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My Story

It was a dark and stormy night.  Outside the rain beat down while the wind howled in displeasure....ooops, wrong story!

I'm sure there's some sad, tragic story to tell if I looked hard enough or revisited my past often enough, but the gray matter doesn't retain memories like it once did and I'm KNOW the synapses don't fire as fast as they did say 30+ years ago, so suffice to say "my story" will be all about the now and well maybe just the short-term past.

I started this journey about mid-February 2011 when I attended an informational seminar held by the Bariatric Program at the Center of Excellence near my home.  Once I received the "yep, your insurance will cover what we can do for you" nod from the insurance coordinator, I scheduled an appointment with the Bariatric Nurse Practitioner/Coordinator to begin the journey.  My program required a 10% loss of excess weight prior to meeting with surgeon, so that's where I began.  By mid-April I was down 20+ pounds and got myself scheduled for various tests, appointments, evals, and other hoop-jumping endeavors required by the Bariatric Program and my health insurance. 

I'd love to say that I remember clearly all the steps and processes, but sadly that's not in the cards.  What I do remember about the time period from March - May was that there was a lot of learning going on on my part -- reading, planning, fretting, exploring, reading, learning, etc., etc., etc.

Once I completed all the pre-op hoo-ha, I was scheduled for surgery on June 20.  The surgery went well.  The surgeon explained to my family that I was a bleeder and because of that I was closely monitored in the hospital and even had to have a couple of units transfused to replace lost blood.  At the time it seemed rather concerning, looking back from a different perspective...it was a piece of cake.  I was out of work for three weeks while I dealt with some slow-healing wounds and various other surgical stuff.  But, again, looking back from a distance, it was all good. 

I'm just now 6 months post-op.  I'm down 105 pounds from highest recorded weight, and am on an average weight loss track.  I am the poster child for average gastric bypass surgery.  I'm doing well physically, sometimes I struggle with old behaviors and attitudes, but mostly I deal with life as it happens.  I'm pretty much okay with my journey; satisfied that it's progressing without issues and my weight is slowly moving towards normal. 

Nothing truly exciting here.  There is no specific destination, just a constant journey to learn, adapt and grow into the person I want to become.  Sounds somehow beautifully serene doesn't it?  As if.....