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Surgeon Testimonial

Armando Joya
I am over a year out from surgery--I have lost 176 lbs and can not be happier. Dr Joya and his whole staff were wonderful to me while I was in Puerto Vallarta. They were very caring and helpful. I had all the information I needed to make my decision and I have absolutely no regrets in my surgical choice. I want to thank everyone so much for being able to get to a much healthier me!
Member Interests

Latest Surgery Support Comments

  • Comment by Pedrof on 12/27/07 9:25 pm
    HI cathy,, thanks for your information, And congratulation for your effort and keep loosing weight, regards pedrof
  • Comment by janinev on 2/20/07 7:11 pm
    Hi Cathy, We share the same Dr, Dr Joya, you will love him, i did, less than a month out and i am telling everyone what a wonderful experiance i had, you will be doing the same. I am praying for you and know that God will keep you in his care. I cried and Dr Joya and Espinoza held my hands and wiped my tears, I know they will care for you the same way. Janine
Click here for the surgery support page

Well you can see my old intro below. I have had my last child and she is 1.5 yrs old and just about done nursing. In my old intro I said I hoped that the exclusion on the health insurance would have changed and it hasn't...don't know when it will. So I am thinking about going with Self pay and possible going to Mexico. I am looking very much into the Vertical Sleeve. LOOK AT BOTTOM FOR WEEKLY WEIGHT LOSS.







Cathy L.'s Blog
Cathy L.'s Blog


10 months out -wow's.
on December 24, 2007 1:42 pm
Well I am just over 10 months out now. I have hit the 220's and this surgery has well served me at this point. When I started out I had sort of made a goal of maybe getting into the lower 200's-say under 250. I thought I would be happy there. Well now I am making a goal of getting to 180's. I think it is very doable at this point. When I first started out I had no idea how the weight loss would go and just did not want to make a specific goal to have it be defeated yet again. I can't express just how thrilled and happy I am that I did this. I feel so much better, happier, healthier and am able to do so much more in my daily life.

Some new wow's to share are that I went to the movies with my mom last week. I can gauge my weightloss by how I fit into the seats at our local theater. Our theater is very old..the seats are small and the arms are close together. I have been going to this theater since I was a child and they have never upgraded anything there. Well since growing to my SMO size getting into the seats was very uncomfy. I would sit on the edge of the seat and slide back so sort of fit in to the arms of the seat. When I went with mom I was able to just sit down..no sliding. AMAZING and wonderful. Newer theaters have wider seats and I usually am fine there. 

I went to a Tae Kwon Do testing for my boys the other night. One of the moms looked at me and again looked at me and one more time and said "OMG...your the incredible disappearing woman!" She said I looked so very different and was very complimentary. Than one of the black belts sat next to me on the floor and asked if I was interested in joining Karate!! That statement totally floored me as I must look fit to her...and you know I just don't see myself that way. 

Took a trip to our local Walmart and someone said Hey Cathy...here it was a classmate of mine from school. He was very sweet and said I look great and don't look my age at all. 

So this week was full of some wonderful wow moments. 

I have no regrets doing this surgery and am enjoying the journey so much to becoming free of my excess weight and gaining so much more back in the process. I am happy and grateful about all these things that most people take for granted that don't have weight issues. Being able to sit in a booth or a chair and not worring it will hold me. Being able to use any seatbelt in any vehicle. Going thru any turnstyle without a problem. Being able to walk and walk and not getting tired or winded. And so many more things that so many of us know about. One by one I am gaining all these losses back. Wonderful.

Well that is my update for this month.
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Nine Months out!
on November 21, 2007 9:17 pm
Well I am just over nine months out and had the longest stall ever since surgery. It was 17 days of no loss at all. In fact I lost down to a certain point and the next day the scale popped up about 5 lbs. I know it had to be water weight that just did not want to move. Than I lost again and stalled again for another week. Still I did well this past month and lost about 10 lbs. I am now down to 241. I am hoping to be able to keep that pace up and loss another 10 my next month. Time will tell. My eating is still going well. But I can see that it would be easy to graze around the surgery and either not loss or start putting it back on. I have to be ever mindful of that. And it is scary..it is more on me to behave than my tummy making me now. I still don't have big hunger. I have noticed the funniest thing. My breakfast is either-eggs, cheese and a mini fiber muffin- cottage cheese pancake with something on top- Mock Raisin pudding- cereal. All these things...if I eat the egg meal I just don't have any hunger at all. But I still do a protein drink later on to help keep the protein levels where they need to be. Carbs are working their way back into my diet. That is good...as in a way it is more balanced and really helps put natural fiber back into my diet. But bad cause I don't want it to get out of control.

All in all...this past nine months have been wonderful. I have lost 149 lbs to date and I can exercise to a three mile power walk dvd without to much trouble. Holy cow...would not have been able to say such a thing back in Feb..I would have gotten winded walking a block.

I am down to a solid 22 in pants. Shirts I can do a large to a 1x now in most cases. So slowly I am trimming down.

