Sharon Jones
3-2-01 - I thought the nervousness was over - I had been nervous when I decided to opt for surgery - and after doing tons of research, I was happy with my decision, knew I was doing the right thing and was no longer nervous and then........I submitted all my information to my insurance contact yesterday - he is going to get it all in order and send it on to the medical director to be reviewed for approval or denial - talk about nerves - this is killing me - please please let this not take long at all -
3-8-01 - Well, my surgery has been officially approved - I am precertified for 2 days inpatient for a laparoscopic gastric bypass...............I am so happy - everything went through without a hitch...and they said if I need more than two days to let them know and they will update my information for me.
Now I am just waiting for a surgery date....once I get my approval letter, I am to fax it to the surgeons office, I am not sure if I will then be able to get a date or if I still have to wait until I meet the doctor.....they told me I am looking about May - I dont really want to wait that much longer, but I guess I have to have some patience.
3-14-01 - I received my approval letter yesterday and faxed it to the surgeons office this morning - they told me I will hear back from them within a week to get my surgery date and if I dont hear back from them by Wednesday of next week to call them and they should have a date for me.........I will keep you posted.
3-28-01 - Finally I have news - today I received my surgery date - it is May 16th - 7 weeks from today - although it seems a little longer than I wanted, I really cant complain - I am hoping it is my lucky day because that just happens to be my 28th birthday - I was so excited - I will be the first surgery that day - i can't wait.
4-6-01 - well, a lot has happened since my last post - on 3-30-01 I went to the required seminar that my surgeon holds - it was very informational and they had two ladies that were a year post-op - both wonderful inspiration - both had lost a great deal of weight and both looked excellent - I was very excited when I left that day.
Then on 4-2-01 - I went up again for my consult with the surgeon - he was wonderful, although extremely busy - he answered each and every question.
I have been dabling in taste testing some protein bars and drinks - I have found a great drink, it is called Challenge Liquid Protein in Wild Cherry Flavor - I mixed it up with water and added once pack of nutrasweet - it is great - definately something I can tollerate so I am happy about that.
Then yesterda 4-5-01 I had all my preop testing done...........I must say, it turned out a lot better than I had been expecting - I was having nightmares about the upper gi, but it really was not as bad as I read and had prepared myself for it to be........it was tolerable, I guess I just knew I had to have it if I want the surgery.
Now, I am just waiting............cant wait to start wrighting post-op and adding pictures...........if I can be an inspiration to just one person who is at the end of their rope.......
talk to you soon............
4-11-01 - 5 weeks til surgery - 315lbs
took measurements and photo - hoping to have it added soon.
right arm - 18"
left arm - 18"
chest - 51"
waist - 44"
hips - 54"
right thigh - 32"
left thigh - 32"
right calf - 19"
left calf - 19"
4-21-01 - well, nothing really new to report - I found out my picture was added to my profile - I guess that is good :) - someday I will have an after picutre I will be proud to have added.
I get nervous off and on, but I keep asking God for signs that I am doing the right thing and they keep comming to me. One night, feeling very emotional, I asked, please send me a sign that I am making the right choice (I was feeling selfish, thinkig of my kids and husband) - that next morning, I kid you not, a whole show on this surgery - the man came out perfectly.
