I have a lot of health issues and unfortunately letting them get in the way of my successfulness of my weight-loss. I wanted to see if there was a buddy or someone that would like to act as a mentor right now. I live in San Antonio Texas but, I'm willing to have an online buddy or even one in town… I would love to have one or more people where we could support one another in this journey despite having other health issues and disabilities.

Thanks a bunch,

Natalie

Any questions you have email me zacconechris@yahoo.com or though here.. Im at goal now but i love trying to assist people. I am a believer this saved my life!!!

Chris

Any questions you have email me zacconechris@yahoo.com or though here.. Im at goal now but i love trying to assist people. I am a believer this saved my life!!!

Chris

Chris,

If you don't mind, i would love to pick your brain as well. Looking at your starting weight, you were in the same boat I was. At my heaviest was 423 lbs, and was 383 lbs when I started my two week, pre-surgery diet.

brant .. whatever u need.

Natalie,

Would you mind being a little more specific about disabilities? That might help us to know if we could help you, versus giving general help.

Vic

Natalie, we're all here to help you. Just ask. I'm in Mississippi, not too far from Texas. Wishing you the best and just remember...we're here... just send a message.

Hello everyone,

I'm so sorry I haven't been online – I haven't been feeling well. I'm amazed and really appreciate all the responses. There been times where I haven't really felt… Welcome here – I don't know if that's the right word. Sometimes it can be a difficult place to be with varying opinions and such. That was originally when I first joined first had surgery.

Anyway, Moving on to bigger and better things :-) to answer some of your questions, as far as my disabilities are concerned, I've had approximately 20 surgeries – seven of them spinal and the rest of them abdominal. I do have a lot of pain every day and it's impeding my ability to try to get out and move around and try to exercise bands to make things worse, I'm having a hard time eating. That is a problem within itself as I'm not getting anywhere near the correct amount of Protein that I'm supposed to have. I know that something I have to work on and I'm trying my best to not only work on my intake but also keep it down.

As far as my illnesses are concerned, I have three forms of arthritis – osteoarthritis which I've had for many years but most recently, they diagnosed me with severe rheumatoid as well as psoriatic arthritis as well. I've had spinal fusion and my cervical spine – I was told I had no other choice and I honestly only thing that made part of it worse but, I also have chronic migraines and chronic abdominal pain due to nerve damage in my abdominal wall and all the surgeries that I've had. I also have some phenol issues that cause a great deal of pain as well. And my back – well, six surgeries and my thoracic spine and then one of my cervical spine – doesn't make for a good body… LOL. I have difficulty walking at times and have Constance shooting pain, numbness, tingling, etc. going down my arms legs, hands, feet, fingers, toes… having the surgery was a big deal to me – already had a great deal of abdominal pain from previous issues and I didn't want to create more problems. I also suffered from chronic nausea before all this as well. But, I thought that having the surgery was something I had to do for my health. I lost my mom at 38 – I was only 17 and once I didn't want to continue in her footsteps or at the rate that I was going. She had severe rheumatoid – which is how I got it…

To aggregates, I'm going through a very difficult divorce. I don't have any contact with my husband because I have a protective order/restraining order against him. Domestic violence drove me to follow through with that… He decided to walk out of our marriage in July without warning. Hey just came home one day from work and said he wanted to divorce and left. And, then he attacked me a few months ago. While I was lucky that he didn't do any severe damage, he just agitated my already spinal issues. He's bipolar and he got more and More filled with rage and it scared me – I was afraid he was going to hurt my family as well as our animals (dogs.) I know you guys didn't ask about that but, that's a great deal of stress for me right now. And unfortunately, being disabled doesn't leave you with much – don't get me wrong, another their people that are disabled that do not receive benefits and I feel blessed that I do receive some benefits, but when you're disabled at 27, you don't accrue much. So, I also have a great deal of stress with financial circumstances. He has an attorney and I do not. His father paid for it. I don't have a way to pay for one. He's also made this process very difficult. I just wanted Over with.

I'm sure you can see that I'm kind of being pulled from many different directions right now and I don't want to give you a sob story, that is not my intent. I'm just stressed out and trying to deal with my health issues, the divorce, financial issues, and surviving in general. I know that stress doesn't help the situation at all and I'm trying to keep it in check but, it's getting exceedingly hard to do.

I have dreams just like everyone else and I really hope to be able to get as healthy as possible. But, it's hard to do that without being able to have around. No one of you asked about my weight loss – I did really well in the beginning but, I really faltered lately – I think I stopped losing weight and probably November? I know a lot of it has to do with lack of protein – and I'm really trying to work on that but when you have difficulty keeping things down, you don't get very far. To make things worse, I think it's reflecting my blood work as well… I just got some blood test results back and while all of the generic stuff was decent, it seems like my nutrition level is affecting my blood work now.