Well that is all for this month. I will try and put up a monthly update now each month as this is slowing down. I really hope I do make it under 200. I think I can...but time will tell.

Hugs to all reading this and if you have any questions at all feel free to pm me!
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8 months out and Happy happy!
on October 22, 2007 2:30 pm
Hello all,

I am a bit over eight months out now. I can not be happier with my sleeve. I am now officially almost in the 240's from 390...251 today..hoping to see a loss tomorrow..but if not that is fine. I am so excited to be able to wear real blue jeans again. I decided to go thru some clothes the other day I had boxed up from friends and I was amazed to get into 22's easily. It has been decades since I have wore blue jeans!! I mean like 20 yrs. I am starting to get an interest in clothing again. That has been gone for as many yrs as I have been out of blue jeans. I have a real feeling that I will be able to break out of the 200's...although I do think it will take months. But when I started this I thought if I got to 250 that would be great and here I am! I am AMAZED and EXCITED!

There are times I am sad I can not eat like before...but when I see the sizes of clothing I can wear and how I feel and how my health has improved that doesn't last to long. Another thing that is hard to handle is when I was bigger I felt like no one would mess with me. Now when I walk alone I am a bit worried. I am not as heavy and it is kind of a scary feeling. I don't walk much alone..usually dh goes with me and we live in a rural area where things are pretty quiet and really pretty safe. But I just feel more vonrable(sp)...It is weird feeling for me. I will have alot to get used to as my size decreases. But I am willing to deal with that bit by bit.

I have added new pictures to my profile...these are my 34 Week post op photos...take a look if you would like.

I am overwhelmed, happy, excited about the future, scared too...but really thrilled with the weight loss. I love being here and believe me I do read just about everything you all write. I am just so busy with mommy life that I can not respond to as much as I would like. But I am addicted to our forum and really admire us as a collective! We are a great bunch.

Well I am wandering now. But I did want to write an update about me.
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Z-pac, Sick and moved into the 30's
on October 8, 2007 11:28 am
Well last week was a rough week for me. I was pretty ill with some cold virus that may have infected my lungs. My oldest son had this earlier than me and got pneumonia from it. So it was a really bad bug. I had fevers from Monday thru Saturday. The worst days were when it was up to 103. That is when I got the Z-pak and boy do I feel better. I am still coughing and have the cold symptoms but at least now I can take care of my family.

I had a really good week last week in my weight loss. I think it was 5 pounds for the week. Being sick this week really added to that another 8 pounds. I make a small goal of getting 10 lbs a month gone. Well definitely surpassed that this time! With this additional weight loss I have hit BMI of 39!! I am amazed and awestruck that I am here in the 30's. I have come from SMO(super morbid obese) to Extremely Obese to being in the Obese category now! All since Feb of this yr.

I have a real hope now that I may actually get from the 200's to the 100's! I really think I may be possible. I could not have said that a few months ago. I thought than that if i got to 250 to 220 that would be great.

I can not say enough great things about this surgery and what it has given back to me. Mobility- I can walk easily for 2 miles and bet I could walk for 4 with out stopping. Stronger- I feel physically stronger and more able to handle things. Happier- Most definitely. I can keep up with my kids and have more fun with them. I have a more normal relationship with food and am still amazed at how full a small amount of food fills me up.

I am very happy!!!!
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Six months out!
on August 20, 2007 9:34 am
I just realized I am six months out now! Things are going so well. I am in a bit of a stall right now and actually the scale says I have gained two lbs. But I never count those I just wait for the weight to start to go down again and I know it will. I am so thrilled with my results so far. I am down 110 pounds from the start and I feel amazing. I sleep better, am more rested upon waking, have more energy to do everything. I look forward to walking now..and can do 2 miles on the track in or under 40 mins. I love walking that track now. The weather here is horrible this last week..I did get out last week..but it has been pouring rain for days now. As soon as the weather clears I will be walking again. I am hoping to lose another 100 lbs in the coming months but it is coming off much slower now. I am making small goals monthly of hoping to get 10 off a month now. At that rate it will be quite a few more months before getting to that goal. But that is fine. I really am so happy with this surgery and the food freedom it has given me. It really is freeing --I am taking in around 900 to 1000 calories most days and am really happy with my meals and the size it is. I still supplement with protein shakes twice and day and I do not think that will be ending any time soon.
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My Story

This is from my old profile...wow how time flies.
 


Hello All,
 

4/27/02
Well I have made a decision to have WLS. But there is a big exclusion in my policy against it. It is very specific and to the point. I am thinking of waiting a bit longer anyhow. I am almost 37 now. I would like to try and have one more baby and nurse that child before going thru with this. So maybe by that time the policy will have changed or I can figure something else out. I am a mother to two wonderful sons. They are four and one. Have been married for 18 yrs now and am at my end with diets and dieting. You know if I was a couple of yrs younger and had proper insurance I would do this surgery today and give myself two yrs to get stablized and then try for my last baby. But my biological clock is tick tick ticking! I am addicted to this site since finding it and read read read just everything here. It has let me dream again about the possible outside me. I love the person I am inside...just not the outside..Well if anyone wishes to email me feel free. I love hearing from anyone! And than you for this site!!!