I know there are risks with any surgery - I had my gallbladder removed already and was advised of the same risks, and I came out fine with that - so I just keep saying my prayers - but I cannot get over the happiness that comes over me when I think of being on "the other side" - swinging with my kids - going to the water park, riding a horse - just to name a few of the things I cant wait to do.........I know I am making the right choice for me -
5-12-01 - Well, the nerves are kicking in now - I have 4 days til my surgery - yesterday was my last day at work and that really made it seem real - I have tons of stuff to do to get ready so I am sure the next 4 days is going to fly by - and soon it will be time - I am both excited and scared and happy and anxious - so many emotions mixed all together - I am just hoping everyone I know (and even those I dont :)) will say a little paryer for me - I have my two wonderful children that I desperatley want to return home to and start enjoying my new life with them - I even bought some rollar blades :)
I will try to write again before I go in -
Talk to you soon
5-19-01 - Well, here I am :) - had my surgery 3 days ago on the 16th and am now home and resting :) I just wanted everyone to know that all went so extremely well, i could not have asked for a better experience - I was able to have it done lap with no complications what so ever and am so thankful that God was watching after me - I truely feel I had guidence in this all the way through and now it is my turn to take my new "tool" and run with it - I can't wait for what the future holds for me and i cant wait to update on my "losses" :)
For those of you still waiting to do this or are still deciding if this is for you - all I can tell you is - you have to make your own decision, no one can tell you how things would go, but if you feel it is what you have to do then you should do it - as of now I have no regrets what so ever - and those of you waiitng -hang in there - it will come and it will go by so quickly and when you get home just use all you have to make this work for you - it is a wonderful gift - I just realized I have not had a diet coke for 5 days and dont even miss it, can you belive it - this is a truely amazing "tool"
Prayers to all and I will keep you all updated - oh yea, I am changing my weight on my profile - when I first was weighed back in april by the surgeon I was at 315 - well the day of surgery I was 334 - just goes to show I made the right decision because now I can start going down :)
Talk to you soon -
5-23-01 - Well - here I am, one week postop - and feeling pretty good. I was not prepared for the fatigue - just doing little chores makes me exausted, but it is getting better everday.
My doctor has me on liquids for 3 weeks - this is tough - it is hard to not be able to just bite into something - it really has nothing to do with physical hunger, because I am really never hungry - but it is hard mentally - but I know it is worth it and I am willing to keep going - I have two more weeks and then I will be on pureed for 5 weeks - which includes chicken and tuna, so that will be much better for me.
I have not done much physically, other than walking, because it takes so much out of me, but I know this has been worth it.
I have a followup appointment next week and will post my first loss.
Talk to you soon.
5-28-01
Hi there - still doing the liquids - but have to confess - I have tried some things I should not be trying - spaghetti sauce - went really well and was soooo yummy :) - graham crackers and milk - well, not such a good choice - dont realize how much they fill you until it is too late - wont try again - I had a bite of a hamburger - not too well either - it made my chest hurt - i either ate too fast or just not ready for that - I had a small piece of candy - went well - and was totally satisfying - I remember eating the whole pack and wanting more - and last but not least - this morning I had rice - bad bad choice - I actually ended up vomiting - not sure why - either ate to fast or what? Needless to say - I am still just going to stick to the liquids as hard as it is - Egg drop soup was suggested and has been yummy - and sugar free fudgecicles have been a life saver - so I will just push myself to make it this last week - then on to pureed - cant wait.
I have been battling feeling of post op depression - it comes and goes- did I do the right thing, why did i have to make this choice, why cant I eat like the rest of my family - then I just tell myself - this is what i have been given to deal with and I am going to deal with it the best I can - this site helps tons - to be able to read that others feel the same as me - I love it.
Talk to you soon
5-31-01 - Well here I am - feeling better and better everyday - still on liquids - this is my last week - although i have tried refried beans (they did very well by the way - could only eat about 1/4 cup) - and last night I actually had some homemade pizza - it also went well - but I was amazed - I could not even eat 1 piece - I could only eat about half of 1 piece - I remember eating 4 or more pieces -
I had my followup appt on Tuesday - I lost 24lbs according to his scale (19 according to mine) - either way, I have to say - I cant complain - that is more than I could lose in a month of my old plan. I was also given the ok to get back into water aerobics at the gym - my first class is tonight and i just cant wait - I know the exercise wilmake a huge difference and I can start focusing more on my protein next week when I start to eat the pureed/soft foods - it should get much easier.
I still have 4 weeks off of work, so I am now trying to just set up my "good" habits - before I get back to the hussle and bussle.
