Front Page of the newspaper! xpost

I guess I should say hello and introduce myself since I have been a lurker on this board for the past year. I live in the Fort Hood area and had my surgery while my hubby was deployed to Iraq for 15 months. He is coming home today!! YAHOO!! I shared my story with the Killeen Daily Herald and not only did my story make the newspaper today, I'm on the front page with pics! I wanted to share it in hopes that I can be an inspiration to someone else, much like many have been an inspiration for me. Here is the link to the front page PDF and a copy of the story. Stacy http://www.kdhnews.com/f/frontpage.pdf?d=1/3/2008 Homecoming surprise Posted on: Wednesday, January 02, 2008, 11:09 PM By Amanda Kim Stairrett Killeen Daily Herald When Sgt. 1st Class Bob Engstrom gets back from Iraq today, he's coming home to half of the woman he left 15 months ago. His wife, Stacy, has lost 147 pounds in the past year, going from a high of 307 to 160. She went from squeezing into a pair of size-28 jeans and an XXXXL T-shirt to a comfortable size-eight pair and a medium T-shirt. Stacy underwent gastric bypass surgery and had her stomach stapled. During gastric bypass surgery, the stomach is divided into smaller and larger portions, according to www.webmd.com. The small part is sewn or stapled together to form a pouch and disconnected from the top part of the small intestine. That small pouch is then reconnected further down the intestine. Calories and nutrients absorption is reduced. According to the site, more than 177,000 Americans had weight-loss surgery in 2006, with gastric bypass accounting for about 80 percent of those procedures. The result is rapid weight loss. Stacy had the surgery on Jan. 15, 2007. When Bob came home from Iraq for his rest and recuperation leave in June, she had already lost 100 pounds. Stacy, who is 5 feet 7 inches tall, has gone on to lose 47 more pounds since he left. Her goal is 150, but she isn't stressing about those last few pounds. "What's a couple pounds when you've lost that much?" she joked. Bob has seen photos of his wife after the additional 47-pound loss, but Stacy thinks they don't do her justice. She's excited to see Bob, a tank mechanic, this afternoon when he is set to return to Fort Hood with other 1st Cavalry Division soldiers. Though Stacy has undergone a tremendous transformation, she predicted what Bob would say: "You're beautiful. "You've always been beautiful, but you're even more beautiful." The Engstroms met in 2005 on a "fluke," Stacy said. Bob was "computer illiterate" and some other soldiers showed him how to use a Yahoo! chatroom. He and Stacy chatted. It turned into four months of talking on the phone. That turned into a 10-day trip for her to Fort Hood from South Carolina. Bob and Stacy were in love. But she, a single, working mom of two boys who always had to think ahead, needed to know how they were going to handle the more than 1,000 miles between them. She is a neonatal intensive care nurse, and accepted a 13-week assignment in Dallas. When the three months were over, she didn't want to leave Texas. Her sons, Kyle and Dalton, loved Bob. Kyle, who was always picky about whom his mom dated, approved. Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center had a job opening and before Stacy knew it, she, Kyle and Dalton were Texans. Bob has stepped in and become the "most awesome father," Stacy said. Kyle, who is now 18, and Dalton, 9, call him "Pops." Kyle has matured a great deal and tells his mom that he wants to wait to start a family because he wants to be able to give to his children what Bob gave them. Stacy losing so much weight and Bob getting along so well with the boys got the Engstroms to thinking. Their next goal is to have a child. "He's 41 (years old) and I'm 38," Stacy wrote in an e-mail. "Call us crazy, but crazier things have happened!" Stacy's decision to get the life-changing surgery wasn't spurred by Bob - he already loved her - or anyone's approval. She was scared for her health. Her blood pressure and cholesterol were up. She was pre-diabetic. She felt like she was 80 years old. "A walking stroke," was how she described herself, and she didn't want to be a burden on her family later in life. Bob knew she was getting the surgery - he went with her to a clinic in Austin several days before he left for Iraq. Stacy had done extensive research and she knew about the procedure. It was Bob who asked the questions. He calls her a "free spirit," she said, so he knew that once she made up her mind, she was going to do it. After filling out the necessary paperwork, Tricare insurance approved the surgery in less than 48 hours, Stacy said. What followed was a series of psychiatric, nutritional, physical and exercise evaluations. The surgery isn't a "magic fix," she said. The procedure is a tool, and someone has to be committed to changing her lifestyle. They have to be ready for the right reasons. Stacy tried every diet pill and weight-loss program she could find, she said. Before the surgery, she put on the prom dress she wore in high school, when she weighed 135 pounds. It fit on her thigh. Losing the first 100 pounds was a real "wow moment," for Stacy. Initially, she lost 1 to 2 pounds a day. That slowed to half a pound to a pound in the last few months. The boys have joined her in adapting to a healthier lifestyle. Kyle has lost 70 pounds through healthier eating and exercise. Getting the surgery didn't get rid of Stacy's body dismorphia, or poor body image, though. She looks in the mirror and still sees a 300-pound person. The weight loss left her with excess skin, something she said makes her look like a "frumpy old woman." She knows that no matter how much she changes, she may not be satisfied. But she has noticed the different treatment she gets now that she is not obese. Before, people ignored her and wouldn't hold a door open. Society has become friendlier now that she is thinner. Even patients at the hospital treat her better and it made her wonder, "I'm the same nurse as 150 pounds ago, but now I'm a better nurse?" Stacy is getting better at dealing with the after-affects by focusing on other things in her life. The Engstroms bought a house while Bob was deployed and with newfound energy, Stacy has remodeled 90 percent of it herself. Bob is coming home to a brand-new wife and a brand-new house, she said. She didn't realize it until shortly before the surgery, but Stacy did feel bad about going under the knife while Bob worried more than 7,000 miles away in Iraq. As of Wednesday afternoon, Stacy had picked out several outfits to wear to this afternoon's homecoming ceremony. Shopping now that she's thinner is very tempting, she said, and much easier now that she doesn't have just mumus and giant T-shirts to choose from. "I'm dying to see his reaction," Stacy said of Bob. "He'll tell me I'm beautiful. I know he will."

That is such a great story. I am only one month out and I cannot wait until I have hit my goal weight. I am glad that your husband is home. Those deployments suck.

Congratulations to you and your family's success. What a wonderful way to start the new year!! My hubby returned last January, it was the best gift I could get. I can't wait to reach my goal.

How cool!!! That is so awesome! Front page. I bet his eyes about fell out of his head when he finally found you! Glad he's home. I'm originally from Austin, my ex brother in law was in the Army at Ft. Hood, so we used to go there on the weekends a lot to a couple of the bars. It was fun. Take care and enjoy your husband!! Maurie

Hi Stacy, So can you give us an update? Linda