Some of you may know me as shrinkinglaura. I've run a popular weight loss vlog on Youtube since 2007 and now I am branching into blogging. I have been though a lot in the past couple of years and I am looking back on these experiences and sharing them with you, the interwebs. Enjoy.
3rd week of January, I moved back to Edmonton to live with my friend Angela. She owned a 3 bedroom semi-detached house and had a vacant bedroom so we figured that we myswell make the best of the space and have me rent it out. The arrangement only worked until the end of Febuary before things got a little too tense and our friendship just sort of ended.
My 6 month post-op video:
Upon moving back to Edmonton, I decided to stick myself back onto the dating market. I joined (well, re-joined. shhh) plentyoffish.com and starting arranging dates every few nights. I did end up meeting a lot of very very kind and interesting people on there - friendships did end up developing and a few of them I either still keep in contact with or they are good friends. I met Marc in the first couple days of Febuary. He drove to Ang's house to pick me up and we went to a pub/grill to grab a drink and chat. I'll be honest - I was not really interested in him because I felt that he was too short for me. Me being 5'8" 1/2 and him only being 5'10".. I have always felt very self conscious about my height and being a big girl I was both tall and wide, so I felt like I was too large for someone under 6 foot. Regardless, Marc and I started to spend a lot of time with each other and over the next 2 months we grew very close and I set aside my feelings about his height and learned to look past it. It's a good thing I did, too. Marc ended up being the best thing that could have happened to me. He takes care of me and been very supportive of my weight loss and all the major changes I have gone through since we started going out. He ended up adapting my eating habits and lost 30lbs of his own and now feels much better about himself, too.
I spent the months of December and January confiding in my YouTube subscribers, not willing to talk to any of my friends or family about my feelings or the events that unfolded in Mexico. By Christmas I felt a lot better about myself and my self esteem started to pick back up once my weight loss kicked back in to high gear. I didn't resort to emotional eating during these months, which I am very proud of, but I did isolate myself, which I am not proud of. At this point I was living on cheese strings and Weight Watchers frozen dinners and dropped an additional 30lbs.
Christmas of 2007 was especially important to me because I was able to see family that I had not seen in 2 years or more. The only thing was that, it wasn't important for me to actually spend time with them, it was important to me that I show them how much weight I was losing. For my entire life I've been compared to (or felt like I was) my cousins, who are both thin and beautiful and having everything going for them, so this Christmas was my chance to feel like I was thin and beautiful and like I was headed somewhere in my life, too. Unfortunately they didn't take as much notice to my new appearance as I would have liked. I'm not sure if they were just not comfortable with HOW I lost the weight or if they just didn't know how to express themselves ... Really don't know. Best things about Christmas were definitely my normal-sized gifts, though.
In the New Year of 2008, I made a lot of very silly videos for my YouTube channel. Since I was planning on moving back to Edmonton in the end of January, I decided just to fill up my time in front of the computer and watching TV.
Sorry about the lack of audio in this one, YouTube removed it because I used a song without authorization.
A LOT happened in the few months following surgery - I lost 72lbs, I got fired from my job and I found myself a handsome doctor and moved into his house in Mexico.
72 Pound Loss:
Losing weight was relatively easy in those first few months. I didn't have much of an appetite and a mouthful of food was enough to make me feel like I was going to burst the the seams (literally!). I experienced a few stalls in those couple of months, the longest one lasting 2 - 2 1/2 weeks in the month of September. By November I was down to 270lbs and fitting comfortably in a size 18 jean (down from my size 24/26s!)
My Job:
I worked at TELUS Communications from July 2006 until a few weeks before I had my surgery. Right from the first couple of weeks that I worked for TELUS, I had difficulty with my manager, Mike. From what I hear, Mike had a tendency to dismiss people on his team who he didn't like (or didn't feel was attractive). When I first met Mike in July of 2006, I was weighing in at about 350lbs. 2 weeks after I started working on his team, I was handed a letter of termination because I left work for 45 minutes to attend an appointment, DESPITE him knowing and approving that time off a week and a half prior. I declined his letter of termination and told him that I felt I was being wrongfully terminated since he had agreed to my time off earlier and understood that it would be in the middle of my shift. He withdrew the letter but from that day forward, I had major issues with him as a manager. Over the next year, I was given several negative work reviews, another termination letter (again, declined) and by the time July rolled around, I was getting sick and tired of the nonsense happening at work. I decided that the best thing to do would be accept a transfer to Montreal (My boyfriend and I had just broken up, so no strings!) and get out of Edmonton. After surgery, I moved everything cross-country to Montreal to find out 3 days later that TELUS was letting me go because my manager in Edmonton has given them a poor reference and advised them not to let me transfer.
