A Whole New Life!

For those shy "lurkers" out there on this forum, this is for you!

At 5'6" and 195 lbs, I was a miserable mess. I wouldn't go anywhere that I might run into people I know. I rarely rode my HD motorcycle with my husband. When we traveled, I was glad that people met me as my fattest instead of being able to compare what I was before. The self talk was all negative and frankly I felt older than my actual 56 yrs. I was feeling humiliated and overwhelmingly depressed.

In May 2013, I had a tearful soul baring discussion with my husband, and told him that I really wanted to get the gastric sleeve procedure. Being low BMI, Mexico was the option. Surprisingly, he understood completely and was very supportive.
I researched and found Dr Ramos-Kelly in Tia Juana, and was on my way. (An excellent choice, BTW.)

Now 6 months later......what a whole new world I'm living in!
My stats are as follows:
6/16/2013 188lbs 41-38-43
Post surgery, I was 198 lbs!
6/26 183 lbs 41-33.5-38.5
7/16 172 lbs
8/19 161 lbs
9/18 151 lbs
10/26 146 lbs
12/14 139 lbs 38.5-29.75-37

I have other stats of my thighs, arms and neck, but you get the picture!

I am walking with my husband everywhere, enjoying going out with family and friends, riding my motorcycle, being a much more involved wife, nana, daughter and sister. The change is remarkable.
I feel like I have a new lease on life, and long years ahead of me as a healthy woman instead of a depressed stay at home gal.

I could go on and on about the impact of being overweight, and how I got there. But I think everyone on this forum knows that when I say some of it was me, and some was out of my control, well, you'll understand.
And I could talk on about the ups and downs of post surgery too. Safe to say, it is a journey of trial and error with reading this forum for any and all tips to incorporate into my routines. All of you have helped immensely! I'm sorry that I haven't been more vocal, but honestly, I learned more from you all than I could have ever shared.

For those considering the surgery, it is a very individual decision. And a big one. I am happy with mine, and followed pre-op and post-op instructions so that I would be as complication free as possible. Indeed, I had none. I feel lucky. But, it was not easy and took alot of troubleshooting and more than a few errors in judgement to find my happy place. The journey continues.......

How low will I go? Well, I wished for 160lbs as the benchmark of when I met my husband. Then I thought, gosh, maybe I could get to when I had kids back in the 80's; 141lbs. I've surpassed that and now wondering when the weight loss will stop. I am not nor ever will be model thin. That is unsustainable. I want to be healthy. So, we will see. I feel pretty darn good right now!

Now I'm having fun selling all my size 14s and 12s on ebay, and out spending that fun money on my grandkids! I'm living a whole new life that I thought was gone forever.

Thank you forum friends. Your questions, answers and journeys are hugely responsible for why I am a new woman today!
I plan to continue to "lurk" on this forum, for I'm now ready to learn about ongoing maintenance, and I need all the help I can get!
ColoradoGirl

Hi

I have just signed up to this site and yours is the first post I have read. Thanks. I have not yet seen a surgeon but have made the first appointment which is for 29th Jan 2014. I am 46 years old, 5ft 4 and to tell you the truth don't know my exact weight, as I long ago stop wanting to know, but at a guess approx 110 kilograms sorry I in Australia and not sure in pounds, plus it sounds less in my talk haha. Everything you wrote about is the way I feel and I too only recently blurted out to my husband that I want a gastric sleeve, much to my surprise he is supportive of my decision which is a huge relief as he always carries on how he hates plastic surgery. I have been looking into this for ages and now certain this is the right thing for me. I no longer want to feel uncomfortable, keep buying the next size up and just generally hate myself for letting me get this way. I look forward to the day I can post a message like yours. I understand it is not going to be all smooth sailing and am grateful for all the info I can get from people that have had it done. Congrats on your achievement.

Dr Kelly did mine as well, and I couldn't be happier!! Excellent surgeon, and I was in fantastic hands.

Wow, amazing post thanks! it's almost exactly my story (except the after surgery part- as i'm not quite there yet, scheduled Jan 20) my weight, the motorcycle issue all that. Thanks again! whew... so glad to hear the positive outcomes. what were some of the challenges and troubleshooting?

Cool story. I understand fully how we start to hibernate and stop doing the things we love to do because we are ashamed. And its awesome that hubby was supportive.

My issues were initially feeling like a big lump right under my breastbone when I swallowed. From the very first swallow test at one day post op til about one month post op. It does go away. Obviously, one of my incisions is right below that spot, so duh. I didn't panic, just soldiered on and drank slowly.
I had headaches from lack of enough protein, that took more protein drinks to remedy. Bleck. I am not a fan of protein drinks, but still incorporate them into my daily routine, especially if I am too busy to stop and eat properly.

Drinking anything that had sugar in it. Cold sweats, racing heart would follow. Now that I have been eating mostly high protein, low carb, I still get these symptoms if I don't read or ask carefully what the ingredients are. One bite of pumpkin pie is OK, but trying to eat a whole slice is disaster!

Having not thrown up since I was 19 ( I had an iron stomach), I threw up the swallow test stuff, and have continued to do so if I over eat. Lesson learned? Slow down, stop sooner and rest. Usually I am done before my stomach says so. This is a delicate dance, and I am very conscious of pushing away sooner than my brain wants to. I think this has been my hardest lesson.
This does not mean never having my favorite foods again. It means one bite is all I really need.

Fast weight loss meant fatigue for me for about 2.5 months. My hair did fall out starting at 3.5 months( I expected it from what I had read)but not alarmingly so. I have alot of hair anyway. It has stopped now. It is common and it does stop, really.
I took biotin for that from the very first days post op, as well as assorted vitamins like calcium, b and d. This was thanks to all the research done by fellow sleevers on this forum. Again, I expected most of these challenges, and acted accordingly.