Carolyn Weaver

About three years ago several of my friends has gastric bypass. They have lost and kept off over 100 lbs each. When I watched my scale going up up up and my clothes getting tighter and tighter, I decided to look into it. That was in June, 2011.

After attending the information session, I seriously reviewed my options and decided I didn't like the idea of something being left inside me (lap band). My father was a cancer survivor and had a colonstomy - the idea of disection and resection didn't go over well with me either. Now, making my stomach smaller and taking the dead part out? That would work for me. So, I moved forward.

I had already tried every diet in the book - including medifast, which met my works requirement for the 6 month diet plan. My BMI was on the cusp at 39, so my sleep apnea issue had to be listed. Once every requirement was met, I got my surgery date of 3/14/12.

My mother flew in from Florida and I'm glad she did. It was nice to have someone there to feed my 4 dogs and 2 cats and to help me. The worst part of the whole thing was the barium swallow they did the day after surgery. I know they need to make sure there aren't any leaks, but man - that was nasty! After I made it through day 2, life definitely looked up. Went home on day 3 and life truly began.

Day 8 saw the drainage tube come out, which was like heaven. Life was so much easier without that drain! And, the doctor said I could have pureed food right away too, which made life grand.

I'm on soft foods now, hoping to move up to regular foods in a week or so. My next followup is this Thursday. I'm down to 211 (pre-surgery diet had me at 250). I'm thrilled with the results - everyone is telling me how great I look and I really do feel so much better. Even my feet don't hurt as much.

Next step - getting serious about exercise. Going to join the YMCA this weekend and start zumba and swimming. Watch out world, I'm coming back into circulation!!!!!