Handsome Doctor:
During the month of August, I kept in contact with Jorge (who I mentioned as being the doctor who treated me post-op in Mexico) over MSN. Things quickly turned from doctor-patient to lust as he began flirting with me and at some point in the end of August, we moved our 'relationship' from online to the phone. We spoke everyday for as long as we could. I would call him on his cell or he would drive to the nearest restaurant which had wi-fi and we would connect to video chat on MSN. I thought I was the luckiest girl alive - why would someone like him be interested in someone like me? When I moved to Montreal and found out that my job wasn't going to work out, I took that opportunity to pack up my belongings and move down to Puerto Vallarta with my handsome doctor. On October 3rd I arrived in Vallarta and was picked up by Jorge. It was very strange to see him again after so long of being on webcam but I felt very comfortable with him. We shared our first kiss in his car while sitting at a red light on the way back to his house (So romantic LOL). Those first 4 weeks that I was down there with him was spent mostly with him at work doing surgeries with Dr Joya and me at home sitting on the computer, researching spanish and preparing him his meals. I felt very much like a typical housewife. Sometime in mid-November, Jorge was called away to an "emergency surgery" that was to happen in a different state, 4 hours away. He left me around 10:15 that evening and drove to meet the rest of the surgical team. I sat down at my computer, where he had been playing with my webcam and checking his email - and as I started to close down the internet browser, I noticed an email with a subject line which mentioned "Thank you for the other night" from a woman who I knew had been a patient of Dr Joya's as well. Curiosity got the best of me and I clicked on the email. What I found was an email describing how his 'scent remained on her pillow' and how she told her mother that they had slept together while she was in Vallarta recovering from surgery and that her mother had invited him to attend a cruise with their family. I was so confused and angry and I wasn't sure what to do. I tried calling his cellphone, but by then (10 minutes later) it was either out of range or he was not answering. I spent that entire night crying and not able to sleep. I felt so alone, being in Mexico with no family or friends to support me with a person who I clearly didn't know all that well. He returned the next day and essentially told me that I have to accept him for who he is (a cheater?). Being that I was in Mexico and had no way of finding my way back home, I accepted it. Things got worse from there and by the end of the month, I was suspicious of everything he did. He would treat me horribly, flirt with other women while in my presence, go out for drinks late at night and then return home at 3am drunk and refuse to look at me. I flew home with help from my Dad. Something worth mentioning: Jorge had a friend named Angel who was also dating a Canadian girl, Chelsea. Chelsea was a patient of Angels from earlier in the year while she was visiting Vallarta, she had burned her feet on the hot sand and was sent to him, being that he was the hotel doctor. They hit it off and had been dating ever since. Angel broke up with Chelsea in October but didn't give any reason. Chelsea and I had never been friends up until this point because Jorge made her out to look like a complete ass and he told Chelsea that I was crazy, so she didn't want to be friends with me either. Upon my return home, I received a message from Chelsea in my facebook inbox asking me to call her. I was very hesitant, but I decided to go ahead and call her, thinking that she was a crazy ass. That phone call lasted the better part of 3 hours, with both Chelsea and I revealed everything we knew about each other's new ex boyfriends. I told her that Angel was sleeping with other women while he was in Vallarta and she was back home in Canada and he also flew to Cancun and proposed to his ex girlfriend while him and Chelsea were still together. Chelsea let me in on Jorge's little secrets, including his drug use, sleeping with prostitutes as well as other patients. Chelsea and I are best friends now and have been for the last two years. Us both being conned by greasy Mexicans (that's what we call our ex's, not all Mexicans) definitely brought us together and I am very grateful to have her as a friend, even if the friendship happened at our own expense.
July 27th of 2007 changed my life forever!! My mom travelled with me down to PV for my RNY, so we woke up early that morning to bo to the hospital for 7am. I remember walking into the main entrance of the hospital and meeting with Nathalie in her office. We went over all the legal paperwork, including possible complications (Most of which my mom was very upset about. Why do they always make 'death' sound so dramatic?!) and did my pre-op weigh in and pictures. I don't have those pictures, but I do have one from the night before my surgery! I will include it at the bottom of this post.
We were taken to a private room where I changed into my (breezy) hospital gown and (very attractive) paper cloth slippers and had my blood taken for the remaining blood tests. By noon we were ready to wheel me into the OR. I remember my mom breaking down into tears as I was being wheeled down the hallway and Joya was trying to comfort her. THIS is why they shouldn't put emphasis on death in the list of possible complications!
Once in the OR, I was moved from my gurney up onto the (very skinny) surgical table (how did my fat butt fit on there?) while trying to keep my hospital gown from flying open and revealing the lack of underwear that they insisted I not wear. They fitted my legs with stockings to prevent any blood clots from forming and then proceeded to revv up the happy gas. Last thing I remember was me giggling and then being told that the surgery was 'no laughing matter'. Then I was out.
I woke up very very briefly at one point after the surgery, looked over at a woman in the recovery room next to me and asked "Who the hell is that??". So embarrassing.
