thallen84

Hey everyone! I'm back on here, looking for motivation and advice. Long story short, I've just had my first surgery following my final cancer treatment and the biopsy came back all clear! Looks like I beat the odds and tackled esophageal cancer in 16 months. I did not go through chemo, therefore the stress of the situation drove me back into bad eating habits and I put on 30 pounds. I'm 4 years and 3 months post-bypass. I've maintained at 200 pounds (down from 369 at my biggest) and was very proud of myself until recently. I have packed this weight on over the last 4 months. Winter. Holidays. Cancer. COVID. It all conspired to make for a rough patch, but I'm on the other side of the mountain now and determined to get back down to 200 which is where I'm happy and looking healthy. Thoughts? Advice? Words of encouragement?

Hey everyone! I'm looking for advice and encouragement. I had my weight loss surgery in December 2016, so I'm 3.5 years out now. I dropped around 160 pounds, from my biggest being 360 and my smallest being 187. I was so blessed to lose so much in about 14 months. Maintenance was relatively easy at first. I purposefully gained 15 pounds because being 6'2 with a large build, 187 started getting me questions about being sick. 200-205 is my personal goal and sweet spot, where I feel the best and think I look the best. Fast forward to September 2019. I was having my first endoscopy since my surgery, as a follows up to Barrett's esophagus that was found when I had my bypass. What I thought would be routine, turned worst case scenario when I was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. Apparently I'm in that 2% that has Barrett's that actually progresses to cancer. Luckily we caught it very early stage and I have been able to have ablation therapy treatment versus the typical chemo and radiation. I've developed recurrent esophageal stricture due to scar tissue from ablation therapy, causing me to choke frequently. Needless to say, it's all been very scary, and my eating got out of whack for a while. I've quickly gained weight and I'm at 220.2 today. I need to lose 20 pounds ASAP. The current COVID-19 situation and working from home, having access to food 24/7 coupled with stress eating is proving difficult to overcome. I thought I'd post here to see if anyone has words of encouragement or advice to help me get back on track quickly. 3.5 years and I was very proud to be maintaining at my goal weight of around 200, and now I'm scared the scale will continue to creep up on me.

Hey everyone! Thanks for the positive comments. Just an update.... I've lost 5 pounds and I'm feeling positive about continuing this journey. Another 15 to go. I have another radio frequency ablation therapy treatment this Friday, and I'm hoping this may be the last and hoping to be declared cancer free in the next couple months. 🙏🏼

Thanks for the tips and kind words. To clarify, I'm still undergoing treatment for the cancer but my doctors are confident I should be cancer free by mid-summer. That positive news is why I'm paying attention to my eating and weight now, before it gets to a point that I can't recover. Thanks again for all the good info!