9 months and counting

I've passed my 9 month anniversary and things are going reasonably well. I'm not very confident that I'll see my goal weight of 170 lbs (I'm at 236 now) but I have dropped 106 lbs which I couldn't have done without WLS. When I first got the go ahead to start solid foods, about 5-6 weeks out, it was quite a battle. Everything seemed to "hang up" but my friend Cheryl, a WLS veteran, told me she had the same problem and had to have her stoma dilated twice to correct her problem. I was scheduled for a colonoscopy (2 reasons-50 years old in June and I had experienced GI bleeding post surgery) so I told the Gastroenterologist about my problems. He said he'd take a look (made him promise not to use the same instrument or at least do the north end first). He did take a look and he said my stoma was too small. It was dilated and things changed dramatically. I felt like a new person when I stopped throwing up after every meal...believe me, I would have said this was a big mistake if I'd had to live like that all the time. I advise anyone who is experiencing similar problems to talk to their surgeon because it is not that exact a science when it comes to forming a new opening for the stomach to the small intestine. Coincidentally, when I no longer threw up with the same regularity my weight loss slowed dramatically. I continued losing up through Thanksgiving but lost nothing during the Holidays and only started losing again after the New Year. I've readjusted my goal weight and will be extremely happy if I can get down to 200 lbs. My goal of wearing 36" pants may be unattainable but I'm still looking pretty good compared to where I was at 54-56" pants (I wear 40-42" depending on the cut now). I guess the next thing to consider will be whether to have cosmetic surgery to tighten up the loose skin. I'm still a few months from that point and probably won't do it unless it gets a lot worse than it is now. I will admit that having a "turkey neck" hanging under my chin is really disconcerting but the new goatee is helping with that. Girls, I wouldn't advise you to go that route but for a guy it's not so bad. This is a great website and the first place I send anyone who asks me questions about my WLS and is interested. Keep up the good work.

Hey Steve! You are too funny! Congrats on the weight loss! gail @ goal

Awww, shucks, Steve. Saw your post this a.m. and just had to reply! And here I was thinking of growing a goatee until I saw it..... I agree so much with you about having the endoscopy to open the stoma made such a difference for me in those early months. The thing about the plastics that is keeping me back is the pain from the WLS is still so fresh in my mind that I am still afraid of going back there. Funny with us women that have had children, there was a "built in" mechanism that helped forget the pain, or else we all would only have one child!! Wish WLS had that same "built in" forget after effect! -C