Hi, Newbie Here

[springerboy05 1]

hi had my surgery on the 28th battling my way through all the bs.

its hard but i try to keep my witts about me.

i feel like i should be eating more to satisfy me.

its hard as hell.

[virgie 8]

I know you want to eat more. It's not worth it at all. It'll make you very sick.

Hang in there, it'll get easier. I'm three weeks post op and have lost 30 pounds.

[believin 19]

Thank you everyone!!!

Butterfly66...I was walking around the house the other day singing a song from the Disney movie Mulan..."Who is that girl I see' date=' starring straight back at me? When will my reflection show, someone OTHER then who I used to be?!" Sometimes I look in the mirror and think 'who is that?' Other times...I see the old me. I find that losing weight so fast and so drastic has been and still is a huge mind game. But do I regret? Not for a single moment. The BEST decision I have ever made. It was life saving. I remember after I lost the weight we were moving and I was running in and out of the house box after box up and down 2 flights of stairs when my (then) 12 year old daughter said "Mom, don't you EVER get tired?" I looked at her and smiled and yelled "NO!" lol!

Tell your daughter to never look back, don't let anything scare her and don't worry about anything but how healthy and happy she will be after this is all done. *hugs* to her. Life WILL change, some will be hard to except, sorry but thats the truth, but nonetheless, it will all be worth it. My surgery and recovery were more difficult then most, I had a lot of complications and was sick for months. I don't personally know anyone, even in my support groups, who had as bad a time as I, yet I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Ok, so here is blog number 2: thanks for the support everyone! My story continues...

Posted Jan 27, 2011

I wasn’t big into trying all the fad diets. I never even gave them a thought. After all, I was the picture of health and therefore knew what would work and what wouldn’t. Oh come on now, you don’t have to be healthy to know fad diets are not the answer.

But neither is surgery. I’m just oh so high and mighty that I knew surgery was a quick fix. If I said it once I said it a million times “if you can’t learn to eat right and exercise, the surgery won’t help.” Ya, I said with a piece of cake in fron of me. But I still maintain I’m right about that. I scoffed at people who had it done. Most of course putting the weight back on. I did the research. I knew the statistics. Big fat waste of time I told myself. Speaking of big and fat…

My diabetes was getting worse. I found myself back on insulin which wasn’t even helping anymore. My diabetes was also bringing other problems now. One morning I woke up and saw these blood red marks on my lower legs. I had no idea what they were. By the time I got out of the shower they were hurting. I mean HURTING! Well that started what was 6 months of hell. Drs, hospitals, specialists, I saw them all and yet knew nothing. The pain was 24/7, it reached a point where the pain was either tolerable or intolerable, but always there. I spent a couple of months on crutches, always fun. The “wounds” puffed up, eventually broke as blood oozed out. Oh so that’s what was in them! One morning I woke up screaming. I was in pain that was just above and beyond. It turned out one of my wounds was infected. Badly. So, again to the Dr., hospital, specialists, MRIs, X-rays, wound specialists. During all this, I got really sick. I was throwing up for 5 days until the Dr. put me in the hospital because I had become dehydrated. While I was there they told me my blood work had shown I had a massive infection completely throughout me.. Life was fun! But eventually it all subsided and went away. I was left with some scars but that was a small price to pay considering what could have happened. This past October suddenly I saw them start again. Panic set in. Sure enough, it started all over again.

At this point I knew it was time to see my Dr. to discuss my health. The condition I had with my legs turned out to be a diabetes related disease. My numers were over 500. That’s when he dropped the bomb. “Nancy, I think it’s time you had bariatric surgery.” I could barely hear him as he went on and on about its not what it once was, the statistics have improved, higher success rate blah, blah, blah. I started to feel sick. He can’t be serious. He told me that with my health issues I was a prime candidate and the insurance company would easily cover it. He told me where to start. I started by going home and wondering what to do.

