I actually wrote this last night before I went to bed, but I wasn't able to get online to post it!! Wow. Has it been a year already? This time (11:00 PM EST) almost a year ago I was trying to lay down for a couple of hours of sleep before my surgery. I was so nervous!! I woke at 4:00 a.m. We had to be at the hospital at 5:30 a.m. and my surgery was scheduled for 7:30 a.m. On that day I was 37 years old, 5' 3" tall, 251lb - uncomfortably in size 24/26, BMI of 48, married, mother to 2, and grandmother to Princess Raven. My husband, Bill, of 20 years adored me - he just wanted me "alive"... My son, Daniel, loved me and was already grieving knowing he would not be hugging his "fluffy" mom for much longer...he felt I was perfect just the way I was. My daughter, Rachel, loved me and supported me, but only knew an obese mom all her 16 years- and she was so afraid something bad was going to happen to me during surgery. My parents wanted to support me but they were a nervous wreck. My mom's sister had her stomach stapled years ago and to this day, still has problems! My mom was convinced that my life was going to be the same as her sister's! My friends & family (the few that knew about the surgery) and Dr. Andres, my family MD, were so supportive and as excited about the surgery as I was. I chose the surgery because I truly believed it was my last, best shot at living an active life. I chose the surgery because I HOPED and PRAYED my outside would, for the first time, in many years, would begin to reflect the "me" that had been so longing to show up - but had been so well hidden within for so long. I promised myself that I would follow aftercare protocol. I did not get my guts cut opened and rearranged to fail. Nope - FAILURE WAS NOT AN OPTION - not this time. 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 haven't quite reached my goal weight, and I am so close, and I am working hard to achieve that goal! My BMI is almost "normal"... This 39 year old woman can walk 5 miles and talk at the same time...can walk up and down stairs and talk at the same time....I don't know if my husband enjoys walking the stairs at Magee Women's Hospital, but I know I sure do! I can chase after my 2 ½ year old granddaughter with no problem! Instead of finding a "close" parking spot at Wal-Mart, I park far away because I know I can walk the distance! I can do more now than ever! This past weekend, I walked 5 miles in the woods with my husband helping him carry wood to his tree stand for hunting season! Last year, I wouldn't have been able to do that!! I had a short sleeved shirt on and my husband felt I should wear a long sleeved shirt to keep my arms from getting cut up from the jagger bushes in the woods, so he handed me one of my son's long sleeved shirts and it fit!!!! God is A-W-E-S-O-M-E! My family is F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C! Life is W-O-N-D-E-R-F-U-L! Holly

hey girls, i've been mia for a while... having some major back problems again. anyway, i was up early this morning and decided to upload a couple of pics (from my daughter's wedding july 1st) and say hello and happy surgeversary to all this month. i miss you all, but i am keeping terribly busy with physical therapy and work. i love my new job, but it is exhausting. i'll try to stay in touch more often. love to all, patricia

