Sandpiper

[size=5][font=comic sans ms, cursive][i]Liberum...the state of being free: Latin[/i][/font][/size]

[size=5]I am a 40 year-old mother of one. My husband recently rejoined the Army after spending nearly ten years in the National Guard. I just finished my first college degree.[/size]

[size=5]We all have tragic stories when speaking about our weight. But that's why I am writing this now, instead of pre-surgery; I don't have to care anymore about my past. I am free.[/size]

[size=5]Many of the blogs that I read prior to surgery supported my decision to change my life and I wanted to make the dramatic change. I stopped listening to the critics of my body and my choice to have surgery because I have come to a point in my life where I just don't care about others opinions. I have a right to love myself without having to check in with the world and see if I am doing it right. [/size]

[size=5]My first night of surgery was't as hard as I thought. I was very drugged up and I slept for 20 hours. When I truly started to wake up on the following day, I was sore and was scared. I was in a state of confusion, trying to figure out how on earth I was going to live again knowing now that I have almost no stomach. As God would have it though, he placed a woman in the bed next to me who had the Sleeve done two years ago and now was having the ever well-deserved tummy tuck. From the moment she was in the room, she never asked for pain medicine. Rather, she started to question when she would be able to get up and walk. I laid in bed completely puzzled at her request, and I summoned up the courage to ask her. She told me that the only way to beat the pain was to move. As she was putting on her robe, she told me that she had joined a Zumba class at the request of a good friend, only to find herself alone, terribly body concious, and afraid of failure. She started in the back, slowly learning the moves, and after two years she is a Zuma teacher and self-professed exercise nut. She was released within one day of her five hour surgery, not having taken any pain medication, just spent her time walking.[/size]

[size=5]I firmly believe in God and I firmly believe that everything that happens in our lives is for a great reason, whether we enjoy it or not. I truly believe that God put that little Angel in my room to affirm my decision and to give me a plan.[/size]

[size=5]So, that's it. I am a new now. I am truly reborn. I am Free.[/size]