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 is12 and my two little men are  4 and 5 . 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.  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??? LisaMarie

hi, my name Sheila I am 35 I am a wife and mother to two kids ages 4 and 9. I had open RNY 11 days ago. I started out at 250lbs. The 3 days after surgery were the worst 3 days of my life. But each day it gets better and i'm glad I did this for my self and for my children. I to also didn't want to be the fat mom going to school events and being embarrsed about my weight. So Far the best decision I have made. my goal weight is 134 lbs.I also can't wait to the day I can have sex with hubby and not feel self consious about my stomach. Sheila

Happy Saturday! My name is Sue, I live in Jackson Heights, NY, I will be 48 next month, am married to a very caring and supportive guy, and I have two fabulous young sons, who are 19 and almost 17.  I had my RNY in April 2006 so I am almost 15 months out from surgery.  I had my surgery at NYHQ with Dr. Merola who is wonderful surgeon.  I am one lb away from my personal goal and have lost 180 lbs to date. I go to the support group affiliated with NYHQ faithfully every month.  As with OH, I feel that it helps me with my journey to go and to give back to those who are newer to WLS or pre-op.  We all help each other and it helps the recovery process. I am working on starting therapy because I have cravings and I so want the WLS to work long term so I am working on addressing my "head" issues. I have had a consult for PS, but it was a bit early since I have not stabilized at a final weight yet, but I am looking to have work done as soon as I can.  I am hoping (as everyone is) that I can get my TT covered.  I had a hernia repair done at the time of my WLS and I have a hardened globule in my belly button area which may help me get the TT covered as this will have to be removed at some point.  I am also looking to have my batwings done as soon as I can.  But even with the excess skin, I am so happy that I am at this point. I walk almost 6 miles a day 4 - 6 times a week and just move so much better than I have in years. That's my story! I am looking forward to reading everyone else's! Sue

Hi  I'm Britt, I am 36 years old. I have a terrific husband, Paul (married 8 years) and three adorable  daughters ages- 4, 2, 2. I am a stay at home Mom and live on Long Island. I had lap RNY on 11/6/07 I started at 250.5 and today I weigh 158.5 (92 pounds lighter) . I feel great and I know that I am a better wife, mom, friend ... I feel like I am LIVING life now ... no more sitting on the sidelines of life for me.  I work out daily ( I do skip a day on ocassion) I love having energy to do things with my family and the self confidence that I have now.  I love this site and come here for support daily!!! I have learned so much here.  I do find it challenging and battle with the CARB MONSTER   and HEAD HUNGER but *most* days I win !  I am 16.5 pounds from goal and I am determined to get there!!! (I am NERVOUS about manintaing my weight and staying at goal once I get there) I feel so fortunate to have been given this tool - there is no way - I would have been this successful with out the aid of  'my tool" -  hugs, Britt

Hi Im Kathy!!

Married almost 3 years. 1 dog, 1 cat who I adore. I work with BOCES  at the local high school and love it! (especially since I have my summers off lol)

I had my WLS on 8-19-05. Im down 167lbs and want to loose 10-15 more. I had a tummy tuck 3 weeks ago and am thrilled with the results. Anyone in upstate I highly recommend Dr Branson in Syracuse. I plan on having my arms done next summer!

Love this thread! Laurie here. I am wife of 22 years to my best friend and biggest fan, Steven, and mom to three incredible kidlets, ages 14, 12 and 8. My dd (8) is Deaf, so I am now a college student, studying ASL and interpreting and loving it! I have to drive 1.5 hrs each way to classes, but anything worth doing is worth working hard for...like this surgery! Mine is in 2 days!!!! I am so beyond excited! Been trying hard not to go overboard with the last supper thing, and have eaten out once this last week. Have had a few more carbs than I should have, which has added a couple o pounds, but not too bad and I am going to start my clear liquids a day earlier (today) than the doc told me I had to...as a safety mechanism. I am loving this place and the frends I've made here. You all are so generous with sharing your experiences and helpful advice and I learn boatloads from reading all the questions and concerns posted as well. Sending each and every one of you a {{{{{HUUUUUUGE cyberhug!!!}}}}}

