Intro

Duh!! I guess I should have done this awhile back. No not me, I just jump in and put in my 2 cents worth. LOL
My name is Joy, 54 years old, 2 grown sons, 2 grandson,1 grand daughter (that I have yet to see) and a grandson that is due  in December sometime.
I became disabled in 2003 due to severe Interstitial Cystitis ( a nasty bladder disease) I have had 3 surgeries on my bladder in the past 4 years, one on my shoulder, one on my knee and a sigmond resection. After the resection, RYN will be a walk in the park, pain surgery wise. I was sliced from breast bone to pubic area (he made a left and a right around my belly botton).:-)
Since 2003 I have lost 53 poundes and gained 70. In reality I gained 70 in 11 months partly due to thyriod issues and nasty antidepressants...and some really bad eating habits I managed NOT to control.
Before 2003 I was a professional photographer (guess I still am ;-) ) and before that, I did this, that and MANY other things to make a living.
I have been divorced 29 years, for the most part happily. LOL
I decide in Jan.2008 that it was time to do something about my weight and diets don't work , they make you fatter!!! There are many reasons why I made the decision but my Urologist said I HAVE to take off the weight if I am to survive the surgery to give me a new bladder. Plus all the other co - morbid obesity conditions that I have developed the past 2 years.
My sister had RNY almost 4 years ago. I can't lean on her for support, I wish with all my heart I could but she has done EVERYTHING wrong, when it comes to her health. But that is another story one of which I can't bring myself to go into to night. I love her with all my heart and I wish I could get her to do what she must to live.
Sorry for the blah,blah,blah long windedness.
Hope to get to know many of you..
JOY

Hello Joy, well lets see, my name is Sue I am 51 as of the 11th, I have 1 daughter 31, 1 son who will be 15 in Oct, 1 daughter 13, 2 grand children who I do not get to see. I was married to my first husband 15 years got divorced, married t my second husband 5 years, now married to my 3rd husband 2 years last month. I have done all the diets and lost and gained. I have mutli level degernative disk disease in my lower back, with nerve root damage, I have sever arthritis in both knees and shoulders, I was diagnosed in June with type II diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholestrol, hypothyroid.

I hope everything works out for you. Sue

Hey Joy...great intro and I see that we have a few more things in common....I am a grandmother of a girl and and boy....both under a year. I am also 54 and I started my road into art with a degree in photography and have never looked back.

You know when I told you about riding my motorcycle up to Glacier Point? Well on the way I remember having my camera around my neck and click pictures with one hand and hold the throttle in the other....how brazen was I back then!

If I have learned anything in the 6 years post op, I learned not to look to the person who was intrustmental in steering me to surgery. This is not to say that your sister was the person who nudged you in the direction of have wls. For me a friend (I say that loosely sometimes) nudged...okay pushed me into having this surgery. If I was to follow her example post op, I would be as big as I was back before I had surgery.

Most everyone here can honestly say that wls has been no picnic by any chance. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to living a healthy lifestyle. At first in the honeymoon phase, you feel powerful and on top of the world. A year, two years, and years to come, you really have to work at it. I went a lot of years pushing the envelop and what I mean by that is, I would crank up the exercise when I ate not so good ( I am a confirmed carb addict)...I would cut back here and there until last year when I had a meltdown because of my husbands niece living here...I held on to my weight. I never got to a goal weight because I never had one. My doctor said that I would get to the 140's and I always scoffed at him.

Well I put on 25 lbs....bamo!!!! It only took a few months really. I ate carbs constantly. I felt awful, began looking awful until I pulled myself up by the boot straps and said to myself...what the hell am I doing? I put myself through this surgery and 5 reconstructive surgeries...what to give up? Well I literally put myself on a diet...yeah the "D" word...worse than the "F" word. I did the 5 day pouch test and have not looked back. I am currently 2 lbs lighter than when I was in highschool which was induced from partying (hey it was the 70's) and have never felt better. I am really proud of myself for not giving up.

So my point is....it is not people around you so to speak who will give you the shoulder to lean on....it all comes from within you. You have us to cheer you on...congratulate you...to share your wow moments, but the bottom line it all comes for the hard work that you are willing to do to get yourself healthy and live a longer productive life. Make sense?

I really look forward to seeing you grow as a person (in the head...you know what I mean) and I surely wish you much success in getting healthy!

Oh yeah and diets do not work.....you make it work for you!!!

Thanks for sharing Joy....and I would love to see some of your work...now I understand your avatar even more!

 

My 54 motto: 54 and so much more! 

Hello Joy,
Glad you are joining us on the boards. Sounds like your ready for wls. Hey what is another scar anyhow  I am going in for surgery tomorrow and getting a DS (duodenal switch) and ready to start a new chapter in my life.  Just a word of advice, please research your wls choice carefully. There are many forums here on OH and they are full of info.  Good luck to you and welcome aboard.

JANINE, Thank you soon for your words. My sister came by this morning, not looking too bad and we talked and we both agree this is pre-op jitters. 93% of the time I am the one that everyone comes to for answers or support and it usually throghs them for a loop when I need one or the other. But you are right we all have to look within to help ourselves.

DaANNA, I go in on the 19th so we are not far for one another. I haven'tt looked into a DS. I did however look into lapband, VS and RYN decide it would be RYN partly because of my insurance and I trust my surgeon.
Good luck you you ,will be thinking and give a prayer for you uneventful surgery and a speed recovery.

JOY