It's been 2 years!

[scgal21]

It was 2 years in December that I had my surgery and it has been a rollercoaster. It was a very good choice for me and I never regretting it. I am hypothyroid and had very bad joints which prevented me from exercising so the loss was slow, yet steady 5-8 pounds/month. I lost a total of 90 pounds the first 15 months and held steady until my son passed away in June of last year. The grief and loss sent me into a tailspin of eating junk, not counting calories or any type of exercise. I put on a total of 15 lbs. and went up a dress size. Lately, I feel more in control and have managed to lose 5 lbs and trying to eat clean and get some exercise in.

Last week I had my 3rd consult for plastic surgery to have the excess skin removed. My insurance won't pay anything, so I've been shopping around. I think I've finally made the decision to go to Wake Forest Baptist Hospital in NC. They have a resident program and the 6th year resident who would do my surgery has hundreds of TT and BL under his belt and he'll graduate in June and start a private practice. I really connected with him and feel very comfortable moving forward.

I feel blessed that I was able to have this surgery. I think if I had not, the 15 pounds wold have been closer to 50 and I would still be obese. Good luck to all of you who are just entering your journeys.

[ltlsqueak]

Thank you for sharing your story! I'm so glad that you'll be able to have the plastic surgery! I wish I could. I am hoping the skin won't be too bad. I wish you the best and hope you'll keep us updated on your progress.

[aboutime4me]

Hey there, thanks for sharing your story. I'm so sorry for the loss of your son. Coming out of grief is such a different road for all of us. Thank God you had your sleeve and haven't put on tons of pounds, just like I would have done, pre sleeve, myself. I can truly identify with that. Just looking at food I could put on 10 pounds!
Your anniversary of 2 years is a great milestone. I'm almost there myself, with a few more months to go. My sleeve has been a true life saver in so many ways. I dropped 95 lbs and have easily been able to stay within 2-3 lbs of that weight loss.
Keep up your efforts to get the other pounds off, if that's what you want at this time. At least we know with the sleeve we'll NEVER see that high weight again. We can do this....we ARE doing this!
Wishing you all the best in 2014.

[jduford]

I am so sorry for the loss of your son. I commend you for your strength to share your story. Skin removal will be self-pay for me, too. Please update us with your progress with the skin removal.