Today is My 2nd Year Surgianniversary!

Today is a very special day for me. It's my 2nd year anniversary for WLS. Yesterday night, I reflected on my life since I had the surgery. My life has totally changed. I am not the same person who I was two years ago. I've lost over 200 pounds with the surgery and over 300 pounds including my loss with weigh****chers. I've done so much in the past two years and have taken many trips. I've had multiple surgeries, some urgent and others to rid of my excess skin following my weight loss. My health is the best it has ever been, except that now I am anemic. That I will address with my doc this morning. I started to date and that's something I haven't done at all in my life. I've been brave and adventurous. Parasailing, snorkeling, taking a hot air balloon ride and a helicopter ride. Tubbing down the river into rocky caves. Next month I will try zipping in the forests of Ketchikan in Alaska. I think that will be my ultimate adventure. I've gone from a size 5x to a small and sometimes an extra small. The physical change has been phenomenal. In my head though I still feel like and see the 485 person I once was! I know that will take some time for me to get adjusted to my new body. I'm wearing bikinis, something I would have never thought I could or would! This second year presented with many challenges for me in terms of my increasing appetite and controlling my eating. Some days were better than others. I have not been able to lose very much more in terms of weight. I think my goal weight will be 155. I was close last October at 158. Now I am around 167. I feel like I let myself down. I know that I am a success but feel bad about this. Starting my journey into my 3rd year, I am going to focus on not being so hard on myself and find a happy medium with my eating and appetite. I definitely can eat a lot more food and don’t dump on anything. If I do dump, it’s like a hypoglycemic reaction. I don’t throw up anymore. I've been too rapped up with the numbers instead of how I feel. I feel marvelous! I have to learn not to be so hard on myself and take things in stride. Yes, I want to lose a few more pounds but I'm not going to drive myself nuts about it. This obsession has to stop! I miss all of you and hope that during our anniversary month, you too reflect on all the positive changes you've made in your life since two years ago. Tonight I will be going out on a date for dinner. This will be my celebration. Being able to socialize and go out on a date is my reward! I have to thank my surgeon, Dr. Guske for giving me my life back! Thank you Dr. Guske. I will be seeing him this morning. Thanks to my friends on the Illinois Board for your support and wisdom, sharing with me the past two years! Hugs, Lucy
 

Lucy, what a great post and you deserve a big pat on the back. I tell other POs that they need to put a new word "F" word in their vocabulary and it is "F"orgiveness. Forgive yourself for your errors, learn from them and put into practice better habits. I have also been listening to myself lately and doing the same thing and not focusing on the wrong but how I can do it better. Chris

Chris, just came back from Dr, Guske's office. He was so delayed today. I didn't see him until almost 12 noon. He had surgery at St. Alexius this morning.  By the way, Dr. James Kane is doing the WLS seminar tomorrow. I found out that they have a huge crowd coming! He was pleased with my weight. I had lost another pound since my last visit. I was so worried that I would have a gain. Whew!! My labs are excellent except for the iron. He placed me on iron supplements for two months. After 2 months, I will have labs drawn and if there is no improvement, I will have to go through iron infusion therapy!  I heard they are painful. I feel so relieved now that my visit is over. I guess I was obsessing so much on the numbers on the scale. With this new year, I am going to focus on healthy eating and in smaller quantities. I will keep a close check on my weight so I don't have to struggle with a significant gain. I showed Dr. Guske all of Dr. Madry's masterwork on me. He was amazed with the results. I told him that Dr. Madry is so good for my ego! I thanked him for referring him to me. Can you tell that I feel a lot better now? YAY!!! Take care, Lucy

Lucy, you need to focus on your successes, not the numbers (of course your numbers of lost #s are fantastic). My doctor does not give numbers as a goal other than he feels that each patient can at least achieve a 70% weight loss. I have far succeed that as you probably have also. You need to look back on how much more energy you have now, how much more you can walk, you are dating now, have more self esteem, have hope now when may be your life before was hopeless especially if you were even going to live 5 more years at the weight that you were at. You have come a long way baby. I showed my WLS doc also my road maps also. Thanks for the info for who is doing the seminar. It seems that he does most of the Saturday seminars. Dave and I are going to put on his shorts in front of the seminar attenders as a treat for them. Should bring down the house. Chris

Hi Chris. Right now I am so tired I think I can fall asleep at the computer. I will be going to bed early tonight. It's been a long and emotional day. I got to take a picture with Dr. Guske. YAY!! Thank you for your kind and thoughtful words. I feel at peace tonight! Hugs, Lucy

Hi Lucy,   Congratulations on your second anniversary.  You should be very proud of what you have achieved in the past two years.  Even your loss prior to WLS is amazing.  It is interesting how much harder we are on ourselves than anyone else can be.  People tell me how well I have done so far yet  I "complain" and don't acknowlwdge my success, just berate myself for not doing better. Chris is right, we need to practice that "f" word for the rest of our lives.  You have done well, you look amazing and you have been given a "do over in life" as we all have and that makes us truly blessed.

Have you thought of talking at seminars?  I think you could be a powerful inspiriation to both pre and post ops. CONGRATULATIONS!! Mary

Hi Mary. Thanks for your message. Actually I do speak on occasion at my surgeon's informational seminars on WLS. There is one today but I am going to weigh****chers. I feel so relieved now that I don't have to weigh for some time. Although, I will probably weigh in at weigh****chers next week. In a week and a half, I'll be off to Las Vegas for a couple of days. I'm staying at the Rio. I love it there with the carnival theme and they have a huge outdoor pool with waterfalls. Have a great weekend! Lucy

Good Morning Lucy - Congrats on your success!  It's been an amazing journey for you lady.  You give me so much courage and inspiration. Some day I want to be talking about bathing suits and pools.  It just amazes me how this surgery has changed you.  Like you said in your post.......  All the things you would have never expierenced if it has not been for wls.  What a blessing. Have fun today..   Christina

Good morning Christina! Thanks for your kind and thoughtful words. I wouldn't have ever been able to do half the things I did without WLS. It definitely changed my life for the better. All my life I took the backstage and watched others enjoying their lives. Now it is time for me. I'm going to Val's for a relaxing and lazy day by the hot tub and chit chat. Have a wonderful weekend! Love, Lucy

Lucy, Congratulations on your amazing journey. You are an new woman in so many ways. I admire your gusto for your new life. You've done an incredible job of transforming your body and your spirit. I've had a little weight gain at over 2 years out but was able to get it under control in 3 ways. First with the band, we can play around a little with adjustments - I actually did better when loosened. Second is the behavior componant. I have to continue working on all the behaviors that got me into trouble in the first place and replacing them with healthy behaviors. Staying on track with exercise - I pay a trainer to make me do this, otherwise I lapse too easily. Third, working on the head stuff. I refuse to feel guilty for slips, remind myself how far I've come and come up with ways to plan/manage slips. I call it "Constant vigilance and continuous small corrections." You look incredible I would never guess the before and after pictures are the same person. I love hearing about your dating. That is my next goal - to start dating again. As far as career, contact me when you are ready and I will tell you how I approach job seeking. I have techniques that I have used for years, even when I was a big girl and have always gotten the job I wanted or better. I'm in the process of changing right now and when I put my te*****ue into place, I went from contact call to interview to offer to contract in one week! This is my second job change in the past year. The only caution is "Be careful what you wish for..." I believe this technique works no matter what type of job you are looking for. I guess I should try to modify my job search technique to man hunting! The hard part is figuring out exactly what I want. Congratulations again on your incredible journey. Lucky