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Goals

Have a visible collar bone

45 People
 in progress, 
52 People
 achieved this

weigh under 200 lbs!

703 People
 in progress, 
520 People
 achieved this

Cross my legs

438 People
 in progress, 
486 People
 achieved this

Make it through Surgery without Complications

365 People
 in progress, 
808 People
 achieved this

Have a normal BMI

198 People
 in progress, 
62 People
 achieved this
View Other Goals
Surgeon Testimonial

Constantine Frantzides, MD, PHD, FACS
One Year Ago - On November 23, 2010 Dr. Frantzides did my Laparoscopic RNY. I was 298 lb..Today I am 185 pounds. I lost the total of 113 pounds. I went from size 26W (pants) to 12 and 1X (shirts) to S.
My life before this surgery was going only in one direction - the grave. I was 29 years old and so severly obese that some nights I was scared to fall asleep. I was miserable and depressed and I felt like my life was going to hell.
Dr. Frantzides changed that. He gave me something no words can explain. He gave me this feeling of freedom and re-birth. I am a new person now, seriously. I have sooo much energy, so much motivation, my spirit is back, my smile, my thirst for life.
All of you people out there, that are sitting on the couches and dont know if surgery is the right way - dont hesitate. Dont waste time. Surgery is the right way, but only if you have the right Dr. and if you are reading this, you have found him. I am the living proof that he exists. Happy Holidays.
  Hello Guys, My name is Tina and I had RNY, Laparoscopically on 11/23/2009 with the best surgeon in the country - Dr. Frantzides. My road to healthy life was tough as I fough my HMO plan for 13 months. I had to hire legal help and even go to a higher level of authority for help - Department of Insurance. Despite, all this I didnt give up, my life was more important to me and I was gonna fight for it. The HMO did its best to send me to hell back and forth, but as my doctor say: " A great patient is a complient patient"...I did comply with everything my insurance wanted from A to Z and they still kept denying me, they disregarded my doctor but I fought for him with every single thing I had left in me. At the end, it was not the Department of Insurance or my Attorney that broke the case for me, but me. I did it because I was persistent, I did my research and I knew how to defend my case, so at the last push, I helped my attorneys with the last breaking points, which did it for us. And thats how,  after  long and exhausting 13 months, I concurred my HMO, so for all of you out there that want to give up easily, dont.  Insurances have their Achilles Heel and cant be beat, trust me.                            
 
LuckyMama's Blog
LuckyMama's Blog


One Year Later....
on November 24, 2010 9:26 am
Hello Everyone,

Can you believe it has been one year since my surgery? I can hardly believe so. I still vividly remember the day, I went to the hospital to have the surgery that would help me shed all these pounds and make me feel so wonderful. Last Thanksgiving, I was home and laid on the couch in pain, drinking my water and taking my pain killers, while my family got together and celebrated. But this year, it is different. I will be celebrating as well. I am One Year post-op and 113 pounds down from my original 298 pounds starting weight. I feel really good. I feel healthy and happy. My life is finally on track and crying over being obese is not part of my daily routine.

Now, I am deep into my studying and involved with my healthy lifestyle. I enjoy healthy meals and spending time with my family and friends, doing outdoorsie things. I like to be involved in exercise as much as I can and I never miss the chance to go out for a walk. I am very selective of what I eat and drink and I always take my vitamins. I go to all my doctor visits and try to keep myself healthy.
Life is simply easier and much better. The surgery changed my life for the better. And even though I am far from my goal, I feel like I have achieved a lot and I am thankful for every pound I have lost. I dont take any moment of my recovery for granted.

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11 Months and 110 Pounds Off
on October 27, 2010 3:36 pm
It has been a drag this past few weeks or shall I say a month. I am stuck and I really mean it. I have dont everything to get out of this "plato" ( I hate this word) - increased my protein, even upped my work out a lot, changed my work out routine, changed my diet and nothing really helps me. I seem to be moving from 186 in the middle of the week to 188 on Monday ( my day on the scale)... I have no clue why.

I know I should be patient and wait and my body is doing whatever is doing but this is really starting to piss me off. Sometimes I feel like my surgery gave up on me :) And I know it didnt because I can feel the restriction and I know its still working, so what is it then? Why am I stuck?

