well 2010 found me very busy.  I got engaged, remarried, moved twice and got sick.  I had a total of 4 laparscopic surgeries in 2010...one for an ovary with 12 cysts from my PCOS (I now have no ovaries and am on estrogen), 1 for an inguinal hernia and 2 diagnostic for adhesions. I developed 2 ulcers in my pouch which I have been fighting with since October. They are still healing.  I also had a bleed in December...hemoglobin went from 12 to 8.5 in 24 hrs so I wound up in the hospital for 4 days with 2 units of blood transfused.  I am still maintaining my weight loss at -140lbs and have been there since 5 months post op.  would I still do the surgery again tomorrow? Absolutely!

was 9 months post op yesterday and weighed in at 127lbs.  Saw the surgeon and dietician Monday and they did tell me to be mindful that I am getting in enough calories per day if I don't notice the weight loss slow down.  They want me to be mindful that I don't become underweight.  That's a first,lol.  I am now down to a size 6/8 jeans and still a small top, some extra smalls depending. 

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would come this far!  I am a size small officially, from a 3-4x!!!!!  I am hoping to lose another 5 lbs but then hopefully will slow down after that or even stop as far as I am concerned.  I am officially 6 months out and just had my 6 month post op appt this past Monday.  All labs were good, not deficient in any area.  Tolerating everything well and had pics retaken.  I thought my weight loss was slowing down, but when they plotted it out, I had lost 20 lbs since the end of July, so averaging 7lbs a month, and then since 2 weeks ago today I have lost 6 lbs.  So staying pretty consistent.  No real plateau's thus far.  I actually reached goal a couple weeks ago when I hit 140, the rest is for my "cushion".  Lately I have been getting alot of messages regarding my diet and what I am eating.  I don't have any secrets, I just follow my programs rules.  3 meals a day measured out, no snacking and stay away from simple carbs as much as possible.  I do NOT eat or drink together, I follow the 30 min rule, no carbonation and if I do choose to eat something that may not be the best choice, I opt for a bite or 2 then quit.  I also do not let myself get "full", I eat til I am satisfied.  Some days I can eat my whole portion of food, some days just a bite or 2. 

Thanks for all of the warm wishes!

So, I sent my photos to OH to have them posted on the before/after section and it took a couple of weeks but they did indeed get posted.  Since they have posted I have been contacted daily with support from people that stumbled across my pics and have been inspired.  It is very flattering, ecspecially since I am only 4 months post op myself and not really at the "After" stage yet.  I am getting alot of the same questions from people though so I thought I would put them in a blog to answer.

#1.  I am indeed only 4 months post op from RNY.

#2. My starting weight was 256 lbs, I started weight watchers 9-23-08 and lost 20 pounds, had my consultation with the surgeon 12-15-08 and was placed on the liver reduction diet where I lost another 37 pounds.  The day of my consultation I weighed 235 lbs.  The day of surgery I was 198 lbs, as of today, I weigh 147 lbs.  I am 5'3" and my current BMI is 26.  My goal is 135 lbs. 

#3 Because I am only 4 months post op, I have not had any plastic surgery thus far.  I do have some excess skin, mostly on my tummy, a small bit on my back and just they very, very tops of my arms and legs.  At this point I have no plans to have plastic surgery, too expensive.  If I do, it will be a breast lift/augementation, I can hide the tummy. 

#4 I have just started exercising.  As of right now I do the treadmill 2x a day for 10 min each time, push ups, crunches, squats and lunges.  These are per the exercise physiologist at my bariatric center so they will change periodically. 

#5 I do go to support groups, I find them invaluable, as well as support from twitter and facebook.

I hope this helps anyone that wanted to ask.  These seem to be the main answers to questions that people have been asking me. 

Cannot believe it has been 4 months already!  Life is in full swing chaos, normal chaos though,lol.  Boys are all back in school (have 2nd grader, 5th grader and an 8th grader) and I got my daughter moved into her dorm room last week.  She began her first classes Monday and is already quite busy!  In the mean time I am still dividing my time between working at the nail salon and the hospital.  I have started to notice hair loss now, I know that it isn't noticeable to anyone but me, but I still hate it!  I had been in a pretty decent stall and really I hadn't had one until now so I can't complain.  It lasted approx a month though.  I upped myself to a 2nd protein shake each day though, decided it wouldnt hurt anything and lo and behold, dropped another pound so I am now officially 149 pounds!!!! I am also now firmly in a size 14 bottoms and a medium top.  My before and after photos got posted here on OH and now I have several people that contact me as a result.  I have a hard time believing that is me too!