One Year Surgiversary- Today!

[AvaFern 3,516]

Exactly one year ago today I had my sleeve surgery and it has been a truly wonderful year! In the past I have dieted down to 120 and then ate my way back up to 200 at least 10 times, however I started 2013 weighing 197 and then I found myself at 237 by August. I simply couldn’t control my eating and I had gotten to a point where I wasn’t able to exercise a whole lot because my feet would swell up when I ran and I was a slug in the classes I took at the gym. Worst of all, my siblings had come to visit me in the summer of 2013 and the last time they had seen me I was around 130, so much as they assured me I looked great, I could see that they were shocked at my size. It was humiliating.

The third week of August I decided to go to the bariatric surgery seminar that the hospital in my city held once a month. The next day I had scheduled a consultation with the surgeon, and a week later we had my surgery date set for 9/9/13. Since I am a super impatient person, I had no interest in waiting around for my insurance company to possibly deny me six months down the road, so I was blessed in that I was able to go with the self-pay option.

I was SO worried a year ago that I was possibly destroying my life. I read all of the horror stories about people who had the surgery and experienced leaks or other complications and I had generally worked myself into a hot mess. Fortunately, when you shell out 20 grand, you minimize your chance of chickening out and a year ago today, around this time I was just waking up enough to be somewhat cognizant of the fact that I was in a hospital. I chose to tell no one about the surgery at the time, although since that point I have told my three best friends and they have been a great support system. I spent the first three days so ungodly sick I was positive that everything I had worried would come true. Fortunately, once I was off the IV narcotics and finally at home I started to feel a bit better. The effects of the anesthesia and drugs didn’t really start fully wearing off until week two, however I worked from home starting four days after surgery and I returned to full-time office work a week after surgery.

I think the worst part about the first few weeks was not being able to comfort myself with food. I felt rotten, I was terrified I was going to spring a leak and die, and I could not eat Cookies to feel better! Fortunately, I had an excellent surgeon who, while not a really nice person, was exceptional at his job, and I have never had any complications. Also, apparently when you’re self-pay, no one ever follows up with you to make sure you didn’t die, so I would totally advise if you go this route to find a doctor that has a great surgical skill set, but also one who is invested in your success outside of simply whether or not you live to leave his operating room.

By last Christmas I was in the 190’s, where I stayed for awhile because I enjoyed some Christmas chocolate, but by January after all of the junk was cut out again I started to drop. The 190’s and 180’s flew by, but getting out of the 170’s and under 160 took forever. I was stuck at the same weight for months, so for those of you who plateau, all I can say is, look at what you’re eating and how you’re working out, adapt, and keep going! I finally kicked the plateau and as of this morning I am 145.

Three weeks ago I had my first set of plastic surgeries, which included a breast lift and augmentation, an abdominoplasty, and Lipo to my inner and outer thighs and lower back. I don’t notice a huge difference with the lipo, but I can see a huge difference with the rest of the procedures. There is a reason people love plastic surgery! I will admit I tend to prance around in front of my bathroom mirror, naked, checking out my new figure and maybe at some point I will be able to do that in front of a man again instead of locked alone in my bathroom, lol. I have a groin incision thigh lift scheduled for the last week of November, but after that, I’m done with the worst part, and I don’t imagine I will have any major procedures done again anytime soon. I also lucked out and got a massively talented plastic surgeon who also has fantastic bedside manner. If you’re in Florida and you’re looking for an awesome practice- message me! My PS is awesome!

I’d still like to lose about 20 pounds, but I don’t feel worthless anymore. I’ve wanted juvederm and botox in my face for years, but I was always of the opinion that spending money to make my face better when the rest of me was fatzilla was just an expensive waste of time and cash. I have an appointment next week for both and I am excited, instead of sick with guilt and shame. Now, I don’t feel guilty about spending money on clothes or cosmetic things because I feel like I worked hard to get to this point, I look decent, and I deserve it. I can enjoy getting dressed up to go out and even though I catch myself occasionally still feeling like the fat girl, no one ever treats me like one anymore. There is such a night and day difference between the way people treat you when you are large and when you are regular sized, and it is nice to not feel instantly judged anymore (especially since I’m sure half the time no one was even looking at me me and it was all in my head!).

Overall, I can certainly say that the only thing I regret about the surgery is not having done it sooner. Sure, I have to be careful when I’m out to dinner because I tend to get instantly sick if I eat a few too many bites of the wrong thing and yes, there are times I wish I could bury my bad day in a bag of oreos, but I can still enjoy all of the food I love, I just do so in very small portions. I love my sleeve, I love the life that it has allowed me to have, and I look forward to continuing to log onto here and read everyone else’s stories!

[ProudGrammy 8,322]

wonderful year

@@AvaFern

hap, hap, happppy anniversary

how time flies when you are having fun!!!!

our stats/goals are almost the same

we are both 5'3

DOS - you were 237

i was 235

your GOAL is 129

mine is/was 130

you look great

I look "cute as a button"

as you said, everything you are doing now, spending money on...

ie clothes, makeup, cosmetics - YOU DESERVE IT!!!!

92 lbs lost

don't look at me, i didn't take them

keep up the good job

kathy

congrats

Edited September 10, 2014 by proudgrammy

[AvaFern 3,516]

Thank-you for the warm thoughts! That is so funny that our stats are almost exactly the same! You've done an awesome job- congrats on hitting goal! I cannot wait for that day. I have three big things that I wanted to post about when I first had the surgery. The one year surgiversary, the day I lost 100 pounds, and the day I hit goal...so far I've hit one of the three, but hopefully the next two are coming soon.

Best wishes to you!

@@AvaFern

hap, hap, happppy anniversary

how time flies when you are having fun!!!!

our stats/goals are almost the same

we are both 5'3

DOS - you were 237

i was 235

your GOAL is 129

mine is/was 130

you look great

I look "cute as a button"

as you said, everything you are doing now, spending money on...

ie clothes, makeup, cosmetics - YOU DESERVE IT!!!!

92 lbs lost

don't look at me, i didn't take them

keep up the good job

kathy

congrats

[Luvin_Life125 558]

Congratulations on finding yourself and learning to love yourself! Truly an inspirational post for me just starting the journey. Congrats again and keep up the great job!