AnnieD9999
5 Days Post Op
Mar 17, 2013
Well, I officially made it to the other side. Since I have never made a post before I'll start off from the beginning.
I've always been a big girl, even when I was younger and involved in competitive swimming, I have never been small by any means. I grew up knowing this, and had some tough times. In middle school I attempted to have a couple of eating disorders, which ultimately failed because of my ever-growing love affair with food. Those Chicken Patty Sandwiches they served at lunch? Ummmm still have cravings for them today. I was depressed, and when my mother found out that I had tried to kill myself I denied it and pretended to magically get better. Highschool was so-so. I had a period around 9th and 10th grade that I started eating less/ a little bit healthier and lost some weight. It was then that I met my amazing wonderful handsome husband. (On Myspace believe it or not! He was a friend of a friend, and lived 4 hours away so I knew he was a real person) I now had a reason to live. I graduated highschool and we moved to VA Beach for him to go to ODU and me to attend Cosmetology School. This was the first time in my life that I was actually GOOD at school. I loved it. But I was made fun of....which was weird because that was the first time to my knowledge that I had ever been made fun or for my weight. I would have thought that all that would have been over with in Highschool. Anyway I graduated as one of the top students in my class and didn't let them get in my way. When my Husband Commissioned and Graduated we moved to Ohio where his family lives, we moved in with his Dad and Stepmom and he almost immediatley went to Arizona for 4 months, then came home for a few short months and deployed to Afghanistan for a year.
THIS. Was the hardest year of my life. My husband is my best friend. and it took me a long time to settle into life with him a million miles away. I moved back to VA to live with my Mom while he was away and started working at a local Barbershop, it was here that I fell in LOVE with Barbering and Men's Hair. I took classes at the local community college for Small Business Ownership and worked part time. Long story short my husband got home from Afghanistan in late February of 2012 and we now live in GA.
When we first got to GA is when I started seriously considering WLS. We knew it would be covered by our Insurance if we were to get approved so I went to the Dr and started doing all my pre-op testing and what not. Turns out that other than my weight I am a completely healthy 22 year old and I was a great candidate for Gastric Bypass. A few short months later here I am, 5 days post op. And I never thought that I would actually be here.
I'm one of those people that when I look at myself in the mirror I think I look pretty darn cute. And then when I see a picture of myself I am disgusted and think "How and When Did I ever get this big?"
I had a lot of doubts before surgery and I guess I still do, I keep thinking to myself "Could I have done it on my own?" "Is this just a cop-out" I have to remind myself of the countless times before that I had tried and failed on WW, and so many other diets. I'm sure that once I see the weight coming off and settle in to my new life I will feel much better about my decision. I think that my only reservations now are still coming from my food addiction (Man, I cant eat Reese's Cups anymore!?) But at the same time I am excited about finding healthy ways to make the things I used to make. I love to bake, and I am obviously terrified of dumping, so i've been researching the Sugar Substitutes and different baking techniques that Gastric By-pass patients have mastered. I dont want to feel like im on a diet for the rest of my life, who does? Obviously baking will be an occasional thing now, instead of Chocolate Chip Cookies and Milk every night for dessert.
My long-term goal is to complete the Tough Mudder Course with my husband in a year or two, until then I plan on getting my exercise on and really taking advantage of this tool I have. I want to find fun ways to exercise that build up my muscles and leave me wanting to go back and do it again. Before when I started to exercise I just got so bored with it that I would give up. So I plan on doing several different fun things a week, and then going on walks with my Husband and Puppy :)
Did I mention that I have the best husband in the entire world? Not only is he handsome and my best friend, but he took the most incredible care of me after surgery. He brought me flowers and an unbelievable card with such a heartfelt note it makes me cry everytime I read it. Yes, I love him unconditionally every single day of my life but it was amazing to see how much he truely loved me, and would always be there for me.
So I start my full liquid diet for 3 weeks tomorrow and I am excited and nervous to add more things to my diet. I never want to eat chicken broth ever again. Even when I see it in a recipe I think about how much I hate it. Jello has been an iffy thing for me so far. I handle it okay but I think it gives me a headache, who knows. But im hopeful that I will not have any complications with moving to more substantial meals. I need to work harder on getting all my water in because I dont want to be dehydrated.
Hopefully I will keep up with this, and document my journey along the way. I certainly enjoy seeing everyones before and after pictures and reading the forums, they are deffinetly Inspirational!
