3 Year Surgiversary - I slept through it

EDIT: I just re-read what I posted and it appears I'm still a bit cranky from being sick. Take it with a grain of salt. I'm truly thrilled with my choice and with my result: Maintaining 100 pound loss 3 years out. Can't beat that with a stick.

AND NOW, I return you to my original, honest, but somewhat grumpy post.

It was last week. Since I've had a flu of some sort, I pretty much slept through the anniversary and didn't even know what day it was.

Sorry, no pictures due to privacy issues. You know what they look like anyway, you've seen it many times before. Here, I'll describe them for you:
Picture 1: 40 something woman - very fat and looking unhappy.
Picture 2: Normal weight, looking happy and years younger - is that even the same woman?

So here's my 3 year re-cap.

The good:
1. I'm no longer morbidly obese
2. I'm no longer obese
3. No more high blood pressure (currently 110/70)
4. No more high cholesterol (currently 138 with great HDL)
5. Lower resting pulse rate (runs around 65-70, was running at 80)
6. No more fatty liver (went from NASH diagnosis on biopsy 3/9 to perfectly normal on biopsy 12/10)
7. Based on the statistics for EWL and regain, I'm a successful surgery

The bad:
1. I don't look any better naked now than I did when I was fat. The loose skin on my tummy isn't pretty. But I do look a WHOLE LOT better in my clothes!

1. I'm still slightly overweight. I never hit my personal goal. I hit my surgeon's goal (which was high end of normal BMI), and 5 pounds below, for about a minute and am now fighting to get back down there. I hoped to be one of those lucky people that just got thin with ease. Nope. I hoped to wear a single digit size. Again, nope. But that's life.

2. My weight loss "honeymoon" period was all of 9 months. For 9 glorious months, the weight fell off and doing it was easy. Once I got past the recovery period, for the first time in my whole life I knew what it was like to feel normal and not have my next meal constantly on my mind. I had great hope that part would be permanent. No such luck. That's probably the biggest disappointment. That freedom from thinking about food was phenomenal.

3. I do not have the "less hunger" promised by removing a significant portion of stomach. I am still just as hungry as I ever was. (Recent bout with flu excepted.) I just can't eat like I could before, but I could still eat enough to be fat again very easily, so it remains the daily struggle it's been all my life.

4. I struggle with iron absorption.

5. I lost 20% of my hip bone mass since surgery and am still on the wait and see list for whether that is simply loss of mass due to weight loss, or going to be a surgery-related early onset osteoporosis party.

6. I probably should have let my surgeon take my gallbladder and appendix at the time of my DS as they came out anyway, less than 2 years later, within 6 weeks of each other.

The Lucky
1. I found out about the DS through OH just weeks before I was scheduled for an RNY. RNY is great for many people, quite a few who have done better than I have with a DS. But, I am certain I would not have done as well with the RNY.

2. Zero surgical complications - once I got past those first pesky few months where I felt like death on a stick.

3. I never had a huge lower half so my butt and my thighs have no baggy skin. If/when I decide to do plastics, it's tummy only.

3. Diabetes runs in my family. I don't have it. Thanks to my DS, I probably never will.

4. Finding the Lightweights Board. The regular DS board was/is/(whatever) a hot mess, populated with often mean spirited posts. That doesn't happen here.

Happy surgiversary, Panda.  I'm glad you're here too. 

--gina
 

Thanks Gina. I'm glad too. I love you guys. You're the best.

Sorry you were sick during your surgiversary but glad you got past that  and are feeling better.

You have done a marvelous job with your DS.

Liz

Thanks, Liz.

I figure it's a plus I missed it. You know how anniversaries are with big meals, cake, wine... oh wait... different kind of anniversary. hehe

Congratulations on your three years!!  Hope you are feeling lots better soon.
Linda

Thanks Linda!!

Your stats are fantastic, btw. Exactly the BMI I'm shooting for.

And I'm just so grateful to be complaining about maybe a 15 pound (instead of 115 pound) difference between where I am and where I want to be. Isn't it fantastic? Ahhhhhhh. :)

Congrats on 3 years and still being in the good fight! Thanks for your honestly...It is good to hear.....AND, this is a great supportive board.

Blessings!!

~~Jennifer

Thanks, Jennifer. 4 more days for your surgiversary. I love reading the 1 year ones. They're the best!

I just re-read what I wrote and it sounds a bit worse than I meant it to. LOL I probably should have waited another day into feeling better before I typed that out. I'm still a bit under the weather and I can see that attitude comes through in that post. May have to edit. haha

 Congratulations on all of your success.  Three years and maintaining 100 pounds gone is incredible!