Who Are You?

[JewelJ 29]

Hi, I'm Wendy, and I am 43 years old. I have not had the surgery yet, but I plan to have it in early November. I weigh 312 pounds, down from 350 (342 at first weigh-in.) I have many current illnesses, including Diabetes Type II, asthma, sleep apnea, and lots of pain disorders. This includes frequent Migraines, fibromyalgia, and more. I don't want to die young, so I am looking forward to having this surgery and losing some weight. I hope and pray I do well with it.

I am single, no children, although I don't like those facts. No one will go out with me because they don't like overweight women.

Well, I guess that's all for now. Thanks for reading.

Wendy

Well Wendy, I'm right behind you.. I have to have my Band removed on Oct 9th..I than need to wait 3 months than have the Sleeve done. Prob will have it done in Jan.. So we will be pretty close together.. Don't be so hard on yourself.. People like you for YOU,, not for what you look like.. I wish you well my Friend... JewelJ

[JewelJ 29]

I love love love! this forum. I'm Jessica and Im 28 and for as long as I can remember I have struggled with my weight - dont ever remember feeling comfortable and happy in my own skin. Im definitely an introvert and would skip school to play video games which probably contributed to me gaining weight to now. Family habits of eating seconds and thirds and big portions all my life have led to gaining weight and keeping it on. Tried jenny craig, weight watches, atkins... mostly only those diets and then just fell off the wagon. Im very shy and played lots of video games and only ever dated online and when all of those relationships failed i gave up on online dating and said eff it! Then something amazing happened and I met my wonderful boyfriend in WoW and he accepted me at my current weight and we have been together for almost 3 years now and he is a total skinny minny. I work in a pharmacy as a technician now for 5 almost 6 years and I love/hate it. Going to school SLOOOOOWLY to eventually become a pharmacist because I cant imagine doing anything else with my life. I feel like finally, almost turning 30 everything in my life will be TOTALLY AWESOME. Surgery date september 9th OMG.

Did I mention I love this place.

I wish you the BEST LUCK on your surgery date. I'm sure you will do so well. JewelJ

[JewelJ 29]

Hi, I am Emma, I am 57 years old, married, and had 2 children. I had my surgery on May 17, 2012. Not only did I need to loose weight, I also had a hiatal hernia that was in my chest cavity. I had 2 major surgeries at the same time. I was in the hospital for 4 days and had some trouble with my sugar dropping. I was not a diabetic before, nor am I now. Guess my diet had a lot to do with the sugar dropping. But 15 months out and I am doing okay. I lost 60 lbs, but now have gained 10 lbs back. I need help staying on track with the diet and exercise. Praying that I get back on track and loose some more weight. I am looking forward to learning how others cope and keep loosing weight.

HI! EMMA, I had a friend that had the sleeve done 14 months ago.. she lost 79lbs.. since than she has put back on 40lbs... How does this happen.. I mean when your stomach is so small.. It has to be painful to put too much in your tummy... is it??? JewelJ

[PrettyLilButterfly 124]

JewelJ, i'm right there with you. I don't understand how weight can come BACK on. If I eat more than 5 bites, I'm suffereing for a good part of an hour. IT HURTS And i don't like feeling that way. It prevents me from attempting to over eat. I think it boils down to being in tune with our bodies and not FORCING (because we KNOW that's what we do) the next bite down.

[former_vbg 198]

JewelJ, i'm right there with you. I don't understand how weight can come BACK on. If I eat more than 5 bites, I'm suffereing for a good part of an hour. IT HURTS And i don't like feeling that way. It prevents me from attempting to over eat. I think it boils down to being in tune with our bodies and not FORCING (because we KNOW that's what we do) the next bite down.

I'm not sure when you had your surgery but the weight most CERTAINLY can come back on. This is ONLY a tool and a tool is only as good as the person using it. That said, if someone wants to drink their calories or eat slider foods, then the tool will not work as intended. If you eat the dense Protein and healthier foods then yeah you are going to keep things under control.

