2 years this month we are celebrating!

Our success in our weight loss journey. Please let us all know how far you have come and the changes your surgery has made in your life. I am eager to hear how well everyone is doing. My surgery was 2 yrs ago today. I had gastric bypass. My weight was 474 and I am now at 233 meaning I have lost over half my size. My health is excellent and life is good. I still struggle with eating. I find I can tolerate some sugar and carbs which is my weakness. When I do eat I feel so guilty and pray the scale doesnt go up. I was on a major stall for over 9 months but since my remedial thigh lift, I find I am losing once again. Sometimes when looking in the mirror I see the person I was and I have trouble dealing with the fact that I have lost so much weight. I still deal with head hunger issues. Ah but when it comes to buying clothes.. I have no troubles. I went from a 5-6x size 52 top and pants and now can wear a size large 18-20 top and 20 pants. My pants have to be a size larger then I need due to the fact I still have severe lymphedema in my lower legs which makes them swell. Hopefully the plastic surgery will help with some of that. The only thing I hate is the severe excess skin hanging..Yuck! So tell me how you are all doing and I just want to say..Happy Rebirthday to all of you this month! Keep up the fantastic job! Doreen 474/233/ my goal is 200

Doreen, You have done so well. Congrats on your weight loss. I am doing great but I am dying to get a tummy tuck. My clothes will fit so much better after the tummy tuck. My ins. doesn't cover tummy tucks but I have a small umbilical hernia so ins. will probably cover the anesthesia and the hospital charges, just not the fee for the tummy tuck. I have been on a major stall. I lost one lb in March and one lb in June. At least I am not gaining. I would really like to lose another 10 lbs, but I am happy if I don't. I wear mostly size 8 and I used to wear size 32. Lynn J., lap RNY 9/29/04 306/146/135 5' 4"

Well guess what, my anniversary is today. LOL I didn't even know what day it was. Happy Anniversary To Me!!!! I am doing pretty good. I was down almost 200 pounds. I am currently 23 weeks pregnant with our second baby girl. I am thrilled and this pregnancy has been gret compared to my first one. We will be having a c-section on Dec. 20th providing she doesn't decide to come before then. I will be bringing her home Christmas Eve morning. My eating is pretty normal. Some days I eat more then others. Some days I don't want to eat at all. I will be planning some kind of plastics in the future but for now everything is on hold. I think I am pretty healthy, no complaints except my vitamin D. I hope everyone else is doing good..... Shannon

Hi Doreen It is so nice to see how everyone is doing going on our two year anniversary to a new life. Can you believe it is already two years???? A lot has changed since September 21, 2004. I went from 265 lbs down to 150 lbs by the end of the first year. Then I discovered that I could tolerate sugar and chips and just plain old crap. So little by little the numbers on the scale began to increase back up to 175 lbs. I became so disgusted with myself because no matter how I tried my body began craving more and more sugar and crappy snacks. What was I to do???? Well, in May my insurance company approved my TT surgery. I had my TT done on June 27th. My surgeon who is also my WLSurgeon asked me what kind of a diet I wanted to be on in the hospital. I told him I wanted to start all over again just as I did as a new WLS patient. I figured cold turkey was the only way, and what better place to go through sugar withdrawls than in the hospital where I could not give in to my addiction. To make a long story short, I have lost 10 lbs off of my abdomen in skin alone, making my tummy for the most part flat except for when I swell up in the evening, which is normal for about 6 months to a year. I have also lost an additional 15 pounds bringing me back down to thin and trim 150 pounds. I am trying to get down another 5 pounds to reach my final goal but if I stay where I am I am perfectly content and happy. I watch everything I now eat. I no longer eat chocolate, ice cream, chips etc. I weigh myself every morning to keep myself in check and I enjoy the fact that I can now wear my shirts tucked in without seeing a tummy bulge popping out. I feel wonderful, have become a big time shopaholic which I need to now stop because I have so many beautiful clothes, shoes, boot, handbags, oh and high heels! Life is good and my only regret is that I did not have this surgery 20 years ago rather than waiting until I was 48 years old. This October I will be celebrating my 51st birthday and I no longer hide from anyone wanting to take my picture. I wish everyone a very Happy Re-birthday and best wishes for continued happiness in the future! Hugs Marianne

Hi Doreen and all our September '04 buddies... Congrats to all of us for reaching this milestone! It's good to hear how much happier and healthier everyone is now! Perfection wasn't what we were shooting for when we took this on... improvement in our life and health was what we wanted so desperately, and it sounds like the vast majority, if not all of us, have achieved that as we meet again here on our 2 yr anniversaries. That in and of itself is damn exciting! I doubt if most of us would be finding ourselves even fifty pounds thinner today, had we not had the courage to have surgery and walk the road that followed. As I sit here and let my sublingual b-12 melt away under my tongue , I just want to wish you all continued health and peace with your decision that led us all to meet here, and many happy days ahead enjoying our better health! My update: I'm still the same pretty much! Still feel like I can eat alot, still snackier than I want to be on alot of days, but overall WAY healthier eater than I've ever been in my life. My weight is pretty stable, I havent lost anything new in about one year. In fact, I was at my lowest weight on my one year anniversary, and have settled down around 8 lbs above that now and hang out at that weight pretty much. I'd like to lose another 20 lbs or so. I went for my tummy tuck consult, and the doctor said I have two hernias, and have about 75% chance of getting the tummy tuck covered because I do have a pretty "good" panni. (hideous, not good!) He said I do not need to lose any more weight. He also said he can do both my thighs and arms with crescent incisions, which most likely wouldnt be covered by my insurance, and would cost in the neighborhood of $11,000 each surgery. SO, I probably will not be doing those. Diabetes=way improved, vitamins=I'm takin' them now and shopping=a problem!!Waiting to hear what my insurance has to say about all this. Progress pictures link and updates are on my profile. Muah! kisses and love to everyone, wish you all the best! ~Sue Highest weight 235/228 day of surgery/134.5 lowest weight/ currently 142 lbs

Hi guys, happy anniversary. It is so hard to think back to what my life was like two years ago. I am still amazed daily at how much my body has changed and how much different my life is. I retired in June to stay home with my disabled husband and spend more quality time with him in hopes of working more on his physical therapy myself to see if we can get him stronger to do some traveling. Seems to be working. Can't get used to being retired. Seems like I should have a schedule or something and each day I feel I need to accomplish something. Hubby laughs because I have about five projects going at the same time. He keeps waiting for me to burn out. My starting weight was 299.5 and I'm at 160 this morning. I am looking into PS to remove the excess skin from my belly as it is starting to cause me problems with both my back and I now think the problems I have been having with my stomach is caused by the excess pulling of the hanging skin. My doctor says that I have about 10 lbs of excess skin that they will be removing. I'm not sure why but I am more afraid of going through the PS than I was with my RNY surgery. I think it is because the message boards are full of complications, results not as expected, bad surgeons, etc. My life now is amazing. I love every new day. For the most part I am pain free almost every day and I cannot believe my energy level and the fact that I got my self esteem back. I actually like myself now. Wishing you all much success and happiness in your new lives. Thank goodness of WLS.

Hi there - Yes, I can't believe in a couple weeks it will be 2 years!! It's a happy/sad emotions..so much has happened to me during this time. Had gallbladder removal, tonsillectomy since then also stomach problems that they can't figure out. Low blood sugars, bulemia and possible liver malnutrition...but I would not give up what I have gained..friends, a new personality, confidence, being able to have a life without some physical challenges..and so much more.. Given a chance - I'd do it all over again. (Even though I have 20-30lbs more to lose, LOL).