Another Belated Introduction

Hi everyone!  I"m Mary and I too just jumped in without an introduction.  I have been on the OH board for awhile, and checked out this forum a bit ago. 

I'm scheduled to have my surgery on Sept. 30 and have lots of feelings of anticipation, fear, hope, excitement, etc.  Lots of emotions.  My story is similar to many - overweight all my life, tried LOTS of diets, lost wt. and gained many times.  Never getting too close to any reasonable goal.  I'm hopeful RNY will help me accomplish that.  I'm willing to do exactly what is recommended - that's my plan!

Yesterday I had lunch with a group of my closest women friends and was so supported there.  Came back to work and was all weepy about it!  Last night I was really crabby to my husband.  Sheesh.    He is still waiting for a date for his RNY, and that's stressful, too.

Anyway, I got lots of nice responses here when I asked about others that might also be older - like me (I'm 57).   I'm so committed to doing this and doing it right!  Thanks for everything.  Can't wait to be on the losers' bench.

Nice to meet you, Mary! I'm only a year behind you, I'll be 56 in Jan. and wish I'd started this journey years ago instead of trying one more 'this will be it' diet....kno9w what I mean?  My surgery is next Tuesday and my only feeling is excitement! I have complete faith in my Dr. and his staff so worrying about complications that may or may not happen is useless. I have no regrets and am not scared, just totally excited to finally get on with it!

Good Luck to your hubby...hope he gets his date soon.

You guys are a great inspiration to me  to get my ducks in a row. If I apply now, by the time they can schedule me, I'll be a non-smoker for long enough. I'll turn 57 in January.

Dialing ...

Patty, it must be tough to be tackling cigarettes in addition to the weight issue. Good for you for doing this. I was never able to get the hang of smoking and, of course, I'm glad now. Good luck with this. I enjoy reading yoru posts.

Thanks RubyEllen!

Smoking is just another addictive behavior. I think the reason the Chantix helps is that it somehow targets the part of the brain that gets pleasure from the nicotine.

Wouldn't it be nice if they had Chantix for the appetite?

Quitting smoking is tough, I had to do it myself.  The surgery was a great excuse.  I had stopped for 5 weeks then I smoked a pack.  Then a couple of weeks and then 1 cigarette.  So I've been smoke free for 2 weeks.  I will have just enough time to have surgery.  I was d**mned if that would be why my date was delayed.  I am hoping that after time the urge will pass.  You can do it!

Yeah, I was stuck at 360-370 for a while. The motivation to quit is the surgery, which I've been avoiding, but I really need. I think I used the smoking as an excuse, although it is hard to quit. Chantix is helping quite a bit.

Hang in there! You are almost on the loser's bench!

Holler if you want a cig. I'll try to talk you down....

Mary, thanks for posting the introduction. I think we will all do JUST FINE with this surgery thing. We'll have to show the youngsters how to hang tough and get results.

I'm glad you have supportive friends. Good for them. I hope your hubby can get a date too. My husband is the tall and thin and disciplined sort. He's as DISinterested in food as I am obsessed with it.

I can only lose 40 lbs on my own and then I get off track and gain it back fast. I've done this 3 times in 5 years. It's a wonder my friends put up with me still as they here every little detail of my struggle when I'm on the way down and the next thing they know, I'm OFF the plan and gaining it all back. You have to be PATIENT hang out with me!!

Are you kind of super emotional these days? I had tears trickling down my cheeks at work when I found out about my shoulder arthritis. I used to cry a lot, but not lately. Then today I tore into the administrator where I work. I had a valid point, but probably put WAY too much emotion into it;. I'm way past menopause so I can't blame hormones. I guess I am more stressed than I try to let on.

Anyway, it's cool to find others with similar situations.

Well it looks like 9/30 is officially Mary day!  Hopefully we can keep in contact through this.