I believe I was in recovery for something like 4-6 hours before they let me go back to my room where mom was waiting for me. I don't remember a whole lot of this night, I was very drugged and very happy to be on the other side of the surgery. On the 'losers bench' as I would call it. The following 3 days were very long and painful. I had a lot of gas pain in my left shoulder and under my left ribcage - so I received a lot of morphine through my IV to keep the pain under control. On day 3, Jorge, who's name is now 'Asshole' but we will get to that later on, took me down to the X-ray room where they performed a leak test. I was to swallow 1 oz of the most horrible fluid known to man kind and stand still while they x-rayed my torso to see if the fluid was leaking out of my new pouch. Passed with flying colours! I was released to start sucking on ice and drink capfulls of water. Day 4, I went back to the nh Krystal resort to spend 4 days recovering before returning home. On my arrival to the resort, I was greeted by bagboys and a security guard. I spoke briefly with the security guard who had asked me where I was coming from. I explained that I was a Joya patient and I'd just had surgery - I remember his reaction being one of complete surprise. He told me that I looked amazing and not tired or weak like all of the other Joya patients. That made me feel great! He ended up calling me later that night and asked me out on a date. We went out for the evening to Nuevo Vallarta to a beach and sat and talked for a few hours before he returned me to my resort. We kept in contact after that and I have seen him once since then. Mom and I spent 3 days in the resort and ended up leaving 1 day early because of some issues that were going on back home.
I wrote a review on Dr Joya's guestbook/testimonials page a couple of years ago:
The total cost for the surgery/expenses was $12,500USD and that included my tests, surgeon fees, surgery, anesthesiologist, transportation, airfare, hospital (4 nights) and 4 nights in the nH Krystal (5 star resort on the coast on Banderas Bay). I contacted Gerald gerald@drjoya.com and he went through all of the requirements over the phone, I paid my $1000 deposit and got all of the paperwork to fill out which included medical history and pych. evaluation, also booked my plane tickets while I was on the phone to make sure I got a date/time that was best for me.
I arrived in PV three days before surgery so that I could have a bit of fun in Mexico first The day before surgery, Nathalie (Joya's assistant) came by the resort and gave me some money and some information about the surgery so I could read over it the night before. The day of surgery, I took a taxi to the hospital (about 2 mins away) and met Nathalie in the front office, we went over some paperwork and got weighed and then prepped for surgery (bloodwork etc.. apparently I'm an A-!). Dr Joya came in to see me right before surgery and he held my hand and talked to me a bit and made me feel really comfortable. I was wheeled into the OR I woke up in the recovery room and there were a couple of nurses around me making sure that I was okay and that I woke up so I could go into my room. Later that night, I woke up (finally) and was wheeled into my room by a couple of really sweet nurses who kept holding my hand and telling me that I did great in surgery! Recovery went really well, I had minimal pain, if I needed assistance or medication I didn't have to wait forever for a nurse.. nurses come in every hour to check and make sure you're doing okay.. they will give you pain meds no questions asked! The room had a private air conditioning with remote control and a beautiful view of the outside.. also had it's own television with 80 channels (a lot were in English, even). Every day after surgery, the nurses come in to check on you but Dr Jorge Martinez would be the doctor taking care of you after surgery, he comes in to check the bandages and make sure you're doing okay and he talks to everyone to make them feel a bit more comfortable. I was in the hospital for 4 days and then released to the resort to continue recovering.. the resort is absolutely stunning. For the three days that I was in the resort, Dr Jorge still came to check up on me every morning and check my bandages and whatnot. After the 3 days are up, I felt pretty much back to normal.
.. Nathalie gave me all of the paperwork from surgery including blood work results, gastric bypass diet, an explanation of what happened during surgery etc etc. I took a taxi back to the airport and flew back home.. no discomfort or anything from surgery.
I'd say I was feeling back to normal within 4-5 days after surgery.. bending down was a little bit hard for a couple more days after that but all in all.. not too shabby Dr Joya and his staff were excellent, the surgery went amazing, they made sure I was always comfortable... I have absolutely nothing to complain about. I received far better care in Mexico than I ever have in the US or Canada.. highhlyyyy recommend Dr Joya. If you are serious about getting surgery in Mexico I would definitely consider giving Gerald a call/email to find out more information.
It's been nearly 2.5 years since I had my RNY and so much has happened. I've decided to go back in time month-by-month and blog all of the events that unfolded starting in July of 2007. I have a LOT of photos and videos to link on this blog so hopefully my resurrected blog will be interesting and fun to read!
Cheers for right now, this project will begin this week.
Well, surgery went off without a hitch! I am now two weeks out, 25 lbs down and my pants are almost starting to fall off. I can drink with no problems and I am on pureed foods!
All in all I'd say I'm doing pretty fabulously. Christmas is in under 5 months and I'm hoping to see a bunch of people I haven't seen in a couple of years and knock their socks off! Should be awesome.
We arrived safe and sound two days ago!! It´s been fun & I´ve learned some spanish words. Don´t have a lot of time to update... $3 for 10 mins on the internet. Just wanted to say gracias for all of the support thus far. Tomorrow is the big day and this time tomorrow I will be on the loser´s bench. Very excited to say the least!!!!
Hope everyone is enjoying this fabulous sunny day.
