1 year anniversary ~ my reflections

March 4, 2006 Well on March 9th it will be my 1 year anniversary of the most life altering experience I have ever had. I had Gastric by-pass surgery with Dr. Adam Naaman. My surgery was uneventful, I spent 2 extra days in the hospital due to a swollen bowel but Dr. Naaman believed that was cause by the staple machine and not a sign of any problems. He was correct, the swelling went down and everything "worked" fine. At 9 months out I had surgery for vaginal prolapse with Dr. Morgan in Austin, Texas. The prolapse was a combination of being obese all my life, having 3 kids and the rapid weight loss. I was in the hospital 3 days again my surgery was uneventful and my recovery was quick. These are the only 2 things that I could even remotely come close to complaining about from this surgery. Everything else has been a total blessing. The blessings: WOW there is more than I could possibly count. 1. I have gone from 315 lbs to 160 for a loss of 155 lbs. 2. I lost a total of 100 inches 3. Gone from a shoe size 11 ½ to a 9/ ½ 4. I have gone from a clothing size of 5X or 32-34 to Small or 6-8. 5. My BMI went from 49.3 to 24.9 a NORMAL BODY WEIGHT. 6. I can run, play and do anything that I want. 7. I am healthy, all the comorbs I had before - borderline diabetic, high blood pressure, thyroid disease, bad knees, back - all are gone. I only take my vitamins, no other medication. It has been an amazing journey with many highs and many lows. The emotional journey to me has been the most difficult. Learning to think of myself and SEE myself as a NORMAL sized person has been difficult. I still sometimes see the large me when I look in the mirror. Then there are the wonderful days that I see the awesome new body I have and think WOW I have arrived. I have made many wonderful friends that I can't imagine not having in my life because they are so awesome. Janice, Cheryl Murphy and all the ones that I may not talk too directly but read their words here daily for guidance and support you are all very important to me as is this board. I want to thank everyone for all the continued support and the Lord knows I have come here so many times with good news, questions, and needing advice and for a place to kick, scream and on occasion cry. Thank you all so much. I have read so many peoples profiles and gained encouragement from them. I have felt the thrill when someone gets approval and has their surgery, the sadness and frustration when they are denied and have to appeal and the grief when someone lost their life before they had their surgery or lost their battle after surgery for what ever reason. I don't know if I am alone in this but on occasion I have felt guilty because I have had an pretty uncomplicated journey and I am healthy and there are those that aren't or that lose their fight and are called home to the Lord. My 1 year anniversary is shadowed with the recent passing of my best friend Carolyn. I have made the resolution to myself to celebrate life and make sure that the people in my life know that I love and care for them, to be a better person and to use this tool and my experience to help others in anyway I can. My advice to anyone thinking of this surgery would be: "Do you home work, make sure you can commit to the life style changes that are required. When you know this is right for you pick a good surgeon with good credentials. Then NEVER EVER give up. Fight as hard as you have to. If insurance denies fight more and fight harder because this surgery is the most amazing thing that I have ever done and I would do it over and over again if I had to." Sorry for rambling but then you all know I can be very long winded. There is so many other things I could say. The fun excitement and joy all of it even the hard times are so very worth it. Take care and all my best to everyone. Jeannie

Jeanie, You are looking great and it is good to hear that you are feeling so good. Your weight loss has been fabulous and I'm happy for you! Becky