Hi Gang! I can't believe it's been a year. It has gone so quickly. All of the bad stuff is merely a small memory in the back of my mind. By the bad stuff I mean the hospital stay and the first few weeks after surgery, choking up big pieces of meat that weren't so big, but just didn't want to stay down. Or that piece of barbeque rib I tried to chew to eternity three weeks after surgery and it just stuck somewhere down below until I had to stick my finger down my throat to cough it up. The hours in the hospital waiting for a sip of water, thinking my throat was going to close completely due to the dryness. Being wheeled down to the basement of the hospital to be scanned by some weird, giant machine to find out if I had any "leaks" -- wondering if I did in fact have something wrong and that's why I couldn't even have an ice cube to suck on. I don't want to scare the newbies -- I don't even know if anyone else went through these things. The good news is, I would do it all again. In a HEARTBEAT! I was a size 32 -- stretched to the max. Now, I'm in a big 18 -- I like to consider myself a size 17, 18's are too big, but 16's are too small. I'll get there someday. I am still losing about a pound a week, sometimes two. I've lost 158 pounds and I am a new person. I will never go back to the old me and this surgery is literally a God-send. I wanted to share my story with the board for some time, but keep forgetting to add this link. I'm an editor for the Middletown Transcript newspaper and I recently wrote an update when I lost 150. My family members cried and I got rave reviews for this column from the community. People love to read "personal" stuff and I really got personal here. It was picked up by the Dover Post, our parent newspaper, so here's the link to check it out. Go to the bottom of the page -- it says something about gastic surgery: http://www.doverpost.com/PostArchives/01-04-06/index.html I would do it all again, for anyone out there who isn't sure. Take the chance. It's scary and you will be very unsure about yourself for about three months, but the rest is a ride like you've never been on before. As always, if anyone has any questions, I'd love to help! I love you all! Kristen 362/203.5/???

Stacy, hun I totally agree, WLS did save my life....to no longer have high blood pressure, dangerously high cholesterol (although I still have slightly elevated), GERD, and an aray of other illnesses including severe depression is a godsend. Wow I'm amazed at how many 10-18 months are experiencing the same thing we have...maybe it's just our bodies trying to level out and we expect to much. I will have my thyroids checked to make sure those levels are fine and shake up my vitamin routine a little to see if that helps. I hope you feel better soon too. Dana

i made it! it's been one year! i just got my labs done on monday so i'm not sure what the results are yet, but hopefully all is well with that. what a year it has been. I'm down 207.5 pounds so far, my diabetes is under control without meds, and my HBP is controlled with minimal meds!! woo hoo!! I got my husband back and things are better than ever. NEXT UP...we're trying for a baby now! Keep your fingers crossed for us!! Steph 350/142.5/140 (personal goal) (5'8") below surgeon's goal of 143!!

You could make sure you are not running hypoglycemic. (Low blood sugar). When that happens to me, I actually get the shakes. Kia

I need to know if I'm the odd one are if others experiences this. I have some days that I feel fantastic...energy galore and then I feel like the bottom dropped out. I cannot seem to penpoint what causes me to feel tired and yucky. It is starting to irritate the heck out of me....I just want to feel good everyday and it ain't happening. I just had blood drawn 2 weeks ago and everything is within the norm (except cholesterol and B-12, both slightly elevated) so that isn't it. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever feel normal. I had so much energy this weekend, I actually did some spring cleaning, but yesterday and today I'm tired, lightheaded and feel like crap...I'm confused and wonder what it could possibly be. Thanks, Dana