Everyone check in and update!!!

Hello, My name is Annette. I have almost finished all my preop stuff with the obesity institute and Dr. Emma Patterson will be my surgeon. I'll be having an lap RNY. Decided to go with this because I have co-morbidities and the lap band may not give me the larger amount of weight loss that I need. I weigh around 320 lbs. I have been checking this site out for a long time and have been researching this surgery for about 3 years. In July I finally got insurance that will help with the coverage of the surgery unlike the insurance before that had it totally has an exclusion. I've been checking out all these statistic articles lately and frankly, they freak me out a little. I have been trying to figure all this out and it is very confusing. Why is it that the people that are 3, 4, 5 or more years out its hard to find their profiles or posts. Have they just moved on with their lives now that they are healthier and more fit? The one thing I have noticed is that most people posts their regrets as not having the surgery sooner. Well I appreciate everyone that does post and tells their story as I prepare for the journey. Annette

Hello Dina!! Thanks for getting the ball rolling on this!! I had my gastric on 2/16/04, am down 213 lbs and going in for a panni removal and tt on Nov. 9th with Dr. Ladazinsky at Kasier Sunnyside. Life is going great, although I am fearing this surgery coming up more. I think it is beacause I have seen the life that is possible and I dont want to lose that!! I think before, doing the surgery was saving, and did save, my life. Now I am worried about the life I have. I know this surgery is less invasive as the gastric, but it is still surgery. Other then that, things are going great! I was able to wear an actual Halloween costume to a party this weekend. It was great!! I had a good time. I am also not beating my self up if I eat a few things that are not that great for me! Before I would have blown the whole day or even week! Now, I just get over it and start back up the next meal. I miss shopping for clothes now. I havent bought anything in a few months. I am waiting to see how small down I get. Anyway, Hope you all have a safe and DRY Halloween (yeah right!!) Sarah -213 2/16/04

hi everyone. my mane is bridget. i had surgery 10/4/05. i am 4 weeks out and down 49 lbs. i am still pretty sore due to a fal, and belly flop on tile, 10 days after surgery. getting better every day though. i am hoping to get some evergy back soon and i know it will all come in time. i am a 27, 28 on 11/10, yr old mother of 2 toddler girls. i am enjoying my time off work to spend with my girls. love this web site. will update more later

Hello, my name is Ellen and I am a newbie to the board. I am scheduled for surgery (rny) November 21. I live in Coos Bay, OR and am having my surgery at Good Samaritan in Portland. Emma Patterson is my surgeon. I am 52, mother of 3 (all grown), married to hubby Mike for 35 yrs. Oh yes, I am a servant to a spoiled dog and cat. At my highest weight I was 280, but after 2 years I have battled it down to 235. I am 5'1" tall and so my body really protests being obese. I started out a normal sized kid and my mother led me to believe at the tender age of 10 that I wasn't slender enough for her and so began my journey to obesity. My sister was a stick when she was 13 and she is also obese. I didn't realize that my mother had an illness that caused her to be obsessed about keeping slim and throwing up if she deemed it necessary. There are some genetic reasons also, as my fathers family was almost all obese. Of course we all come to the realization that we are generally not fat just because we eat too much, but that we have deeper emotional issues we need to deal with before we can heal and be healthy. I am glad to have found this support source as I go through this exciting and somewhat scary change in my life! Hugs to everyone Ellen

Hi Dina & All!! For those who don't know me, my name is Heather, I live in Albany-20 mins. south of Salem, my hometown (= I have been heavy my entire life, remembering back to being 135 when I was 11, in the 5th grade! I look now at my daughter who is almost 10 and only 80+ lbs. and thank God every day that I started them out right teaching about respecting and loving their bodies, excercising for fun, portion sizes, and the need for lots of different types of food! All this to give them a great self esteem on their journey through life! I started the Kaiser Permanente Severe Obesity Treatment Program officially back at the end of April 2005 and am all set to start the 5 week weight management class, a mandatory pre-requisite for surgery on Nov. 14th. My highest weight was 332lbs, and am now down to 320. It is always a struggle, great for a few days, then slip ups, then back on the wagon I go!! I journal online at Fitday.com...check it out people!! And the journaling my foods and activities, etc. really does help! I look forward to continued weightloss and probable surgery next spring or summer...depending on how I move myself along Kaisers program. Prayers for you, send some my way, never hurts and is always appreciated! Thanks so much for everyone's candid posts, they help more than you know...because many of us don't say thanks every time, though we often think it alot!!

