Just for fun - Introduction thread

I guess I'll go! :) 

I'm Abby, I'm 33 (today), married for a little over a year to my partner of 13 yrs, Eric. I'm a graduate student in Hispanic Linguistics and I teach Spanish at my university. Eric works at my university, too, as an IT professional. No kids, just pets. I was a Certified Veterinary Technician in a previous life. I also show my Pugs in conformation. :) 

I always struggled with my weight, like a lot of people here. I was actually a skinny little kid due to always being sick with something or other, ear infections, etc. I started having weight problems after my dad died when I was 5. I think my lowest healthy weight was when I met Eric, and I was about 123lbs. We had a falling out with our Taekwondo instructor, and that's when I started to gain and when my thyroid went insane. I suffered severe depression and anxiety thanks to my ******* thyroid for about 5 yrs. I don't know my high weight because I was too ashamed to weigh myself, but I would venture it was around 240. I finally figured out the thyroid issues and got down to about 200, but couldn't really budge past that. That's when I started looking into WLS. I went to an info session given by the hospital that had done my friend and former coworker's RNY, and that's where I learned about the VSG. I submitted all the paperwork (it was a COE hospital, so there was a LOT), and I got a letter back from them saying I wasn't "fat enough" or "sick enough" for WLS. And then my insurance dropped all WLS completely, so I decided to self-pay, and decided on Dr. Aceves in Mexico. I'm still not even 3 weeks out yet, so it's hard to say how I feel about my decision. Ask me again in a few months. The acid reflux is the worst part of the whole ordeal, and some days I feel pretty depressed because of it.

Anyway, I've always been a very active person--Eric and I have practiced Taekwondo for over a decade (me 16 yrs, him 19), and due to some hip pain, I got us into kettlebell training. My husband is going to be an RKC (Russian Kettlebell Certified) instructor after one last test, and I plan on taking the HKC certification (slightly below RKC) this summer. The thing that was keeping me from it is that one of the requirements is to be able to do a flexed arm hang for, I think it's 30 seconds. I am too heavy to hold myself up that long. I am hoping the VSG will change that. We're also going to be testing for our 4th dan black belts in June, hopefully. :) 

I think that's about it! 
Abby

 Cindy, this is brilliant. I have been so down and did not want to post, but here is something fun.

I am 64 and live in Sonoma CA. I am retired from a federal job and now work part time in a women's clothing store. I am divorced, no children. I have a terrier mix, Beatrice, my avatar, who is my walking buddy and companion. I am lucky to have many friends. Some close and some all over the country.

I have been overweight all my life, but the pounds overwhelmed me about 25 years ago. I let things slide until I slipped into type 2 diabetes about a year and a half ago. I also had high cholesterol, so I could qualify for WLS at with BMI about 36-38. It still took almost 11 months to get surgery. I had the sleeve due to another complication, an autoimmune disease.

Things seemed to be going okay, but at 6 weeks out, I am struggling with nausea. I finally wised up and called the surgeon. I am getting help and will go in next week if our efforts fail. I am giving up trying to get in supplements, protein drinks for the weekend. Am focusing on getting fluids and keeping them down for now.

My weight loss has been fine with me. I am so happy to fit in old clothes and not huff and puff getting up from a chair.

I have not been on any other board on OH. Lee suggested this and I have been delighted with all of you. Does anyone know where precious Lee is now?

I struggled with nausea and vomiting early on. It was so bad that I went without taking many of my supplements. I did manage to get some down, but liquid multi-vits didn't go down very well. I found that zofran helped to decrease some of the nausea. I would take it, about 30 minutes before a "meal" and was able to get some food down. I also went for several weeks without much protein and supplements, and tried to focus on just getting enough fluids. Around week 8, the fog lifted and I started being able to drink more and found a RTD protein shake that I could tolerate. Things started improving from that point forward. Sorry to hear that you are having a difficult time. I understand completely. Sometimes, I would wonder, if I was doing something wrong.

Make sure that you are taking an acid reducer or PPI.


I was also wondering about Lee.

Thanks for you help. I take protonix each day for acid reduction. I had a better day today. What is an RTD protein shake? I am still struggling to find one I like.