It requires ongoing vigilance and the further out you get from surgery the more difficult it can become. Maybe not for everyone but for lots of people. The same thing for those who did not lose near the weight they hoped in that first year or yr and a half from surgery are going to have a MUCH more difficult time reaching goal. It's just a fact and if you read the stories of people who have gone/ are going through that, you will see them talk about their struggles.

[JewelJ 29]

I'm not sure when you had your surgery but the weight most CERTAINLY can come back on. This is ONLY a tool and a tool is only as good as the person using it. That said, if someone wants to drink their calories or eat slider foods, then the tool will not work as intended. If you eat the dense Protein and healthier foods then yeah you are going to keep things under control.

It requires ongoing vigilance and the further out you get from surgery the more difficult it can become. Maybe not for everyone but for lots of people. The same thing for those who did not lose near the weight they hoped in that first year or yr and a half from surgery are going to have a MUCH more difficult time reaching goal. It's just a fact and if you read the stories of people who have gone/ are going through that, you will see them talk about their struggles.

Dear former_vbg I have not had surgery yet. I am having a band removed in Oct. I prob will not get a Sleeve done till Jan. I was speaking of another person I knew that had dropped over 75 lbs but has put back on 40lbs.. so it scared me. But being on the band, I do know you have to eat good solid Protein if you want to feel full in between meals...So you are not looking for something else. you need to have things last...not just wash through Good luck to you JewelJ

[chefcoll 53]

This is my first time in any kind of forum and have lots to learn! I just joined 5 minutes ago!

[mizzchrisv 23]

My name is christin I am 25 I have a 6 year old named Talin. We were in a horrible car accident I was in the hospital for 1 month and rehab for 3. I gained most of my weight then due to the fact I wasn't able to walk run skip hop lol. Four days ago I was 290 5'4 I am 4 days in my diet and I am 286 and super hungry haha. My surgery is set for the 12th of this month so excited but really scared.

Before my son was born in 2007 I was 130 - 150 lbs after birth I was 220 and kinda stayed that weight until 2010 when I became 290. I have tried everything lost weight here or there but it never stayed. My Mom and I went to an education class cause we were thinking of the lapband and we found out about the sleeve. So a year later with supervised weightloss I am here its been along journey and I haven't even begun. Best of luck to all hope to make friends for a lifetime. (chandler az)

[livelyterry 55]

I am Terry. I have been married to the same man 28 years. I own my own business, 3 waxing salons in South Texas, and have done permanent cosmetics (tattooing) for 15 years. Although I am in the beauty industry, I am pretty much a "tom boy" since I was a little girl. I enjoy all kinds of outdoor stuff...riding my Harley Davidson Fat Boy, SCUBA diving, shooting sports, etc.

I've been fighting my weight, literally, since I was 6 years old. I'm 51 now, and really tired of it. I had lap band 9 years ago. It was a big failure, and I'm having revision surgery Oct 1 with Dr. Alavarez in Mexico.

My BMI is 38. I have not been able to go SCUBA diving for several years because of my weight. It's also getting harder and harder to push around an 800 pounds motorcycle. In other words, I want to be able to do the things I enjoy, and can't right now cause I can hardly get up the stairs without my knees giving out, etc.

That's me!

[AZDesertRose76 18]

Hi, I'm new around here.

My name is Nora and I'm 37 years old with one daughter in college. I am single and have no pets at the moment; I live by myself for the first time in my life, and it's great! I am going to school to be a medical transcriptionist.

I've always had to fight my weight, but in recent years, it's just gotten ridiculous and I'm tired of it. I shouldn't feel this old (physically) yet, so I decided to go for the sleeve. (I didn't want RNY because I take naproxen for arthritis, and I didn't want to have to give it up forever, and I didn't want the band because I'm not comfortable with the concept of something being left inside my body that doesn't absolutely need to be there.)

I miss having pets, though; once I'm finished with my transcription school and working, I plan to go to the animal shelter and adopt a cat. (I live in a high-rise apartment building, so I don't want to get a dog because there's no place in the apartment for it to run around, and also I am more of a cat person than a dog person, although I don't dislike dogs by any stretch.)

