My Deflation Journey

[tcheere 13]

(Disclaimer before I begin: I am not "losing" weight, I am deflating. The word lost gives meaning that some things are found, and i don't want to find any of the lost weight, I know, so sounds weird right..lol)

My name is Tonya, and I am a 43 year old mom of one and wife. I have been clinically morbid obese all my adult life. My "normal" weight should be 155lbs, but I have carried 250lbs, up until August 2015, when as a smoker, I ended up with sever pneumonia, and diagnosed with stage 2 COPD. My treatment consist of a lot of prednisone, and I quite smoking. My weight sky rocketed to 327lbs. I have always tried to lose weight with any new type of medication on the market, fad diets, nothing worked. I am not going to sugar coat anything, I was not motivated to exercise, and I was always exhausted. Since my illness in August of 2015, I have been on oxygen therapy 24/7, my desire for anything that would move me was gone.

I found out that my work insurance would cover bariatric surgery, and after some research I decided to go for it. I talked with my pre certification department with my health insurance and they stated I would need to have 6 month of weight loss management with my PCP, for approval. With this my doctor and I decided to contact Wesley Weight Loss Center to start the process. So September 2016 those monthly visits with the PCP started. They finished in February 2017. WWL Center required a list of other things, to complete the approval process. I had a few bumps in the road with thyroid issues, but I was finally able to schedule my Gastric Sleeve Surgery for June 20, 2017.

June 6, 2017 I started the two week pre op liquid diet. It was very challenging. Not so much of the diet itself, but because I still had to fix meals for my family. they are not heavy, and they did not need to eat broth, or sugar free Jello, Protein Shakes, or sugar free popsicles. Of course with their support they ate out most of that time. Those two weeks I rid 17lbs to shrink my liver and I was so proud of myself, because prior to this decision, I hated the way I looked, felt, I hated that I could not even reach comfortably enough to clean myself after using the restroom, if I am to be honest with whoever is reading this. Surgery day came, I powered through it, It was well worth it. This journey is just beginning, but I will say well worth the struggle. I am starting to love myself. I can comfortably reach where it is important and I have a lot more energy than ever. I find it so fascinating how a few bites of something, can make me feel so full. My only draw back from this whole experience so far is an infection where they put my JP drip. Nothing antibiotics can't handle. I am one month post op and down 40lbs!!!!

HW: 327lbs

SW: 310lbs (June 20, 2017)

CW: 287lbs

GW: 190lbs

Dr. Nicholas Brown, Wichita, Ks

Edited July 20, 2017 by tcheere