Well, today is my one year anniversary of WLS and yesterday was my 42 birthday, that is why I chose Oct 9 as my WLS day. Last year my WLS was my birthday present!! I remember getting up really really early because I had to be at the hospital by 5:30am and it was a 30 minute drive. I remember feeling a little anxious but excited all at the same time. It didn't help matters much that I have a slight problem with medications that are suppose to make you sleepy for me most have the opposite effect. For example Codine knocks most people out for hours, not me I get hyper and can't sleep all I do is toss and turn. When I had my sleep study test the medicine they gave me had the same effect, after taking it only got about 2 hours sleep out of 6 hours of laying there in bed trying to sleep. So you get the picture. Due to the effect those medications have on me they decided it was probably in my best interest not to give me any pills just in case before they took me to the operating room. To make things worse when they rolled me down to the operating room I was wide awake. Once we were in the operating room they told me they would keep me awake until the heard the doctor was in the building....of course that wait seemed to last forever. Once I was finally a sleep I don't remember much else except once I was put in a room, luckily since I was the only WLS patient in the hospital I had a room all to myself, I remember the feeling of cotton in my mouth and just wanting to have a damp cloth to take out the nasty cottony feeling in my mouth. The rest of the day was just a blurr of sleeping off and on. The next day was nice to finally be able to have those ice chips.... what a relief. I remember the first time I tried to get up and the feeling that even though there was nothing in my pouch something wanted to come up, but didn't. Once I started moving around things were a lot better. What a comotion there was that night the old man next door lock himself in the bathroom and would only come out for his girlfriend (his favorite nurse). Sadly to say he passed away the next morning. During my stay the hospital was being evaluated to become a Center of Excellence so I was blessed with royal treatment my whole stay. I had surgery on Monday, went home on Wednesday, stopped taking pain medication on Friday (liquid dimeral - worse tasting stuff I have ever had smelled like burnt sugar) - reason I stopped taking was due to inability to sleep once again a sleep medication that knocks most people out keeps me wide a wake. Then on Saturday I attended my son's Pee Wee football game and on Sunday attend the evening church service and by then I was down 15lbs already. Then Tuesday 8 days after surgery I returned to work. When I had this surgery 1 year ago today I would was hoping by my one year anniversary to be a size 10 with a final goal of a size 6. Today one year to the day from surgery I have gone from 232lbs to 133.5lbs and I am wearing a size 6, but even that is a little loose!!!! In my wildest dreams I never could imagine me being this small again. It had been my dream for so so very long and I have made it and I couldn't be happier or prouder of myself. I stuck with the plan my surgeon recommended and I know that is why this journey has been such a success for me. I have seen friends here who have followed their surgeons orders and friends who have not and I knew that if I were to ever reach my goal I would have to follow his orders very very closely and I did and I give all my credit to the fact that I did what my doctor said to do. Would I recommend WLS to someone else? Yes with this question and advice.....Are you mentally ready to make the changes in your life that are necessary to be successful? My advice is to know the facts, talk to others who have had the surgery both who have been successful and who haven't found it successful for them. Then make sure you are mentally ready to make the changes necessary. If you aren't prepared to change your lifestyle to the lifestyle your surgeon and nutritionist tells you to then my advice is to wait. Wait until you are prepared mentally for the changes you will need to make. If you can honestly look in the mirror and tell yourself "I'm ready. I'm truly ready to take the necessary steps to make this WLS work for me. I'm ready to follow directions no matter what." Then I say take the plunge GO FOR IT because if your surgery is even half a successful as mine has been then you wil never ever regret making that decision. Sorry so long. Teresa P.S. For my 42 birthday my hubby bought me a brand new 2008 Toyota Camry!! When I drove it off the lot it had only 9 miles on it!!

HEY SURGERY BUDDIES, I JUST WANTED TO SAY THANK YOU FOR ALL THE WONDERFUL, ENCOURAGING SURGIVERSARY CARDS I'VE RECEIVED. ALSO THANKS TO THOSE WHO SENT BIRTHDAY CARDS. THAT WAS A REALLY HARD DAY, I WAS OFF, MY SISTER WAS WORKING, MOM SITTING IN HER BOX IN THE SUN ROOM ONTOP OF THE ENTERTAINMENT CENTER AND IT WAS ALSO THE 3rd ANIVERSARY OF MY UNCLE'S (second father) FUNERAL. I DON'T KNOW WHY BUT THIS PAST WEEK HAS BEEN A REALLY BAD WEEK FOR ME, CRYING AT THE DROP OF A HAT. IT'S NOT HORMONAL, NO HORMONES, HAD A TOTAL HYSTERCETOMY TWO YEARS AGO. I'VE GOTTEN OF TRACK. AGAIN, THANK YOU ALL AGAIN, FOR THE GREAT CARDS AND FOR BEING THE CARING, SYMPATHETIC, CARING, COMPASIONATE PEOPLE YOU ARE. DON'T KNOW WHERE I'D BE W/O YOU ALL HERE LETTING ME VENT. KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK AND REWARDS YOU'VE ALL ACHIEVED AND WILL CON'T TO ACHIEVE ON OUR CONTINUED JOURNEY. CAT KISSES TO EVERYONE FROM MOOGEY BUES. DONNA, SFY

I am officially 183 lbs down since Surgery Day. I weighed in at 399lbs. Today I weigth in a 216 I am down 203 lbs since I started the Pre-Op diet at 419 lbs. 16 more pounds to ONEDERLAND!