Right now my scale is shownig me to be at 315lbs - I cant wait to get to the under 300 mark - I plan to weigh in weekly on my own and my next appt is in 6 weeks - cant wait to see what happens - I feel pretty much recovered - so now is the time to get my butt in gear and focus on the good eating and exercise.
Talk to you soon.
6-7-01
yea yea yea - here I am - just hit my 3 weeks post op and now off of the liquid diet - thank god - I am now on purred and I must say - all has went very well so far - I can see now why the liquid diet is so important - it really teaches you to eat slowly so that when you do go on to food you are not trying to gulp it down - which helps so so much.
What have I tried so far - well - I have had refried beans with salsa, I have had chili from Wendys (amazing I can only eat half of the small at one time - somethig very new to me :)), I have had half of a banana (again - now half is totally enough for me - before even one and I was still looking for something to eat), I have had lowfat cottage cheese (protein :)) and I have had almost 2oz of a grilled chicken breast (I could not finish all of it but did eat most of it - nothing else to go with it but at least I had the protein and it was marinated and yummy) every single thing that I have had since on purreed has done great for me - so I am very happy - I also must confess - while grocery shopping my kids picked out the new chocolate cream oreos - well I had to have one - but believe it or not - I ONLY had one - and it was completely enough for me - I cant believe how well this is working for me - like with anything else I remember eating half or more of the package of oreos - I just really have no obession with sweets.
ohhhhhhhhh nooooooooooooo - I dont know what happened, but I just noticed that I have lost a good chunk of my posts - everything in between 6-7-01 and 10-20-01 is gone - I did not have any copies of what I wrote so I cannot put it back in - I will just have to re-cap as best I can -
lets see - I returned to work the end of June - had 6 weeks off - took some getting use to food wise - had a few "bad" experiences, but dealt with them -
My 6 week check up I was down 44lbs - and still had no problems - July, Aug and sept - nothing major happened - besided the weight loss - in July I lost 10lbs, in August I lost 14lbs and in Sept I lost 13lbs - I wish I could remember some of the stuff I had written, but this will have to do for now - I will be more careful in the future before I update my file and make sure nothing gets deleted :)Oh I can add that my bmi was over 49 when I started.........
10-20-01 - Hi all, well here I am - I know it has been awhile - somehow at this point - time just gets by so quickly - I just hit my 5 months and am down to 249lbs for a total loss of 85lbs -only 15lbs to my 100lb mark and only 94lbs to go til goal..I am sure I will get there it is just a matter of time - I am feeling great - I had my blood drawn yesterday and will post my results when they come it - other than that - not much else to report - just plan on keeping the eating healthy, drinking my water and moving moving moving - talk to you soon.
11-2-01 - Hi there - lets see......woooo whoooo, I passed my half way point - I am now down 90 lbs and have 89 more to go :)
I feel great - this last week has been a little rough - i have not focused well on my eating - or water - with halloween and such we had potlucks at work and the candy - I had some, but nothing compared to what I use to eat - however, you still find that sense of guilt - I noticed that my "sugar" tolerance may have dropped, because even just two fun sized candy makes me not feel so well - so I have decided to try and stay away from even that - I was fine when I was doing the sugar free "goodies" so no sense in keeping with bad habits - it is really no big loss - well ok - maybe every once in awhile I miss it, but not as much as I thought I would - today - I did get my water in though and am feeling good about that - I will just have to focus on tomorrow and make sure i keep up with my protein first and water - I am eating about 3 to 3 and 1/2 oz - the doctor says that is good and that will help me continue to lose so we will see how that goes........I did take my measurements today though since I am halfway there and am putting them in here -
right arm - 18" - now 16"
left arm - 18" - now 16"
chest - 51" - now 44"
waist - 44" - now 38"
hips - 54" - now 48"
right thigh - 32" - now 28"
left thigh - 32" - now 28"
right calf - 19" - now 17"
left calf - 19" - now 17"
I have lost a total of 28 inches from my body and just cant wait to see what the future holds - i am definately seeing it now -
prayers to those thinking or just getting started with this and good wishes to all :)
