Hi rebirth july babies 2008
I am three weeks away from my one year surgiversary and I'm doing great. I've been hovering in the high 140s for the last month, as of today back down to 144, and I'm not going to argue with that...it looks good on me! 136 pounds gone since surgery, a total of 163 from my highest weight.
My BMI is in the high normal range, the diabetes is gone, my joints are feeling much better, I'm down to one high blood pressure medication, I've done more yard work and house cleaning & projects than I've done in years, and I don't look too bad for 48 if I do say so myself!
I'm here I am down 117 lbs. Started ar 274 and now 157. I am in a size 12 pants (lots of skin) and a L-XL juniord tops (also lots of skin that needs to be removed)
My goal is 150 though the doctors told me 175. He also sail 18 months is a real indicator of where i will end up. I guess after the first year, you gain some back. Lets hope not!
Is anyone coming to the OH conference in Rye NY in October? Maybe we can get together?
My goal is 150 though the doctors told me 175. He also sail 18 months is a real indicator of where i will end up. I guess after the first year, you gain some back. Lets hope not!
Is anyone coming to the OH conference in Rye NY in October? Maybe we can get together?
down 170+
almost 17 weeks pregnant.
size 12 pants (baggy but can't move to 10s because of the baby)
my date is 7/22...also happens to be the day I find out what the baby is.
congrats everyone!!!
almost 17 weeks pregnant.
size 12 pants (baggy but can't move to 10s because of the baby)
my date is 7/22...also happens to be the day I find out what the baby is.
congrats everyone!!!
Mandy, Mom to Jordan (5), Kaida (3) and Luken (born 12/5/09) Army wife! HW:351 / SW: 328 / CW:149/ Goal weight...what is that?
My blog post for my one year surgiversary on 7/9: (If the pictures don't show up they are on my profile - can't see them through the firewall at this office)
I don't even know where to begin. I remember the first day I stumbled upon OH and I was awestruck at the transformation I saw. Then I joined OH and started reading, lurking about. Then I got really brave and started to post questions. Then I won the lotto and found the Texas Message Board and the VSG boards.
I started this wonderful ride at 275 pounds in mid-May 2007 with Dr. Harry Meyers in Dallas. Self-pay was the only way to get the surgery as it was excluded under my health insurance. I took money that I had received when my daddy died to pay for the surgery. He probably would not have approved, at first but would have eventually come around (or realized that I would do it whether or not he approved because I know no matter what he loved me!)
I started on a pre-op diet, for lack of a better word, to shrink the old liver before surgery. I had about 45 days to prepare. I read, read, read, asked question after question after question. I read some more. I became active on the TX and VSG boards. I posted a note to the TMB members 4 days before my surgery about all the things I'd learned from them and what I should and shouldn't expect, when to freak out and when to remain calm.
Surgery came and went. I came home the next day and weighed 260 lbs. and wearing a size 24/26 or 3XL clothing. I was going to ecstatic the day I saw 199 or size 12 or even size 14. I'd love to say I am at my one year goal of 160 lbs, but I haven't been home in ten days. The day I left for this trip I was at 160.6, so I can only hope that the lousy 6/10ths of a pound is gone. I'm wearing a size 6 or 8 depending on the cut in jeans / slacks and a medium top (and probably could manage a small here and there depending on the cut).
All the numbers look good and are impressive, if I do say so myself. Although losing weight and looking good are among the many reasons people choose to have WLS, I needed - no scratch that - HAD to get healthy. I had lost my dad to cancer, both of my sisters have chronic illness and are disabled and my mother has had a quadruple bypass and heart valve replacement. Somebody has to live in my family to see that my nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews are taken care of and that person had to be me!!
I was on the verge of being a diabetic, my joints hurt and I was a SLUG. There's a picture on my profile where I'm wearing a "cute" pink capri jogging suit - when I saw that picture in April 2007 I thought OH MY GOD I am HUGE (by the way - I weighed 294 lbs at the time). But 2007 was the year of the hysterectomy and a major staph infection that had me off work for six months for recovery (me and my wound vac - lovely picture!). I did lose close to 40 lbs, but it wasn't much fun!
