It all began last fall (2016) when I was enjoying the outdoors and walking a mile or two each day ?. In November my right knee started really bothering me ? so to be proactive, I decided to go to the doctor and find out what kind of knee support would be the best. ? My doctor x-rayed my knees and said that both knees were bone on bone....which means there was no cartilage left (sigh)... no cushion in the joint. She referred me to an orthopedic surgeon. He took one look at my x-rays and said he would put me in an unloader brace (I weighed in at #296 ?) but that really wasn't the issue ?Say what????? He announced that he was going to inject ? both knees with Cortizone ? and hope that it helps however, knee replacement is my only option at this point ?. The really bad news.....what? ? there's more??? "You are way too heavy (FAT) to be a candidate for knee replacement. You need to lose at least 100 pounds ??️ ???????????????? no...no...not chocolate! He then said that he thought I was a good candidate for bariatric surgery ✂️??⚕️? ...and I thought no way, nada, nope, sorry, but not for this OLD lady pushing 70!
(Update: injections did help my knee pain and I resumed my daily walks ?)
When my regular doctor received the information from the orthopedist, she concurred and said she thought I was a perfect candidate for bariatric surgery ? ...really? She added that I was in good health for my age ?? and weight ... I was reasonably active ... and the medical issues I do have are directly a result of my obesity?. Reluctantly, I agreed to allow her to ask for pre-approval from my insurance company with the stipulation that I was not agreeing to actually go through with it ?. In February the surgery was approved and I began a reluctant journey ?....lots of medical testing to weigh my suitability for the program. Psychological test (to see how crazy I was...am....crazy normal or ?? crazy) breathing test, sleep apnea test, blood tests, X rays, EKG's, heart stress test, nutrition classes and so on.
Meanwhile my cortisone injections wear off and my knee pain returns in April and I can no longer go for walks ? so I made another appointment with the orthopedic surgeon. I received cortisone injections in both knees for the second time. This time it helped on one knee but not the other .... so I seriously decided to change my diet and lose some weight. Good news is that I've lost nearly
#40 since mid April (all by myself ???⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️??? ...bad news is that my knees are much worse. Now that my mobility is seriously threatened I have had to rethink my options. Soooooooooo, September 12, 2017 ..... yikes? next week? ✂️??⚕️??? ? ...I am reluctantly having gastric bypass surgery ???. This will speed up my weight loss and hopefully save my knees for a while. Wish me luck...?????
Had my gbs 9/12/17 by Dr. Gupta ? at Overlake Hospital in Bellevue, WA ?
I'm 67 Years old ?
Highest weight 11/2016 #296 ????????
weight at surgery #258 ???????????????
Dr Gupta ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
insurance. Kaiser Permanente ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Today is my 6th day out...feeling better every day?