Emily F.

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 I can't believe its been so long I updated. I guess I didn't save my 2 year post as a blog post like I've done before. 

I took a fitness class in the end of the year and got really toned. Then I had a bunch of stress. I took a second part time job. Which is awesome, bc I love love love it and would have never had the energy or confidence to do it. but the stress of the end of the year, caused me to stop working out and I gained 10 lbs. Not sure if its just all the stress, the not working out or bounceback. I'm definitely up to a size 10-12 but I'm still really toned. I still wear a bikini and think I look good. I see pictures and I still feel good and look healthy. I'm going to try to up my exercise but its not the end of the world that I weigh 168 and wear a 10-12. 

Here I am 4 weeks from the end of summer and I still haven't gotten back into working out. My bad!!! lol.  

We went on a kidless vacation last week to New Orleans with a bunch of Dsers. It was AMAZING. I wore sleeveless and cute outfits and felt fantastic. I ate really low carb so I would feel good and it wasn't too bad. I ate a lot of seafood. Fantastic sex, felt great, had so much fun. It was awesome! Dream come true. 

I come to oh a lot less. Seems like people are not as into research as years past. Seems like people are jumping into decisions with out thinking things through. I usually scan the main board and stay on fb. 

 I can't believe its been so long since I updated. Life has been crazy but wonderful. I'm holding at 155 lb size 8. I work out several times a week. Love my Saturday morning zumba class.  Recently got hubby's MS diagnoses but we take it day by day. Whatever happens, we will deal with it. I think what people say about marriage is right. If you have a strong marriage, it gets stronger. 

I've gone to two plastics consults. I may do the boobs shortly bc I have a painful hernia that I need taken care of and hate the thought of going under for only one reason. I liked Ungson's horizontal incision to heal from and now know that is difficult to get a tummy tuck due to the blood supply issue. Really complicates the operation so I'm scared to do the tummy right now. 

Definitely, lost some friends. I think jealousy is the reason. I really don't feel like I've changed personality wise. But have many new friends that care about me. 

I have definitely gained independence through this process. C was sick before our normal July 4th trip and the best thing for him was a quiet house, so I went ahead and took the three little kids on a 2800 mile trip by MYSELF.  If I can do that, I feel like I can do ANYTHING. None of this would be possible without my ds. I'm so much better worker, mother, wife, friend. I can work all day in 4 in heels, work out, take care of the family, cook and clean and feel terrific. 

 Just wanted to update that I'm doing great. Have major major major stress at work so been working out like a mad woman since I can't eat away from feelings. I think its helping but at least the 10 lb I lost make me feel better. I'm a solid size 10 and 8-10 in some things. Really loving dressing and all the fun clothes and shoes. I kept the bikini I wore when I was 18 which is a size 14, too big so I bought one to wear in the backyard. I doubt I'll ever wear it in public bc the stomach stretch marks are so bad but I don't think I look half bad. Hubby loves loves loves it and thinks I should wear it all the time. That really makes me smile. He is definitely good for the self esteem. 

  Okay, let's try this again, since my first one disappeared. :)

April 5th 2010 Easter Sunday, I left my 3 young children in Florida and flew with my mother across the continent to the west coast of Mexico to get DS surgery from Ungson. I was 110% happy with my experience in Mexcio, the surgery, the team of doctors, everything was wonderful. Its all on my blog to help others. 

I had textbook recovery. Little dehydration around week 3, but got through it. Only negative is my scar keloided which no one can really help that. I only took 9 days off work which I'm sure is the best case scenario. I think my young age and health had to do with it. I have bounced back from all my surgeries very quickly. 