Fast forward to April 2008 - I saw a couple we are friends with. Both had had their VSG in July 2007 and I had not seen them since. I didn't even realize who he was until he spoke. And I thought to myself "If he can do it, I can do it!" Learned what I could from them about the surgery and as soon as I got home, I made an appointment for my consultation. The rest my friends is history ....
I will never claim to be the perfect WLS patient. I am adamant about having blood work every six months. I take my vitamins religiously. I don't do a lot of exercise (and that's my one and only regret). I eat a few sweets if I want them. I don't count calories, carbs, fats, etc. I am not on a diet. I have changed my life FOREVER. And I now LIVE a life, not just exist in a world.
These pictures represent the night before surgery and just a few days before my one year surgiversary. There are days when I still see me "before" in the mirror, but I am beginning to see me "now" in the mirror as well. (Disclaimer: my photographer is not a professional and there may or may not have been a bit of alcohol involved - hey it was Times Square after an afternoon with friends!!
)
For every person who has offered one piece of advice or provided an ounce of support - THANK YOU. This ride is not over and I don't know where the bus stops but I'm not getting off until it's the end of the line .... and if you are reading this as a pre-op, I hope I've given you some insight and hope because if I can do it, YOU can do it too!
I don't even know where to begin. I remember the first day I stumbled upon OH and I was awestruck at the transformation I saw. Then I joined OH and started reading, lurking about. Then I got really brave and started to post questions. Then I won the lotto and found the Texas Message Board and the VSG boards.
I started this wonderful ride at 275 pounds in mid-May 2007 with Dr. Harry Meyers in Dallas. Self-pay was the only way to get the surgery as it was excluded under my health insurance. I took money that I had received when my daddy died to pay for the surgery. He probably would not have approved, at first but would have eventually come around (or realized that I would do it whether or not he approved because I know no matter what he loved me!)
I started on a pre-op diet, for lack of a better word, to shrink the old liver before surgery. I had about 45 days to prepare. I read, read, read, asked question after question after question. I read some more. I became active on the TX and VSG boards. I posted a note to the TMB members 4 days before my surgery about all the things I'd learned from them and what I should and shouldn't expect, when to freak out and when to remain calm.
Surgery came and went. I came home the next day and weighed 260 lbs. and wearing a size 24/26 or 3XL clothing. I was going to ecstatic the day I saw 199 or size 12 or even size 14. I'd love to say I am at my one year goal of 160 lbs, but I haven't been home in ten days. The day I left for this trip I was at 160.6, so I can only hope that the lousy 6/10ths of a pound is gone. I'm wearing a size 6 or 8 depending on the cut in jeans / slacks and a medium top (and probably could manage a small here and there depending on the cut).
All the numbers look good and are impressive, if I do say so myself. Although losing weight and looking good are among the many reasons people choose to have WLS, I needed - no scratch that - HAD to get healthy. I had lost my dad to cancer, both of my sisters have chronic illness and are disabled and my mother has had a quadruple bypass and heart valve replacement. Somebody has to live in my family to see that my nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews are taken care of and that person had to be me!!
I was on the verge of being a diabetic, my joints hurt and I was a SLUG. There's a picture on my profile where I'm wearing a "cute" pink capri jogging suit - when I saw that picture in April 2007 I thought OH MY GOD I am HUGE (by the way - I weighed 294 lbs at the time). But 2007 was the year of the hysterectomy and a major staph infection that had me off work for six months for recovery (me and my wound vac - lovely picture!). I did lose close to 40 lbs, but it wasn't much fun!
Fast forward to April 2008 - I saw a couple we are friends with. Both had had their VSG in July 2007 and I had not seen them since. I didn't even realize who he was until he spoke. And I thought to myself "If he can do it, I can do it!" Learned what I could from them about the surgery and as soon as I got home, I made an appointment for my consultation. The rest my friends is history ....
