Anne N.
The Beginning
Apr 20, 2015
April 21, 2015
Two weeks ago I made my first consultation appointment with the surgeon. I meet her on May 5th and then see the nutritionist on May 19th. The decision to have weight loss surgery had been weighing on my mind (no pun intended) off and on for several years. Several acquaintances/friends/coworkers had the surgery and were very successful as they transformed into happy and healthy women with more confidence. I wanted that same thing, but was always afraid of the operation. At the time, I was a single mom with a young child and no family nearby. Feeling "alone" is what stood in my way and I just kept along dieting and exercising and losing and gaining.
Almost two years ago, my daughter and her best friend had successfully "parent trapped" me with her friend's father. I had known him the entire time the girls were friends, but something about six years later clicked. :) Fast forward and now we own a home together and we have his daughter living with us, as well, full time. His daughter had been obese almost her entire childhood and she had VSG surgery in January 2014 when she was 18 years old. Her mother bought all the right foods and assisted her in healthy eating choices in the beginning. Within three months out, they were back to eating fast food and her weight loss came to a halt. We got her to move in with us this past January as she was a year out from surgery and had only lost 80 pounds (her surgery weight was 350).
This month she is 15 months out and she is only a few pounds away from a 100 pound loss. Having her live with us the past three months has been trying at times because we cut out all her fast food and unhealthy snacks that she was used to at her mom's. We pretty much had to "retrain" her in healthy eating habits and I had to lock away anything that she would be tempted to binge on: peanut butter, crackers, etc. I have faith in her that she will reach her goal and that we are doing a good job at providing her with the tools she needs to be successful.
Anyway, a good friend of mine should be scheduled for surgery in late May/early June and I have learned a lot from her about the process. She is really positive and we talked for a long time about her decision and how it may be a good decision for me. After thinking about it for several weeks, I decided to move forward. We will also have the same surgeon. :) I spoke with my BF about it and he was apprehensive at first. He felt that WLS was only for those weighing in excess of 500 pounds or more. I told him that I'm about 130 pounds overweight AND I have been losing and gaining the same 50 pounds for about 15 years. I showed him all of the literature and we also watched a webinar together that the surgeon wanted prospective patients to view. He is on board and said that he will do anything needed to support me before, during and after my surgery. He is about 40 pounds overweight, so he has renewed his resolve to lose it with me.
My goals? I want to be able to be fit and healthy and enjoy life. It would be nice to feel comfortable in clothes again. I want to be a role model for healthy living for our three kids.