I found this on the WLS Graduates Forum Board....Wanted to Share!

A couple of days ago it hit me - I used to be obese. I had forgotten. No kidding, I had forgotten. Then it hit me that my surgery anniversary was 9/6/01 and that was just around the corner. Wow. Has it been 6 years already? This time (1:00 a.m. Central time) 6 years ago I was just laying down for a couple of hours of sleep before my surgery. That day: 45 years old, 5' 6" tall, 292lb - uncomfortably in size 26 , married, mother to 2 boys. My husband adored me - he just wanted me "alive"... My baby son (then 8) loved me and was already grieving knowing he would not be hugging his "cushy" momma for much longer... My adult son supported me, but only knew an obese mom all his 21 years- AND was moving to California and wouldn't even see me for over a year post op... I chose the surgery because I truly believed it was my last , best shot at living an active life for my 8 year old. I chose the surgery because I HOPED and PRAYED my outside would, for the first time, begin to reflect the "me' that had been so longing to show up - but had been so well hidden within the moat for so long. The mechanics of the surgery were typical. Ouch. Pain pump. Walk and walk. I purposed to follow aftercare protocol. I did not get my guts cut opened and rearranged to fail. Nope - failure was not an option - not this time. From clear liquids, to liquids to puree to soft foods to solid foods I struggled to learn and took good care of my pouchie. She did not get teased with sugar. Not tested. Nope. Haven't had refined, added sugar since 1 month prior to surgery . I've had fructose or sug alcohols, sure, but no white stuff. I was always too afraid pouchie would like it and I'd be doomed. I DID tempt her with some select fried foods like 2 or 3 french fries or 1 chicken tender - INFREQUENTLY, but for the most part, my new pouch was treated like the queen she was. I chose to "honor her" and treat her with respect. Okay, I'm well aware to refer to my pouch as "her" may seem wacky, but at the time it was easier to care about "her" than to care about "me". I had years of self-medicating with food. Years of dieting and failing and beating myself up in that vicious cycle of self-inflicted pain - eat more, guilt, driven to eat more, guilt, etc. When my "pouch" became my new best friend, I was able to care more about the new-baby-healing than me... I honestly believe by regarding my "pouch" as an entity, that it helped me NURTURE me better. Complications set in - life threatening, but each overcome with an intense desire to LIVE LIFE more ABUNDANTLY! 1. Bi-lateral pulmonary embolism - 6 weeks post op - BUT the 40 lb lost saved my life! 40lb no longer crowding my lungs allowed me to breathe when the clots were trying to suffocate me. 2. Bowel obstruction 2.5 years later. 28% mortality rate (gee - the RNY was 2%!) - weight dropping so low - I looked like a skeleton - size 2/4. 3. Gall bladder with hernia & obstruction 1 year after 1st bowel obstruction. All cleaned up, surgically removed any junk healed and that is HISTORY! I've lived at goal for over 3 years now - from 26 to 2/4 back up to a healthy size 10/12 where I've remained for 3.5 years!!! This 51 year old gal (that I am) completed the Chicago Breast Cancer 3-Day, Aug 10 - 12. That's 60 miles of walking in 3 days for Breast Cancer awareness. This formerly - non-athletic person is now an athlete. I love to move and sweat and treat my body like the machine she is and was created to be. I eat to fuel. I drink to hydrate and realize that if I'm thirsty that I'm already DEHYDRATED - so I drink!!! I have been AMAZED at what this machine can do! I can walk from town to town & am amazed at the distance!! My legs are strong and my heart is healthier than EVER - the leaky tri-cuspid & mitral valves overshadowed with HEALTH. (my cardiologist is so proud!) What I am declaring is this: the ME that I always believed I was inside - free, active, joyful, capable, confident - IS, indeed the real me. I am becoming what I was designed to be from the beginning and at 51, am truly realizing that "these are the good old days"!!! Now being paid to say words (how cool is that - to be paid to talk! woo hoo!) I'm working on a book and am blogging my oft times crazy world at: www.judeswords.typepad.com I'm eternally grateful for this life. What a gift! I am posting here to say: I KNOW I would not be here, today, were it not for the WLS. It not only saved my life - it RESTORED the life I was destined to live... The challenges of learning how to navigate in the post-op world PALE by comparison to the joy of living a healthy life. How cool is that!