11-17-01 - well here I am - I just hit 6 months yesterday - i am down 97lbs and have 82 to go to goal....I just cant say enough about my experience, it is wonderful......last week was great - i have a 5lb loss, it has been awhile since one of those, I am just hoping I dont pay for it this week with no loss, I will let you know - either way - it is still comming off and I am just so happy - I really have not had any bad experiences lately - i pretty much eat anything I want focusing (most of the time :)) on my protein first - I think I eat about 3 oz of food at a time and I am trying to get a hold of the dietician to see if that is on track - my blood work came back just absolutely perfect - nothing was low at all - guess my two multi vitamins are working :)
I have really been trying to focus on my water this week, that seems to keep the weight comming off :)
Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving - I know I will :)
11-29-01 -
Well - here I am - right after Thanksgiving and heading into Christmas - and
for the first time in a long long time - I have so much to be thankful for -
I just got back from Thanksgiving travel/vacation - we went to Calif to
visit family - I did not weigh once the whole time I was gone and came back
to a wonderful surprise - I am now down 101 lbs - I cannot believe it - I
have actually lost more than 100 lbs in just over 6 months - it is so
amazing - I have 78lbs to go to reach my goal of 155lbs - that use to seem
so far away and now I now I can do it -
We went to magic mountain on vacation - what a wonderful time I had - I am
5'9" and weigh 233lbs - and I fit on every single ride my little heart
desired - I had the best time with my husband and kids - I was not denied
anything for once in a long long time because of my weight - this is the
best feeling in the world - so hard to describe - but so wonderful to feel.
I am working on getting back into the gym seriously - soccer for the kids is
almost over - 2 more weeks - and I am going to get into a routine to get
this last 78lbs off - I am really noticing the difference in my appearance -
very very emotional at times because sometimes I cannot believe I am looking
at me - this just gets better and better every single day:-)
I will post again soon - prayers to all recovering and good thoughts to all
thinking about this surgery - it is totally changing my life.
12-15-01 - well here I am - 7 months post op tomorrow and I am down 106lbs - these last few two weeks have been slow - but I am still losing - I have not been doing very well on my water - it has gotten really cold and I have been having coffee in the morining and then very little water - bad bad bad - I am trying to focus hard on my water as that is really the only thing to have changed - I also have some more "free time" - so I will be going to the gym mon, wed and fri and then doing videos tues and thurs - then I will try just family stuff on the weekend - bike, rollarblading etc - to see that that does for me - it will be a two week experiement to see what kind of difference it makes - hpefully it will work my butt off -literally :)
I have 73lbs to go I hope to keep losing at least 10lbs a month for a few more months - but know it will slow down soon - that is why I am trying to push myself now when i know it should still work well for me.....I will let you know what hampens - I am happy to be in the 220's though :)
Take care -
1-19-02 - happy new year to everyone - i know it has been awhile since i have posted - here i am - doing great and looking forward to this wonderful new year.
I am currently down 115 lbs - I am down into the 2 teens :)
I am looking forward to getting under 200 - so I am working on the 20 lbs - right now my schedule is crazy so I do the best I can, but it is still comming off -
Until next time.
5-22-02 - I know I know - where the heck have I been.
well I have been around - I just recently hit my 1 year anniversary and I am down about 140 lbs - I have gone from 334lbs to 195lbs - I am in a size 16 - a few 14's - and doing great.....
I have to say - it is slow now - no more wonderful quick drop of the pounds - but it is still comming off - my goal is to lose another 35lbs - I have settled on 160lbs - I originally wanted to get to 155 - my surgeon said 165 so I have compromised at 160 :)
I need to get to 175 before I can see the plastic surgeon (their rules) - what do I want done......I seriously need a breast lift - I always have and it is worse now :) - and if possible I would take a tummy tuck - but wont die without it.....my body has really began to look better than I expected....I know a little exercise would help greatly, I have just been so busy - the most I get in lately is walking and it is going to take more than that so we will see what happens.
