I'm on the front page of the newspaper
ok ya'll, Andy Warhol said everyone gets 15 minutes of fame...well I guess I have mine today. I shared my story with the reporter who covers the military news in town. I had my interview with her yesterday morning. Well, low and behold not only is our story in the paper, but, it's on the front page with pics!!
Here's the article.
This is the link to the front page PDF with the pics.
http://www.kdhnews.com/f/frontpage.pdf?d=1/3/2008
Stacy
Homecoming surprise
Posted on: Wednesday, January 02, 2008, 11:09 PM
By Amanda Kim Stairrett
Killeen Daily Herald
When Sgt. 1st Class Bob Engstrom gets back from Iraq today, he's coming home to half of the woman he left 15 months ago.
His wife, Stacy, has lost 147 pounds in the past year, going from a high of 307 to 160. She went from squeezing into a pair of size-28 jeans and an XXXXL T-shirt to a comfortable size-eight pair and a medium T-shirt.
Stacy underwent gastric bypass surgery and had her stomach stapled. During gastric bypass surgery, the stomach is divided into
smaller and larger portions, according to www.webmd.com. The small part is sewn or stapled together to form a pouch and disconnected from the top part of the small intestine. That small pouch is then reconnected further down the intestine. Calories and nutrients absorption is reduced.
According to the site, more than 177,000 Americans had weight-loss surgery in 2006, with gastric bypass accounting for about 80 percent of those procedures. The result is rapid weight loss. Stacy had the surgery on Jan. 15, 2007. When Bob came home from Iraq for his rest and recuperation leave in June, she had already lost 100 pounds. Stacy, who is 5 feet 7 inches tall, has gone on to lose 47 more pounds since he left.
Her goal is 150, but she isn't stressing about those last few pounds.
"What's a couple pounds when you've lost that much?" she joked.
Bob has seen photos of his wife after the additional 47-pound loss, but Stacy thinks they don't do her justice. She's excited to see Bob, a tank mechanic, this afternoon when he is set to return to Fort Hood with other 1st Cavalry Division soldiers.
Though Stacy has undergone a tremendous transformation, she predicted what Bob would say: "You're beautiful. "You've always been beautiful, but you're even more beautiful."
The Engstroms met in 2005 on a "fluke," Stacy said. Bob was "computer illiterate" and some other soldiers showed him how to use a Yahoo! chatroom. He and Stacy chatted. It turned into four months of talking on the phone. That turned into a 10-day trip for her to Fort Hood from South Carolina.
Bob and Stacy were in love. But she, a single, working mom of two boys who always had to think ahead, needed to know how they were going to handle the more than 1,000 miles between them.
She is a neonatal intensive care nurse, and accepted a 13-week assignment in Dallas. When the three months were over, she didn't want to leave Texas.
Her sons, Kyle and Dalton, loved Bob. Kyle, who was always picky about whom his mom dated, approved. Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center had a job opening and before Stacy knew it, she, Kyle and Dalton were Texans.
Bob has stepped in and become the "most awesome father," Stacy said. Kyle, who is now 18, and Dalton, 9, call him "Pops." Kyle has matured a great deal and tells his mom that he wants to wait to start a family because he wants to be able to give to his children
what Bob gave them.
Stacy losing so much weight and Bob getting along so well with the boys got the Engstroms to thinking. Their next goal is to have a child.
"He's 41 (years old) and I'm 38," Stacy wrote in an e-mail. "Call us crazy, but crazier things have happened!"
Stacy's decision to get the life-changing surgery wasn't spurred by Bob - he already loved her - or anyone's approval. She was scared for her health. Her blood pressure and cholesterol were up. She was pre-diabetic. She felt like she was 80 years old.
"A walking stroke," was how she described herself, and she didn't want to be a burden on her family later in life.
Bob knew she was getting the surgery - he went with her to a clinic in Austin several days before he left for Iraq. Stacy had done extensive research and she knew about the procedure. It was Bob who asked the questions. He calls her a "free spirit," she said, so he knew that once she made up her mind, she was going to do it.
