Who Are You?

[nicole_b20 14]

Hello everyone!! My name is Nicole. I am 32 years old. My husband and I have been married for almost 12 years now and we have 3 kiddos together. My oldest daughter is 10, my son is 9, and my littlest baby girl is 3 years old. I work full time as a CT Technologist (i do cat scans). My hours are long and I take a lot of call. Work is unfortunately a second home for me. Outside of work I enjoy time with my family and friends. I love softball! I play on a women's team and my sister and I coach my daughter's fastpitch team. I also love going to the lake. we spend as much time at the lake during the summer as we can, riding in the boats and hanging out on the beach... ahhh,Im so ready for summer! I love to laugh and joke. People who know me, know that if i dont joke with you, I probaly dont like you lol. Im also a very sarcastic person, I cant help it.. Anyway, thats some of my story. Im excited to be here!! I was sleeved April 16th and I amd down 16 lbs so far.

[TBodmer71 245]

My name is Terri,

I am struggled with my weight since elementary school. I was the biggest girl in 6th grade (back in 1982). I was 5'8" at 186 lbs. I was thin through most of my teens. Got married at age 18. Had my wonderful son at age 19. Earned my Assoc. Degree in Criminal Justice when I was 22. Got divorced by the time I was 22. Met Bruce when I was 23. I earned my degree in Corrections probation and parole when I was 27. My relationship with Bruce was very rocky and lasted 6 years. My weight really fluctuated during these years plus and minus 90 pounds. At age 37 he committed suicide. I was devastated. For quite a few years I steadily gained after that. My fat was my wall to keep people away.

At age 36 I met my current husband at a Bar and I don't even drink. A dear friend of mine introduced us. He loves me unconditionally. At this point he does not like the idea that I am seeking to have the sleeve done. He thinks I should lose it "the old fashion" way. Yeah, like I haven't tried that before.....I have told him straight out that I am going to go through with it with or without his support. He now has accepted this. He has expressed his concern but is no longer trying to force his opinion about the sleeve.

My 22 year old son is very supportive of my decision to be sleeved.

I am currently 274 lbs. My highest weight was 286 in January of this year. I am hoping to be sleeved by the end of the summer

[Butterfly1974 16]

I am Linda aka(butterfly1974) 54 years old. Married for 39 years to a wonderful man. We have 4 children, 8 grands and 3 great grands. I work full time at the local newspaper. I have struggled with weight since I was in my 20's. It kept getting higher and higher till my Dr. suggested the sleeve. I had surgery 6 months ago 10/22/12 and have lost 105. I am not done yet. I just found this site again so I will be posting here from time to time.

[Brenda0928 145]

I am Linda aka(butterfly1974) 54 years old. Married for 39 years to a wonderful man. We have 4 children' date=' 8 grands and 3 great grands. I work full time at the local newspaper. I have struggled with weight since I was in my 20's. It kept getting higher and higher till my Dr. suggested the sleeve. I had surgery 6 months ago 10/22/12 and have lost 105. I am not done yet. I just found this site again so I will be posting here from time to time.[/quote']

105 down in 6 months? That is incredible!!!

[cragots 1]

Hello all! My name is Sue and I am 55 years old. Like many others, I have been heavy for many years. I got married the first time at 19 and wore a size 18. It's been "uphill" since then. I now wear a size 24/3x and I am sooo tired. Tired of pain from my overstressed hips, knees and feet, tired of hating how I look, just plain tired. I weighed 263.5 at my first meeting with my surgeon and am now at 253. I had thought I was going to go all the way and have rny but, after talking to my surgeon at my second (last before insurance approval!!!) meeting, we decided that I really need to go the way of VGS. I am a 6 year survivor of an extremely rare liver cancer (cholangiocarcinoma) and she is afraid to totally negate any direct access to the bile ducts in my liver, should the cancer return.

I am married to a wonderful man and between us we have 6 grown children and 12 grand-children. My husband is very close to retirement (he will be 64 in June) so we are thinking more and more about where we will be in a few years. And I know that if I continue to do nothing, then it will only get worse. I am very limited in how far I can walk and have had to turn down invitations from my grand-kids when they ask me to go to the Children's Museum or the park. And I hate that.

I am really excited about being able to get started in the right direction. I love my surgeon and she is in direct contact with my liver surgeon so I know that the right precautions will be taken. My husband and best friend are behind me 110%. Now I just need to get through insurance approval and get a date set!!!

Thank you!

Sue

[Onthegomom 3]

I am so sorry if this is a repeat...I introduced myself on the Gastric Sleeve Mexico Forum. I'd like to introduce myself on the general welcome blog as well so here goes!

I am a 37 year old female. Married...3 wonderful girls. I taught in the classroom for many years and now work part time(4 days a week) as a facilitator at a local high school. Spending time with my children and family makes my heart beat everyday! They are the JOY of my life!!!