Other than that - things are pretty "normal" I am use to the way I eat and it all seems great to me.....today I went to my daughters school and we played some games and I was running around - i would have never done that a year ago......I love to take pictures now - it is funny because that is still the only way I see the weight loss - if i compare pictures i can really tell....but looking in the mirror i still see the 334lbs me - they said it takes awhile to get use to the new you and see you for who you are so hopefully with time that too will pass.
For now, I am just enjoying life and trying to figure out how to lose the last 35lbs - trying to work hard at getting in all my protien, water and exercise because I think that is the key - I will keep you posted as it comes off, although it takes a lot longer now.....good luck to all - I still say this is the best thing I ever did for myself and would do it again in a heartbeat :)
7-6-02 - well here I am - not much new to report - I had went up to 197 after my last post - not a big deal...but I decided to put some work into it and see what happens - on 6-23-02 I started watching my protein - I am eating one protein bar a day on most days - and I have been alternating between zero carb purepro drinks and chocolate milk with designer whey protein added to it....they are both great tasting and good protein sources...this has seemed to help because then I can focus on getting in my 1000 to 1200 calories a day much easier - I have found it really hard to balance enough calories with enough protein - because if you eat say for example 3 oz of chiken you get something like over 20 grams of protein but less then 200 caloires - so if you eat this three times a day you are almost at your protein but only 600 calories....so using the suplements I know I get the protein and then just eat what I need when I am hungry to get the rest of the calories....I have also walked 5 to 6 days a week for the last two weeks - and have been trying to get water - at least 64oz a day - well this is my second week and I am down 6 lbs - not to shabby for almost 14 months out.......hopefully this will last a little while longer - the closer I can get to goal the happier i am :)
well....that is it for now.....I will check in soon if this plan keeps working - I know it gives some hope that you can make it goal even though it gets slow there are ways to pick it up and change your routine - still have to say the best thing I have ever done :)
until next time.
1-28-03 - where the heck have I been - I know, I know. I am sorry that I have not updated in oh my goodness - 6 months - wow.
The only excuse is because there is not much new to report - that can be good and bad huh :) - bad news first - I just am not losing anymore - the good news, I am not gaining anything back either - I have stabilized at 194 - that is 29lbs from where I would like to end up someday - but it does not bother me at all - I am feeling good - I wear about a 14 misses which is fine with me - I mainly think that if I can have some skin removed I would lose at least half of that 29lbs - at this particular point I am making it a goal to stay healthy - I still have had no complications - I get sick every once in awhile if something I eat does not agree with me, and sometimes I eat things I should not and pay for it - but nothing compared to my old bad habits and I think that staying at the same weight since April of last year attests to that - I feel like I have control over my eating and lifestyle now completely - the way I eat now is totally "normal" to me - I dont really give it a second thought - some days I can eat more then others but nothing that has given me any concern over - I am very active - not afraid to try new things - I love cloths now - although I still hate shopping, I thought that would change - but I love to get new cloths :)
All in all, I am happy and if I never lose another pound oh well....I am going to see if I can make a difference and try for at least 15 more - that is half of what I have left - I have to admit my exercise is very lax lately but even when I was exercising 4 to 5 days a week I was still at 194 - so I am hoping that with this break I have had I can kick things up a little - kind of trick my body :)
I will let ya know if anything changes - and as I always say, I am so happy I had this done.
