obxhousewife

My name is Melissa and I live on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Growing up on the water I practically lived in a bathing suit for 6-8 months of the year. I love the beach, fishing, and just about anything that you do outside in the warm sunshine.

My weight has always ping ponged, but when it was low it was normally because of a tragedy like the death of my son or getting divorced, or some other heart breaking event.

It got worse when I hurt my back in 2004. I became less active because of the constant pain I was in. And eventhough I eat healthy, my inactivity has lead to a steady decline in my health and a steady increase in my weight. I just couldn't seem to take it off and KEEP it off.

I was sleeved on 10/17/2013 at Mary View Hospital in Portsmouth, VA. It's a long way from my home on the Outer Banks, but it's the nearest place to where I live. I really liked my surgeon and the staff at Mary View.

I went in for surgery on a Thursday and I was released on Saturday. The night of surgery and the day after I suffered bouts of vomiting, but that's how I normally react to general anesthesia, so it wasn't a big surprise. It WAS painful, but as soon as it passed (by Friday evening) I began to feel so much better!

My surgeon prescribed pain medication for me, but I was able to just take liquid Tylenol for the next couple of days once I got home. I only needed to take Tylenol for pain/discomfort for about 4-5 days.

My biggest challenges have been that I stay hungry a lot more often than I expected I would and not getting enough fluids. I fight the hunger and help get extra fluids with sugar free popsicles. I didn't mind the protein shakes in the beginning, but now I'm just flat out tired of them. I've had to get creative with mixing up low sugar fruit and veggies into my shakes to get my protein.

The biggest thing that I'm excited about is exercise! Who-da-thunk it right? For the last 9 years I've been so limited because of my back injury, but I'm down 30+ lbs now and the difference is unreal! I've also been seeing a chiropractor for 4 months, too. I honestly believe the combination getting my back realigned and loosing the weight has shot my energy level throught the roof!