I can't believe that today is my one year surgiversary! It doesn't seem like it has been a year at all. Time really flew. Every day I am so thankful that I decided to have WLS, it was one of the best decisions I ever made. Yesterday Star Jones was on Oprah talking about her gastric bypass surgery and it was hard for me to watch because honestly I didn't or couldn't relate to her. Which I am finding that it is often the case for me. When it comes to others that I know that have had surgery.

Yes, I had surgery because I was morbidily obese, but I had been the size I was for YEARS and YEARS and YEARS. I am not going to say I had surgery because I was going to die if I didn't do something about my weight. Yes that is probably a true statement, but I wasn't going to die tomorrow from my weight, well I might have, but who really knows. Star had said that her doctor told her "You are going to die" in my whole adult life of being 350+ pounds not one of my many doctors ever once said anything about my weight...EVER! Obviously, I knew my weight wasn't healthy and was limiting me from doing a lot of things, but no one of "authority" never said anything about it in a way that made me really want to do something about it.

I can honestly say that it wasn't until I had Stella and realized how much I COULDN'T do because of my weight that I decided to start the process to have surgery. It still makes me cry just thinking about it. I didn't want to be that mom sitting on the bench at the park because I was too big to actually "play" with my daughter, it wasn't fair to her. I knew I couldn't lose the weight on my own and I knew I needed to be around for Stella above all else! So I did it. And now that she is 2 and running around like a crazy girl, I know I did the right thing. So many little things, being able to let her ride on my bag, being able to hold her for more than 5 minutes, being able to actually run with her, being able to race with her so many things that I know a year ago I couldn't do.

It is all so amazing to me. I still have to look at myself in a mirror every time I walk by one. I can't believe that in a year I have lost 128 pounds. That's 128 pounds that last year I was just carry around with me all of the time every day. It is so crazy. Obviously, my body has changed but so has my health. I can walk up a few flights of stairs and not feel like I am going to die, I can sleep a lot better, I don't get up to go to the bathroom 100 times a day, I can actually work out and keep up with the work out, I can walk a mile on my treadmill in less than 15 minutes (that is big for me, it used to take me almost 45 minutes). I am so much more active than I have ever been.

I am a size I have NEVER been. I am wearing a size that I have never worn in my life. I have lost tons of inches, well many not tons, but you know. Here where my measurements last summer:
6/6/2008
Waist - 53
Bust - 47.5
Chest - 51
Hips - 59
Thigh - 32.5
knee - 22.5

Then I took them today:
waist - 42
bust - 41
chest - 40
Hips - 50
thigh - 24.5
knee - 18.5

I just can't believe what a difference those inches make. There are so many doors that have been opened up for me that I kept closed because of my weight. I can now fit in booths at resturants, I can fit in a movie seat comfortable, I can wear my seat belt in my car, I can fit on one cushion on a couch, I can run, I can keep up with Stella, I can share clothes with my sister, Don can actually put his hand all the way around me when he hugs me, I actually have to wear a belt every day, I can fit into an XL mens shirt (there was a time when I wore a 4XL mens shirt), I can wear a size 20 pants (I was wearing a size 28 or 30 before surgery), I don't have to shop at only "plus size" stores. I guess I could go on and on.

As far as eating after surgery, I have to say for me, it hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be, but I have to say I made sure that is wouldn't be. I was determined to not be or get depressed about what I couldn't eat any more. I have to say, yes I probably ate things I shouldn't have in the begining, but I refused to "scared" of food. I refused to single myself out and gatherings because I couldn't eat everything that everyone else was, I REFUSED! I went to every gathering, went to every night out dinner, went to every birthday party, I just ate differently. I still ate, I just didn't eat certain things. Yes I would have cake, but one a bite, which was enough for me. I can honestly say I eat most of the same things I ate before surgery, but just A LOT less of it. The surgery has helped me with portion control, which was BIGGEST issue when it came to food. Don't get me wrong, it isn't roses and sunshine all of the time. I still have my bad days, I still dump on certain things. There are days when nothing seems to want to work and days when EVERYTHING seems to work just fine. I can honestly say that the only thing that really bums me out that I can't eat right now is ketchup! I still can't eat it. I don't know what it is, but every time I have it I feel soooo sick. I love ketchup so this one has been hard for me, but it has now been a year and I survived so I guess I will be ok.

Anyway, enough about that. I just had to post about it. My life was good last year, but now being more healthy and more active and more "a part" of my life I can say life is so much better!

~Rose
Lap-RNY 04/02/08
397/373/269/???
HW/SW/CW/GW

I had my 3 month post-op appt on July 10, 2008. I can't believe it has already been three months. It is crazy how times flies. As of yesterday, I weighed in at 316.6, the day of surgery I was 373 and had to lose 25 pounds before surgery. I say my starting weight is 397 because that is what it was the day I went to the surgeons office for a consultation. So from surgery I am down 56.4  pounds and 80.4 pounds from my highest. So far it has been a very good journey. I have only gotten sick once, but I have had a few times that I have felt like totally crap after eating something that did not agree with me. I need to take some more pictures of myself so I can see the changes in the body, I can feel them. Clothes II haven't been able to wear for years are now starting to be too big! I have gone from a 30 jeans to a 24. It is just amazing to me how much of a difference losing the weight has had. I am way more active and spend a lot of time outside with my daughter running around and playing. I know if she were this age last year I would not have been able to be outside really at all with her. It would have been too difficult. There has not been one day since surgery that I regret it. I am able to eat most things, I am able to participate in family functions, I still go out to dinner with friends, I still eat McDonalds and Taco Bell, BUT I eat a lot less, I make different/better food choices, I am able to stop when I am full, I don't eat fast food nearly as much as I used to. For me this surgery wasn't about preventing me from eating sweets or fried foods, my main issue was portion control and my acid reflux preventing me from eating a lot of healthy things. I can say my portion control is under control and I am able to eat thing that used to always give me trouble. Before surgery I could eat salad, but it always messed me up and I would feel like crap after. Now I LOVE salads and can eat them very single day, even with Romaine lettuce (which I couldn't eat before). Anyway, I am getting healthier and happier and that is the most important.