Our Girl Kate

Kate is our oldest daughter. Kate is the kind of person that would truly give you her last dime if it would help you out, and she’d do it in a heartbeat. She has always been a giving person with a heart of gold. Kate is married to Shelby and together they have four children. If you’ve been reading for a while, then you will remember that it was Kate and Shelby that experienced the flood in their home, not once, but twice, in the summer of 2017 when everything over here seemed to have a dark cloud looming above. Kate and her family moved in with us while Mike and Shelby worked liked crazy to get their house put back together.

Since that summer, many great things have happened for them, including buying their first home and being able to put the “flood house” behind them.

Kate had a surgery scheduled for earlier this year that she has been thinking about having for some time, but due to the coronavirus she had to reschedule it. Kates surgery is this Friday, May 29th.

Knowing that Kate had done a lot of research and thinking before deciding to have her surgery, I decided to ask her if I could blog about her surgery and her experience in hopes that it might offer support to any of my readers that may be considering having the same surgery. She graciously agreed.

I sent Kate a few questions and these are her answers.

What is the surgery called?

The surgery that I am getting is call the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy. You may also hear it called the gastric sleeve or VSG.

What is done during surgery?

During the surgery my surgeon will laparoscopically remove 85% of my stomach. My new, smaller stomach will be about the size of a banana. It limits the amount of food I can eat by making me feel full after eating a small amount of food.

How did you make the decision to have the surgery?

I have always been the “big” girl my entire life. I started gaining weight around the age of 3 and I don’t think I’ve been at a healthy weight since then. I feel uncomfortable, unhealthy, and truly unhappy with myself. There is a list of things I want to do that my weight just really holds me back on. My husband and I want to buy kayaks and the weight limit on most of them is 250lbs. I want to jump on the trampoline with my kids, ride a bike with my family, go swimming with my kids without hating every second of it. I want to be able to be active without becoming winded within a few minutes. I think I just got fed up. I got freaking tired of settling for this body when I know this tool (sleeve) and hard work could change my entire life! So here we go!

What did you have to do to get approved for the surgery?

I had to lose 5% of my body weight, meet with my surgeon 6 consecutive months to monitor my weight, see a nutritionist, have a therapy session, and go to a class. I had to also do all the pre-op blood work and testing which includes a COVID-19 test. What is your pre-op diet like? I am required to be on a diet 10 days before surgery. Days 1-6 I am allowed a protein shake breakfast, protein shake for lunch, and 6oz of lean meat and a green veggie for dinner. It averages about 700 calories per day. At first, I was really struggling with caffeine withdrawal and pure shock to my system. I started seeing my energy increase on day 5. Day 7 starts a liquid only diet until surgery.

Tuesday for Kate……

Pre-op appointment ✔️
Bloodwork in outdoor medical tent ✔️
Covid-19 test in my car ✔️
Ready for Friday ✔️

I took the following from Kate’s Facebook page this week.

For over a year now I’ve been working towards something that is going to change my life. I’ve worked hard, had countless appointments, many tests, therapy, nutrition classes, a seminar, etc etc.

I am currently on day 3 of my 10 day pre-op diet for the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy. Next Friday will be the first day of the rest of my life and I cannot wait! For those of you that don’t know, this surgery removes 85% of your stomach. Who needs that anyways?

I’ve struggled with my weight since I was a very young child. It has been something that has really prevented me from truly enjoying many things that I want to experience. I want to shop in a regular store for regular sized clothing, hike, kayak, RUN, etc etc. I have faith that I WILL get there!

Although it is a very vulnerable feeling putting this on social media, I hope that it will encourage someone else to take a step and do something brave in their life! I will be sharing my journey here and on Instagram for anyone who would like to follow along!

I cannot wait to share my progress!

I’m so excited for Kate to feel better and be able to do the things she would like to do with her family.

Prayers and good vibes are appreciated as this brave lady goes into surgery Friday morning.