Just for fun - Introduction thread

Great topic Cindy.  I love to read about everyone and get to know them better.

My name is Linda,I am 56 and live in South Georgia.  DH and I have been married 32 years.  We have a daughter and a son.  Both are married and both have daughters.  My two granddaughters were born 1 week apart in February 2009.  I love being a grandma.  I also love that I had surgery and can now play on the floor with them and have energy to keep up with them.

DH and I have a miniture daschund named Willie.  He is our little baby now.  I work at a public library as an administrative assistant.  I do all the administrative work and the financial work.  I really love my job most of the time.

My highest weight was 248.5.  I lost 14 1/2 pounds pre-op.  I am now around 131 1/2 and very very happy with my results.  It has been a great journey. I would like to drop a few more pounds in case I have some bounce back.

Linda

What an interesting, diverse group we are! My name is Amy, and I have lived all of my adult life in Chicago. I work for a national non-profit. I have a demanding, gratifying job with a lot of travel to cities on both coasts and in-between. I also have primary responsiblity for managing the care of my 87 yo mother, who has dementia and a very independent spirit. I live with two beautiful kitties, Wellstone and Querida. They are wonderful companions and lots of fun.

I have struggled with overeating since I was 5 y.o. I have had periods of remission but really climbed the scales in my late thirties and have yo yo'ed ever since then. As you can see, I had my RNY on 11/29. 30 pounds later without diabetes meds, I have no regrets. I am still working on my partnership with my new tummy but every hassle is worth it. My goal is to break up with food, and learn new ways to enjoy, calm, entertain, and comfort myself. WLS has given me a new perspective in that I am choosing to make my well-being a priority.

Everyone on OH has been be a tremendous source of support and information for me, and hope I can be helpful to all of you.

Amy

My name is Christy and I live in Mission Viejo, Ca, about 30 min south of Disneyland. I have struggled with my weight since High School and I had knee surgery and suddenly I was much less active. I have lost and gained weight more times then I can count, I did have a few good runs when I kept if off for a while but once I got married 17 years ago this May, things got more and more comfortable and with 2 pregnancys and 2 wonderful boys 13 and almost 9 the weight just kept adding up. I would lose some and gain more. I can honestly say I have had my thoughts taken over by my weight for more then half my life.

I finally had enough last year and saw my PCP and we discussed some options, I first thought about the lap-band but during the pre op classes and alot of research i determined this was my final attempt so lets go all te wat and have the RNY. So after completing the classes and required items and insurance approval I had the lap RNY on December 1, 2010.I was 255 the day of surgery and I am sure I was more then that prior as I had to have lost some on the pre op diet.  It was the best decision evr! I have lost 25 pounds and over 15 inches so far. That was as of Jan 1st. I only weigh and measure on the monthly anniversaries. That way I do not get caught up in the scale.
I am glad to have this community to get support from others.

Me Next-

My name is Sharon.  I am 42 years old.  I live in Northeastern Montana.  I am married (just passed our 10 year Anniversary), second for both of us.  So we have grown kids, 2 new grandson's last year.  One dog, 2 cats and that is it period.  We love to Kayak, ride our Harley and just hang out together.

I had a VSG on December 13th, 2010. My high weight was 208 ( I am 5ft 2 1/2in) my surgery weight was 196, my current weight is 178.  I have always hated exercise, but am learning day by day to tolerate it.  Ordered the Zumba tapes as no one has classes around here.  Cant wait to be at Goal and buy some new clothes.

hiiiii,
my name is Toni . i am 51 yrs young , i live in staten island ny i met my husband when i was 14 he was 18. this year we will be together 37 yrs and will be married 33 yrs this June. we have a son who will be 32 this april and a daughter who will be 30 this may. the most important thing i want everyone to know about me is how much i love being a mom. from when they were infants to adults i adored every stage and aspect of their lives.
i love the beach, singing and dancing. i collect angels i have a king charles cavalier/ ****er spaniel named Lucy. and i have a grand dog named Chewy( carin terrier) i have fish and had a yellow nape parrot for 12 yrs before he passed his name was mumbles and i miss him so much. i will get another parrot this time an african grey when the funds r there. i was basically thin until i started to have children never lost the baby weight and continued to gain and lose over and over and over again. mind u i have always gone the gym so i was obese but i was fit weird i know !!!! i found out about vs in may 2010 and 2 weeks later i went to mexico and was self pay and had the surgery ive lost close to 50 pds and have 30 something odd pds to go i feel great and look great as everyone tells me. i am a size 10 now but so looking foward to getting to goal which will be this year
im so glad i found this forum

I'm Gina. I'm retired military and live in DC. We've been married for 30 years. We have 2 grown boys. One is married to a lovely young lady and we have a beautiful granddaughter. 

I ballooned up in weight after retiring but it had started creeping up after my back surgery while I was still on active duty. So, I retired before they could catch my weight and try to put me on heavy duty exercise and "diet". Diets and exercise wasn't working and I'd ruined my metabolism over the years with stupid diets, diet pills, excessive exercise, diuretics and laxatives to maintain.

