Before & After RNY with Hilda25, losing 120 pounds!
March 7, 2017Why I Decided to Have WLS
My struggle with my weight did not begin until I was 21. That was the year my daughter was born, her father left me and I became a single mom. I struggled with losing the 35 pounds that I had gained with my pregnancy but I didn’t care about my appearance. When my daughter was 7, I met an amazing man that I now call my husband. He loved me for who I was and didn’t mind the extra padding that I seemed to carry.
Over the years, I got comfortable with my weight and gained another 30 pounds. With the birth of my second daughter, 16 years after my first daughter was born, I only gained 3 pounds. My physician wasn’t worried because I was already carrying the extra weight.
A few years later, I had an injury to my knee that required surgery. After that surgery, I gained more weight. I was immobile so I attributed my weight gain to that. During this time, my husband loved me and always told me how beautiful I was so losing weight was not something that I thought of.
In my family’s health history, we have diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. When the signs of some of these diseases started for me, it was at that point that I decided to do something about it. Again, I joined Weight Watchers numerous times without much success. With my climbing age, I knew losing weight wasn’t going to be easy.
To further my goal of losing weight, I signed up to be a contestant on the Biggest Loser and was not chosen. I was devastated and decided to spend some money on their fitness resort. Thankfully, my primary doctor talked me out of it. I decided to change my life in September of 2014. I wanted to be around for my then 8-year-old so I asked my primary doctor about weight loss surgery and she gladly sent in my referral.
Before & After RNY with Hilda25
OH Username: Hilda25
Total Weight Loss: 120 pounds
Surgery Type: Roux-en-Y
Surgery Date: March 16, 2015
Surgeon: Benjamin Shadle
Having Surgery and Life as a Post-Op
On March 16, 2015, I had Roux-en-Y with Dr. Benjamin Shadle. When I woke up, they told me that I had a huge hernia that I was not even aware of. The surgery itself was a piece of cake for me and I had no complications whatsoever. I got to go home the next day which was nice since it’s much better to sleep in your own bed.
The first few weeks after my procedure were the most difficult. I remember having a horrible taste in my mouth. Drinking so many protein shakes, I got tired of them and wanted to try something more. I used suggestions by my physician and dietician and stuck with the plan. The problem I then faced was that I was never hungry and because of this, I struggled to get in my protein. Eating when you aren’t hungry isn’t as easy as you would think!
I learned a lot in those first few months after surgery. I had to remember to chew my food to applesauce consistency. Of course, I was horribly reminded one day. I was in a hurry to go to my daughter’s school and ate some chicken. I ate too fast, didn’t chew enough and the chicken got stuck. The problem was I didn’t realize it until more got stuck. I could feel it in the back of my throat. I tried everything and after three hours, I called Dr. Shadle’s office.
Unfortunately for me, I called the wrong office. The person I spoke with suggested I go to an urgent care clinic as the ER would take too long. She didn’t know that I work in an ER and that’s the last thing I wanted to do. I waited another 30 minutes and thankfully the chicken moved. It only took one time for this to happen for me to make sure it would never happen again.
I have been extremely lucky in that I have not had any complications so far. When I first decided on having surgery, I outweighed complications over death, because that’s what I felt I was facing: Death at an early age due to obesity and all the health problems that I could have possibly faced.
I like to compare my life today to my life in my early years. I have more energy to do the things I used to do and I feel I have saved my own life!
My Milestones and Non-Scale Victories
A few weeks ago, we went on a 9-mile hike. Never in my mind did I think I could accomplish this! Going out with my family and enjoying the activities they have done without me the past few years feels amazing. We go on hikes and we love kayaking and cycling. I had begun training for a half marathon when I took a spill and bruised my ribs, I have recovered finally and my goal is to complete a half marathon in September 2017 in the beautiful island of Maui. This surgery has given me my life back and for that I’m thankful!
How ObesityHelp.com Has Been a Part of My Journey
I joined ObesityHelp at the beginning of my WLS journey in September 2014. While I didn’t post much, I did do quite a bit of reading on ObesityHelp.com. It gave me an idea of what I was going to look forward to. The community has been great and has given me lots of much-needed information. I enjoyed the OH conference in Anaheim in 2016 and I’m looking forward to it in 2017 in Long Beach!
Share Your Before & After Success!
Celebrate your own Before & After WLS Success, milestones, non-scale victories, and inspire others! The OH team wants to hear from you to share your weight loss surgery journey. Visit our Before & After Submission page for details.
