Weight Loss Surgery Forums

Double Takes

By OH Member Kristin Krenzer

I?m getting double takes. I?m even doing double takes on myself when I walk in front of a mirror. It?s funny, I used to do everything I could to avoid mirrors. In stores, you know how they randomly place mirrors around in the clothes departments? I would avert my eyes at all costs to keep from looking at myself in them.

Now, I see those mirrors and I look around to make sure no one?s watching me, then I check myself out once, then twice, then maybe a third time.  I know I sound conceited, but those who know me, know that?s not the case. I am just as shocked as everyone else when I see myself these days. It?s almost like I?m looking, then looking again, to make sure it?s really true.  I?ve lost 150 pounds. I guess I should be shocked at my appearance.

Talking to some of my friends and telling them about my milestones since having gastric bypass surgery Feb. 1, they said I should share with the public what it was like to be obese. They said they never thought about some of the things I used to have to think about ? and don?t have to think about anymore.

The biggest thing for me is being able to sit in any chair. I love being able to just throw my rear end in anything sitting there waiting to be sat upon. Before, I would have to eye the chair, seat, booth, whatever ? to make sure I could get into it. You know those flimsy, white resin things everyone has on their patios for backyard party get-togethers? Those were not my friends.  I never collapsed one, thank God, but I had to put just the edge of my buttocks on it and teeter there for hours during the party, praying I wouldn?t end up on the cement.

Any chairs with arms were also a problem. I would have to teeter on them as well, sitting forward with the arms digging into my sides. My parents have a dining room set with two chairs with arms. A few weeks ago at their house, I slid into one of those chairs with plenty of room to spare. In the gastric bypass community, we call that a ?wow moment.?

Booths ? I may not even want to go there. Booths are a nightmare for the obese ? and I believe they?re becoming just as annoying to those who are ?normal? on the doctor?s weight scale. I went to lunch with some friends recently, who I consider to be regular-sized people. They were all looking crammed in the booth. I mean, is your chest supposed to be sitting on the table? I think not. Restaurants need to give people more room to eat.

Another cool thing that has happened to me since I had the surgery is being able to jump on an airplane and buckle the seatbelt. Before, I had to ask for one of those extender things. My husband asked for me because I was too embarrassed and insisted I was going to ?pretend? my seatbelt was buckled for the entire four-hour plane ride. My hubby wasn?t having that so he got my extender from the flight attendant. In October, I slid into the seat and couldn?t wait to buckle the belt. I had four to five inches to spare on the belt. I sat there and cried!  My husband said, ?Women! You cried when you didn?t fit and now you cried when you fit. I?ll never understand women!?

Of course there are downsides to the surgery, such as only being able to have a small taste of each dish at Thanksgiving and it will be just as difficult this Christmas. It has become tradition for me, and most people I would guess, to stuff myself as much as possible during holiday dinners. The surgery stops that from happening now at every meal and especially at holiday ones.

I also love Christmas cookies. I am already figuring out how many cookies I?ll be able to consume over the holidays. And it won?t be many. It is often said that gastric bypass patients should watch their sugar intake. It can make us very, very sick. I have learned I can tolerate a little bit of sugar here and there. I save my sugar tastes for special occasions.  For example, at Thanksgiving, I had a sliver of pumpkin pie. When I say sliver, I mean you could almost see through it. But, I got the taste of it and it was good. I don't keep things like chocolate in my house so I haven?t had any troubles there. My husband usually doesn?t eat sweets but on our vacation was ordering desserts a lot after his meals. I allowed myself one bite of his dessert here and there. I have been able to cope with that.

Another gastric bypass no-no is carbonation. I haven?t had a carbonated beverage in 10 months. Hard to believe. I used to live on diet sodas. It?s funny, I thought I would miss them but I don?t.

Another rule is we can?t drink when we eat. You have to stop drinking a half hour before you eat and then wait an hour after eating to drink something. That is one of the most difficult things for me. My husband used to call me ?camel? ? I would drink three to four glasses of iced tea or soda with my meals.

It is recommended that we not have alcohol. I wasn?t a big drinker before, so this doesn?t bother me at all. The reason for no alcohol is No. 1 ? you can get very drunk, very fast, with such a small holding tank for the potent stuff -- and No. 2 ? because the stomach is so small, it can?t process the alcohol completely, so it sends the stuff straight to the liver. Not good.

Now, back to the Christmas cookie dilemma. I already know I have to have a few cookies this year. In the past, I would eat as many as I could get my hands on.  I will limit myself to two cookies on Christmas Eve and two cookies on Christmas Day. That?s it. I?ve come too far to ruin what I?ve got going on. Last week at a gastric bypass support group, they told me to make sure I didn?t try to eat more than three cookies at a sitting. ?Three is the magic number,? the girls told me. And I believe them since they?re all success stories who have been out of surgery 18 months or more. Any more than three cookies may make you toss your cookies after you?ve had gastric bypass surgery, enough said.

I already know the cookies I will have, too. My grandmother?s ?Dips.? We call them that because they are real butter cookies dipped into a melted Hershey?s chocolate bar. She spends hours and hours baking these cookies for us every year and I keep forgetting to tell her she probably only has to make half the amount she usually does. I have been the ?Dip Monster? for many years. Who is going to eat them all this year?

So it?s a little difficult thinking about giving up the ?Dips? and alcohol and the large, tasty, satisfying dinner.  What I have learned though is that I can eat a tablespoon of each of the side dishes and feel very comfortable at the end of the meal instead of like I wanted to lie down and die. And, the best part of the day will be sitting down at the table in -- who cares what kind of chair ? it can be flimsy and have arms on it.

Is it cheating?

OK, I feel the need to vent about gastric bypass surgery haters. I have heard it several times on comedy shows and most recently on a Philadelphia radio show I was listening to the other day.  They said people who have gastric bypass surgery are cheaters. Cheating who?  Who am I cheating? The other people who continue to eat a lot and get bigger and bigger? Am I cheating myself because I will probably live 20 to 30 more years than I would have if I didn?t have the surgery? They said we have no willpower. Well, duh.

Why is it society can continue to make fun of fat people, even people who have had enough of their weight and bad health and decide to do something about it? I liken gastric bypass surgery to someone successfully quitting an addiction to alcohol or drugs. So, we get surgery to help us control our addiction to food. It?s a miracle of science that?s getting better every day and people should stand up and say, ?Good for them. They went under the knife, risked dying on the table, to change their lives for the better. I?m happy for them.? Instead, all you hear is ?they cheated the system.?

Anyway, they?ve done studies on how making fun of fat people is happening more and more these days. Have you seen the documentaries where super models put on a ?fat suit? and walk around big cities and no one talks to them, looks at them, opens doors for them, lets them know their clothes are on backwards or inside out, etc.?  The super model cries when she realizes how obese people are treated everyday. Since the same studies have shown 65 percent of Americans are obese, maybe we?ll see a stop to this hatred in a few years. Or maybe it will continue because misery loves company.

All I know is no matter how much weight I lose, I will never lose the fat girl inside of me who hurts when I hear jokes about fat people. And I will continue to fight for answers to why society feels it?s OK to hurt us.