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


14 months out now.
on April 21, 2008 9:03 pm
Well I am just over 14 months out now. My losses have slowed but I am losing inches and just as happy about that. I was in 22 and 20's and just the other day decided for chits and giggles to try on a pair of 18 misses and 16 women's jeans. Last time I tried I had a hard time getting them up my legs ....let alone zipped. Well I can wear then now. They are a bit tight..but soon they will be "just right--like Goldilocks said!" So it is still an amazing trip. The past two months my average loss is 5 pounds for  the month. I am really hoping I stay on that line for awhile before it slows even more. I am really working now for every pound I lose. I am not perfect in food choices now and it is much easier to eat more now than ever before. Today I caved in when I was making cookies for the kids and ate about two cookies worth of cookie dough. I have always loved cookie dough..once baked they don't appeal to me as much. But after I had that I was done and done. So not much damage done. I am averaging just over 1000 to 1100 calories a day now. I need to have 100 gms of protein a day or I am hungry now. Still eating 5x's a day. Usually three meals and two protein shakes. I am walking most days of the week..between two and three miles. I have resorted to doing an all liquid day on Tuesdays and the day after is the day I lose for the week. It sort of resets my tummy and helps me along. Today I am down 184 lbs and weigh 206. I am so happy with how I feel and how my health has gotten so much better. I will just keep trucking along and keep at it. I am determined to get to 180...hoping to go farther though. Still feel it is a ---TIme will tell if my body will let me go lower. Well that is my update for this month. Things really change the farther out you get and life does get more in the forefront and the WLS takes a seat in the back too.
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New Resolve after a disappointing week and NSV
on March 13, 2008 8:57 pm
I guess now that I am a year out I should be happy with my loss. I mean I have lost an incredible amount of weight in the last year. But my losses have slow dramatically lately. And I am having a hard time with not having a consistant loss. Before I was almost always losing 2 to 3 lbs a week. Now I have one pound here and there and more no loss weeks than ever before. 

So last week I decided to change it up and go back to low carbing it...more like in the beginning. I also upped my exercise. I walked three days for 4 miles and two days for 3 miles making a total of 18 miles for the week. I thought by increasing the movement I would lose. By Friday I was in tears cause the scale said I gained 2 pounds. I was incredibly frustrated and not happy. 

Friday turned into a pity party day for me and I can honestly say it is the first time I fell off the wagon. I am so happy to have my VSG...cause my fall off when put into words did not amount to much. Over my regular food I had three little Dove ice cream treats(by the way these have been residing in my freezer for almost a yr waiting for me to eat them!)...they are about the size of a long thumb, a small handful of chips and some extra cheese. Now how bad it that.. not good...but over all not bad. 

So Saturday I sat and thought about it. I decided I need to feed my body more and see if that will encourage a loss. I think between lowering my calories and adding that much exercise I probably put myself into a starvation mode. Or I am plateauing and just have to accept it and deal with it. Anyhow Saturday was a normal day. I did not over eat or go back to bad habits because of having a bad day. I did allow myself one extra protein treat and guess what..I have almost lost those two pounds already. Today has been a normal day too thank goodness.

So my new resolve is to ride it out(I mean I don't have a real choice do I???). Don't get so upset that my body is deciding when to lose. Not to let the scale ruin my day. That I just need to keep doing what is right for me and hang in there. I do have to say this is the most bummed out I have ever gotten since this journey started though. I am so excited to be thinking onederland is around the corner...but it is taking so long to get here.  It makes you over think everything from food choices to exercise and if your doing what is right from eating to much to thinking your not eating enough. 

Now on to the NSV...my dh was playing music(djing) as usual last night at a local bar. I went down later on to dance. Was having a good time. Went to the bathroom and a girl I know walks in. I am waiting to use the facility. She looked at me...than popped up and looked again and said OMG...I didn't recognize you. She said I looked as small as her. I said "oh no...I got a ways to go and will never be your weight." She said she weighs 140 or something and I really look like her...I laugh and say I am still over 200 yet but thank you! Than later I ran into a classmate and she was stunned by my loss. We were talking about our 25 yr class reunion that will be this year. But she as truly happy for me and asked alot of questions in a nice way about what I did. So that was a very nice way for my Saturday to end compared to how I felt on Friday. 

