Let Us All Get to Know Each Other :-)

Thanks Sherri for this post!  Great idea!!!

Hi, My name is Lisa.  I have been overwieght all of my 45 years, oops!  make that 44 years!  I am like others and have tried everything to lose weight.  My friend had lap band so I started watching her.  She did fairly well so I started my journey into weight loss surgery.  The first doctor I went to told me I was too tall, wasnt fat enough, and had no medical problems!  WOW talk about making your head spin round and round!  He told me i would have to be on a diet for 6 months for insurance to pay for the lap band surgery.  By the way I couldnt gain or lose more than 5 pounds during the six months.  Needless to say I was quite disgusted when I left his office.  He did not even mention the VSG, which he does do.  I came home and through his web site found obesity help.   I began to read about all of the surgeries available and decided on the VSG.  I came to the message board in May of 2007 and Had surgery in June 2008.  This has been the best money i have ever spent on weight loss!!!  I am a teacher.  I have been teaching for 18 years and I have 3 more weeks left till school is out.  I am going to get serous exercising again.  I am single and do not have children.  But I do have 4 nephews and 5 neices they are my children.  I  know one of these days I will find Mr. Wonderful but in the mean time I am learning to have a good time in life and do things that I would have never thought of doing while I was fat.  I did not want people staring at the fat girl.  So she is out the door and gone.  Thanks to Dr. Alvarez and the wonderful tool he gave me.   Good luck to all of you on your journey down this road of new beginnings!

 

 

Hi Everyone my name is Joan, I am 56 years old and live in Aiken, SC.  I am married with two  grown children.  I am sheduled for VSG on May 12 which is 5 days from now.  I have struggled  with my weight for 25 years losing and gaining back at least 10 times.  I weigh in at 243 lbs and would love to get to 143.  I am tall so I carry my weight well, but I have the health problems along with it.   High blood pressure, acid reflex, sore knees, back and feet.  I am  very nervous about the surgery but I am so glad to have this message board.  You guys have told me alot more about what to eat and drink and how it is going to feel than I got from my doctors office.    He is great and I trust that he will do a fine job.  Thanks for letting me be a part of this. Carolina Girl

Hi everyone,      How great it is to see this many responses on a fun post and not a controversial one!      My name is Susan and I live in Denver.  I live downtown, which I LOVE.  I love the energy and the characters of the city.  And, I love that I can walk to work!  I work as a corporate travel agent.  I'm 48 and single, with no kids.  I enjoy traveling and scuba diving and I'm looking forward to enjoying both of those things a lot more when I get more weight off.    Oh....and I just started some yoga classes that I'm very excited about!        I've been overweight most of my life.  I can remember going on my first diet at age 11, and since then I've been on pretty much every diet known to mankind.  I've been really good at losing weight, but every diet seemed to just produce more pounds in the end.  My highest weight was 316 before my last diet.  I then lost 110 lbs and gained about 90 of it back within a year.  At that point, I knew I needed medical help.  I mean, yes, I overate, but not enough to gain 90 lbs in a YEAR!  I began researching the lapband, and from there discovered this board and all of you fine people.  I'm two months out from my surgery and down 40 lbs.  It hasn't been easy.  I still fight the inner battles every day, but it's so great to have the sleeve to help in those battles.  It makes a big difference.  One of my mantras lately, when I want to eat something that's bad for me is, "That was the old Susan."  I really do feel like I've been given a new start, and I'm excited for what's to come.              Thanks Sherri for this post.  It's been fun to hear from so many people! Susan 

What a great response. I'll be on page 5 or 6 so I'm not sure how many people will make it reading this far.  I am 49yr old single mother of 2 boys 13yr and 17yrs. Both boys are good teenagers and help me with all I can't do around the house because of my weight.  I have moved from "Regular Big" to "Extra Big". Super Morbid OBese .... who knew, YEP thats me. Breast Cancer 5yrs ago didn't help. I felt better on Chemo by eating.... wouldn't you know it, most people can't eat on Chemo. There's another 30lbs. Then I developed lymphedema due to my cancer surgery and radiation. Lymphedema affected my mobility. Lost my run around job and got a desk job........ there's another 30lbs.  Current meds.... add another 20lbs. TADA that makes me 330lbs. WHEW, I promised myself I would never get this big.  I am excited to have decided on the sleeve. I'm still playing the insurance game and don't have a date yet. During this time, I'm trying to learn as much as I can about the changes after surgery. I'm working on changing old habits and starting new habits. I have already given up sodas and I've started an online food diary and am watching what I put inside myself.  This group has been so helpful, educational, uplifting, motivating and inspirational. It has been a big relief to hear from others just like me.  Soooooooo, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.

Ok sherri, just for you I went back and dug up this post.  I meant to respond several times but I didn't feel that great and couldn't think of anything interesting to say about myself.   Yesterday I took a 4 hr nap when I got home from work and today I felt kinda rotten and stayed home from work. I am 58 years old, married to my second husband for 31 years.  We have a daughter who is 30 and I have two sons by a previous marrage, 36, and 35, very handsom too.  And of course I have the most beautiful grandson in all the world. I had the band, it scewed up and I was lucky enough to get a revsion to the sleeve.  So far I am losing slow but I am still working in perfecting my diet.  (seeing how much I can get away with) I come from a crazy Italian family and of course we all like to eat for every and any reason.  I am still crazy and still like to eat but I am fighting tooth, nail and now part of my stomach to overcome this little past time of mine. I am so looking forward to retirement so that I can live at the beach and persue some to the things I enjoy doing.  I am planning for the good life.  That is my number one goal lately, besides getting skinny.  But they should compement each other.  Getting skinny takes time and work and when you have a full time job, it is hard to put yourself first. I like to have fun and try not to take anything in life too seriously.  Why worry.