Where the things that I'm having a difficult time with as well is a couple of my rheumatoid medications – I didn't know that rheumatoid was as big of a deal as it is. It's an immune suppressant disorder and pretty much a text somebody so I in turn have to take medications to try to keep it from attacking my body but the medications break down my body even worse… A couple of the medications are chemo type meds – actually one of them is the chemo meds. I had to go off of them before surgery because they break down my immune system even more and it would cause me not to heal and develop infections and they never had this type of effect on me before and now, they're making me sick as a dog. I'm hoping that once they're in my body and I get used to them again(usually takes about six months,) that I will hopefully have some relief but in the meantime, I'm just kind of curled up in a ball all the time in pain and sick.

Again, I don't want this to sound like a sob story but… I figured it's better to be honest then to leave a bunch of missing pieces out. I would appreciate any feedback or discussion or help or anything… I also really appreciate all of your responses. Like I said, I was really surprised.

Thanks so very much for listening,

Natalie

Oh, and my email address is natalie_christin@yahoo.com

Hi Natalie,

Wow, sounds like you have a lot going on over there. I can relate to some of it as I also have Osteo and Rheumatoid Arthritis. I have had spinal fusion and other back issues as well. I am currently in remission but I feel like it is because I chose to take control of my own situation and my health. The doctors had me on so many medications and I was gaining weight, feeling tired and just feeling sick all of the time. I was severely depressed all of the time because of how I felt. I decided that all of those medications were interacting with one another and preventing me from living the life I wanted to lead. I chose to get off of more than half of the medications because I personally felt that they were toxic to my system. The doctors were not happy but It's my life and I was taking control of it. Anyway, I gradually started changing my nutrition and eating habits and it really made me feel better. To get the weight off I chose the gastric sleeve and it has really helped. I'm only 6 weeks out but I can already tell a big difference. Anyway, nutrition is everything. If you want to get better, you have to make nutrition your number one priority. You can not heal without protein and our body can't fight the pain without protein. Be sure you have the powdered Whey protein and put it in yogurt, a cup of tea, oatmeal. Anything you can eat or drink. Protein is the magic bullet that is going to allow you to be better. Since you are having trouble eating, I know there is no way you can consume the amount of protein you need directly from food. You have either got to have the liquid protein shakes or the powdered stuff in your food and drinks. It is difficult to make changes, I know that all too well, but you can make one change at a time. The first one is to add the protein and later you can make other changes. Remember, take it one day at a time....one change at a time.

Hi Natalie, Wow, sounds like you have a lot going on over there. I can relate to some of it as I also have Osteo and Rheumatoid Arthritis. I have had spinal fusion and other back issues as well. I am currently in remission but I feel like it is because I chose to take control of my own situation and my health. The doctors had me on so many medications and I was gaining weight, feeling tired and just feeling sick all of the time. I was severely depressed all of the time because of how I felt. I decided that all of those medications were interacting with one another and preventing me from living the life I wanted to lead. I chose to get off of more than half of the medications because I personally felt that they were toxic to my system. The doctors were not happy but It's my life and I was taking control of it. Anyway, I gradually started changing my nutrition and eating habits and it really made me feel better. To get the weight off I chose the gastric sleeve and it has really helped. I'm only 6 weeks out but I can already tell a big difference. Anyway, nutrition is everything. If you want to get better, you have to make nutrition your number one priority. You can not heal without Protein and our body can't fight the pain without protein. Be sure you have the powdered Whey protein and put it in yogurt, a cup of tea, oatmeal. Anything you can eat or drink. Protein is the magic bullet that is going to allow you to be better. Since you are having trouble eating, I know there is no way you can consume the amount of protein you need directly from food. You have either got to have the Liquid Protein shakes or the powdered stuff in your food and drinks. It is difficult to make changes, I know that all too well, but you can make one change at a time. The first one is to add the protein and later you can make other changes. Remember, take it one day at a time....one change at a time.

I know what you mean about trying to take control of her medication everything. I've been working hard on ridding myself of what doesn't work just trying to take what does work. It's a never-ending battle is something that I know will get through whatever comes.. I'm just so cool and so many directions with the divorce and having to do things that I never thought I would have to do. I just want to be healthy and happy.

As far as oatmeal is concerned, I thought I had too many carbs? Honestly didn't get very good start with my dietitian – I paid to see her several times – money I didn't have in the first place but I try to make sure everything was absolutely clear before and after surgery but she never would answer questions correctly give me a straight answer. I'm trying to figure out where I can add protein and still be healthy or not if that makes sense… I have enough trouble getting enough protein. I am more than willing and would welcome any diet suggestions that you have as far as where to add the protein. I've been trying to stick to chicken or turkey as they have a higher protein levels – but that's when I can eat… I have Protein powder that I can mix and stuff that is unflavored but, it can't be over a certain heat temperature… I really appreciate the support that everyone's offered loans I would greatly appreciate any guidance you guys are willing to offer – I'm all ears. I really want to come back from all of this better and stronger. But right now I feel like I'm buried can't keep my head above Water.

Much thanks and appreciation,

Nat