Well if you made it to the bottom of this I thank you!! I just had to write it down and get it out. I know many of us have had stalls and slow downs. It is just frustrating. 
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Post about my first yr out!
on February 22, 2008 8:43 pm
I am a year out today! It is completely amazing and I am very happy with my surgery and my VSG. Today I am 174 pounds lighter than a yr ago. That is incredible. I was so scared about the surgery and the changes that were going to happen. But I wanted better health much more. I wanted to be alive for my children and able to be more active in their lives. My 2yo daughter was a big catalyst for me in deciding to do this. I am an older mom...had her at age 40. Thinking about my health and where it was going was scary and that she deserved a healther mom really kicked it into gear for me. I have two boys too...and I feel bad for them that I could not be more active for them. But they are still young(10 and 7) and I can make up for that now. 

When I went in for surgery I was a Type 2 diabetic that was using around 100 units of insulin a day so I could survive. I had just developed high blood pressure. I have a few sycope phases with my baby girl that scared the crap out of me. I could not see my diabetes getting better-- or any of the other health problems I was having. Surgery for me was a huge decision in getting healthy. Today I don't have to take one bit of insulin. I am down to testing my blood a couple times a week! And that is just because I want to keep track of it. My latest A1C test came in at 5.2. That was a blessing to me. High blood pressure is gone. My energy level is way up. My house is staying cleaner. I am able to do so much more and not get tired now. I still love cooking and eating. But eating is within control. 

I do have to keep logging in my food daily. I could easily eat more if I did not keep track. My hunger is back..but it is easy to control. It is nothing compared to the hungry monster had pre op. I hope to god it stays that way. I can not over eat with a meal. The way I could eat around this surgery is grazing. So I really have to keep an eye on that. I still eat three food meals and two protein shakes or bars daily. For me that plan is working well and it is never to far between the next thing to eat or drink.  

Exercise has become a part of my life now too and I truly enjoy it! That is odd cause I never cared for it before. I need to do it now to help with loss as it is much harder to lose now. But beyond that is how I feel after I do it..it is a natural kind of high. Makes me feel good all day and stronger. I highly recommend starting as soon as you feel you can after surgery. It took me awhile to do that...I was SMO and so embarrassed to even go out walking in public. And walking a block pre op would leaving me huffing and puffing. Or going up a bunch of stairs was just plain awful. Today I can walk miles without tiring! Amazing to me. I am so looking forward to taking the boys to Great America this yr and not worrying about if I can fit in that ride! That is just a dream to me that will hit with reality when we go.

Without the board and all of you I would not have made it this far. I am living in a small rural town. There are no support groups here. My support has come from here. And even when I don't post alot I am usually reading just about every post here. I am so happy to be one of you!

I am not thru yet. My goal is to get to the 180's. At my yr out visit with my Primary Care Doc he wanted to know my goal. I said I don't really have one. I don't want to set myself up for failure. He thinks I should try to get to 150. Ummm I don't see it ...but time will tell. I told him I can see 180 as that was where I was at in High School. So I know that is doable.. I was there once a long time ago. I don't expect to get to the 180's for quite some time. Loss has slowed down dramatically or me in the last month or so. Starting out Super Morbid Obese makes me think this journey will take about two yrs to accomplish. I am planning on being here for a LONG time!
 
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Stall is over for now and 11 months out.
on January 21, 2008 1:58 pm
A small update to say that stall finally broke thank goodness! That was the longest one for me since starting this. People were asking me if I was done losing since it was not coming off and I said not by a long shot. I am aiming to get into "onederland" one of these days...more likely months. But I am determined to get there. 

Well I am just over 11 months out. I have lost an amazing 168 pounds in that amount of time. I am so happy about that and how I feel. I now weigh 222 pounds. That to me is completely unbelievable. A year ago I was dreaming about this surgery. At that time I thought I would be happy and lucky to get to 250. I have surpassed that and made new goals. I hope the losses continue. But am aware that the stalls are here and likely gonna keep happening. So I will have to be patient and keep working hard. 

Well that is my update for this month. Soon I will be posting a new progress photos!
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Stuck in the Stall from ....well you know!
on January 10, 2008 5:59 pm
Well it is closing in on almost a month later...and yes...I am stalled out. I have been stuck at 228 or 227 for a few weeks now. I had a 16 day stall than finally dropped to 227. And now for 5 days I have lost nothing again. It is frustrating but I knew it could happen and would. So I just have to wait it out. But did I say it was frustrating!!! LOL. I am sure I am not done yet..at least I hope not. I will update around my next anniversary...the 19 of January..hopefully with some better news!

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