Free Counter


Adding my weekly weight loss here instead of updating it above

Week 1 (preop) 378 lost 12lbs
Week 2 (preop) 372 lost 6lbs
Week 3 (1 week after surgery) 363 lost 9lbs
Week 4 (2 weeks after) 360 lost 3lbs
Week 5 (3 weeks after) 350 lost 10lbs
Week 6 (4 weeks after) 340 lost 10lbs
Week 7 (5 weeks) 338 lost 2lbs
Week 8 (6 weeks) 335 lost 3lbs
Week 9 (7 weeks) 332 lost 3lbs
Week 10 (8 weeks) 329 lost 3lbs
Week 11 (9 weeks) 327 lost 2lbs
Week 12 (10 weeks) 324 lost 3lbs
Week 13 (11 weeks) 321 lost 3lbs. 69lbs
Week 14 (12 weeks) 316 lost 5lbs 74lbs
Week 15(13 weeks) 314 lost 2lb 76lbs.
Week 16(14 weeks) 311 lost 3lb 79lbs
Week 17(15 weeks) 309 lost 2lb 81lbs
Week 18(16 weeks) 305 lost 5lb 85lbs
Week 19(17 weeks) 302 lost 3lb 88lbs
Week 20(18 weeks) 302 lost 0    88lbs
Week 21(19 weeks) 298 lost 4    92lbs
Week 22(20 weeks) 293 lost 5    97lbs
Week 23(21 weeks) 292 lost 1    98lbs
Week 24(22 weeks) 289 lost 3  101lbs
Week 25(23 weeks) 286 lost 3  104lbs
Week 26(24 weeks) 283 lost 3  107lbs
Week 27(25 weeks) 281 lost 2  109lbs
Week 28(26 weeks) 280 lost 1  110lbs
Week 29(27 weeks) 277 lost 3  113lbs
Week 30(28 weeks) 274 lost 3  116lbs BMI 42.9
Week 31(29 weeks) 271 lost 3  119lbs
Week 32(30 weeks) 270 lost 1  120lbs
Week 33(31 weeks) 267 lost 3  123lbs
Week 34(32 weeks) 262 lost 5  128lbs BMI 41.0
Week 35(33 weeks) 254 lost 8  136lbs BMI 39.8
Week 36(34 weeks) 254 lost 0  136lbs
Week 37(35 weeks) 249 lost 5  141lbs BMI 39
Week 38(36 weeks) 249 lost 0  141lbs
Week 39(37 weeks) 249 lost 0  141lbs(grrr stalled)
Week 40(38 weeks) 245 lost 4  145lbs
Week 41(39 weeks) 243 lost 2  147lbs
Week 42(40 weeks) 239 lost 4  151lbs
Week 43(41 weeks) 235 lost 4  155lbs
Week 44(42 weeks) 234 lost 1  156lbs
Week 45(43 weeks) 233 lost 1  157lbs
Week 46(44 weeks) 228 lost 5  162lbs
Week 47(45 weeks) 228 lost 0  162lbs lost
Week 48(46 weeks) 227 lost 1  163lbs lost
Week 49(47 weeks) 225 lost 2  165lbs
Week 50(48 weeks) 222 lost 3  168lbs
Week 51(49 weeks) 221 lost 1  169lbs
Week 52(50 weeks) 220 lost 1  170lbs
Week 53(51 weeks) 220 lost 0  170lbs
Week 54(52 weeks) 216 lost 4  174lbs lost
Week 55(53 weeks) 215 lost 1  175lbs
Week 56(54 weeks) 214 lost 1  176lbs
Week 57(55 weeks) 214 lost 0  176lbs.
Week 58(56 weeks) 211 lost 3  179lbs
Week 59(57 weeks) 211 lost 0  179lbs.
Week 60(58 weeks) 211 lost 0  179lbs.
Week 61(59 weeks) 210 lost 1  180lbs
Week 62(60 weeks) 209 lost 1  181lbs.
Week 63(61 weeks) 206 lost 3  184lbs.
Week 64(62 weeks) 202 lost 4  188lbs.
Week 65(63 weeks) 202 lost 0  188lbs.
Week 66(64 weeks) 202 lost 0  188lbs. stalled again
Week 67(65 weeks) 202 lost 0  188lbs.
Week 68(66 weeks) 201 lost 1  189lbs.
I will now be updating on the Anniversary of my Months on the 19th since weightloss has slowed down!
6- 19 (16 months out)200 lost 1  190lbs total loss
7-19  (17 months out)195 lost 5  195
8-19  (18 months out)200 gained 5  190 lost
9-19  (19 months out)
10-19(20 months out)
11-19(21 months out)
12-19(22 months out)