
* Vitamin C
* Thorn B6

So lets see if they make me feel better!

Today is the day before I start the shakes, I thought I would measure and record a starting weight. I will measure myself the day before surgery and will try and update at least once a month. I don’t want to watch the scales too much.

Starting Weight - 110.5 kg (243.6 lbs)
Starting BMI - 39.6
Clothing Size - 20

Hips - 132cm
Waist - 118cm
Thighs - 71cm
Calves - 44.5cm
Arms - 41cm
Chest -117cm

Front Photo -

Side Photo -

Back Photo -

The last month has been a big ride! I have been wanting to get some health issues sorted out for a long time.

*** To Much Information Alert ***

For the past few years I have had diarrhea almost everyday, sometimes 3-4 times a day. I had always suspected an allergy to dairy or gluten but have always been too scared to have it looked into. I have seen a few doctors and most have written it off as irritable bowel syndrome, but I was sure it was more. I also have very low iron and have been having iron injections for the past 2 months every fortnight.

I saw Dr Read who is a Bariatric Physican for the Circle Of Care. Calling him amazing is an insult. He is the only doctor I have ever seen who has made sense of a lot of things that I never really knew were problems. The consultation with him was meant to be an hour and it went for almost 2 hours. He went through my entire medical history and gave me answers to every question.

When I was a child I had chronic sore throats. I was forever at the doctors with a sore throat and was always told it was tonsilitis and to rest and it will go away. They never wanted to take my tonsils out. Dr Read told me my sore throats is a clear sign of a dairy allergy which I have always suspected. With my diarrhea he said that can be the dairy or a gluten allergy like Coeliacs disease. He referred me to see Dr Jorri Jordaan for a Colonoscopy and Gastroscopy.

Dr Read also diagnosed me with a genetic stress disorder called Pyrrole Disorder. He prescribed a mix of vitamins and minerals to help correct the imbalances. I ahve not yet started taking them as I had to wait until after seeing Dr Jordaan.

After leaving Dr Read’s surgery armed with all that information I felt amazing, I was glad to have a doctor take my symptoms seriously.

4 days ago I saw Dr Jordaan and he booked me in for the Colonoscopy and Gastroscopy. He said my symptoms were concistant with Coeliacs.

Today I had the Colonoscopy and Gastroscopy done. Can I say that was the least fun I have ever had! lol. The bowel prep was hell! I had to drink an awful drink all day yesterday and have never felt so bad in my life! The actual procedure was fine, I was out so have no idea! He found a few things and took biopsies and I hope to get the results back next week!

I am feeling so good, I am taking care of my health and it is something I should have done a long time ago.

The banding has really changed my life and it hasn’t even happened yet!

Well I have been really slack with updating my blog. I have been so busy sorting out my health problems (will talk about it in another post). So this update might be rather long!!

Last time I posted I hadn’t really done anything except make the decision to do the banding! A little over a month ago I sent my forms in to release some of my superanuation to pay for the surgery. A few days after sending in my forms I got a phone call from Nicole (my friend who has had the banding) and she was sooooo excited! She had just been in to have her fill done and they practice manager was talking to her and said she had some places for people with private health insurance to have the surgery done for free through a clinical trial and asked if Nicole knew anyone who was interested. So Nicole instantly mentioned me and as soon as she left the surgery she called me screaming and I quickly rang them! After talking to Felicia for I was booked in to see Dr Layani to have my surgery for free!!

I cannot thank the people at Circle of Care and Nicole enough. Giving a gift like this to someone is truly life changing.

I saw Dr Layani for a consultation and went through the procedure. He is really lovely and made me feel really comfortable. He then booked my surgery date for the Thursday 18th June 2009! I was given the shakes for the pre-op diet and made all my post-op appointments with the dietician, my fills with Dr Read and also the workshop.

Before I left I also made an appointment with Dr Read. I had been told he is excellent with allergies and working out if there are other issues that may be preventing you from losing weight. So I was really certain I wanted to see him before the surgery. I have been suffering for years from what I suspect is a food allergy and I really thought it was time to take care of it. I will write a different post about all of this!

Pretty much that is where I am up to with the banding, I am 13 days away and feeling nervous and excited. I am not really nervous about the surgery. I have had a c-section so nothing really scares me anymore! lol. I am more nervous about losing weight, I am just scared to change my life. I have been hiding under these layers of fat for about 7 years and while I hate it I also feel it is my security blanket. I know while ever I am overweight I can hide in the background and not have to deal with my issues and just blame things on being fat. But being thinner will mean no more hiding and that scares me! But I am ready, really ready!

So the countdown begins!!