Anyway, I chose the duodenal switch (DS) and have done exceedingly well with it. I hit normal BMI after 5 months and reached my lowest goal weight at 11 months post-op. In the 2 1/2 years since hitting goal, I bounced up about 8 pounds but now am only 4 pounds up from my lowest weight. I'm a Vitalady groupie and honestly believe she saved me from a miserable nutritionally deficient life. My surgeon has been doing the DS for more than 10 years but really doesn't understand all it takes vitamin-wise to keep me or other DSrs healthy. He loves seeing my labs come in and embraces Vitalady's plan. Still can't get him to recommend it from the very beginning for everyone but the dietitian and I are making some progress.
 

My name is Brittany.  I am from Indiana.  I am the perfect mix of city and country(I grew up showing my dad's dairy cattle, but lived with my mom in the city).  I am married to an amazing man.  He knows exactly when to let me have my way and when to call me out...he is willing to put up with my princess-like behavior....and he has big muscles and an even bigger heart!    We are childless by choice.    We have two furbabies.  Preston is a 5 year old Maltese, who I until recently refereed to as "My bad little dog".    Turns out he isn't so bad at all!  And Lilly is 9 weeks old and a handful right now.  I never thought that I would be a crazy dog person, but I am.

I am a nurse.  I do special care nursery, adolescent psych, and correctional nursing.  I am back in school working on a Master's in Nursing Education. 

I live to travel!  My husband and I are working on all 50 states.  We check off Hawaii next month.  We are also working on watching the American Film Institutes Top 100 Movies of all time.  Surprisingly to myself, I am really enjoying this little project.  Gone With the Wind is Awesome and alot more scandalous than I expected!  

 

I'm late for the party, but in case you all are still reading.....
My name is Kathy and I am 52 yrs old.  I live in Minneapolis, MN with my Dh of 27 years and our last child at home, a boy, age 14. My oldest son is 24 and lives in Seattle and my daughter is a senior in college in WI. Before moving to MN 7 years ago we lived in Princeton, NJ and before that we lived in San Francisco, Palo Alto, Boston (as grad students then a second time as young parents of babies), Washington DC and Michigan (where we met)!  We have 3 kids born in 3 different states!  I'd have to say N. California was my favorite place to live with Boston and New England being a close second.

I love anything that allows me to be creative - from designing a garden to a designing a stage set.. from painting a wall mural to building a castle ....from setting a pretty table to producing a gorgeous wedding. I like to take people's dreams of what's possible and make them reality. I'm trying to figure out what the next phase of my life ought to be career wise.

I was always pretty tall and slim until one of the moves just did not sit well with me.  Until that time, I had been very active, athletic and outdoorsy, and had bounced back easily after pregnancies.  But being unhappy and missing my former home made me turn to food for comfort in a big way and I ballooned up to about 220+ lbs (I am 5'9"). I struggled with that weight, losing and gaining, for about 6 years. Then I started seeing a weight loss "coach" I had seen on Oprah who helped me lose 100 lbs. in one year by simply eating healthfully and being very disciplined.

I was never more healthy and physically fit until one morning (my 40th B.D.) when I woke up with numb legs. Unbeknownst to me I had severe degenerative disc disease and spinal stenosis that was compressing my spinal cord to near critical levels. 3 major surgeries later it is stable for now, but the nerve damage changed my lifestyle forever. The last was a laminectomy and fusion in 6 levels in my neck and upper back. I don't usually talk about this, but it's part of what I struggle with so I decided to open up about it to you.

The last bout of compression left me with loss of feeling in my extremeties and damage to both large and small motor skills. We moved to MN while I was still in a neck brace recovering from the resulting fusion that I had to stop the compression. I moved here a size 12 (thin for me!) And I ballooned up to a size 22 in one year's time.  The move combined with the physical stuff just sent me into a tailspin of emotional eating. 

I'm also mentioning my physical trouble because my decision to take off the weight was combined with a goal to work with my remaining physical abilities (and my own head) to be the best I can be!  I'd like to start working with a PT to figure out what exercises and strength training I can do.  And I never really dealt with the loss of my former physical self either so it's time to tackle that as well. I think I am over most of it and am okay with how things are, (things could be a lot worse!) but I still have some mourning to get out. You can't just suppress your emotions over a loss forever. 
p.s..... And because you might be wondering.... most people cannot tell I have limitations.  I am able to walk and use a knife and fork, etc.  Just don't ask me to do the hustle or run or button your shirt... that would be a problem. 
Love my LW peeps.
Kathy

Hello All,

I'm 52 years young...married with 3 adult children and 6 grands....love my God and Family............

I'm well a..yo-yo'er....vsg 6/10....still love them carbs...no surgery on my brain....hehe....

I'm still learning about my new tool and what it has to offer me .......

After much research...VSG was my best option...self-pay...

Dixie Darlin ' is my twin and doing the same research I've done...she is a LW and hopefully will get WLS this spring..