I thought about it so much. Well, it WOULD help with a life threatening disease. Life without all my medical problems? Sweet. Was there maybe a part of me that thought, wow, wouldn’t it be nice to look better too? I tried to suppress those thoughts. That made me as bad as all the “others”, didn’t it? My ex-husband and I talked about it incessantly. He thought it was a good idea. I kept thinking about those statistics again. What was it I once heard? 1 in 300 people DIE from it? Well with my luck, I would be the 1. But the ex said we should at least head to the hospitals seminar and hear them out.

So off to St. Luke’s Bariatric Hospital in Allentown we went.

Thats all for now. And I haven't even been to the seminar yet LOL!

Have a great day everyine and thanks for reading and the kind words

btw... yes I like posting pics, I think they make the most dramatic statement. Quick story...I ride a motorcycle and this summer my husband and I took a trip up the Delaware Scenic Byway, a great run along the Delaware river on the PA/NY border. But I had taken the same run a year before the surgery. This is me, the same exact spot in 2010 and now in 2012

.[/quote']

Nancy you are an inspiration!

[NancyW 16]

Thank you everyone, being an inspiration to even just one person is...an amazing feeling. I certainly hope I can continue to help in any way

Springerboy...I know the feeling. Even after all this time thats still a battle. We are taught all our lives to "clean the plate" Going to restaurants? Man, the portions they give!! Once again, allowing us to believe thats what we SHOULD be eating. How many people eat until they are full? We all do! Well most. But thats not really how we should eat. food is fuel for our bodies, yes we can enjoy and should but we have to remember, eat to energize, to sustain. Eat until you are satisfied, not full. We arent meant to eat until we cant eat anymore yet thats what we know, how we've lived! I still sometimes (ok a lot of times) sit down to dinner and it tastes SO good I want more!!! Its a fight to stop, sometimes I literally get mad, I want to enjoy it damn it! lol! Its hard to push that meal away and tell myself, Im satisfied and thats all I need to be. My body has told me I've eaten enough and I dont want it telling me I had too much, that only causes a night of being sick and that extra mouthful now just ruined that whole meal I was enjoying. Yes we have to look at food diferently, again not to say we shouldnt enjoy, we can and should but relearning limitations in a society that teaches gluttony by oversized portions and "all you can eat" buffets is something that we have to work on. Again, this is how Americans were generally raised so why would we think different? Because we are the ones, the lucky ones, who know better now. Who know that by changing our way of viewing cooking, food and living this new life that we have the oppertunity to do what so many other people can't...have a new life, a better one!!

Fight the fight!!! I'm right there with you while you do!

New blog entry coming soon

[janelane 57]

Thank you everyone' date=' being an inspiration to even just one person is...an amazing feeling. I certainly hope I can continue to help in any way

Springerboy...I know the feeling. Even after all this time thats still a battle. We are taught all our lives to "clean the plate" Going to restaurants? Man, the portions they give!! Once again, allowing us to believe thats what we SHOULD be eating. How many people eat until they are full? We all do! Well most. But thats not really how we should eat. food is fuel for our bodies, yes we can enjoy and should but we have to remember, eat to energize, to sustain. Eat until you are satisfied, not full. We arent meant to eat until we cant eat anymore yet thats what we know, how we've lived! I still sometimes (ok a lot of times) sit down to dinner and it tastes SO good I want more!!! Its a fight to stop, sometimes I literally get mad, I want to enjoy it damn it! lol! Its hard to push that meal away and tell myself, Im satisfied and thats all I need to be. My body has told me I've eaten enough and I dont want it telling me I had too much, that only causes a night of being sick and that extra mouthful now just ruined that whole meal I was enjoying. Yes we have to look at food diferently, again not to say we shouldnt enjoy, we can and should but relearning limitations in a society that teaches gluttony by oversized portions and "all you can eat" buffets is something that we have to work on. Again, this is how Americans were generally raised so why would we think different? Because we are the ones, the lucky ones, who know better now. Who know that by changing our way of viewing cooking, food and living this new life that we have the oppertunity to do what so many other people can't...have a new life, a better one!!

Fight the fight!!! I'm right there with you while you do!

