Getting to know you.....

I have done this in the past and its been a great way to briefly get to know one another without going back to each persons profile. Just a brief little bit about ourselves. Who we are , what surgery we had,what part of our journey we are st, what this surgery has meant to us....little something like that. I will start and hopefully many will follow as we have alot of new faces here. My name is LisaMarie, I am 35 years old. Married with 4 children . My oldest just turned 15, my only girl will be 12 next month and my two little men will be 4 and 5 in May Without all of them and my husbands support i dont know if i could have done this. I live in the greatest place in the world NYC....I have been a registered nurse for over 13 years now, working with pediatric and adolesent patients mostly on the psychiatric units. Right now working outpatient foster care. I had my wls lap rny on Halloween 2005. I started at 212 pounds and now fluctuate between 125-130 depending on the day. I also have just had a tummy tuck Jan 4th of this year. I am doing amazing and feel great. My energy levels are amazing. I have good days and I have bad days as far as food choices go. Some days I do great and others i just do to many carbs. The difference these days is I dont beat myself up for the bad days. In the past one bad day would snowball into months of bad days and lots of pounds being put on. These days if i have a bad day i just move on and try to do better the next. This is something i would never have been able to do without my tool. I also depend on this site as well as another for guidance and support to keep me going. I have made so many amazing friends and met so many wonderful people through these support sites. Without that I dont think i would be as successful as i am now. I love going to all the football games and baseball and softball games with my children because i dont feel like i am embarassing them anymore being the "fat" mom....i would avoid all that before if at all possible. I also enjoy going to school functions and dont mind climbing the stairs either! There are so many positives that i could go on forever but this is supposed to be brief and well i have talked to much. I cant wait to read a little something about all of you.... OK WHO IS NEXT??? Love ya LisaMarie

My name is Michelle, I am 30 years old. I am married with one child. My son will be two next month. I live in Buffalo, NY and work at the University at Buffalo. I am scheduled for lap RNY surgery on 4/2/07. I decided to have this surgery because of my son. I want to be around to watch him grow, and I want to be an active participant in his life. How fun would it be to take him to an amusement park and watch him ride all the rides with his daddy because momy doesn't fit in the seat? Embarrassing and no fun at all. Hopefully I will have the same wonderful results as so many others. Michelle

My name is Sue and I am 47 years old, married to a very supportive guy and I have two wonderful boys, who are 16 and 18. I had my WLS surgery on April 25, 2006 and it is the best thing I have done for myself (after marriage and kids, of course). To date, I have lost about 144 lbs and I feel wonderful. I did have a bit of a rocky start with a stricture and rampant nausea, but it all leveled out after a few months. I am so much more active now. I go to the gym, I walk to work and home (2.78 miles each way) almost every day and I just signed up to do the MS walk and the Aids walk this year. Both are about 6 miles and last year at this time, i would never have even entertained the idea of doing them. Today I am going for a consultation with a plastic surgeon - I am not committing to anything, but I want to start down that road soon. That's my story in a nutshell. Sue

Hi everybody, My name is Maryellen, I just (2 days ago) turned 42. I've been married (to the same man...lol) for 22 years. We have two children, ages 18 and 14. I had the RNY on 7/31/06 and so far I am down -90lbs. I finally started committing to an exercise plan at the gym at work. I haven't lost too many more pounds since, but the inches are coming off real fast. Yesterday, I went to Marshalls and tried on capri's , when the 10 was too loose and an 8 fit me ...let's just say, it was an AWESOME MOMENT!!!! I work f/t at St. Joseph's College. I am also a part-time student. In addition to this I am a member at large for SMBA, a non-for-profit organization in my school district. PHEW... my life is REALLY REALLY BUSY but has never been better! I'm about 10 lbs from my goal weight and starting to even consider plastic surgery. Hello and good luck to all! Maryellen

My name is Peggy, I am Married to my High School Sweetheart and we have 3 grown children, 23, 25 & 27. I started discussion with him last March about having WLS. I have always been truly blessed to have a man love me for who I am and not the size! I was taking 3 pills a day for Type 2 and 3 pills a day for High Blood Pressure. I explained to him that I didn't want to go into my 50s taking all of these meds which could affect me later in life. So today I'm 48, and 3 months Post-Op. I have lost 67 lbs total between the pre-surgery weight loss and post surgery loss. I figure I want to lose another 50 -55 lbs before I'm done. I've gone from a 22-24 waist pants to a 16-18 size pants. I exercise 5 days a week including 3 days of Body Pump which has helped to tone my saging areas Food isn't a main force in my life - I now eat to Live and Not Live to Eat.....How Great Life Is...... When I count my blessing, I count each and everyone of you who are here when I need them! Hugs Peggy