Hi everyone, My name is Melanie,  I am 43, mother of 2 boys and in the process of adopting another son.  My husband and  I live in Miami, Fl ,we were foster parents.    I have been reading the board for appx 2 yrs.  I first started lurking to obtain info on the band.  I had previously been scheduled to have the gastric bypass in 2005,  when my friend passed away two days after her surgery (heart attack) she was only 31.  Of course that caused a major halt to the gastric bypass surgery for me.     The band became very attractive to me until I started reading the forum about VSG.   I have a BMI of 44, it was 43 two weeks ago LOL!   My sister got the VSG (she has a much lower BMI) w/Dr. A, and I have enjoyed her journey and am looking forward to starting my own.   I love the board, it a wealth of information and I love how everyone makes any and everybody welcome

I hope it's better late than never on this link!  I was too tired to post yesterday.  My name is Denise.  My VSG is my 50th birthday gift to myself.  I have no memories of ever being a normal weight.  I school I was always the biggest kid there.  I suffered from loneliness a lot as a kid. As an obese adult my body is beginning to break down- literally.  My spine is collapsing!  I have had 3 neurosugeries in 5 years.  The last one on my lower back left me unable to walk for 4 days and in rehab for 6+ months.  Left leg is still numb.  I have to lose the weight or I will end up wheelchair bound or worse. I can't wait for my surgery!  2 weeks from tomorrow I will have a banana for a tummy!

Okay, here ya go: My name is Deanna, I'm 27 years old, and I'm single, but I'm living with my BF of a year. I have no children right now, but plan to in a couple years if I can get over some fears. I've been overweight since I was about 4 years old. My mom had me up until then, and she never fed me or my brother and sister properly, and we were all badly malnourished when she lost us. Once my dad got custody of me, my stepmom started feeding me huge meals, and I became overweight very quickly and have never been normal weight since.  I came to terms with being overweight a long time ago, but my health took a turn for the worse lately, and that's what prompted me to look into surgery. Also, my dad, who was healthy most his life, died from ALS at age 52. We found out that it runs in our family (very rare), and if he hadn't been as overweight those last few years, he may have had a bit more time. There's no guarantee that I will get it, but the chances are very high, and if losing weight gives me better odds, or at least gives me a little more time, then it's worth it. There's my story, and I'm sticking to it! ;)

How in the world did I miss this post first time around, Sherri?? Great idea! It's true, there are so many many newbies, and sometimes that has been hard for me to wrap my brain around because it SEEMED like a lot of the crew that was here when I was a newbie had dropped off...and it SEEMED like it would take so much effort to get to know this great new crop of sleevers (and I know that part of that reason is me now working full time and having less time to be on the board getting to know everyone)...but I am pleased to see, everyonceinawhile, we are almost all still here. Lurking (in the deep recesses of the place). And I thank you for the post that has put some background to some of these new names. A buncha' nice people. Wow! This OH message board was my very first interactive internet experience and I am so spoiled to have found it. . . I am Mary Claire, 46 yo, mother of two sons, 14 & 11, married 16 years to the man I've loved almost since I met him when I was 18. You do the math. I was 145 when we fell in love, and 352 when I decided to get sleeved. Best decision ever because it means I'll be around for all my boys for years and years to come. I'm a fish biologist (mostly working with salmon and steelhead), I live on the northcoast of CA (not too far from Noel) and while there are plenty of things I haven't done over the last 20 years because of my weight ...but I've got the rest of my life to rectify that. I went skiing this past winter with my boys, and I look forward to being even stronger next winter. THIS WEEK I lost enough weight to finally not be considered extremely obese any more. I am simply obese, and before this journey is over I will be of a normal weight. To any of you newbies with metabolic/PCOS issues, we may be slower losers, but we can do this. Watch me. And welcome to the loser's bench.

Hi Everybody,
Nice to meet you!
I'm Leah...42...married to a great guy...I have a gorgeous 22 yr. old daughter who is a senior in college.  I love animals and have a wonderful yorkie named JoJo and six rescued cats. (DH is not an animal lover, but puts up with all of us! LOL) I am a  children's librarian and love my job.  I get to read stories and dance and sing with preschoolers every day.  Keeps me young! 
I have been obese since I was a child, with a few brief periods of thinness, usually achieved in an unhealthy manner. I have not been under about 225 lbs. in ten years. I've been bouncing around between 245 and 280 for the past five years.  I hate being morbidly obese and all of the powerlessness, frustration and hopelessness that comes with it. I hate being obsessed with myself, my weight and my eating 24/7.  Who knows what I could have accomplished or what path my life would have taken if I had focused all of that energy on living.
 I feel like I have a great life, but can't really enjoy it.  I want to be free of obesity and self-obsession. I am ready to start living already!
I'm waiting to see if my insurance will cover the sleeve or if I have to self-pay.  I'm hoping to be sleeved by September.
Have a great night!