I'm new here and 5 days out from surgery. Yikes! A little background....I'm 5'3 and 61 years old. As a kid I wore "chubby" sizes and as I teen I felt terribly overweight based on the standards of the 1970's, but in reality had a BMI of about 25. Then I got thin, then I got married and got heavy, then I got divorced and less heavy, then I changed jobs and got heavier, then I got married and got heavier, then I got widowed and got less heavy, then I moved and got heavier. Do you see a pattern here? Controlling my weight had really turned into a problem after menopause in my early 40's. Thankfully no mood swings or hot flashes, but my metabolism seemed to die and my appetite doubled.
In October I started the process to get gastric sleeve surgery. I'd toyed with the idea for a couple of years. The impetus for this was a couple of things. I'd been traveling in Costa Rica in September. During the trip I had to get a seat belt extender on the plane. I also took a fall and scraped and cut my leg pretty badly. It probably would have happened regardless of weight, but all the extra weight certainly exacerbated it. I also thought I was going to die on a hike up a very steep slick hillside in search of the Resplendent Quetzal (it's a bird, Google it). These things were pretty humiliating.
Then right after returning from the trip my slightly older sister had a stroke. She's been obese most of her life and has several co-morbidities. As a result of the stroke she'll be using a walker the rest of her life. THAT was the wakeup call for me. I don't want to spend then next 30+ years disabled.
I went to a bariatric surgery seminar at the hospital and after a lot of thought decided to go for it. I started the 6 month process to get insurance coverage as well as taking care of all the other requirements like EGD, psych clearance and cardiac clearance. I also had an in facility sleep study done. I got insurance approval and on the surgery calendar on June 10. My pre-op visit with the surgeon was two days later and I immediately started the 14 day pre-op diet. With things falling into place and suddenly happening so fast I didn't get a final meal or "food funeral" as I've heard it called. That's OK and probably for the best.
When I started in October I had a BMI of 41.5. Through diet and a LOT of exercise I lost 36 pounds before the pre-op diet. I think I probably could have lost another 20, but that would still leave me in the obese category. I'm hopeful that being sleeved will finally get me back down and able to maintain a healthy weight.
Right now depending on the hour I'm swinging between being excited and being terrified. Wish me luck!
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