18 month surgiversary!

It’s my eighteen month surgiversary. My life feels unrecognizable to me sometimes.

The last six months, which was when I posted my year surgiversary post, has been hectic. In that time my dad has had a brain tumor removed and started chemo again. This has led to many, many trips to Pennsylvania and back again. I was home for two entire weeks in August and that was the longest I’d been home since February. It’s been a pretty challenging summer.

I injured my hip in May and had to stop running in June due to the injury. I started physical therapy in August but my experience with therapy has been disappointing to say the least. I got fed up with my therapist finally and I’m getting an evaluation at a different location on Monday. It’s been disheartening to be unable to run.

In good news, I’m now a full time college student. I never thought I’d be able to do this, but I have and, so far, things are going well. I used to have so many bowel problems and have to plan all of my outings around where bathrooms were. Just getting that sorted out has made college feasible when it never had been before. I love my life!  (I'm majoring in Exercise and Sport Science which I'll turn in to a BS in Gerontology. My goal is to help older people be more active.)  

Here are my numbers from surgery until now. I would have liked to have lost about 10 more pounds by now, but the summer was pretty much a wash due to lapsing into bad habits because of all the traveling I had to do. I’m back on track now and the numbers are rewarding me.

Bust 49.5 to 39.5
Chest ~43 to 32.5
Waist 50 to 37
Hips 59.5 to 44
T-shirts tight men’s XXL to baggy men’s S (I find men’s t-shirt sizes are more consistent than women’s.)
Jeans tight 28 to 12
Weight (actual) 292.4 to 178
Weight (trend) 295.5 to 179.9
Fat % (trend) 54.5 to 37
Fat Mass (trend) 161 to 66.5
Lean Mass (trend) 134.5 to 113.3
Percent excess weight loss 13% to 71%

Link to most recent progress pictures.  

[School has kept me from being active in the forums.  I'm very, very busy between my 5 classes, maintaining my previous exercise schedule, physical therapy, and my responsibilities to my household.] 

Considering how busy your life has been the last several months, a wash in terms of weight loss sounds like a win.  But, good job getting back on track even with starting school!

Best wishes for your dad, you and family. 

~Shel

What an inspiring post.  You are meeting great challenges and staying the course.

Good luck with the new physical therapy.  I was injured in July, got with a great program and feel wonderful.

Awesome post!!

you deserve every good thing that comes your way..

you are always super helpful and honest on this forum

which I personally appreciate...

funny I used to have huge bathroom issues also, although after about 

10yrs of suffering thru the oh god what if I have to go...and I always had to go LOL!!

resolved itself about a year or so before surgery..

i often wonder if it was all "head" stuff....

Summer was also,  just a for lack of a better word..a **** show

but I'm also back 

on track....

So happy for you that you are back on track and in school. You will do great! Cheers to continued success!

Congrats on your surgiversary!

You're doing an incredible job Gwen. I'm glad you've been able to stick with us with everything you've had going on.

I'm so happy to hear you are doing so well with your weight loss as well as your starting college. 

Best of luck with all your endeavors!

Carol

Awesome, you still continue to be an inspiration! So glad everything is moving along for you and thanks for still posting!!

Congratulations, Gwen!  I give you the prize for consistent behavior over time.  You've had lots of challenges but haven't let any of these get you seriously off-track.  At 18 months you are living proof that we certainly CAN continue to lose weight with the sleeve after the first year!! 

Congrats too on becoming a f/t college student.  You're personal experiences are going to really help you connect with patients in the future as you help them navigate whole new frontiers!