3-21-4 - Wow, has it been that long again? It has been over a year since my last post. This last year has been very interesting to say the least. I guess as time goes on, the more and more normal you start to feel and that can be a good thing and a bad thing. During this last year my life has been very hectic with the husband, 2 kids, and 2 full time jobs. My schedule has been nuts and I was not able to focus on myself as much as I should have. The result? Weight gain - ahhhhhhhhh. Yes, you heard right, as a result of not taking care of myself, eating on the run when I can and not exercising like I should I actually went up to 225. At first, I freaked out - you know that denial phase - oh, I can't be doing anything wrong, there must be something wrong with the surgery - so I made an appointment with the surgeon and talked to him about my concerns. He was so nice, he ordered an upper GI to see how things looked and guess what -things are perfectly normal. As a matter of fact, the upper gi doc said to me "your stomach is soooooooooo small, everything looks absolutesly perfect !!!" - well, that is great news for coming up on my 3 year anniversary - but what did it mean? Well, it meant that I was not doing my job. I was was responsible for gaining weight and I needed to regain control and do something about it, because I will be damned if I have come this far just to go back - that will not happen. It has been a good lesson, because I was actually pretty spoiled with the frame of mind that I could eat whatever I wanted, since it wasn't that much, and I would be fine. I didn't need water anymore, I didn't need the vitamins anymore, I didn't need to exercise, I mean come on, I lost 140 lbs, right? WRONG!!!!! - the bottom line is, this surgery is a tool. It starts as a tool and it is always a tool - but you are responsible for using the tool correctly. The good news is, the tool still works when you use it the way it was meant to be used.....the appointment with the surgeon and the upper gi doc was a good thing. #1 it provided re-assurance that my tool was still in tact and #2, it kicked my butt in gear. In the last month, I have lost just about 20 of the 30 lbs that I gained back - and I determined to lose the next 10 (or more, hopefully) by my upcoming Abdominoplasty on 4-22-04. Yes, you heard correctly, I am finally finally finally having a tummy tuck and I am sooooooooo excited that I can not wait. I decided that I will not have a tummy tuck weighing anymore thant the lowest weight I have gotten to since surgery - so, I had no choice but to lose that newly gained weight. I started keeping a food diary and every day I set it up by writing down what I absolutely have to have during the day (water, vitamins, calcium, exercise)I also write down my coffee and diet coke, becasue lets face it, life goes back to normal and I do have those items, so this is my way to make sure that I am at least limiting myself. Then, I have a section for food - I write down everything I eat and keep it calculated - this helps me make the best choices because I have to face it and it is working. I am hoping that my upcoming surgery will make an even greater difference in how I feel about myself becasue it is very hard to see the success that I have accomplished when all I see is my yucky tummy - it keeps me in the frame of mind that I have not lost anything, when I know I have lost a lot. I will definately come back and post after my next surgery - and as always, I am glad I did this!!!!!!!
01-01-06 - I can't believe it has been almost 2 years since I was last in here - my goodness how time flies - this coming year will be my 5th year anniversary since sugery and I have to say I am still completely happy with my choices. I currently weigh 220 lbs - so I have maintained a loss of just about 115 lbs over the last four and a half years - unfortunately, as we are all told, the surgery does not work all by itself and we are still responsbile for keeping ourselves on track so I have gained back a little of what I had lost but I think my body has a mind of it's own on where it would like to be :) - Of course with a new year comes resolutions and of course mine is to lose just a little bit of what I gained, but mainly focus on staying healthy and focusing on myself - I would still love to get down to the 170's - but for now will just focus on getting back to under 200 - either way, it is not as big of a deal as it was when I weighed 334 lbs and I have to say I have not complaints on being able to consistently maintain the 115lb loss - I have never went above 225 in the 4 and half years since my surgery and I have to admit, becasue of my busy crazy life since surgery, I have not been focusing on myself as much as I should - so like I said, new year, new resolutions, new focus - here is to a happy healthy new year to all, I will try and check back in sooner for those interested in seeing how easy (or hard) it is to lose this far after surgery, it will just take work on my part for sure, but I can do it - and I still have no regrets - take care.
