Getting to Know you!

Hello, I am Molly and I am 32 living in Baldwinsville, NY, which is just west of Syracuse.  I just celebrated our 10 year anniversary with my wonderful husband.  I have a daughter who will be 13 this year.  I had my LAP RNY surgery on 10/4/06 because I was tired of being sick.  I had diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, a touch of sleep apnea, depression, and pure exhaustion.  I started out at 318lbs and today I am at 223lbs, which puts me at 95lbs lost.  The energy and self confidence that I have gained is something that I could have only dreamed of.  My only regret is that I did not research this surgery sooner.  I am 43lbs from my surgeons goal of 180.  I know that I can do it, but losing 1lb a week tends to be a bit depressing.  At this rate, it'll take me 43 more weeks to lose it lol.  I am trying hard, and hoping that it won't take me that long.  My husband and I have agreed that I can take on a  part-time job (with so much energy, i get bored in the evenings lol) and I can save it all for plastics :)  That will be awhile though.  For now, I am working on continueing to lose :)

Hi! My name is Andi and I'm 36 years old. I'm the mother of 3 - a boy aged 12, another guy aged 11 and an 8 year old princess who rules our rooster house! I work full time in a local hospital as the Guest Relations Manager and I am loving my new job. I'm married to a wonderful man and we've been married for 14 years and together for 16.  I had my surgery on 5/18/06 and I'm currently interviewing surgeons for plastics which i'd like to have next summer. I'm going to try and get the tummy covered and I'll pay for the breasts and arms myself!  I love the fact that I've got energy to spare and am always happy now. I am very involved with my children and their lives, something which i didn't do before for fear i'd embarrass them. My husband joked when we went away for the weekend that wiht me participating we'd have no pictures of our time away....so be it we'll have to remember the memories because mommy is having too much fun now! ANDI

What a great thread, LisaMarie!

I'm Karen, 47, live on Long Island. Married almost 21 years to a wonderful man, have 2 great kids (most of the time) 17 y/o boy and 19 y/o girl. 21 years--where did the time go?
My DH has liver disease, will have transplant in anywhere from 6 months to 2 years. He has another liver disease aside from HepC & the docs are holding off as long as possible to see if a new cure for hepc comes along--interferon is contra-indicated in his case. When you have a transplant going in w/HepC, it always comes back.

I digress, but it's such a huge part of my life. I was in a big rush to go through the approval process because I wanted to be post-op enough to take care of him. There are no coincidences--he has major ups and downs, and the week after my surgery he was up and able to help me in every way.

I work full-time in NYC as director of a non-profit. Sometimes I have to travel (not much) and I'm glad my kids are around to help out.

I've been overweight since age 17. I had dieted my way down to 123 right before I met my husband and after having my daughter was 175. I went down to 145, got preg. again and it's been up & down ever since--mostly up. When I told kids & DH about RNY, they looked up @ my wedding pic & said, Mom, you'll look like that again! Well the face is older, but one can hope.
Was 200 when I had breast cancer almost 5 years ago, swore I would lose the weight & quickly went up to 232, had a lapband in Mexico (insurance wouldn't cover), lost 85 lbs., developed Nutcracker Esoph., had to have band unfilled, gained most back & finally had insurance that would cover revision to RNY. Some people look @ me and say "you had WLS?" They don't realize what I was on my way up to, and I hide my weight very well. When I told the nurses what I weigh, they almost fell over!

So anyway, I'm new on my RNY journev,--I'm looking forward to running up the steps to the LIRR & not feeling like I'm gonna have a heart attack.

I absolutely love all of you and thank you so much for your support and encouragement.

My name is Rachelle and I live in New Jersey with my partner of 16 years and our neurotic dog.  I'm 43 and have been researching WLS for about 2 years.  I decided to go forward with it last year, but before I could get started, I had a heart attack.  Now it is one year later and I'm scheduled for surgery in 3 weeks with my cardiologists blessing.  The only thing I am waiting on is insurance approval and it is driving me insane. I have many people that are my inspiration, both online and IRL.  I know I will be a success! Have a glorious day everyone!

Hi my name is Jenniferand I am 35 yrs old. I live in West Babylon on Long Island.  I am the mother of 5.  I have 3 children from my first marriage ages 14(girl), 10(boy), 9(boy), one stepson 8 and one 3(boy) from my second marriage.  I am married now to a wonderful and supportive man who sat there at my bedside before and after surgery holding my hand through it all.  I am currently attending school to get my nursing degree.  I am one yr away from that!!!   I have struggled with my weight since I was a teenager.  I have been in the 200's for as long as I can remember.  Only once did I get into onederland and that was doing the Herbalife program.  That was when it had ephedrine in it.  But once I stopped I ballooned again and after my last son I just kept gaining and no matter what I did I couldn't stop. My neighbor had WLS surgery and when I saw her results I was amazed.  I was sooo disgusted with myself and how I looked and felt that I started researching.   I embarked on this WLS about a yr ago and had sooo many problems with my insurance company.  They kept denying me and after many appeals I finally got approved.  I think they got tired of hearing from me...LOL Finally after having my approval and a surgery date I was petrified to have the surgery, I was afraid I wasn't going to wake up from the anesthesia.  (I had a bad reaction to it 14yrs ago when I went through an emergency c-section)  But after speaking with the anesthesiologist I felt a little better and went through with the surgery.   I am 6 wks out and have lost 39lbs.  I feel terrific and have energy now.  If I had to I would do it all over again

Hi,     I am new to the boards. I am 39 and the mother to one 5 year old girl. I have been married to a wonderfully supportive husband  for 7.5 years. We own an Italian Restaurant, where my husband is full time and I am there just to do the books and pay the bills, as I work full time for the State.      I was a very thin child,  an average teen and  young adult. My mothers family is very large.  I was always the one they asked if was adopted, I wasn't. I met my husband eleven and a half years ago and my weight started going up. Probably because for the first time I felt I found someone who loved me for me and not thme they wanted me to be.       I started researching WLS about 2 1/2 years ago. Went back to my NUT and was all cleared for surgery in Dec. 2005. Unfortunately my thyroid cancer came back  and I had to deal with that. I had an Lap RNY on June 13th, 2007.      I have lost 29 lbs to date and according to my husband I no longer snore. I had to go back to hospital a week after being discharged with terrible pain on my left side, turns out I had a large abcess that had started to obstuct my bowels. Well they opened me up to drain me, uck!!! Incision closed  after a week and then surprise opened up again. Still open and draining today.  Having lots of vomiting after almost every meal. Getting very frustrated with that. Also with the fact that weight loss is at a snails pace for the past 2 weeks. I need some positive support.     Tammy