Hi Friends,
Thought I would take a minute to post since it has been awhile. For now I am doing ok....no major arthritis flare...the epidurals( back) and shots in hips and knees have knocked my pain down to a very tolerable level. I have started back riding my re-cumberant exercise bike.
My weight loss had stalled AGAIN for far too long...and I realized that due to boredom and winter time , I was doing far too much grazing and not the best food choices. I decided to re- commit myself  and try to do much better. If I am ever going to make it to my ultimate goal I gotta do more......PERIOD.
With that being said I have broken this stall and have been averaging loosing a pound a day. I am now at 216... down 143 pounds in a little over 7 months and am so close to being to onederland I can almost taste it ! Getting to onederland was  once something I never thought pre-op that I would ever see again....so as you can imagine this has been one of my major goals. I am enjoying shopping for new clothes/shoes waaaaayy too much !
Well that is all I have to report for now. Hope you are all doing great in your own journey...and look forward to taling to you all again soon. Until next time .
 Hugs, Sandra

This is just a general weight update. I will be 7 months post op on Nov. 8th. As of today ( Oct. 29th) I have lost 136 pounds. I am down to 223...which I haven't seen in a VERY long time. Looking forward to getting under 200 which will make me the weight I was BEFORE any of my kids was born ( 195) .
Funny how absolutley HUGE I felt then...now it doesn't seem so as much compared to where I've been.
Seems my WL will last for about a week then I take a break for a week or two then I loose more. I need to get more exercise 4 sure. I am truly freezing to death this year ! I know that since I am getting older, that I also get colder....even before WLS....now since I don't have as much fat to insulate me I can't seem to stay warm. Hope this doesn't last forever....as I HATE being cold !
I have had a few recent wows lately. Last Saturday I became a great aunt !
I took my camera and I took a few photos...my sis who is the baby's GM took a few of me holding the baby. While I was reviewing the pics ( on the camera) I didn't even recognise MYSELF...and asked myself , "Who is that? "
LMAO....Maybe the Alzheimers slipping down into my genes and kicking in.
I was at the grocery store yesterday evening , walking down the aisles and noticing my reflection and thought..." Hey, I almost look normal..... It is the first time really that I have looked at my reflection and it really registered that I am down to the weight that I am. Usually I look at myself in the mirror and still think " Yuk !" I still see myself almost as big as I ever was. I know it takes a while for your mind to wrap around the fact.
One thing is for sure...I def. need a tummy tuck !. I have had this huge hanging apron way before the WLS. If I didnt have this huge panni I know I could get into several sizes smaller pants. I hate to see how far it hangs when I get done with the weightloss !
Everything else is sagging and bagging too but the huge panni is the only thing I feel the need to get rid of. I am 45 now and I dont feel the need to impress anyone. I have had 3 kids, 1 vaginal birth and 2 C-Sections....and a miscarriage...and for most of my life have been overweight. I consider these to be "battle scars" They help remind me that I am no longer 20 again and I have something to show for it
Hopefully a panni removal is in my future, but I gotta wait another year.
 Well that is all for now. Hope you are all at a great place in your own journey. Until next time, hugs all around,
Sandra

Hi Everyone,
Well I will be  6months post op on Oct. 8th. I have been on a slooooow downhill battle to loose weight the last 2 months. Suddenly in the last week I have restarted loosing like I did post surgery. Now that really makes your day !. I have been averaging loosing a pound or two a day in the last week or so. I sure hope this holds out for awhile anyway. I am down to 239 from an all time high of 359...so that means that I have lost 120 pounds. Not bad for being nearly 6 months post-op. Sure makes my goal seem a little more attainable anyway. I always said that if I could get below 200 I would or could be happy with that. My ultimate goal is to get to 160.
 Yesterday I went to the Pain Management Center and had a spinal epidural to help ease the back pain and try to avoid back surgery. I am hoping and praying that this works greatly...and can delay back surgery indefinitely ! So far I have noticed some relief of the pain and hopeing that in coming days it will only get better.
I go back in a month to recheck and maybe get a second epidural. The Dr. Tells me there is no limit to the amount of shots I can get in the future, that as long as they are working I can come back for more. I tried the facet injections a couple of years ago and they did very little for me....these are a very different kind of injection....and since I have lost alot of weight I am desperately hoping that THESE work. I just started to enjoy life more....get out and doing more...trying to be really active ...then bam the back, hip and leg pain knocks me down....I have been soooo worried about returning to the life I was living B4  WLS..... I never want to be a couch potato again, watching others live a full life and merely being an  observer.....
Those of you that have lived a life of merely existing can relate , I am sure...You see where you have been...lived in that state longer than you wanted to....hated it as much as I did...and can probably relate to the very real possibility of one day being faced with the fact you might go there again unwillingly.
At that thought I kinda went overboard, I supose in pushing myself to keep going in spite of the pain...in fear that I would return to that physical state.
We all know that post op , esp in the first year or so , we do not want ANYTHING to interfere with our weightloss goals...especially another major surgery , which would lay us up for God knows how long.
It is hard enough to keep the hope alive  of reaching goal when you are simply loosing weight. Most of us come into this  WLSsurgery with  multiple problems anyway. Just adds some temporary ( hopefully) road blocks along our path.
Well that is all I have to report. I hope you all are at a good place in your own journey. Until next time,
 Sandra

So far I have lost 110 pounds. The weightloss has slowed down substantially.....almost to a slow crawl. Still this is better than gaining weight ! I recently met two of my goals...one was to weigh less than my hubby and the other was to get past the 100 pound mark.... so yippeee for me !
I am now in a size 22 pants and an extra large or 18/20 top. Havent been able to wear these sizes in a very long time. I am now at the weight that I was before I married my hubby , or maybe even a little smaller. Cant wait till I get into 18 or smaller pants. I am more energetic than I can ever remember being. I am however having alot of bone/joint issues that are slowing me down. I apparently must have hoped/thought that having this surgery (WLS) would fix most of my issues. I would have thought that loosing the weight I have would have lessened my pain and my arthritis...especially in my back....would magically feel better. This hasn't happened . A recent MRI of my  L spine showed even more deterioration and damage. What I was attributing to my  restless leg syndrome...wasnt entirely the RLS.....some of it was from forminal stenosis of the Lspine.
I am suppose to go for injections in the facet joints of my back and see if that helps....If not then the next step would be surgery ( which I desperately want to avoid if at all possible. The leg symptoms and muscle weakness in my legs are really worrying me. It is hard for me to even step up into my house and get up and down on the couch......UGH !!!!
Well that is all I have for now. Hope everyones journey is going great ! Until next time,
Sandra

I will be 4 months post op on Aug. 8th. As of this morning I am down 87 pounds. I have noticed the weight loss slowing down some. I just hit a two week stall where I lost nothing. This was by far the longest stall I have had since my surgery.
Each day I have to recommit myself to eating the right things. My hunger ( head and physical) have increased...not to a very bad level, but it has picked up since my surgery.My hair is falling out too...I hope that reverses itself in the next couple of months anyway. I am feeling better about myself  a little more each week. Cant wait till I get below 260 ( hubbys weight)...and I still have about 12 pounds more to loose the first 100 pounds..
Hopeing to get a short mini vacation at the beach in the next week or two. Been a long time since I've been there.
Well thats about all I have to report at this time. I hope you are all doing great my friends.....until next time.
 Hugs, Sandra