I can't believe it!

I can't believe that it has been almost two years since my surgery!  As of July 14, 2007, I will have made it two years.  I started at 235lbs and now I am 117lbs.  I never dreamed I would make it to this point. When I look in the mirror, I wonder who this person is and where I have gone.  Some days I feel like I can keep up with any 20 year old and other days I still feel like that morbidly obese person.   Having surgery has not made everything great, I still have issues that come deep from within. Emotional things that will be dealt with in time, but for now some things are good.  I thought my relationship with my family would improve after the weight loss because they said hurtful things to me about it.  But now that I have lost the weight they find other issues to hurt me so I realize now that it wasn't about the weight at all. Sorry, I have unloaded you, guys!  My goal is to keep the weight off and focus on my husband and children.

Connie,      First of all, congrats on your upcoming two year anniversary. You have done wonderful. You bring up a great point about outside vs. inside. I guess we are all essentially who we are and overcoming the many years of living big, we still have those emotional issues we have to deal with. Fixing the outside is only a smaller aspect of it all in many ways. We are all works in progress to be sure and I guess it lets us all know we will always need to work on ourselves to heal and grow. Thanks for sharing.

I look forward to this journey I will start tomorrow but ultimately know this is just the beginning of some some soul searching and some real hard work.  Lisa

Connie, thank you SO much for sharing with us!  I read your profile and really identified with you so much.  We have a lot in common and God willing, we will soon have more in common.  I am scheduled for LAP-RNY on July 24 and hope to follow in your footsteps. Thank you again! Suzanne

Congratulations on your success!!!  May your future be bright and your worries be few!  Thank you for sharing your story with those of us about to embark on this journey.  It helps to know about some of the things we could encounter in the future.  Take care and post again soon! Hugs, Donna

Thanks for sharing your success with us Connie.  I appreciate so much hearing from longer term post-ops.  My biggest fears going into surgery weren't from the short term dangers, but more from a long term perspective.  It's great that you're healthier now than you were and even though you're still having some body image issues and family things, you seem like you're in a much better place to deal with them than you were before.  I know that this surgery doesn't fix relationships, nor does it fix the mental issues we all had that got us to the place where we needed surgical intervention, but it does help us to be in a healthier state of mind and body to deal with those things.  At least that's what I see in my own life and read on the profiles of others.  Thanks again for posting. Take care. Ellen

What an inspiration to all of us newbies out here. I think sometimes we believe by losing the weight all of our problems will disappear. I know there is a long journey ahead and it makes it easier knowing there are others before me that have done it and are working towards success.  Thanks for sharing. Jennifer

Connie -

Congratulations on your successes ... As I told you before, you are an inspiration.

Please don't feel like you need to apologize for "unloading" on us. I believe that you are giving us some perspective and reality check about life after WLS. Surely, many others think that losing the weight may take away fodder for their need to be mean. Unfortunately, those who are mean will always find something to pick at.

I'm glad that you are focusing on those things you can affect. Your own health and the health and happinesss of your immediate family.

I really look forward to the opportunity to meet you face-to-face.

All the best,

Barb