The biggest downfall is there is no ds surgeon in Florida. So I'm constantly explaining myself but wouldn't trade it for nothing. Really treasure the board and all the dsers. **group hug**

I went for my first dental cleaning since wls and the dental hygenist told me I would get a boob job and leave my husband. I was absolutely horrified someone would think that of me. But then again, you hear about it happening. I never worried for a moment about my marriage. We met I was a size 14 and thought I looked damn good. We've both gained 100 lbs PLUS. He constantly tells me I'm beautiful, he did when I weighted 370, he tells me now that I'm 160 with all that skin, so basically he is a damn liar but I appreciate the sentiment. And he has never said a SINGLE word about the ds bathroom. :)  He is pro plastics, I'm a lucky girl. :)

The pros. I could write volumes. I'm a better person. I have energy. I'm more active in life with my job, my children my bedroom. lol. I was happy with my life before surgery, now I'm happy with MYSELF in addition to my life. I'm joyful. I take care of myself. I enjoy drinking protein shakes that I know are good for me. I like getting my lab work and setting down with my Andrea U's labtracker work book and chart all the graphs and see where I'm at. I love my ds family of friends who tell me the truth!!!


I gained weight when I was 8 ironically when my dad got sober (coindence? not sure lol) but always had really low esteem. I have a pic of me in a bathing suit when I was 5, very normal sized, but I remember stretching out my hands on my thighs to cover them for the pic. 5. I have no idea where it came from. I do my DAMNEST to keep these problems from my girls.


Stats
highest weight 370 when I was pregnant with my twins 2004 maternity size 30-32
surgery weight 286 size 24
Now 160s size 10
Shoe was 12 to 10-11, I wear heels all day and they are comfortable!!! Never happened before.

Now the fun. pic.
before


364 days later. :)

Thank for all you contribute on the board. Love you guys!

 We all have a moment or a reason that lead us to believe wls was the only solution for us. For me, it was a deadline. I've been overweight my entire life except for short, short bouts of starving myself, diet pills, running til I puked, etc. It only got worse putting myself through school, grad school, married and started having babies. I weighed over 360 with my twin pregnancy and started seeing a reproductive endo after that. 

He was a very, very blunt man. Said I would be diabetic by 30 and suffer a stroke by 40. He only hoped I could recovery well enough after the stroke to care for my family. I was stunned. I only told one person at work what he said and it didn't help when she told me to knew someone my size who was also a young mother and had a stroke.

So come Jan 2009, it was my 29th birthday, less than a year before I was to be diabetic. I felt pressure and I felt a deadline. Jan 09 I came to the DS board and I found the answer.

Now its my 30th burfday and my 9 months anniversary. I've lost 111 lb, I weigh 175, size 12. ALMOST normal bmi, 26. My underwear has gone from 11s-13s to 8s. My most ackward compliment is New Years Eve when my father asked my husband if he could handle my hot ass now. lol. Ackward. 

I thank God everyday for this board. It really is the only place anyone gets why I couldn't speak for a few minutes NYE bc I crossed my legs UNDER the restaurant table or why I left Kohl's emptyhanded bc I had no clue where in the store the 'regular' sized clothes were when I couldn't fit into plus size. I'm getting teary eyed now, so I'll let the pics speak for themselves.


I'm having trouble dragging my photobucket pics here so this is all I could do. If you want to see the before pics, they are in my profile.

Thanks! Here's to my next 30 years!!
Emily

 Today was my twin girls' birthday party. Went shopping w my daughter this morning and felt very good in my outfit. Saw my reflection a couple times and almost didn't recognize myself. Had the party and felt pretty good except my pants almost falling off a couple of times. There was a beautiful blond mom there and I realized at one point we were eating the same. I put my cheese sauce on a cut up hot dog instead of a bun or chips. "I'm eating like a think person". Very strange but true. Its almost becoming life instead of a 'diet'. 

 It was a funny thing yesterday, I got up and the scale read 185. So I did the math in my head, 99lbs. I thought 'watch me stall here for 3 weeks and want that extra 1 lb'. Then I went on about my day and sent an email off to my surgery buddy whining about that one lb. Lo and behold if I didn't realize 286-185 is actually 101, not 99. So century club!! woohoo. Very excited. 

