New to OH, PenPal wanted...

Hi all!  I am 23 years old, and only recently found out I need surgery.  I have a date set July 16 for RNY, not sure lap or open quite yet.  I would love to get a new pen pal or more than one would be great...esp people who had been where I am.... My biggest problem is my liver... Thanks  Rianne [email protected]

Hi Rianne, I haven't used OH much, and felt the need to jump on here tonight.  I see you're looking for a penpal.  I am 41 years old, and had a Lap RNY April 1, 2005.  I had my tummy tuck October 2006.  I would love to chat with you!  What's wrong with your liver?  Oh, and by the way, I've been where you are.  I have been obese all of my adult life.  I was considered a lightweight for surgery - with a BMI of 47, weighing 269.5 lbs day of surgery.  I have been down to 144 lbs, and currently am at 168 lbs.  Every day is a struggle, but each day is a new day!  I look forward to chatting with you. Take care, Tracey

Hey Tracey!  I would LOVE to chat and converse with ya, especially since you've been here and done that it's probably old hat to you!!  If you've read my last blog post, you probably laughed b/c you felt all the same feelings and realized you were psyching yourself out way too much before the surgery.  At least, that's what I think I'm doing....I don't think it's going to be as big of a deal as I'm making it! I have NAFLD, non alcoholic fatty liver disease, and it's caused my liver enzymes to spiral out of control...so they sent me to a nutritionist to try to lose some weight to help this.  Then, we find out I have PCOS, polycystic ovary syndrome, in which one of the characteristics is that it's darn near impossible to lose any weight and KEEP it off.  So...yay for me...haha But, my liver has gotten progressively worse...and my doctor has told me that if I don't get this surgery and SOON my liver will go into the cirrhosis process which will more than likely bring death to me within a year....fun times.... I am at 235 with a BMI of around 41 I think....so I too am a lightweight.  But, the surgery for me will not only fix weight, and liver, but there's other problems: blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose...etc etc etc Anyways, I would love to chat...my email is [email protected] which can also be used to contact me on yahoo messenger if you have it. Thanks for taking the time to respond. Rianne

Rianne, I see that you are also on the MO forum board.  I haven't had my surgery yet I'm still in the paperwork process but I too have NAFLD and I am very obese at 344 lbs.  My dr. told me that in 10 years or less the number one liver disease will be NAFLD and the #1 cause of liver transplants so that is scary isn't it?  If you still are wanting a pen pal I would be happy to be one I'm on the boards everyday however sometimes I don't post every day.  If your still needing a pen pal and are interested let me know. Bev

Bev, Hi hello!!  Thanks a lot for taking the time to write....I would LOVE to have a new penpal...you can never have too many friends ;-)  Especially friends that are undergoing what you are going through, and understand the process.... I am new to the site, but online at least ten times a day probably...ha ha  Well, more recently, since I've found OH that's been the case anyways... My email is [email protected]... Or of course we could just converse through OH...whichever you are more comfortable with... I hope you are having a GREAT Thursday!! And hope to hear from you soon! Rianne