Hi my name is Patricia. I'm 34 years old. I'll be married 10 years this October. I live in Coram, NY. I have 2 sons. My first son I lost last march 8th. I was 30 weeks pregnant and he was born stillborn. My second son we just adopted from pennsylvania 5 months ago. I have one more test on Wednesday before I go back for my second consult. The reason I'm having this surgery is to be able to do things and not be embaressed about my weight. I want to be able to do things with my son and I also want to try to have another baby and not worry that my weight was a factor. I'm hoping that I will get approval soon and that my insurance company won't give me a hard time. I know I will be much happier with myself once I start losing weight. Patricia

Hi, My name is Janet and I am 38 years old. I have 3 children ages, 17, 11 and 9 and I have been married for 19 1/2 years. My husband is very supportive and like Peggy said, loves me for me and not my weight. I have 5 chihuahuas and a cat! (don't ask) I have worked for the NYS Dept of Labor for the last 7 years as an unemployment rep. I started looking into WLS about a year and half ago but wasn't ready. Then in Sept I started looking into it again and officially started the process on 11/21/06. I am currently down 34.6 lbs and scheduled for my surgery on 4/2/07. I truly can't wait to be healthy and thin. I am looking forward to playing with my boys and being able to just enjoy life again without being self conscious. I have met so many wonderful, supportive people along the way and I feel like I cannot fail at this new start at life. I'm especially looking forward to joining the losers bench in three weeks...keep a seat warm for me! Janet

Hi I am Maria. I am 43 years old and the mom of 2 wonderful boys ages 16 and 13. I am a nurse in a rehab unit in NY. I am going through a divorce. I am diabetic for over 10 years. I don't want to be the fat mom anymore either. I want to be thin and beautiful for my son's high school graduation next year. I want my kids to be as proud of me as I am of them. I will be having RNY this coming Monday!!!! I am looking forward to all that life has to offer as a thinner healthier me!

Lisa, always full of good ideas! My name is Amy, I'm 44 years old and had RNY surgery on 5/2/06. I've lost a total of 111 pounds (including 30 pre op) and my entire outlook on life has blossomed. I still don't recognize myself in the mirror. My weight loss has not been what I thought it would be. The first 4 months it just slipped off, and after that it seemed that I really had to work on it, but I never could have lost this amount of weight without this artful tool my surgeon created. I still have another 30+ pounds to go, and each pound takes work, but I look and feel so much better, and am hopeful that I will get there eventually. I am married and have 2 sons, 9 and 14 and they have all been tremendously supportive during this entire journey. I had this surgery for my children, my worst fear was that I would die of an obesity-related death prematurely and leave them heartbroken. I am hopeful that I will live a long healthy life now and am so happy that I had the "guts" to have this surgery to help me toward that goal! Next? Amy

OK, My turn.... My name is Cindy and I live in Yonkers, NY (originally from the Bronx). I am married and have 2 great boys ages 3 and 6. My hubby also had the RNY surgery and he's down about 160lbs. After I had my second son my body wasn't the way it used to be. I gained about 60lbs and lost only about 1/2 of it. From then on it's been creepin up slowly. I'm now at 245lbs. and I always promised myself that I would never go over 230! YEAH RIGHT! I'm scheduled for my surgery next Tuesday and I'm going for my pre-op work today. I'm still not cleared by my insurance company and that's getting me a little nervous. The dr. said I wouldn't be a candidate for this surgery if it weren't for my diabetes. I had gotten it when I was pregnant with my first child and everyone thought it was gestational. Lo and behold, it was Type 1. So, I'm on insulin, Lipitor for my cholesterol and glucose pills. So, that's what made me a candidate for this surgery. My hubby's been extremely supportive of me doing this. He wants me to feel good about myself like he does. He said that he feels like he's 21 again and of course I feel like I'm 71! I need to lose this weight to go and run with my boys and have fun with my hubby again instead of me always complaining that my back hurts or my knees hurt! OHHHHHH man! I feel like an old lady now for even writing this! LOLLL I know I'm doing the right thing but of course I'm still a little nervous but I see by reading this site everyone's been a big and helpful support to me. Thanks! PS.... can anyone help me try to use those happy faces??????????