I'm liking my size right now. The skin is definitely an issue now. Saggy in mostly thighs, belly, and boobs, but I'll take it over those 101 lbs anyday. My 14s are baggy, which is hard to believe, my larges are too. I have zero butt and my jeans don't look so hot from behind but that is okay. I'm pretty happy with my size. I can't believe the weight scale on the health tracker. My line is sooooo close to the goal line. I've never even been in the same SCREEN of the goal line and now my weight line is just above it. Very, very cool. 

I added my almost 8 months pic to photos. :)

I really thought I was at a stand still. Apparently if you stay away from Reese's pb cups for more than 24hours at a time, you lose weight. Imagine that? Crazy, huh. I put on some loose jeans and kept them on with a belt. Was running 90 to nothing at having a yard sale. I had some 18s hanging up and someone commented "you must have really lost a lot of weight". I was stunned. They thought I was much smaller than that. I just 'feel' like I look 18 when I'm really a 14.  Then another lady told me she was plus sized but she used to be 'my size'. Huh? My size. Crazy that someone actually thinks I look regular size.

I ran constantly the whole day. Only sat down a few times. Then went to dinner and had a small tummy day. I ate very little of my chicken and shrimp. I was worried I didn't have my probiotic with me but my tummy was fine the whole day until late night movie. Then we went to the movie. There was a good 4 inches between Craig's thigh and mine. Usually we are smooshed together and sweat between our thighs half way through the movie and I'm totally on his side of the movie seat. I was astonished at how much room was between us. I could even seat side ways in the seat. Crazy.

I can't wait to see what else happens. :)

The fifth was my surgiversary!  I'm doing well. I'm gone from 43 bmi to 30. 286 to 200.2 (the scale is toying with me). Size 24 to 16.  I refuse to get upset over the numbers. If I don't lose those .2 lbs, I'll be okay. I feel great, I'm grateful for every ounce the ds has lost for me bc I know I could not have done it by myself. I don't worry about fitting into booths or roller coasters or if I'm squishing someone beside me.
I visited my hubby's tiny, thin family and 4 of us YES 4 OF US ladies sat on a couch without touching and it was comfortable. That was amazing.

I love the compliments though I do get embarrassed, but I reflect on them later and really take them in. My favorites are when people don't recognize me. This poor elderly lady at church (I've gone there for over 8 years) came to me and said she thought she knew me but wasn't sure. I explained who I was and said "I've lost some weight, you might not recognize me" She was still confused. lol. The librarian were I work walked up and introduced herself to me bc she thought I was a new teacher! So much fun. But the best compliment was this weekend when I went to my first DS support group. Lisa said you would never have known that I ever had a weight problem. That was wonderful to hear. I look normal!!  I fit in. I'm not self conscience around others like I always was.

I also need to get on my soapbox and tell everyone to QUIT FREAKING OUT ABOUT THE NUMBERS.  I swear if I see another stall post I'm going to poke my eyeballs out with a sharp pencil. I don't know how vets keep coming back bc I almost can't stand it. *steps off soapbox*

The fun part!!  I had my 5 year old take pics of me (I stood her on a chair so the angle was more flattering. lol), so they are not the greatest but you get the picture. I hate this part bc I'm afraid someone is going to look at them and think "she doesn't look that much smaller" etc. but I'm proud of how far I've come.  Thanks for looking!

Before in the hospital and last summer.

6 months post op:

It seems really really crazy to me, but yes, it was my first time meeting a dser. A little funny that I had the surgery almost 6 months ago and only now meeting someone with it. A little funny.

It was great. The DS group met in Orlando so I drove down this morning. Hubby watched the kids and having control of the radio by myself was H E A V E N L Y. I guess its the small things when you have a van load of kids and a hubby to think about.

Everyone was so very nice and really spoke to me individually. I didn't get to talk about vitamins as much as I wanted but I got email addresses to follow up.

The FUNNIEST thing is that I drove 3 hours away and the host of the group is from the same small town as me! Crazy, crazy. He is related to a person I work with and I knew exactly what house he grew up in. Its a small, small world.

200.2 this morning. The scale is messing with me. I think it knows how much I want to be in onederland.