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Goals

Complete a Half-Marathon

73 People
 in progress, 
24 People
 achieved this

Run a 5K without stopping

2 People
 in progress, 
2 People
 achieved this

Run 1 mile without stopping

117 People
 in progress, 
32 People
 achieved this

Walk in public in a bathing suit and feel good about it

4 People
 in progress, 
1 Person
 achieved this

TO LOSE 100 LBS.

86 People
 in progress, 
61 People
 achieved this
View Other Goals
Surgeon Testimonial

Cynthia Long M.D.
I love Dr Long! So much so that I followed her to Baltimore and would probably want to continue aftercare with her no matter where she'd work! :)
My first impression was that she's very skilled & detailed. Her plan was easy to follow and she gave all new patients a binder that explained the process step by step She made things clear at surgery & right after, which assuaged some worries I had early on. I had no complications from my surgery. My positive opinion on Dr Long has not changed over time. However, I feel that she could have better staff at Sinai - they did not make for a smooth transition from her private practice to working at Sinai and I have had some problems in them relaying messages & communicating. Future patients should know that Dr Long is an employee of Sinai, which already had an established bariatric program. If a future patient does not feel comfortable with any aspect of Sinai's program, they need to weigh that carefully and discuss their concerns. For example, I decided to return to my original nutritionist instead of continuing aftercare with the nutritionist at Sinai; their plan did not coincide with what worked for my body, but it may work better for other people.
I've heard alot of stories of surgeons either having good competence but bad bedside manner - Dr Long has good skills on both, which is a hard find. One cannot base their success on a program or a surgeon, so it is important for potential patients to know the great majority of the work & success will be the patient's, but it is extremely important to have a supportive & understanding surgeon. I have nothing but good things to say about Dr Long!
nfarris79's Journey

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Describe your behavioral and emotional battle with weight control before learning about bariatric surgery.
I had been overweight and obese for most of my childhood and all of my adult life. I had begun to consider weight loss surgery in my 20s but had neither the insurance coverage nor emotional resources to pursue the surgery at that time. I had been on diets since age 12, had struggled with binge eating, unhealthy eating concepts, and even a brief brush with bulimia until I failed my last diet (Weight Watchers) at age 30. I got married in a size 22 wedding dress, was profoundly unhappy with my body image, and had been a success in so many other areas of my life - except the one that was most visible and representative to others!
Latest Surgery Support Comments

  • Comment by Kenyatta W. on 4/13/11 3:57 pm
    Hey you! I know that your surgery went ok and now your on the road to a new you! Congrats!
  • Comment by heygiz00 on 4/13/11 12:00 pm
    Hope everything goes great today! Jules
  • Comment by hmd77 on 4/13/11 6:48 am
    Good luck on your surgery. :)
Click here for the surgery support page
nfarris79's Blog
nfarris79's Blog


Today is my 1 year surgiversary
on April 13, 2012 1:01 pm
And how far I've come.......









Those were clothes from when I left the hospital a year ago.....


And me, trying on my size 20W wedding dress from 4 years ago.....





And truely, HOW FAR I'VE COME!!!!!
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1 year postop
on April 10, 2012 9:30 am
Just got back from the surgeon's office & they were all thrilled to see me! The one nurse told me about her recent foray into PS - she had her arms, thighs and LBL done and was only out for 5 weeks. Hm... Ok, maybe if I win the lotto.
I'm low on D so will be trippling my intake for the next few months and then have labs redrawn around July to see if it's gone up. B12 is high, so will reduce my dosage on the Nascobal and talk to my primary in a month or so about getting injections done. Surgeon also ordered my alkalate phosphate level rechecked - it was high, which may indicate some bile duct or gallbladder issues, but hopefully it was just a fluke & will correct itself. So I'll get a few things rechecked in July and then see her at my next biannual visit in September. So, it's coming up on a year & all seems good so far!!! 
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Took the fashion plunge...
on April 9, 2012 1:54 pm
I bought new clothes! Not pre-owned, from Goodwill/SA, because I'd just be disposing of them in a month kind of clothes. Actual, brand new with tags, permanent clothes! As my weight has pretty much leveled off, I think that it's a safe bet that I'll be in this size (6) for a while and we made a little detour after Easter to the outlet mall outside of Philly.... I did a quick little marathon shopping in the NY & Co outlet, right before they closed! In 45 min, I managed to get 3 dresses, a pencil skirt, a pair of pants, a wide belt, and 2 tops. I got about $400 worth of clothes for $124! So I think that beats all records for time & value.... It also felt like a giant catharsis, as I've gone all Lent without buying any clothes. But yeah, as soon as Easter Sunday rolls around, BAM! Nicole has hit the mall!! Loove Philadelphia Premium Outlets....  I may need to budget a bit more time there when we next visit our Pottstown fam.

Proportionally I did have my priorities in order for the Sunday - spent 6 hours driving, 2 hrs with my aunt, 1.5hrs with my uncle, and 45 min shopping. Yeah, it was a busy day! But wonderful to see family, who all raved about how small I am. I was happy to report that I'm down to 128lbs and gonna try hard to stay there. Was even able to pass on some nutritional knowledge that I've absorbed over this journey! 

I meet with my surgeon tomorrow, for my 1 year visit! I can't believe that it's been that long...Hopefully she won't fuss at me too much for the low D (24, ugh!) or high B12 values (1410). Gotta love the balance of supplimentations/deficiencies/etc.... I'm just glad nothing else was out of whack!
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Maintenance is harder than it looks
on April 3, 2012 3:08 am
So after being around the 129 mark for a while, I weigh myself this morning and 130.8  , not what I wanted to see at 5am! Yeah, early morning insomnia is back. But it's due to changing the cats' food schedule so they start getting hungry in the very early morning and start meowing and wake me up..... can I call the vet who suggested changing them to wet food feedings to have HER come up at 4:30am to feed them??? 
Back to the weight stuff - my "buckle down" thought is NO MORE CHEATING!!! A tortilla chip still has calories and carbs, even if it's not a whole serving, so I gotta cut that crap out! The half & half in my hot tea has calories too, especially as it adds up after a few cups of tea, so I gotta quit deluding myself and be more accurate in my food logging. Hopefully this is just some water gain and not a bigger sign of issues to come...... I'm really struggling with fear of regain. I don't want to get out of the 120s, I want to stay in size 6/8, and I KNOW that these things are mostly in my power to control but a small part of me fears that it's not in my control. An even more irrational part of me fears that regain is inevitable and it will be out of my control to the point where I'll regain a significant portion of my loss and I'll have been a fraud. I want so bad for this to be permanent loss. I don't want to lose face in front of all those who have been proud of me. This journey is so precarious; at times, maintenance feels like sand slipping thru your fingers....
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