Update: My story so far. (With pics.)
Well, let's see. It's been about thirteen months now.
I weighed 162 this morning, which is down about 120 pounds from my first consult, and about 100 pounds down from my day of surgery.
Time is wierd. It seems like so long ago, I kinda feel like this has been my size forever. But the before picture here was actually about a month post-op - I'd already lost about 30 pounds!
I've been pretty damn lucky. I started in a size 26, and I'm in a 10/12 now.
No serious complications, I dump *just* the right amount.
That means, enough to take the shine off of high-sugar foods that I know will make me queasy/shaky, but not enough to ever need medical intervention. The ladies with me in the photos below are my friends as well as co-workers, and were super-supportive when I let them know I'd be doing the surgery, and when I came back to work, and all throughout this last year. And when one of them found this photo from last year's birthday party, she was absolutely floored. She said "Koko, I guess I always knew you were bigger, and that your weight wasn't really healthy, but I never, ever thought of you as being THIS big... how is this possible?" I think it's possible because I work with lovely people, who never saw my weight before they saw me. So yes. Lucky.
My next landmark point is, like a lot of others' I've read, to be in the "normal" BMI range. That means, at my height of 5'6", less than 155.
I weighed 162 this morning, which is down about 120 pounds from my first consult, and about 100 pounds down from my day of surgery.
Time is wierd. It seems like so long ago, I kinda feel like this has been my size forever. But the before picture here was actually about a month post-op - I'd already lost about 30 pounds!
I've been pretty damn lucky. I started in a size 26, and I'm in a 10/12 now.
No serious complications, I dump *just* the right amount.
That means, enough to take the shine off of high-sugar foods that I know will make me queasy/shaky, but not enough to ever need medical intervention. The ladies with me in the photos below are my friends as well as co-workers, and were super-supportive when I let them know I'd be doing the surgery, and when I came back to work, and all throughout this last year. And when one of them found this photo from last year's birthday party, she was absolutely floored. She said "Koko, I guess I always knew you were bigger, and that your weight wasn't really healthy, but I never, ever thought of you as being THIS big... how is this possible?" I think it's possible because I work with lovely people, who never saw my weight before they saw me. So yes. Lucky.
My next landmark point is, like a lot of others' I've read, to be in the "normal" BMI range. That means, at my height of 5'6", less than 155.