Jen35

I really feel for you:( I have flare ups but the pain isn't constant. Hopefully you will have your surgery soon and can get back on the meds. I saw the surgeon for the first time and he didn't say anything about stopping the plaquenil or the mobic. I have to do a 3 month diet so he may take me off of it at my next appointment. I'm going to make a point to ask him next month. I was so nervous I forgot half of my questions by the time I saw him. But the patient advocate and the nutritionist answered a lot of my questions prior to that. I guess I'll find out soon enough.

Thanks:) It would be nice to have a St. Louis forum but I don't know that there are enough of us, lol.

My heart goes out to you! I have really low self esteem and so many things that happened to me in my life that cause me to be angry. I took a lot of it out on my husband and we were separated for a while. We were in counseling for a year and it was an amazing experience. I learned so much about myself and we both learned how to interact with eachother. It really saved our marriage. I can truly say that at 16 years our marriage is better now than ever. Don't give up because anything is possible. It doesn't always seem that way, but you are worth the effort to change. I still need to work on my emotional eating that got me to where I am. I plan to go to counseling again on my own before, during and after my VSG surgery to work on my mental issues with food so that I never get back to where I am now. Hang in there and I wish you the best:)

I have RA and Fibro too and I'm just starting the process. I have my 1st appointment with my surgeon on 10/23/12. I only take Plaquenil at this point and Mobic for the pain. So far my RA is mild, but I'm worried about how it will impact VSG surgery. I would love to know how things go with your journey as well.

My brother had Dr. Follwell and loved him. I'm going through New Start, but Dr. Folwell is moving to Florida, so I'm going to see Dr. Richardson next week. He trained Dr. Follwell, so he should be good too.

I'm sorry you had this complication. I haven't had surgery yet and this is what I fear:(

Like others have mentioned, I don't think there was any one moment. I'm 35 with 2 small children and I feel OLD. I have RA and Fibromyalgia - constantly tired and in pain. I want to enjoy my family and my life in general. I'm still young and I want to feel that way! I was healthy and athletic when I was young. I started steadily gaining weight in my early 20's and haven't stopped. I've tried dieting and exercise. I even worked with a personal trainer and completed a 10k Mud Run 3 years ago at 210lbs. I was (somewhat) strong, but still fat! After the RA diagnosis, I can't work out like I used to so now I'm not even strong:( And I'm even fatter. My mom died when I was 10 from breast cancer and her only risk factor was her weight. She was only 39 when she died. I don't want my kids to grow up without a mom. I guess that's my final straw - I want to be there for my kids and I don't see that happening if I continue down this path.