One Year Surgiversary with Before and After Images
on 12/8/14 6:32 am, edited 12/8/14 6:55 am - Canada
Wow I can't believe it's been a year already, or will be on December 23rd. My journey has been far from the "norm" or easy but I would still do it in a heartbeat. I won't go into all the gory details of why it hasn't been easy, you can find them here if you are interested.
At 12 months out since surgery and 20 months since I started this journey I have lost 130 pounds. I am a size 4/6 and XS. I went from being 265.5 pounds to 135.1 as of this morning...my lowest weight to date (since my tweens btw). I reached my goal weight of 150 pounds several months ago and have continued to lose weight even though I was happy at that weight. Maintenance, so far, is not a possibility for me.
Because of my complications I am still not able to eat enough food to maintain my weight. My stomach capacity is still very small (1/2 to 3/4 cup) and I struggle to balance the food and liquid requirements needed to stop the weight loss. It comes off much slower but I'm still losing 2-3 pounds a month, much to my dismay, as I'd like some of my curves back (thank God for padded bras).
Usually after 1 year my clinic pushes you out of the nest and trusts you to call if you need them but you don't have to do the monthly monitoring. I'm not getting that chance yet :( They want to keep monitoring me. I haven't had any vitamin deficiencies show up but am unable to take vitamins by mouth so they are concerned that at some point my luck will run out.
As I prepared my before and after photo's and read over my blog posts a few moments ago I realize how far I've come. It's been a while since I've looked at pictures of me from two years ago and I don't even recognize myself. That in itself is a blessing...I went through a period of not knowing the person in the mirror and my self esteem was not doing so great. I felt like I was too thin and unattractive. I've worked really hard the last month or two to come to terms with the new me and regain my self esteem. Being sick for so long long with the lack of adequate nutrition and supplemental nutrition hasn't helped, I think when we are physically depleted we are also mentally depleted. My therapist has helped me to get my head back in the game even if my body isn't quite there yet. I now realize I don't have to be the "ideal" me in order to love the me that I am.
One of the things that has changed in me during this journey is that I realize life is short. At 46 years old I am done with leading a life of "should" instead of a life of "want". These last months I've taken great strides to start living again and doing things for myself spiritually, physically and mentally that are good for me.
I quit my full-time job that was sucking my soul dry and found one (part-time) that I enjoy and that leaves me time to do other things I've wanted to do for a long time....like start my own business :)
I'm finally doing Art again for the first time in 2 years. Regaining my creative self has been so incredibly healing to my spirit! I'm also talking to the Art Director at the local college and may start teaching some classes (that would be a dream come true!)
A few days ago I went and cut all my hair off! I've always had a really thick head of hair and the loss of almost half of that was so depressing. The thinner it got the more scared I was to do anything with it so I just let my shortish bob grow the last few months. I had 2-3 inches of new hair growing through the longer stringy hair and I was at the point where I hated looking in the mirror. On Monday I had enough and phoned my hairdresser. I went in and I said cut it pixie short! He was hesitant but after some debate did it. I cried when i saw the results. For the first time in almost a year I recognized that head of hair. Now the regrowth is part of my style not just a mutant wig poking through the rest of the strands. I have become a little mirror obsessed playing with my thick head of hair lol
This week I'm starting an exercise program with a kinesiologist. I'm hopeful that they will help me regain the strength I've lost and in turn that will help me feel more empowered with this new body.
I think like any big step you take in life you can only plan for some things and the rest just unfolds as you travel that path. It's what you do with that daily journey that defines who you are. It turns out that losing pounds was such a small part of this journey. For me the big parts were finding myself again after all these years. Dealing with issues that have plagued me since childhood, learning to love myself and taking back my life was the big part. For that I am so grateful.
The "before" pictures below are from December of 2012 when we went to Disneyland and got married. As I looked though old photos I didn't want to pick the ugliest before picture I could find to show how far I've come (but boy did I have some lol!). I wanted a picture that showed me during a time when I felt beautiful. Marrying the most amazing man in the world was definitely a day for feeling beautiful!
I'm glad things are going well for you! Congrats on your great successes.
VSG with Dr. Salameh - 3/13/2014
Diagnosed with Binge Eating Disorder and started Vyvanse - 7/22/2016
Reconstructive Surgeries with Dr. Michaels - 6/5/2017 (LBL & brachioplasty), 8/14/2017 (UBL & mastopexy), 11/6/2017 (medial leg lift)
Age 42 Height 5'4" HW 319 (1/3/2014) SW 293 (3/13/2014) CW 149 (7/16/2017)
Next Goal 145 - normal BMI | Total Weight Lost 170
TrendWeight | Food Blog (sort of functional) | Journal (down for maintenance)
I love your haircut! Congratulations on your surgiversary and I'm glad you have been able to find so much positivity from your journey in spite of the complications. Your success is very inspiring and I'm glad you're doing so well! :-)
VSG with Dr. Michael Jiser, Lowell General Hospital
HW 281, GW 155, CW 149 5'11"
