OK all you LURKERS!!! Come on in!!!

Yes, that means you too, Michelle!!! Hey you all, there are a LOT of lurkers out there!! and I had the honor of meeting two of them over my Plastic Surgery recovery time by accident. Michelle I met while purchasing new "undies" at the Bali store in Seaside. She is doing great and JUST ENTERED ONDERLAND She says she reads the board EVERY DAY....well that is doing better than I do. Tammy I met my first day back. She is fairly new, but is going through the process at Kaiser for approval. I missed meeting Lisa who was in my office signing papers and saw my name on the wall and thought...."I know that person" So come on out and say hello all of you lurkers. It was great getting to meet some of you. OK, an update on me.... I got back from my little PS surgery vacation to the coast to find one of my "kids" had messed around with the neighbor girl....She had long black hair and a white stripe down the middle of it. Now that was one stinky mess made by the trist with Ms. Pepe LePew and it affected all the other "kids" in my household so i made them all sleep outside last night and called my X to tell him to take care of it since I'm not able. He supposedly gave them all bathes...we'll see. Went back to work today ;-(, but I had a neighbor load up my rocker recliner and I had a couple of guys at work install it in my office. I pretty much held court in it today as I put in a 10 hour 45 min first day back. I figured it was better to just do it and ask for forgiveness later than for permission first....and I was probably right, after all what could they say now that it is done!!! Now I'm swelled up like a puffer fish so I'm going to put a binder over a binder and am going to go to bed so that I can do it all again tomorrow...just like Annie's song---"The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow".....yada, yada, yada... OK Lurkers come on in and be counted!!!!!! Trisha

I'm a lurker! I post rather infrequently so I took this opportunity to come out of hiding! I just celebrated my 1 year surgery date! I've lost 142 pounds ... went from 307.25 down to 165.25. My body fat went from 45% down to 20% and I was told not to lose anymore weight! Nobody has ever told me that in my life! I went from a size 30/32 to a 10/12. Life is grand! I've been very active at my gym and I ran my first 5K race a month ago and I'm proud to say I ran the entire length without walking! I signed up for the Iris Festival 5K next month and the Silver Falls 5K trail run in June. And I'll be walking in the Portland to Coast relay walk in August. I'm so excited to have the ability to be active! I'm lucky in that I haven't had any complications to speak of. My only wish is that I would dump on sugar but I don't! So I have to really watch myself because I used to binge on cakes/cookies/candy when I was heavier. I really don't want to return to old habits! Overall I feel extemely blessed to have this chance to start over again. I have seen what it's like to live an unhealthy life and I don't want to do that again! Today I am free from Diabetes, sleep apnea, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and my cycles have returned to normal. I feel incredibly grateful! Deanna

Deanna that is WONDERFUL!!!!! I have a friend who has been on a walk team and has done the Hood to Coast for about 11 years I think. She has been on the 8 is enough team and Rock Bottoms and has consistently placed in the top 3 women's teams and one year was #1 overall. It doesn't matter if you NEVER place. Your accomplishment is testimony enough to your tenacity to persevere and pursue your dreams. The very fact you put yourself out there continually makes you a role model for many. PLEASE continue to post. We need as many role models and persons of inspiration as we can get to stay on our pathway. My hat is off to you and all you have accomplished Trisha

Welcome Deanna! It's nice to meet you. It's great to hear that you've done so well and overcome so many illnesses. I can't wait to get back to being active again. I just to do a lot of local 5ks and I've done the Breast Cancer 3-Day twice. I'd love to get back into that again. Linda

CONGRATS GIRL!!!!! You are doing sooo GREAT!!!! I've been wondering how you were...Have fun, take care and KEEP IT UP!!!! Deanna K

Miss ya kiddo!

Yes I am a lurker. I am 53 years young, no human kids, but a 12 year old black lab, a 10 month old border terrier, cat that has been hiding for 8 months since we brought our terrier home and next week my husband and I are going to Montana to get another border terrier. I am hoping to have wls in the near future. Though I was just turned down by Kaiser. Unfortunately (?!) I have no comorbidities, and I was 1 BMI point from being approved. I can't believe that I am going to say this but I am trying to gain 5 - 8 lbs to qualify. I have been a lurker on many websites, but I am so committed to this I am no longer a lurker. Glad to meet you all! Andrea

Andrea!! You are just over the hill from here...well kind of. LOL Yes I understand about gaining some weight to qualify. Another thing you might consider is the lap band. I know Kaiser won't pay for it, but it runs about 10K which is much less than the RNY. I'm 53 years young too and soon to turn 54. THIS IS DO-ABLE!!!!! Glad to have you come out "lurking" mode and join in. Trisha

Hi Andrea - I also had to gain a few pounds (although not many) to qualify for the surgery. I figure that at the rate I was going, gaining that weight would have happened eventually, so it was just a matter of timing. My surgery is scheduled for July 24, so I am on my way now. I have lost 24 pounds since my weigh in to qualify for surgery, so I'm feeling lots better. Linda

Hey Linda, It just seems so counter productive to gain weight - but I will do what I have to do. It's so wonderful you have your surgery date. You are on your way. Now that I have made the decision to have this surgery it seems I've gotten really impatient. Need to take a deep breath and slow down. Kaiser takes a looong time no matter what. Keep us up to date on your progress. Andrea