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Before & After

 
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Goals

Run in the 1D at a barrel race

0 People
 in progress, 
1 Person
 achieved this

WEIGH 160

6 People
 in progress, 
7 People
 achieved this

Reach my goal weight

65 People
 in progress, 
9 People
 achieved this

be able to fit into a single digit size of clothes!

54 People
 in progress, 
24 People
 achieved this

Join the century club.

43 People
 in progress, 
89 People
 achieved this
View Other Goals
Surgeon Testimonial

Deron Ludwig, M.D.
Dr Ludwig and every member of his practice are very nice, careing and non judgemental. You get all the info you need to make your decision. I was not even nervous about my surgery because I had such confidence in his ability as a surgeon. He showed up to check on me each day at the hospital and a person could not find a better Dr anywhere.rnThe entire staff are there to help answer questions, get approval and provide further support. This office is unlike any Dr's office I have ever been to-they are the BOMB!rnI HIGHLY recommend Dr Ludwig to anyone who is considering WLS.
Member Interests
  • Books & Literature - I am a voracious reader of all kinds of books.
  • Dogs - I have two corgis who I am completely crazy about
  • Dancing - Love to dance and go out with friends.
  • Horses - I barrel race and have ridden my whole life.

Latest Surgery Support Comments

  • Comment by Chele on 4/23/07 11:38 am
    Sharra! Your day is almost here! I will keep you in my prayers for a safe, smooth and successful surgery. You are on your way to a healthier and happier YOU! Take care and keep us updated!
  • Comment by Blink on 4/23/07 10:28 am
    Hey Girl, I am so excited for you. I know it is going to be difficult but we are starting a new life. I will be by the phone for you to call and cry, fuss, whin, scream, or "jump" for joy what ever you feel you need. I am so glad and blessed to have met you. I can't wait to meet ya on the "losers" side!
  • Comment by Casweetie on 4/22/07 9:39 pm
    Hey there! Soooo here we are, who woulda known that we could have become such close friends through here? We are now going to be sharing the start of our new lives as thinner, healthier people!! I have you in my thoughts.... see you Tues or Wed!!
Click here for the surgery support page
I am a married, mother of 1, stepmom to 4 and grandmother of one (brand new baby girl-named Ariana Rose.) . I have two corgis that share their house with me named "Toby Tobias" and "Tayder T Gator". My weight loss journey has been long and left a trail of broken diets in it's wake. I am the only overweight person in my family-how'd that happen? I have a number of health issues that are reaching the point that I need to get my weight under control NOW! I am outgoing and love to have FUN, LAUGH and try to DANCE my butt off.
I have a lot of stress in my life (who doesn't?). My son is a 2005 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point. He is currently stationed in South Korea.  I work full-time and have a part time job as an Event Secretary for Barrel Races that take a significant amount of my time. 
I have started to build a support system of those near and dear but since they are not fat, they do not relate well. I hope this forum can help me when they cannot.
scoobydoo's Blog
scoobydoo's Blog