New blog entry coming soon [/quote']

Just found you post it's amazing nancy l

Sending love and good vibes your way I can't wait to hear more eight days till I go under!

[nomorefat 74]

OMG fellow Pennsylvanian here!!!! I'm in Macungie' date=' about 10-15 from Allentown. I thought I was all alone out here lol. Moved to PA from NY in January so besides having to get situated in a new town and state which is very different from where I came from, I had this surgery and no close friends to share it with. I mean, of course I have my fiancée and my 2 beautiful girls but sometimes you need a friend close by. This forum/app was the best thing everrrrrr! Love reading everyone's posts and seeing pics! It's encouraging and helpful. Had my surgery 8/27/12 @ lehigh valley hospital with Dr.Rovito. My weight on 8/27 was 255lbs and I'm 5'4. Haven't bought a scale yet. Think I wanna wait a little longer...[/quote']

He did my surgery to !!! Love him. Had my surgery 6/4. Pre op 245, now 197, loving the new me, 1/2 way to my goal. Best of luck to u !!!

[springerboy05 1]

nancy, I'll keep fighting the fight,

changing a life style is hard.

but I'll work hard and I'll get what i want.(I hope) lol

[NancyW 16]

Change certainly is never easy. But as the saying goes. nothing worth having comes easy. This in my opinion one of the hardest things I can think of in regards to life changes. Lets face it, if you are an alcoholic, addicted to drugs, you fight to break that addiction, turn away from the drugs/alcohol and you work hard to never look back. But we have the more difficult task (NOT NOT NOT that I;m downplaying recovering addicts, I have tremendopus respect for them) but we can't walk away from our addiction...food. We have to face it every day, making it a daily battle. But deciding to do this, to get the sugery, to change our lives, shows we DO have the strength. Some days its just harder to find then others

EEsMom...don't let the hurdles discourage you, so many of us had to go through them. Lets face it, we are doing this because we suffer health issues, so no wonder we hit some walls along the way! Each step though, is one step closer. Good luck to you!!!

Heres another blog...

Posted 3/23/11

One more week makes it 3 months. 3 months. Funny, I would think time would have felt like it flew. IT HASN'T! hehe. Its been a long 3 months if you ask me.

Just yesterday and last night I was sick again. I know, I know, try not to be shocked. I wonder if that's ever going to stop or if it's a permanent price to pay. Not that its the end of the world, I mean this is annoying but diabetes would have eventually killed me. So its seemingly a small price. But on days like that I do find myself a little...perturbed. For all the seminars, meetings etc that I went to no one spoke about these down sides. Yes, yes they talked about eating too fast or too much making you sick, or eating the wrong thing may give you "dumping syndrome" (Really? with all the medical jargon out there they couldn't come up with a better phrase? Come on, that’s just gross) anyway...

I don't know if they would tell us ahead of time of ALL the negative consequences that a lot of people would change their minds. I really don't think it would deter anyone. Hell, I made sure at the seminar I asked all about death rates from the surgery and that kind of stuff. Now mind you, they didn’t have it as part of the whole presentation but they did most graciously answer my questions.(Leave it to me to scare everyone) But anyway, why omit anything at all? I'm sorry but I had no idea how sick I was going to be all the time. Last night I was barely able to hold my Vitamins down. That’s just crazy! But it is what it is.

I was talking to a friend of mine who told me he ran into an old friend. She had once been like 400 lbs, had the surgery a year ago and was looking and doing great. Then he told me she said yes, she still felt sick a lot....

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A YEAR LATER?! So I gave up one sickness for another lol. Well ok, being nauseous all the time wont kill me so this is the better deal but I do find some kind of twisted amusement in this. All I know is that I have indeed learned this:

I once claimed that having surgery was "taking the easy route" Well it may have been the fast route but easy? LIKE HELL!!! It has its own price, a worthy one but a price nonetheless...

Call it karma, call it cosmic justice... just call me in some tums.

Have a great holiday everyone!!

[NancyW 16]

Hello again all.

Hope everyone is doing well