Anyway, that's me. Glad to be here.

[quinn 8]

Hi! I just joined here. I've been married to a great guy for almost 33 years. We have two grown children and two granddaughters. I am 51 years old and have been heavy since I was about 35. I have fibromyalgia, so being over weight does not help my pain.

I've started my liquid Protein fast. My surgery is September 16th. I am very excited to start a new life. I look forward to meeting new people here and learning some things about having the sleeve.

[alene 74]

A good friend of mine has/had fibromyalgia, she lost a bunch of weight and her pain went away!! :-D

[MeganES 41]

I've spent the last hour reading this thread! What a joy to get to "know" some of you outside of our weight issues!

I'm Megan, I'm 20 years old. Born and raised in Middlesex County, New Jersey. I have a 23 year old brother who is a specialist in the Army (currently deployed to Afghanistan, can't wait to have him home next month!!!). Had a totally normal and perfect childhood til my mom was diagnosed with an unknown auto-immune disease when I was 12. She passed away on October 15, 2012 from Necrotizing Fasciitis. I'm a very different person since she passed, mostly in a good way. She didn't leave without instilling in me the value of a happy and healthy life, and she also blessed me with a wicked sense of humor. We had the most amazing relationship a mom and daughter could ever ask for, and I'm very grateful for that! My parents were married for 24 years and my dad is the most amazing guy in the world. I'm very blessed with the family I have!

My passion is theatre. I've been performing since I was 8. When I graduated high school in 2011 I decided to leave home and up and moved to Chicago for college to get my theatre degree. Didn't know a soul and had no idea what I was doing. Unfortunately I had to come home after 8 weeks because I needed emergency back surgery. Shortly after that my mom was hospitalized, so it turned out to be a blessing in disguise that I had to come home. Never went back, didn't want to leave after losing my mom, but those 8 weeks taught me a lot and I'm very grateful for that experience!

I've spent the past year really focusing on ME. I'm enrolled full time at our local community college and I'm hoping to transfer to Rutgers in the next year or so to double major in Theatre and Social Work. I work almost full time at a local regional theatre. I'm the assistant front of house manager, a box office sales associate, and my favorite thing is in the Summers I'm a teaching artist for ages 5-8 and 9-12 for the theatre's education department. I volunteer as the head of the 18-25 age support group at the NJ Pride center and am a political advocate for the LGBT community. I'm also a BIG TIME animal lover and I spend my free time lovin on my 2 kitties and 2 doggies.

That got a little long! Felt good to ramble for a little bit though! Lol

[BamaGirly37 45]

Hi everyone I'm new here my name is Amy I am 37 years old have 4 children 2 girls age 20 and 10 and 2 boys age 17 and 15 and a gorgeous grandson who is 3 months old. I am married just celebrated 11 years on Saturday. As my name shows i am from Alabama I currently live in South Carolina where i have lived most of my life. I am 5'5 currently 243lbs. I was thin most of my life after my youngest was born I started gaining weight and then had to have a complete hysterectomy at age 29 then the weight really started coming on. I've done uncountable diets lost weight gained back more. I've reached the point where I can't even look Ina mirror I'm just so frustrated with myself and my weight. So finally I decided I've got to change so here I am. I cannot wait to start my new life.

[pattylo 36]

Hi everyone I'm new here my name is Amy I am 37 years old have 4 children 2 girls age 20 and 10 and 2 boys age 17 and 15 and a gorgeous grandson who is 3 months old. I am married just celebrated 11 years on Saturday. As my name shows i am from Alabama I currently live in South Carolina where i have lived most of my life. I am 5'5 currently 243lbs. I was thin most of my life after my youngest was born I started gaining weight and then had to have a complete hysterectomy at age 29 then the weight really started coming on. I've done uncountable diets lost weight gained back more. I've reached the point where I can't even look Ina mirror I'm just so frustrated with myself and my weight. So finally I decided I've got to change so here I am. I cannot wait to start my new life.

good luck in your journey ans welcome t the family

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