I will never claim to be the perfect WLS patient. I am adamant about having blood work every six months. I take my vitamins religiously. I don't do a lot of exercise (and that's my one and only regret). I eat a few sweets if I want them. I don't count calories, carbs, fats, etc. I am not on a diet. I have changed my life FOREVER. And I now LIVE a life, not just exist in a world.
These pictures represent the night before surgery and just a few days before my one year surgiversary. There are days when I still see me "before" in the mirror, but I am beginning to see me "now" in the mirror as well. (Disclaimer: my photographer is not a professional and there may or may not have been a bit of alcohol involved - hey it was Times Square after an afternoon with friends!!
) For every person who has offered one piece of advice or provided an ounce of support - THANK YOU. This ride is not over and I don't know where the bus stops but I'm not getting off until it's the end of the line .... and if you are reading this as a pre-op, I hope I've given you some insight and hope because if I can do it, YOU can do it too!
Oh boy! I am so glad to see this topic here!
I celebrated my first rebirthday on July 7.
I've lost 120 pounds so far, and though I still have a few to go---or not*---I see a new person in the mirror.
I've held the thought "embrace change" in my head to carry me through the confusing times, and I've found that if you embrace change, it hugs you back.
I've shuffled around a few words in a good Irish drinking song to state my new philosophy:
"I'll eat when I'm hungry, and I'll drink when I'm dry, and if loving don't kill me, I'll live til I die.
Protein first, supplements daily, and just try to hold me back!
Thanks to everyone from my wonderful surgeon, Dr. Jean-Baptiste, who did such a beautiful job that I never had the smallest problem with my new "baby" tummy. Sure, if I overdid it, the pouch talked back, but how great is that? Obviously the signals to stop eating didn't work for me---I started out at 344 pounds! (Yo-yo dieting? Sure, didn't I invent the concept?)
Thanks also to the people at JFK Hospital in Edison, NJ, especially the wonderful Sarah, who kept me from feeling totally alone in my post-surgical delerium. Our combined sense of humor took the scared away. And meeting you, in all your non-judgemental self, started me on a healing path.
Thanks to "the lads," J&E. J, didn't you indeed find a new wife under all that swaddling? You rogue, you. CUL8ter! E, my rowing fool, we're the finest scullers on the Navesink! Ha!
Y'all, I am so happy and so grateful for this past year, the wonder of it is beyond words.
To anyone contemplating a weight-loss procedure, take care of yourself, if you do go for it, I wish you every success and happiness.
*I am so happy with the results as they stand that I may stay right here!
I celebrated my first rebirthday on July 7.
I've lost 120 pounds so far, and though I still have a few to go---or not*---I see a new person in the mirror.
I've held the thought "embrace change" in my head to carry me through the confusing times, and I've found that if you embrace change, it hugs you back.
I've shuffled around a few words in a good Irish drinking song to state my new philosophy:
"I'll eat when I'm hungry, and I'll drink when I'm dry, and if loving don't kill me, I'll live til I die.
Protein first, supplements daily, and just try to hold me back!
Thanks to everyone from my wonderful surgeon, Dr. Jean-Baptiste, who did such a beautiful job that I never had the smallest problem with my new "baby" tummy. Sure, if I overdid it, the pouch talked back, but how great is that? Obviously the signals to stop eating didn't work for me---I started out at 344 pounds! (Yo-yo dieting? Sure, didn't I invent the concept?)
Thanks also to the people at JFK Hospital in Edison, NJ, especially the wonderful Sarah, who kept me from feeling totally alone in my post-surgical delerium. Our combined sense of humor took the scared away. And meeting you, in all your non-judgemental self, started me on a healing path.
Thanks to "the lads," J&E. J, didn't you indeed find a new wife under all that swaddling? You rogue, you. CUL8ter! E, my rowing fool, we're the finest scullers on the Navesink! Ha!
Y'all, I am so happy and so grateful for this past year, the wonder of it is beyond words.
To anyone contemplating a weight-loss procedure, take care of yourself, if you do go for it, I wish you every success and happiness.
*I am so happy with the results as they stand that I may stay right here!
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