I also take protonix, which seems to be working better than the pepcid that I was taking in the beginning. RTD=Read to Drink. The one that I found that I could tolerate is the Premier High Protein Chocolate flavor shake. It has 30 grams of protein in 11.5 oz, low in carbs, fat, and sugar. It is found at Costco. It used to take me a few hours to drink about 8 ounces, but now, I can get an entire one down in 1-2 hours. There is also a vanilla flavor available, but I haven't tried it. If you don't like it, you can return it to Costco. Good Luck!!!

Hi, I am Laura. I am 53, I have 5 children, 4 granddaughters and 4 dogs.
I have struggled with my weight since I became a teen. I had WLS in 2002 and lost 120 lbs but unfortunately I regained 100 lbs and felt like a big failure. I had a revision last July and finally decided to cut out all refined carbs and have lost almost 70 lbs.
I live in Portland, Oregon. Not married but I have been with my bf for many years.

I'm Shannon. I'm a 30 year old wife and mother of 3. I've been married a little over 2 years. My I have 2 girls, age 11 and 7, and my boy is not quite 2. The girls are not my husband's biologically, but he adopted them last year and no one would ever know they are not his.

I have always worked in offices, but got permanently laid off a couple of years ago, and tried to be a stay at home mom. I hated it, and decided to go back to school. I just finished my first semester of college (with all A's) and have submitted my application to nursing school. I'll find out in March if I got in, and if so, I will start in the Fall.

I have always been pretty active, involved in sports and cheerleading all through school, but have always battled my weight. WLS was a last resort, I had the sleeve in March of last year. I changed everything about the way we eat, and started working out. I lost really fast.

Working out has become a passion of mine, along with cooking healthy food and developing new recipes. I get up way before the sun to make sure I have time to work out, becuase if I wait, life happens and I may not get around to it.

I loved my life before WLS, now I love it even more. Like I have heard so many say, my only regret is not doing it sooner!

Congratulations on your first semester in college. I know how much hard work and dedication is required to get all As. 

Hello All!  I am 27 yrs old, born in Colombia but have lived in Miami most of my life.  I have a Masters degree in Human Resource Management.  I've been married for  just  under 2 years to my middle school-high school-college sweet heart. We've been together for almost 13 years total. No kids.  That is what actually made me decide to get VSG. I want to have a baby before I'm 30 but I wanted to have a healthy pregnancy and  it completely freaked me out to think that at 5ft tall I was a few pounds away from 200 and that meant that  I would be way over 200 w/ a pregnancy.

I got VSG 9 weeks ago and I am 2 pounds away from being half way to my goal. I feel amazing. It is the best thing I could have done.    I started going to the gym every day this week and I am loving it. It is so much more encouraging to go when you see immediate results.  Since I was in high school Ive gone to the gym but I was never able to control my eating. Now I have both!!!!   I love this forum for all the tips and advice and specially because everyone relates to what you are going through.

Thanks to you all!!!!!!!!  Its great to have positive support though this journey.

Hi LW's!  This is a great idea!  I am Jeannie and I'm 59 years old.  I live in SW Michigan with my hubby.  I have 4 daughters and 2 step-daughters and 14 grandkids.  I have been an X ray Tech for 25 years and am starting to look forward to retiring sometime soon. My husband retired 1.5 years ago and I find it pretty irritating to get up at 5:00 AM while he's still sleeping!  We have a  nice motorcoach and we love to travel and plan to do that extensively when I retire. (So glad I will be able to fit in the little bathrooms much easier!).  I am scheduled for RNY on January 24 and am really excited!  I was always a skinny kid and never had a weight problem until I went through menopause at @45 years old...then the weight started piling on...I tried every diet out there and they each worked for awhile...well, you all know that story...In the past 18 months I started being diagnosed with all kinds of co-morbidities and decided it was time to do something about it before it was too late.  I realized I have isolated myself and have not really enjoyed my life like I could and I am SO ready to start this positive journey.  This is a great forum and I appreciate all of the information I get here...and the friendliness! See you soon on the Losers Bench!  P.S. I will be posting an avatar as soon as I can get one of my daughters to help me!