Getting to know you ..

Ok so we have done this one before..however i see many many new faces here again so i think we should do it again ... My name is LisaMarie. I am 28...ok 30....ok ok ok I am 35 years old. Married to my childhood sweetheart for to many years..lol...we started dating when we were 15/16. We have 4 beautiful children ages 15,11,4 and 3. 3 boys one girl {11year old} and one doggie who is 10. I am also a Registered Nurse i work with foster children part time. I had my weight loss surgery on Halloween 10/31/05. I was 4'11'' and weighed about 212 pounds. I am now still 4'11'' but now i weigh 127 pounds. I went from being a size XL XXL to wearing size 4-6 ....Amazing to even read that still when i write it. For me having weight loss surgery changed my life so much. I was so afraid that at the rate i was going i would not be here for my family in a couple of years. It was not a very easy decision. Took about 4 years to actually get things moving. But it was the best decision of my life. Right now i am recovering from my latest surgery. At first was very scary and i was so angry that i was needing another surgery. THey found a tumor in my abdomen that needed to be removed. IT was biopsied and benign however it was growning and very uncomfortable. But because of the location of the tumor and how much muscle they would have to cut into..i as refered to a plastic surgeon who would need to do some reconstruction following the tumor removal. End result tumor is gone and i have a nice flat tummy... Well its swollen battered and bruised right now but its getting there.So that was one week ago 1/4/07 and each day i am feeling much better. And finally i wanted to thank all of you . You have become such an important part of my life, my support...I have made some true friends here along the way. OK ENOUGH ABOUT ME.......Who is next?????????? LisaMarie

OK, I'll go next. My name is Rachelle. I've just turned 43 this month. I am with my partner for 16 years and we are starting to plan our Civil Union. We share our home with the real boss, our 10 yo German Shepard, Troy. I am and Executive Assistant at a top public accounting firm. I love my job and for the first time in many years, I like going to work. I will be with the firm 1 year next week. Boy, how time flies. I had a heart attack this past summer and am in the process of getting set for WLS. I'm hoping to have WLS this summer as I have to wait a year from my heart attack for the cardiologist to clear me. I'm trying to keep a positive attitude about the process and not get aggravated. As long as I am working on the process, time is not wasted. I have 2 months left on my supervised diet. That should give me enough time to do everything I need to do by the summer. I'm really hoping that everything goes smoothly. Rachelle

Hello All ~hugs~ I am Debra and I am 41 years old.....I had my surgery on June 6th of 2005, down 135 lbs and met my surgeons goal of 153. I am now working on getting my work out habits set into place and my healthy eating, hoping to reach my own goal of 135-125 lbs. I am married to my best friend for 4 years now, what a great and supportive man. I am truely blessed to have him that is for sure. We have no kids but looking into adoption in the near future. I do have furbabies, we have 2 doggies and 3 cats! I am looking forward to this year looking into getting my arms and breasts lift done and then working on a lower body lift. We will see how the money goes since these are not covered my Ins. Also I am with LisaMarie that this place has become so very important ion my progress and I have made some awesome friends, my 2nd family and I love you all OK who is next????? Debra P

I am Chelle mom to 8 great kiddos. One went to heaven a year and a half ago at the age of 16. I have been married 7 years to a wonderful man named Tim. I ama stay at home mom who is remodeling her big ole farm house in Apalachin. We have 4 dogs and umteen barn cats on our 53 acher farm. I am currently seeing Dr. Macenas in Ithaca. I am going for the LapBand surgery. I have had my eval on Phsych today and my second visit to Dr macenas office my first with him today! I have a nutritional eval on MOnday the 17th. I am stoked, happy and feeling awesome with my choices! Toodles!

