MY STORY PRE-POST

Well , i am mainly doing this for all the pre-ops i want you all to know what a sucess this surgery has been . I have been where you are I know the fears ,anxiety ,waiting , excited ,nervous feelings you all are having plus the time you put in on this board looking at pictures , reading profiles ,researching wls . I was right there where you are .Now i am almost 10 months out started this journey @270 i am now @167 . and so much more happy,energetic,and confident. I have for the most part done what i was supposse to eating wise . have i excersised no i still cant get my head into that and i still make excuses . i am working on that . Now the few times i did it felt great . my problem as a mother of 5 i think i feel guilty to go excersice and leave the kiddos behind h i tried the y my lil one didnt make it in daycare they had to search me down . he bawled his eyes out . and walking w 5 kids is not easy takes the enjoyment out of it i tried it .Have i cheated and had suguar yes. but i learned my limit and i do this very seldom . Do i miss foods yes i do but i dont miss being that 270 lazy girl i was . Do i drink soda or alcohol? well i havent had any soda for 10 months except a couple sips and after that i didnt miss it it just wasnt the same . and i struggle to get my water in now . so i try to stay away from caffine . now i have had about 5 or 6 margarittas once i became 6 months out and yes, i do get drunk fast and easy now .. Before i could hang now i simply cant few sips drunk and it takes me 45 min to drink 1 drink or longer . I can go all day now i have been to 6 flags 3 weekends in a row from open to close w/ all the kiddos and myself and walked all day it felt so good . I can cross my legs now,run,go to parks, fit on rides and not worry if i am gonna fit . there is so much this has done for me .Has it been the easy way out? WHEN ASKED THIS QUESTION I n my honest opinion i see this 2 ways in a way YES it is an easy way out i lost 103 pounds and didnt work out But on the other hand i changed alot gave up alot and mentally no it wasnt my best friend became my enemy and still tries to tempt me but sometimes i do cave .Do i beat myself up no i just start the next day out new and see my mistakes as mistakes and move on I am still human . Would i do this again 10,000 times over Not one single regret . Lose skin and all . Do i plan on plastic surgery . yes, hopefully my insurance will help at about 18 months out i want a boob lift and what ever it takes to remain a full c , I want inner thighs done and tummy tuck w/ muscle tightned that is due to my preg. and 2 c sec . mostly i am not sure if insurance will cover this if not i hope they finance . W/o this board i would be lost you all are always here and i have learned so much from all of you . I get emails all the time and i answer them all i want the word out there and i give myt honest opinion i am here if you are pre-op and need to talk ask questions or if your post op and what to compare just shoot me a message or e-mail .. and best of luck to all of you SHERRI

Sherri I want to thank you for you story it seem to be up most and honest I do feel like I am takeing the easy way out and my sister needs this alot more than me. But I can not do this on my own and I know this I need that tool. I want food to stop taking over my life at this point I have learned I am like a drug addict with food. I was to be on a liquide diet this last 2 weeks and I have failed all last week I am only a week away and I am fighting right now to stay on this . I started it again today and so far so good well not really but for the most part. Its crazy to be this way with food and I have no ideal how it happend but it did. So Im just gonna take it min by min on this I am gonna make it threw this week somehow. I was not to scared till this thing with Jackie now I am I also have had other surgerys and am scared that dr richardson cant do my because of the same reason . I guess we shall see. But I want to thank you for you story it has made me feel so much better and you look great I dont know what you looked like befor but you look wonderful now. god bless you and keep up the good work thank you again tammy

well thank you I dont want you to judge yourself so harsh you are human this is very hard i dont think i could of done the 2 week diet before surgery . i do want to tell you that i to tried everything and this was a tool i needed as well and it works . I also want to tell you that i had dr richardson and he is the best jackies mother and sister also had him and there is many here whom has . i have had 5 children 2 c sec . no other surgeries but i went thru mine like a breeze . he is the best and you will be in very good hands . Jackie is happy w/ how she is doin and thankful to be on the other side no matter what . dont let this worry you . Pray I went into surgery that day not scared i handed my fears ans worries over and i for the most part the last week before surgery didnt fear it i was anxious . even when they wheeled me in my hubby was like do you want to change your mind i said NO WAY i want you to try and make some homemade soup and live on that this past week . dr richardson pre op diet has changed most important do it w no mistakes the day before surgery try 2 days the homemade soup helped me for the 2 weeks after surgery . it didnt taste like a metal can .. and that helped dont put yourself in a situation to fail .. i am not sure if you have kiddos or what but try snadwiches and stuff you cant smell that screams your name .. also i was 270 misreable i have before pic in bra and panies so you can see every roll and dimple view my profile see what a diffrence 7 months made .. take care and you are in my prayers

Thank you . you are beautiful i wish you luck .. Nice to meet you . looking forward to seeing some new faces here

Sheri, Your post really hit a spot with me. I know how you felt, I am now sitting at 280 lbs but hoping to be a big loser soon. I don't have any children though, really haven't dated seriously because of my weight, so there is no significant other, but for me, weight has always been an big issue with me. I have wanted this surgery for many years and finally got my approval letter last week and today I talked to Nancy at De La Torre's office and set up my Pre Op meeting for May 19th. I have waited so long to get to this point and I feel like I have never felt so happier in my life. All my family keeps asking me if I am scared of this surgery, they don't realize that when you have lived your life overweight this weight loss surgery is nothing compared to the scared feelings you have over and over about whether you will live to be old or are you going to have a heart attack early on in life because of the weight that you are caring. I feel like I am missing something because I am not scared of this surgery, but I am glad to see that you felt that same way. I really have no regrets to this surgery and even if something goes wrong in that surgery room, I know what I am doing is the best thing for me. Its great to see that other people know how you feel and that is why I am always coming to this website and reading peoples news and tibits, it really helps to help me realize that I am not the only one with this weight problem, and I know I couldn't get half as much support from my skinny friends as I have from this web site, they are there backing me up, but sometimes I just don't know if they truely understand how I feel. Like one guy I dated for a short while, he told me that if I wanted to lose weight bad enough all I had to do was stop eating, I really wished it was that easy, if so, do you really think that half of this country would be overweight if it was. Well anyways, just wanted to say thanks again for your post, it was really uplifting for me to see others who are where I am at now. Theresa

Well GOOD for you I ma glad you are doing what you feel is best for you no matter what people do or say to change your mind . And you are so right noone knows the hell and misery we live thru day to day unledd they walked in our shoes . and even themn we each have diffrent problems . this isnt all about eating yes i ate myself this big , but Why , well i realize why now w/ help of counseling . some people its medical mine was mental .. But i am glad to see the fear isnt there that does help i kinda thought i was crazy to as well as my hubby and friends but i wasnt scared . Being fat i lost my self worth and confidence in me I am now at the point i feel important and like i have self worth . i put myself last so many times and where did it get me .. your time is coming Congrats to you i know first hand what you have to look forward to keep us posted

Sherri- You have done so well, and you look AWESOME! You are so supportive. We are lucky to have you on this board! Shelli

Thank you shelly i feel the same about you and let me just say i seen pic of spring fling and dear you look MARVELOUS