Maintaining weight is getting harder
on June 7, 2009 4:12 pm
I have to admit, I had gotten a bit cocky. I had lost all my excess weight and had no problems maintaining-until NOW. I find myself reaching for foods I shouldn't. I also seem to eat out of habit. When I am busy, I do not even think about eating, so my stomach hasn't gotten bigger.
Support group this month was about regain and getting back on track. I honestly didn't think it applied to me. Until, I finally admitted that my weight is a bit up. I got as low as 161 this week before returning even higher to 164. So time to get REAL!
This really will be lifelong committment. My food issues are not going away. I need to make the right decisions each and every day. I know I can do it. I just have to exert some willpower. Hmmmmmmm. I CAN DO THIS!!!
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2 Years after surgery
on May 4, 2009 12:32 pm
Life sure is different. I cannot believe how I lived before. I saw a picture of me taken right after surgery and I had already lost 20lbs. I was so FAT. I did not even recognize myself.
I feel alot better than I had been. Sunshine and riding do the trick! I met with my surgeon. He said my blood work was great and my cholesterol was 'Ideal". WOW. That is reason enought to have had the surgery. As I deal wth my aging parents, I cannot help but hope that this surgery will keep me from developing my family diseases like High Cholesterol and Diabetes. Only time will tell.
I actually had a conversation with Dr Ludwig about how hard it will be to keep enough weight on this summer-WHAT?? That is hard to wrap my mind around but I noticed that as things warmed up my appetite was just gone. I have to make sure I eat enough or the weight does come off again.
My pledge to myself is to do even more healthy choices. Eat more fruits and veggies. Take care of myself.
As for fun things, the barrel racing is back at full steam. I had my biggest win ever in April. I finally feel I am really going to make improvements and get to the level I want.
The biggest news-my son is back in the USA as we speak. I hope he does not have to deploy for a very long while.
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Feeling more optimistic
on March 5, 2009 12:27 pm
I know I have been spouting gloom and doom lately. Growing pains I guess. I have started to feel more peaceful and hopeful lately. My weight is still up. I have made peace with that also, I am still below goal and my face as filled out a bit even with just 5-6 lbs back on. It helps that it did not change how my clothes are fitting.  I really do not feel that this weight will stay on once I can get back to riding.
This is still a lifelong journey filled with highs and lows. Just gotta roll with the punches and deal..
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So, I thought WLS would fix everything....
on February 1, 2009 3:31 pm
I have been going thru a lot of volatility in my life. Before surgery, I just had it in my head that my life would be perfect-if I could just get the weight off. I was told differently but just would not listen because I thought my life was great-except for the weight.
Then, I made my goal weight almost a year ago. My surgerversary will be April. These last couple of years have been a huge upheaval in my life. I was miserable and so sad and mad about my weight. After surgery, I was so focused on the process that I did not have time to think about how different my life would be or was becoming. Then, the backlash started. I had some people who did not seem to like me after surgery. I also had to make changes concerning some activities which no longer made sense. Before surgery I was unable to say no. I wanted people to like me, I wanted to be involved. I realized later that I let myself be used. When I lost the weight, I started to value myself more and realize that I was my priority.
There are consequences to our actions. I am living thru mine. I know I have made the right ones but it can be hard to live with sometimes. I no longer can medicate myself with food-although I have tried. I can be very moody. I have to live with rages. MY family has to live with my downs. I know I need to work on this more but this is a very important lesson. WLS does NOT FIX YOUR LIFE. WLS only fixes your weight and helps your health. It is up to us to keep trying to work thru these issues so they do not keep coming back to bite us...
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Life Sucks...No Really
on December 20, 2008 10:08 pm
I suffered a major disapointment this week. I was up for a promotion. Knew I was qualified. Had the most seniority and felt the interview went great. Only to find out I did not get it.
I had put in 20 years only to get kicked in the teeth. Makes me wonder why I have made many of the choices I have. I guess it doesn't pay to be loyal to a company. Now, I am a lot harder to get hired.  Economy sucks so I can not just leave. I have responsibilities. People depend on me at home. I guess I will just have to get thru until something does come up.
It is very hard to go thru. I have been grieving the loss of my hopes and dreams. Then just two days later, I had to be back into the office for a Christmas party. See the changes already taking place. I am strong. I thought I could just grit my teeth and get thru it. Seems I was wrong. It hit me like a punch to the gut. I would start to tear up, fight it off. Then something else would happen and here they would come again. Worse was when my new 'boss'-someone had trained- came back to talk to me. I just told him not now, I was having to hard a time as it is. Luckily he respected that and left.
I have to still figure out my coping mechanisms. I really tried to eat. Found out that was not satisfying. Would have liked to get drunk but I no longer drink. Lose myself in drugs-not my style. Luckily the weather cleared enough and I was able to ride my horses. Best therapy out there for me. It lifts my spirits. Lightens my heart which was broken. Hopefully time will help mend my feelings. LIFE JUST SUCKS SOMETIMES........
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My Story

I was never overweight growing up. I was very active with horses, sports and 4-H (& later FFA). I lived on a horse farm so I was outside a bunch and spent my summers at the Racetrack with my Dad and our Thoroughbred racehorses. Life was all about go-go-go.

Life started throwing me curveballs and I got married and had son shortly after graduating HS. The marriage didn't work and I found myself a teenage single Mom but I was determined to keep on with school and graduated from CSU Chico in 1988. College was fun but I added about 20 lbs to my frame.

Then I started working full-time and that immediately added another 20-30 lbs. Hard to stay active when you sit at a desk for most of the day. I swore I would never go over 200 though. That was the wall for me I would not cross.

SO much for the wall. I had some bad luck with car accidents that left me flat on my back for a time. I pretty much kicked that wall down. This started a series of problems with my health. I started to get allergic to everything and ended up with joint degeneration and fibromyalgia. I literally could not get out of bed. Of course my weight crept up and up. I tried Phen-fen. Worked great, until it was taken off the market. Tried phentermine, worked to take off 40 lbs until the side affects built up so much the Dr took me off them.

This happened right at the start of the downward spiral caused by my Mom having Stage 4 Melanoma and a less than 10% chance. I am an only child. It was up to me to hold it all together and keep bills paid, life moving, appts kept, etc. Wow. That 40 lbs was back on with some company. Oh S**t, now I had to start worrying about the 300 lb wall of fat.

Then a miracle. My Mom beat the odds and is remission. I know she was blessed by all the people who prayed for this outcome. She is struggling to recover but is cancer free.

This was the time I really needed to take a long look at my life. I need to get healthy for myself. My weight causes a major problem in getting around and doing the things I love like Barrel Racing or playing with my corgis. I have diabetes on both sides of my family (although I don't have it yet-it's only a matter of time). I have high cholesterol. I hurt all the time.

 I was out of control with my eating. I was freaking myself out. My PCP helped me to see that I have a chronic condition. It is not a lack of willpower but the fact my body keeps sending out these "Eat" "Eat" "Eat" signals.

 I want to live....not just existing but grabbing life by the horns and throwing it around. I have a new grandbaby I want to watch grow up. I want to grow old with Jack and enjoy our retirement in a few short years. I need to do something permanent that will help me have a "normal" relationship with food.

This is the start of this new journey.....