08-02-06 - Wow, it is strange to look back and read through my experiences. How crazy his whole thing has been. It looks like in January I weighed 220lbs with my goal being in the 170's....well, when I went in for surgery, I was at 334......and today....drum roll please.....I am at 167.....exactly half of what I was when I went in for my surgery. Holy cow.....I wanted it so bad, but never thought it would happen....especially 5 years after my surgery....that is right, I hit my 5 year anniversary this year.....so much has changed for me this year that prompted me to start focusing on me again and trying to acheive my goal since I have taken the steps of having this surgery and to know that it is possible it just so crazy......I am actually still currently losing....I am not sure where I want to stop, but it will be soon....I am sure pretty soon, my body will decide it is done (again :)) anyway!!!!! I have went from a size 28W to a size 8 to 10.....how totally nuts is that. I am sending in a new picture to have posted as my after, so that should be up soon.....as always, good luck to those of you thinking, or starting or continuing on this road....as for me, still no regrets......take care.
12-7-11-I can't believe it but it will be almost 6 years since I last updated. Life just goes so fast and you get so busy. Things are great. May of 2011was my 10 year anniversay, which still amazes me today. My weight is still down and I still feel great. I do gain a little and then pull in the reigns and have to lose it but it is so much easier to do and much more manageable. My resolution for the next year is to focus on a healthier me. I will try to get in here more often to post, I know if I can help inspire just one person who feels there is no hope then I have done my job. As I always say, I AM GLAD I DID THIS AND HAVE NO REGRETS!!!!! Til next time 
12-5-12-almost a year to the day since my last post - WOW. This year still finds me doing well. All in all, things are good. I still struggle with my weight. I find it depends on how busy and stressed out I am 
For the most part, I do well. I find that when I get busy and do not exercise and start snacking, the weight will creep on. So, you go back to doing the right thing. Making time for yourself. Quit the snacking, start the exercise and refocus. The key is...just catch it before it gets out of hand. I tell myself I have come too far in this journey and am very proud of myself. I know where I feel good and I know where I don't. I have really slacked off the last few months and am getting back on the saddle again. No in between snacking. Protein and exercise. I know what to do and it is time to do it. So, on your mark, get set, GO!!!!!
As I always say, I AM GLAD I DID THIS AND HAVE NO REGRETS!!!!! Til next time
12-31-17 - Last day of another year. Where does the time go? Not much changes these days. My weight remains prettys steady. Iam not as low as I would like to be but never close to where I came from. New Years Resolutions for 2018 - I am planning on staying more comitted to getting back to my goal weight and staying there. It is crazy to think that my surgery date, May 16, 2001, was my 28th birthday, and in many aspects, a new birth. This coming year, 2018, will be 17 years since my surgery. It becomes more of a comitment to overall health than just weightloss and looks. I do struggle with anemia and definitly need to commit to consistently taking my iron and vitamin D, otherwise no major complications still to date. So that is my goal for 2018, get back to goal weight, take my iron and vitamin D, keep up with my exercise and healthier food choices. As I always say, I AM GLAD I DID THIS AND HAVE NO REGRETS!!!!! Til next time
Photos
 315lbs less than 4 weeks til surgery |
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 167 5 Years Post-Op and Half my day of surgery size |
Weight Loss Survey Responses
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Surgeon Info:
Surgeon: Hilario Juarez M.D.
My first impression - he is very commited to what he does and wants to see success - he is doing this to help people not for his own personal gain. I have met him twice and have not changed my feeling about him, I think he is a caring doctor. His office staff has been great - I had read the horror stories and I was prepared, but must say, I have had no problems with them what so ever. He is extremely busy, with a waiting room full of patients, but I am glad to see that people are utlitzing him. Aftercare is a huge part of this program. It is very structured and there for you to use. All risks were addressed straight forward, there was no sugarcoating - although he did say he has not lost a patient yet with this proceudre - which made me feel better. I rate him an 11 on a 10 scale. Still waiting for surgery, dont know anything about bedside manner yet, but with as much patience as he appears to have, I am sure I will not see any problems......he definatley seems like a very competent surgeon and I feel comfortable with my decision to go with him.
Insurer Info:
one health plan/great west life
When I decided I wanted to have this surgery - I just asked for all the guidelines that needed to be followed to obtain approval - I took those and ran with them - followed every single thing step by step and turned it all in - I received approval within a week without any problems - I am so thankful :)
About Me
Before & After
rollover to see after photo