Hi Heather, I am in Albany, too! This is my hometown, hower. But we go to Salem OFTEN. Good luck on your journey. I will be thinking of you! Take care, Lisa 360/345/250/160

Hello Dina, What a great idea! My name is Lisa. I frequent the July 2005 boards, and lurk (mostly) on the Sex before & after WLS. I think I've been here before, but it's been awhile! It's cool to see so many Oregonians on here. Looking forward to maybe participating more. I am 3 months out, and am feeling a strong need to be around folks who have been (or going to) there. I had Lap RNY July of 2005, and have lost 95lbs so far. Yikes! It feels wonderful! I still have a lot to go (90) so I'm not even close yet, but it feels so good to have that weight off me! I felt like I was drowning in my fat. I feel so much freer! I haven't had any complications so far, and am just thrilled with that. I had my surgery done in Corvallis at Samaritin Bariatric, and I just LOVE the staff. Dr. Read is so wonderful and compassionate. We have montly support group meetings, and I love going. Anyway, I am 5'9", and weighed (at my heaviest) 360lbs. Holy smokes, I can't believe I let myself get that big. But since I was so tall, I was always told that I carried my weight well. (Hah, doesn't look that way in the pictures!) Nobody guessed that I weighed almost 400lbs. I was always a 'big' girl, and always thought of as fat by my peers. Again, Hah, I wasn't fat at *all* judging by the pictures. I was just tall and broad. So I never fit in with what was normal. Therefore I must have been fat. Too bad I didn't see myself for how I was really. I might have not let myself go so much. But if all your life you are told you are fat, you stop caring about what you eat. So I ended up at 360. Not to say my life was bad. I've had a great life so far, and am happy. Just in denial about my weight. And haven't felt too ostrasized by being so big (as an adult). I like to hang with my friends and stuff. So they didn't make me feel uncomfortable, but I always did. I felt so out of place with all my thin, petite friends. I'm afraid I will always feel that way since I am tall & broad. But without the fat, maybe I will feel like I fit in better. We shall see! Yikes, look at me go, sorry about that! Just felt like rambling I guess! Now that I am 3 months out, I am able to eat more variety of things, and this Halloween was HARD. I am a sugar-aholic, so I have tried some. I haven't dumped so far, but if I have one bit too many, I feel it! Just get kinda nauseaus. Maybe that's dumping? So I con't eat much, but I am sorry to say that I do eat some. Been struggling with getting enough water. I am finally able to take gulps of water, and that has helped me to get more water in. Sip, sip, sip is so hard to get it all in! As long as I make a concerted effort, I am able to get enough water. If I do that enough, maybe it will turn into a habit? I was a major water drinker before surgery, so this is a bit strange for me. It's so easy sometimes to just not drink (or eat, for that matter.) I, too (like many others) track my food on fitday.com. That's a wonderful resource! I love it. I am *not* one to count calories or anything, so I am grateful that this exists so I dont' have to. I have pics on my profile. They are at the end. (It's looong. Been keeping a diary, and I am wordy! ) I have been married to my high school sweetheart for 17.5 years, and we have a 9 year old son (light of our lives.) We have a cat, and I plan on getting back in to horses (my PASSION) once I am thinner. Probably below 200. Horse folks can be a picky lot, and I was once turned down for riding lessons because I was too big. OMG, the humiliation... But I want to volunteer at a barn, so I am excited to be getting my energy back (plus some!). Am *really* looking forward to being around horses again. And all sorts of other active things. I love the mountains, so it would be fun to go hiking, and mountain biking in the mountains. Hopefully this summer! I work full time (in R&D at HP), and DH is a student (LBCC) at the moment. Well gosh, I have written a book, haven't I? Kudos to those of you that made it to the end! Thanks again for starting a getting-to-know-you thread. It was a great idea. Made me feel welcome to start posting and stuff. Take care all! Good luck to us all on this journey. {{{HUGS}}} Lisa 360 (my highest weight)/345 (my surgery weight)/250 (my weight today!)/160 (my goal weight)