Maybe because I lost 110 and my body needs a break? But other people lost so much more than me and they are still losing, so why am I not? Frustrating. I have like 40 more pounds to my original goal and maybe, just maybe I wont ever see that happening.

Sorry, for the gloomy post this month.. Maybe its the time of the month? Maybe its me being done being patient with my body being stuck at 188...but I am not a happy camper..

I hope my 1 year post is much better one :) See you next month
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10 Months Post-op and 108 lbs off....
on September 26, 2010 8:15 pm

Well, this month was really disappointing, as I lost only 3 pounds. I got down from 193 lbs to 190 lbs... It is slow but I got a really tough month, so who knows, it might be all mental. I am still eating very good and exercising, so I hope things will pick up soon. Maybe after 108 lbs in 10 months my body needed a little break and took it :)

The point is that I feel amazing. I look pretty good (thats what everyone says). Health wise, I have never felt better, so the weight loss is just the icing on the cake. I have about 40 more pounds to get to my original goal and seems like those will be the hardest but its ok. The toughest part is behind me now. I love my new life and I love the new choices I make to keep myself healthy and happy. Next step - plastics.. I hope soon because my arms look like bat wings now :( Well, will post the new pics soon...

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9 Months and 105 Pounds Off...
on August 23, 2010 5:17 pm
Hello Everyone,

Today is my 9th month since I had my wls. I am healthy and happy. Everything is going "by the book" as my Dr. would have say. My weight is coming off, slowly but hasnt stopped. I have not had any gains at all since surgery. Only maintained for few weeks here and there, which was expected.

My food choices are nothing compared to my previous life - yeah, this is what I call it :) Now, I crave and eat only healthy things. Primarily salads with tons of cottage cheese ( I love cottage cheese now), lean turkey meat, fat free milk, fruits and veggies. I eat chicken and beef, fish ..and lots of tuna. All these foods make me feel really good, satisfied, and keep me full for a long time. I have learned to chew for a long time, something I didnt do before, which helps me eat less too. I drink a lot of water and take my vitamins everyday.

Life after surgery is just great. I feel beyond amazing. I lost 105 pounds so far, which brought me from 298 to 193. From size 26W to 14 pants and 1x top to M and some even S. I am back to my normal self and I am not even at goal yet. I am so thankful that I didnt give up and fought with my insurance for 13 months to approve my surgery because the outcome is so worted. I knew back then that I had no choice but to either fight and help myself or give up and possibly die someday from being obesse. I choose to fight because I this is the kind of person I am. Now, 9 months later, looking at my health and my life, I wont mind going through the 13 month hell just to be here again.
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8 Months Post-op and 100 lbs Down...
on July 26, 2010 9:19 pm
Finally, I made it...100 lbs...I just dont know what to say. I dont remember the last time I was under 200 lbs. I feel amazing, I look amazing, life is amazing.. I felt stuck at those last 4 pounds but my healthy eating finally paid off :)
I just dont know what more to say..I am beyond speechless. This surgery saved my life!
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My Story

Hello Guys, My name is Tina and I had RNY, Laparoscopically on 11/23/2009 with the best surgeon in the country - Dr. Frantzides. My road to healthy life was tough as I fough my HMO plan for 13 months. I had to hire legal help and even go to a higher level of authority for help - Department of Insurance. Despite, all this I didnt give up, my life was more important to me and I was gonna fight for it. The HMO did its best to send me to hell back and forth, but as my doctor say: " A great patient is a complient patient"...I did comply with everything my insurance wanted from A to Z and they still kept denying me, they disregarded my doctor but I fought for him with every single thing I had left in me. At the end, it was not the Department of Insurance or my Attorney that broke the case for me, but me. I did it because I was persistent, I did my research and I knew how to defend my case, so at the last push, I helped my attorneys with the last breaking points, which did it for us. And thats how,  after  long and exhausting 13 months, I concurred my HMO, so for all of you out there that want to give up easily, dont.  Insurances have their Achilles Heel and cant be beat, trust me.