My weight loss story started on May 9, 2008 when I had the lap-band procedure. LIFE as I once knew it changed that very day. Initially the weight-loss journey was good. Chewing, eating slow, and learning the foods that I could and couldn't eat was smooth. Two years after I got the band I started having severe pains where the port was located. Driving, sweeping, getting up from a seated position, turning in bed,, gardening, as well walking upstairs HURT! Movement HURT. I visited with my surgeon on several occasions about the pain. The discussions were always dismissed because after he felt around my stomach area he would say everything is where it should be..ex:band/port. Months went by and in addition to the pain, I started to not be able to tolerate eating on some days...it depended on whether I had irritated whatever was going on inside of me. A huge red circle, hot to touch started appearing around the port area. The redness would come and go just as the pain did. Finally, I was DONE. I went back to my surgeon in TEARS and insisted that he take everything out. The issue then became that my insurance would not pay for the removal. At that point I didn't care, I knew something was terribly wrong and needed it fixed. It was agreed that my surgeon would preform an EGD and make the decision to remove the band and port. What was supposed to take 45 minutes ended up taking 4 hours in the OR. My port had DETACHED from my stomach wall and was floating around. A cyst, the size of an orange, had formed around the port to protect it as my body recognized that it was a foreign object (hello! that is what was hurting me!!!). For weeks after the removal a "valley" (where they cyst/port would sit when not floating) had formed and would fill up with body fluids. A small bump would rise up on my stomach which meant the sac was filling up. I had to have the "sac/valley" aspirated for 6 weeks post removal.

The whole experience was a NIGHTMARE. It is still to this day so vivid in my memory. My family had to suffer though my aches, pains, and grumpiness from hurting.

I am looking forward to having the sleeve done. Dr. Cantu is taking several precautionary measures to make the surgery can be done safely.

Weight: 228

Goal:140

Dr. Felipe Cantu Reynosa, Mexico

[SLF1027 136]

Hello everyone! My name is Sarah and I am 31. I live in Pasadena, TX (a suburb of Housto) and manage a baby furniture store in The Woodlands (north of Hosuton) where I have worked for almost 8 years. My husband and I have been married for a year, though we dated 8 years prior to getting married. He is also going for a consult with me. We hope to start this journet together.

I am new to this site and new to weight loss surgery in general. I have been researching WLS on and off for over 3 years, but have finally decided that I would take the leap and have a consult with a surgeon. Our initial consult is June 7th. I know we have insurance coverage (though it will be well over $10K out of pocket for both of us) so we are going to meet the surgeon and make a final decision if this is something in which we are interested.

In my free time I love to travel. I want to see the world, but my size prevents me from being comfortable with taking the trips I really want to take. Instead we cruise. We like to go a couple times a year if possible. We save all of our extra money for vacations and since my husband is a teacher we have quite a few opportunities to do so each year. We also love to go camping and hiking, though with our sizes we have a hard time doing those things. A hike for us now is one mile in and then heading back.

Through WLS I hope to gain the health and confidence I need to be able to do the things I love. I am nervous and scared about the whole thing, but I am hoping that our consult will help ease my worries.

I look forward to making new friends in this community with whom I can share experiences, trials and tribulations.

Have a great day everyone!

[Brenda0928 145]

Hello everyone! My name is Sarah and I am 31. I live in Pasadena' date=' TX (a suburb of Housto) and manage a baby furniture store in The Woodlands (north of Hosuton) where I have worked for almost 8 years. My husband and I have been married for a year, though we dated 8 years prior to getting married. He is also going for a consult with me. We hope to start this journet together.

I am new to this site and new to weight loss surgery in general. I have been researching WLS on and off for over 3 years, but have finally decided that I would take the leap and have a consult with a surgeon. Our initial consult is June 7th. I know we have insurance coverage (though it will be well over 10K out of pocket for both of us) so we are going to meet the surgeon and make a final decision if this is something in which we are interested.

In my free time I love to travel. I want to see the world, but my size prevents me from being comfortable with taking the trips I really want to take. Instead we cruise. We like to go a couple times a year if possible. We save all of our extra money for vacations and since my husband is a teacher we have quite a few opportunities to do so each year. We also love to go camping and hiking, though with our sizes we have a hard time doing those things. A hike for us now is one mile in and then heading back.

Through WLS I hope to gain the health and confidence I need to be able to do the things I love. I am nervous and scared about the whole thing, but I am hoping that our consult will help ease my worries.

I look forward to making new friends in this community with whom I can share experiences, trials and tribulations.

Have a great day everyone! [/quote']

Best of luck to both of you!!

[ninanew 22]

Hi - my name is Nina. I live in San Francisco. I'm currently considering VSG, my first consultation with the surgeon is May 24. In the past I wasn't interested in WLS (RnY or DS) because the potential side effects sounded not worth the risk. But VSG sounds better. My insurance however doesn't cover any type of WLS, so I will have to self-pay.

I've been struggling with my weight all my life, gone up and down and up again so many times I've lost count.

I'm hoping the tool I gain through VSG will be the key to me achieving a healthy weight and staying there. We'll see!

I'm learning as much as I can by reading everyone's posts!

Happy Friday!

