My take on Caterpillars!

Good Afternoon my patient Webbies!!
I have not been writing much and I apologize for my inattentiveness. I have had much to think about over the past few months and I have come to a decision, involving my life and it's present course.

A great many of you know of my past aversion to even the thought of any sort of weight loss surgery.....I have been negatively vocal, loudly and ostentatiously so, most of the time. Well, I have been seeking, watching and praying over this for some time, now and have decided that the safest and most permanent solution to my obesity and diabetes is indeed, gastric bypass surgery. This is a big step for me! I have a friend who had a RNY gastric bypass done in late November and she looks really good. She's happy and her diabetes is gone!! I want that! I want to give my diabetes back! The RNY surgery, though, scares me....They take the stomach and make a 2 oz. pouch out of it....then they bypass a big section of small intestine and then hook the remaining intestine up to the stomach pouch via anastomosis. There can be a lot of complications with that.....Icky complications that I don't even want to think about. In my search for answers, I came up with a totally new question. Is this the only surgery available? Can I get the benefits of a standard RNY surgery and not have all of the ickies.....I know about lap band, but I don't want that one.....I just don't feel right about having a rubber hose wrapped around my tum.

My God is an awesome God.....All it takes is honest praying, from an open and seeking heart and the miracles of Jesus can start!

Matthew 7: 7 and 8......This really says it all......

⁷ “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

God said it and I believe it and that settles it for me!!

So I asked for guidance, one day, I remember the day so clearly....It was March 6th. In my web search, I came across a website extolling the benefits of a surgery called biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch gastric bypass. Basically, what this surgery does is reduces the size of the stomach to hold 4 to 5 ounces, the surgeon removes the rest of the stomach following the natural curve of the stomach and reroutes the intestines. During the surgery, they also remove the gall bladder and appendix. The DS surgery has a longer lasting effect on the body and maintains the natural function of the stomach, itself. There are no dietary restrictions, post-op, after the initial healing and the only required supplements are a daily multi vitamin and calcium citrate. Also, with the DS surgery, 99% of diabetic patients achieve complete resolution of their diabetes!!

Yeah buddy!!


I'm thinking about having a going away party for my diabetes!!

God, you are so dang awesome!!

Then I read that there are only 50 doctors in the United States that perform this type of surgery.....Dum dee dum dum......DUMMMMMMM!!!

So I get discouraged for the few seconds it takes me to tell Satan to get his grimy backside behind me, in the name of Jesus.

At that point, I didn't even know what kind of insurance Mark was going to be offered with his new job.....I knew that Kaiser doesn't offer this type of surgery! Mark had to go into the office, that following Monday and I had him ask his people that know stuff like that, what brand of insurance he's going to be getting. It's Blue Cross/Blue Shield.....

OH HAPPY DAY!! OH HAPPY DAAAAAAY........


I check the Blue Cross Website and they cover three types of gastric bypass.....Lap Band....RNY and BPD/DS........

Knock and it will be opened to you!!

Sometime after deciding that I was in it to win it, I talked to Rosemary....She'd just been to see her cardiologist and that doctor told her that she should think about having..........

Guess what??

Gastric Bypass!!

Hallelujah, I don't have to do this alone......

I feel like a caterpillar..... Waiting for the day when I will cover myself with silky threads and take a much needed rest.....Changing, growing, becoming......And on the appointed day, I will emerge from my asylum and the old Lisa will have faded away, to be replaced with a more efficient, more able butterfly Lisa with gossamer wings and the glory of God will finally teach her how to fly....Something she has never ever done before.....something, she's only dreamed of......

My life as a caterpillar hasn't been easy!! Always larger than everyone else.....Discriminated against, called names......treated as if I was always second best or not nearly as good as everyone else....Yeah I know, waah waah waah, yadda yadda yadda....Put on your big girl panties and get on with your bad self, right??

MmmHmmm...Exactly!!

Finally, for once in my life, I will not be bound with this body's chains of limitation. My course is set, my path is clear.....I will not be moved!!

At first, Rosemary and I chose a doctor out of Stanford, for our surgeries, but Rosemary called on them yesterday and was told that that doctor no longer does this surgery! So we've decided on Dr. Ara Kashishian, out of Delano (between Fresno and Bakersfield, in Tulare County). He has a very good reputation and Delano is a whole lot easier to navigate than San Francisco. We've gotten quite used to smaller towns!! Rosemary already has insurance, so she was able to make her consultation appointment right away!! I called the surgeon's office this afternoon and they called me back about half an hour ago....I am going for my consultation appointment on the same day as Rosemary, June 28th. I am overjoyed that I get to do this with my friend. This makes things a whole lot easier and less scary!

Anyhoo, enough with my rabble!! Everything here is great! Mariah is doing well in school and Mark still loves his new job! I'm still here, working on scrapbooking and making paper beads. One thing I have been able to accomplish in the past couple of months.....I've got my dish washing under control....A HUGE achievement for me, because I hate the dishes!! Now, I just have to find a way to get my clothes to fold themselves and I'll be right as rain!!

I'm going to be using my blog here, to chronicle my weight loss journey, from start to whenever. It's important to keep a journal for this type of thing, I think. It won't all be about gastric bypass...there will be other things. I am still just a caterpillar, but I am looking forward to the day when I can fly......

Love each other as He loves,
In Him,
Lisa