After filling out the necessary paperwork, Tricare insurance approved the surgery in less than 48 hours, Stacy said. What followed was a series of psychiatric, nutritional, physical and exercise evaluations.
The surgery isn't a "magic fix," she said. The procedure is a tool, and someone has to be committed to changing her lifestyle. They have to be ready for the right reasons.
Stacy tried every diet pill and weight-loss program she could find, she said. Before the surgery, she put on the prom dress she wore in high school, when she weighed 135 pounds. It fit on her thigh.
Losing the first 100 pounds was a real "wow moment," for Stacy. Initially, she lost 1 to 2 pounds a day. That slowed to half a pound to a pound in the last few months. The boys have joined her in adapting to a healthier lifestyle. Kyle has lost 70 pounds through healthier eating and exercise.
Getting the surgery didn't get rid of Stacy's body dismorphia, or poor body image, though. She looks in the mirror and still sees a 300-pound person.
The weight loss left her with excess skin, something she said makes her look like a "frumpy old woman." She knows that no matter how much she changes, she may not be satisfied.
But she has noticed the different treatment she gets now that she is not obese. Before, people ignored her and wouldn't hold a door open. Society has become friendlier now that she is thinner. Even patients at the hospital treat her better and it made her wonder, "I'm the same nurse as 150 pounds ago, but now I'm a better nurse?"
Stacy is getting better at dealing with the after-affects by focusing on other things in her life. The Engstroms bought a house while Bob was deployed and with newfound energy, Stacy has remodeled 90 percent of it herself. Bob is coming home to a brand-new wife and a brand-new house, she said.
She didn't realize it until shortly before the surgery, but Stacy did feel bad about going under the knife while Bob worried more than 7,000 miles away in Iraq.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Stacy had picked out several outfits to wear to this afternoon's homecoming ceremony. Shopping now that she's thinner is very tempting, she said, and much easier now that she doesn't have just mumus and giant T-shirts to choose from.
"I'm dying to see his reaction," Stacy said of Bob. "He'll tell me I'm beautiful. I know he will."
Hey Janie...Thanks for the hijack and the complement. I think I am d*o*n*e* losing...whether the body wants to or not! I am getting really boney and that just doesn't look good. In fact, I would like to put a couple pounds back on so that I can start weight training...getting a little flabby over here! After I save a ton of money to get plastics, I think that I will be just right if I can have a flat tummy and weight about 145.
Knowing the silly Stacy on this board the way I do over the last year this really touched me. Reading your comments and concerns through this journey only makes this story more real and personal. I am sooo happy you have him back home and I'm sure he will certainly call you beautiful! 
Here's to baby making!
*as I wipe the tears from my eyes*
Lori
Here's to baby making!
*as I wipe the tears from my eyes*
Lori Stacy - OMG OMG I could just cry right now. What an amazing day this is for you. I can't begin to tell you how much your story has touched me. The whole thing, the weight loss and your dh coming home safe from Iraq!! Thank you for sharing this with us. You have truly made my day! Could you even sleep last night? lol! The anticipation would have been too much for me!
I can totally relate to what you said in the article about still feeling fat. I feel fat still, but I think that has a lot to do with the xtra skin on my tummy. I should be getting my tummy tuck in March, so I am hoping that will help me realize that I'm pretty normal ( well normal on the weight at least) And you are so right, it's amazing how people treat you when you've lost all the weight. I'm still the same person as I was before the surgery, but I get noticed way more now. Enjoy your homecoming tonight. You guys deserve it!!!!!
Stacy!! You look wonderful in that picture!! Your hair and that pink really looks good on you!! And the article was AWESOME!! I was sitting here reading it and smiliing all hard like a proud parent!! I am so proud and happy for you! Thank you so much for sharing this article! I bet those two pounds you gained are history by now!! 
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