Hi everyone! My name is Jamie and I am a Registered Nurse, i worked in ICU's as a agency Nurse and had to stop and go to insurance nursing due to hurting my back and being tired all the time. but boy does it feel good not to be on my feet for 12 hours!  I have a wonderful Husband of 4 years! we have been together for 8 years. I also have a wonderful little boy who just turned two last month. I am located near albany, NY. Dr. clarke and started medifast for 9 weeks to lose the 10% body weight and i lost 40 pounds! I had done my surgery on june 26, 2007 and i am 2 1/2 weeks out and have lost about 30 pounds! My energy is increasing but it doesn't seem like the left sided pain gets any better. I can not let anything touch near my left side insicisons without horrible pain. I have to say I am so jealous of the people who had no pain post-op  I still take a lortab every now and then, then again I am bad and keep lifting my 2y/o  ouch ouch ouch afterwards.  I look forward to meeting everyone! Jamie Dunham start/current/goal 374/310/160

MY NAME IS TERRI AND I HAVE 3 CHILDREN.  A DAUGHTER, 26 WHO IS MARRIED AND LIVES WITH HER HUSBAND.  I HAVE 2 CHILDREN AT HOME.  AT DAUGHTER 12, AND A SON 11.  THEY ARE SUCH A BLESSING TO ME.  I AM MARRIED TO THEIR DAD, WHO IS MY BEST FRIEND, SINCE 1999.  WE CURRENTLY LIVE APART AS HE IS IN PRISON.  YES HE IS GUILTY AND IS SERVING HIS TIME WITHOUT TELLING EVERYONE HOW INNOCENT HE IS.....LOL  I AM NERVOUS, YET VERY EXCITED THAT SURGERY IS COMING RIGHT UP.  I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO STARTING THE NEW LIFE THIS TOOL IS GOING TO HELP ME ACHIEVE.

Thanks for this wonderful thread LisaMarie.  What a great idea.   My name is Sally and I am 45yo.   I live in the Southern Tier of WNY ( I call it God's country).  I work full time afternoon shift as a 911 dispatcher for the county Sheriffs Office. I love my job and it is a great satisfaction to know that I was there to help my fellow man during their most difficult times in life.   I divorced 2 1/2 years ago after a 25 year marriage.  I have three great kids, 26, 22 and 20. My two oldest children are out on their own and my youngest will be going away this fall to finish her last two years of college.  Living all by myself (with my dog and three cats) is going to be a very hard transistion for me, but I know I'll make it.   My oldest and youngest are girls and my youngest daughter had WLS the end of March this year and I had my WLS in May of this year.   This was a team effort on our part (she wanted to go first) and we are both doing great.  She is down 71 lbs and I am down 45 lbs.   I have been at a plateau for over 2 weeks now and it is driving me crazy and I have moments where I feel like a total failure, but my daughter is my sounding board and she keeps reminding me that plateaus happen and to stop getting on the scale....... lol.    Having this surgery has been a wonderful choice for both of us.   There are still issues to deal with (like the carb issues) but they are so much easier to handle now.  I know that without this surgery I would have just conitnued to eat and gain weight without stopping.   I am not sure why I thought I would come through this sugery and suddenly love to exercise when I have never enjoyed exercising in my whole life (even as a teen when I was thin).   So I guess this has been my greatest challenge.   I also find it very difficult to not compare my weight loss to others and wonder why I could loose almost the same amount of weight as someone else and yet not really decrease clothing size by more then one size.   I know we are each different and individual and we should not compare, but it is just human nature.      I find myself very fortunate that there have been no complications from the surgery.  Still eating a very small amount of food, but have have no problem getting in my protein shakes and most days the water is not an issue.    At this point I don't have a single regret.   I feel healthier already and know that will just continue to get better with time.   My goal is to be able to stop my oral diabetic medication completely (has been decreased in half since the sugery) and my diuretic (which has been changed and the dose lowered significataenly since surgery).    One of the most positive things from my surgery is that my sister who is severely obese (worse then me) and very unhealthy is now thinking about having surgery.   Her husband is not vey supportive at this point, but if she wants to live much longer and not be wheelchair bound she does not have many options.   I only hope that she qualifies medically.  She has pulmany hypertension because of the Phen/Phen drug and she does not know how much that puts her at risk of being turned down.   But how wonderful it would be if she could have the surgery so that we could grow old together and not worry about dying at an early age because of obesity.   Well thanks for getting to know me a little better.  I have really enjoyed reading others posts and getting some insite into their lives.    Sally

Hello oldtimers and welcome newbies.  I love reading about everyone.  Keep the posts comming! Loveya LisaMarie