[miccogirl94 3]

I am an 18 year old student at a University here in sunny Florida. I have struggled with weight my whole life, I remember dieting as young as 9 or 10 years old, and I remember hating it, and continued to hate it for the next 7 to 8 years. My mom, who works at a hospital came home with a flyer about a bariatric surgeon and asked if I was willing to consider, reassuring me that she loved me no matter how heavy I was, as mothers do. I agreed to meet with the Doc and immediately felt as though I was headed in the right direction with an awesome surgical team!

I embarked on my LONG journey, completely oblivious to how long it really would be, in May of 2010 looking to have the Lap Band surgery in December of that year. The surgery went well and I was in Band-bliss for about 9 months until I noticed there was something very wrong. I kept it to my self until around November when I brought the problems up to my Doc and he took a closer look. turns out that the band had stopped working and the pouch on top had dilated and I was out of luck. I went through about a month of depression and guilt, telling myself that I did something wrong, against all arguments my Doc made. I had the Band removed the following May of 2012.

The newest chapter of my journey started last December with the sleeve surgery, and I am only expecting smooth sailing. I am so unbelievably grateful to have such an amazing family that has offered so much support through all of this, and to have such an amazing medical team to work with, and who have been there for support at every turn!

Thanks for reading!!!

[Beachmamaof4 4]

Hello! I'm new to the site and will be sleeved in Sept 2013!! I'm 36, been married 13 yrs and have the 4 cutest kids (thankfully they are cute cuz they can be ornery on occasion ????)! I used to work in Marketing but have been a full time mommy CEO since having kids.

After 15 yrs, I've admitted to myself that I'm a food addict. I've always joked that if I sewed my mouth shut, I could lose weight. This is the closest I can come to that ???? Very glad to be on this site! I've loved reading everyone's inspirational stories, seeing gorgeous "after" Picts and getting all the advice!

I've had my initial consultation, passed psych eval, have my upper GI this week and wait my 3 mos required by ins. So I'm looking at early Sept. '13 surgery.

As I type that, my stomach gets upset. Nervous & scared. Wish I could skip ahead to about Dec! Yet, very excited for a happy, healthier life. We live in Dallas area. New to TX and LOVE it here! I've not taken the best care of myself over the last few years, as I give 110% to being a mom w/4 kids (2 w/special needs).

Looking forward to getting to know you all. I don't have a support system. I'm only telling my husband and mom because all (and really, all...how is that when you hear such high obesity stats on the news all the time?!) my friends and family are skinny and I don't want to hear judgments. In fact, my husband is not on board. He doesn't want me to risk surgery because every surgery comes w/a risk.

He keeps saying he doesn't understand why I can't have the self control for small portions/exercise to lose weight on my own. I've tried getting him to understand my side.

Ok I'm rambling...it's just nice to have a place to talk about the surgery w/people who relate and won't judge. Thanks for reading ????

[BIGBOY772 4]

Hello everyone, my name is Tim and I am 41yrs young and I live in florida. I am a divorced father of a beautiful 9yr old daughter that is my life whom without I wouldn't have made it.I have always been a bigboy but have never had any issues with it due to my being so active with work and play but unfortunately for the last 7yrs I have been disabled with a job related injury. Since my injury and being inactive I have slowly put on weight and have accrued many co-morbidities along the way. I am 6'0 and weighed 250lb before my injury and at last weigh-in at my doctors yesterday I am 413.2 lbs. I have an appointment with a surgeon on the 14th along with a nutritionist. I have been trying to get this life saving procedure done since 2008 and have been unsuccessful due to insurance issues. I am praying this is the time its going to happen because I need my life back. My daughter was 2 1/2 yrs old when my injury happened and was 3 1/2 when I separated with her mom so I Havnt been able to do all the things that I promised her at birth.

I have missed out on so much already.With this weight loss I hope to lose my disability because with this weight I have an extremely hard time walking. I recently was discharged from hyperbaric medicine for my leg wound that I have had and am glad to say that my wound has been completely closed for the first time in almost 7yrs. I have to be careful keeping the swelling down so that it does not reopen. I am so ready to begin my journey and am so glad I have found this forum to be able to talk with such wonderful people. Much love, Tim

[SLF1027 136]

Best of luck to both of you!!

Thank you very much

Sarah

[Crixus 3]

Hi, My name is Gene, I am 59 years old and will have a VGS on May 14th, 2013. I am a bit over weight but the main reason for the surgery is 6 ulcers that I have had for over 2 years that will not heal. I was instructed by my Doctor that this may provide me with some relief and in addition take off some extra weight. I am nervous about the surgery as I have had a couple of serious GI bleeds requiring ICU care for weeks. I am like so many others merely striving to live a normal life. Whether the reason for the surgery is like mine or morbid obesity. I will strive to come here and share my experience with others that MAY be having the operation also.

[CiciDidi 1]

Hi all,

My name is Christi! I'm 32 from Nj. I had my band for 7 years and had it redone last year. With the band I lost 125 and was happy . After the revision the weight slowly came back. I gained back25 lb but it is hard when u watch what u eat and go to the gym. Last month I got cellulitis and was in the hospital and the dr decided that it was time my band came out. Two weeks later it was out and now I am healing till my sleeve surgery in June . I know I can loose I just hate the weight and the wait....