My name is Sue. I am 47 years young. I am married to a very supportive man and have two wonderful sons (despite the fact that they are 16 and 18, they are still wonderful!). I work as the office/accounting manager of a telecommunications company in Long Island City. I really like my job and I love my bosses. They have been so supportive over the years that they are truly like my 2nd family. (I even live in an apartment complex owned by my boss' grandfather!) I had my WLS in April 2006. Despite a rocky pre-surgery journey with my insurance and a rocky post-surgery journey with nausea and a stricture, I believe that other than getting married and having my children, it is truly the best decision I have made in my life. I have changed so much since the surgery. I go to the gym 5 - 6 days a week. I walk all over the place. I enjoy myself so much more. I am so much less self conscious. Having said that, I do hate the batwings, pancake boobs and excess belly, so eventually I will pursue plastic surgery on that. Since April I have lost 138 lbs, but it might be more now since I weigh myself only at my doctors office. I am about 8 lbs from my drs goal for me and about 40 from my personal goal, but I also told my husband yesterday that I'd like to lose more, but if I stayed exactly where I am right now, I'd still be happy. Have a great weekend! Sue

Hi All, My name is Joyce.I am 46 years old. I had my surgery sept 06. So far I have lost 72lbs and have about 60-65 more to go. I am a public school teacher in Binghamton, NY. I have been married to a great guy for 27 years (I always say I was a child bride!) I have two adult sons - one 26 and one 22. I have a grandson who is the sunshine of my life. I returned to college at the age of 35 for a career change. Before teaching I was an Admin Asst for a midwestern city govt. Hated IT! I love teaching - can't wait to get to wrk every morning. I enjoy reading everyone's posts. I started this journey originally in 2000 with a dfferent surgeon but it didn't feel right. I started the process last March with Dr Mecenas in Ithaca, NY at a whopping 296lbs. I am 5ft 7in. I look forward to getting to a normal weight sometime int he next year. So far no problems with the surgery - I walk to and from work every day about 1 mile each way- yoga 1xper week and I try to lift weights 2x per week. I feel like I am making good process. Nice to meet you! Joyce

Hi everyone. I am Sheri. I am 33 years old, married for almost 7 years and have a beautiful 1 year old daughter. I had wls in November. I have struggled for years with my weight loss and finally after years of fertility treatments due to polycystic ovaries and weight and premature delivery of my daughter due to horomonal issues, etc, I decided to take back my life and have surgery. BEST THING EVER!!!!! I come to these boards for advice and support and find these are very helpful. Thanks again and i hope to post more often.

I'm Next My name is Marie. I had LAP RNY on July 18, 2005 @ the Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, New York with Dr. Ashotoush Kaul. (He's the best) I started out with my highest weight @ 305 and today I weigh 155. I have successfully lost 150 pounds. Although I have not lost anything in months. I am married to my wonderful husband of 7 years. We met in a chat room on America On Line. He has been very supportive of me through this whole process. In fact, he comes to every support group with me and he is claddified as the food police. I have no children. Just a cat who is a spoiled little b*****. She gets everything she wants. I work as the full-time secty for my Church of 800 people. For the first time in my life I am not working as a bookkeeper in a car dealership. I love this job. No stress, no aggrivation and I don't have to worry about someone cussing me out or telling me off. I also want to thank all of you for your support and friendship and thank you Lisa for planning the Holiday party. It was a great time to get to know everyone. OK, Who's next????????? Marie

OK I know we have many many more old timers and newbies and lurkers here...Where are you????? COme out COme out wherever you are...... Next??? LisaMarie

Hi, my name is Molly, I am 32 years old. I have been married to my best friend for 10 years this July. I have a 12 year old daughter. My surgery was 10/4/06. My starting weight was 318 on my 5'6" frame. I had been overweight my whole life, but even more so after I had my daughter. I was never able to take the weight off. The decision to have this surgery was a difficult one, and selfish one. After all, when you are a wife, mom, and work full time, you don't have any "me" time. Well I decided I needed to do this for myself. I also wanted to be around to see my daughter grow up, and to grow old with my husband. Currenly I am an admin assistant at a non-profit and hate it. I am looking for a new job in customer service. With this surgery comes change. And with change, I need to change my ways and habits. My work has always had bad habits. They will not change and I don't expect them too, but for me, to be successful, I need to make this change for me and start new healthy habits at work as well as home. I am just over 3 months post-op and am down to 260. That's 58lbs from my highest I feel great, and have more self-esteem. I would do it all over again.