My mom and dad where normal size all their lives. The only over weight person in my family was my grandma (my dads mom), to whom I am named after. Little did I know I wont carry only her name but her fat gens as well.
I was always heavy. Not really, really heavy as a little kid, but always the one that was chunkier than the rest of the kids in school. During my teenage years, I was always on diets. My mom was dragging me to all sorts of different doctors to determine why was I getting bigger and bigger. Every doctor had his own oppinion - gens, period, phase of life, eating too much, thyroid...anything that they could tell and get my mom out of the office was pretty much said and done. I was on all sorts of diets, you name it, I have done it. My mom took me to fat camps, bought me every weight loss book out there, any gadget that will make me skinny, took me to have acupuncture...and not to mention telling me what to eat and how much to eat, pretty much my entire life.
In high school, I was always the "thick" friend. I was pretty, I had a great hair, good clothes, not as fat as I have become now..but not as skinny, skinny as my class mates were. I compensated this by being the "cool", "always happy", "making fun of myself" friend. My friends loved being with me, I was really popular, had tons of friends and had a pretty good teenage years.
Then came college and hard core dating began..Well, I starved myself to fit in and I did. I end up having the worst anemia ever and faithing was normal for me. I pretty much lived on cigarrets and coffee..I ate once in a while and I still didnt get skinny, skinny as most of my friends. I always had boys chase after me, but nothing really that serious. They pretty much fell in love or slept with some of my skinny friends, after they met them, and of course I "didnt mind" because I was "the always happy friend".
In 2001, I moved to the US.. Here my curves, I was about 170 pounds then, were a hit. I had all sorts of guys go crazy for me at the bars..I didnt know why. That kinda made me relax a bit and I gained some weight..I was up to about 180.. My mom couldnt believe it, some of friend attacked me and I began the "salad diet"...Yep, my invention..Starve all day at work, work out for 2 hours each day after work and eat only one salad for dinner, with no dressing. Four months of this, made me down to 150.. I loved it. I looked hot, felt hotter and hungrier than I have ever been in my entire life. Then I met Alex.
Alex is the dream man. He loves me for me not for what I look like. We fell in love and married in 2005. He met me at 150 and married me at 235, the heaviest I have ever been at that time. I still remember one new years eve, I couldnt fit into my pants and when I stepped on the scale I saw 200 pounds..I was never that big. I spent new years, crying my eyes out in bed and he laid there, holding me. How could I not love him?
Then I began my endless guest with Weight Watchers..That pretty much sucked. I will spent 6 monts loosing 35 pounds to only gain them and 50 more on top. I did that for like 3 years...loosing, gaining. Till the summer of 2008 when we went to see Ricky Martin concert.. I barely fit into the seat. I couldnt believe it. I have never in my life felt so bad. Instead of enjoying the concert, I just stared and thought of how big I have become. Then couple of weeks later, my friend invited me to her cabin in the woods of Wisconsin. We got there, made a bon fire, pulled out the camping chairs and when I sat down, I broked it. I cant begin to tell you, how embarassing that was. I broked the chair. I came home and told my husband "Baby, I have officially broken my first peace of furniture due to my weight"...We hugged and laughed.. I also noticed that I was asking my husband to help tigh my shoe laces.
Walking was a chore, taking the steps to our 3rd floor condo was a work out. I started getting migraines every day, It got bad.. So, one day..I said to myself, thats it. People say surgery is the easy way out, but I have tried the "not easy" way for 29 years pretty much and has gotten me to 292 pounds, so its time to take the fast train home. My weight has become a prison for me. I find myself trying to come up with an excuse after excuse to not go out and meet people. I have avoided all my husband's work gatherings because I dont want people to make fun of him due to my weight. I have missed the graduation parties of my friends. I have skipped photos of family gatherings, I have avoided seeing my in laws for about 3 years..I became angry, very easily iritated, I am unable to have a baby, I cant walk for more than 10 min...all due to my weight. Lately the situation has become really bad as I thought that I could actually die in my sleep, as I could barely breath. So, I think I am ready to change that and live a healthy, happy life with my amazing husband who stood by me every step of the way. I love you baby and I always will.