I was pretty sick for a while after I went back to work and became very dehydrated while on a trip to Cuba last winter.  I couldn’t keep anything down – not even bottled water!  When I got home, I started my prescription for Prevacid and haven’t had any problems since (well, except for the usual symptoms when something doesn’t agree or I eat one bite too many).  I am heading back to Cuba in January and am gonna do it right this time!  (Ahhh…..sandy beaches, no snow……..)

I went from a size 26/28 to size 6

Pre-op I weighed 286 lbs and now I am 135 lbs.  I am about 15 lbs less than my surgeon wanted but I still feel great and eat well.

I am FREEZING all of the time.  I was in early menopause prior to surgery.

I was wearing the largest size of jeans at Walmart pre-op – now have difficulty finding pants small enough!

I had to buy new shoes too!

Can cross my legs while sitting at any table – even the McDonald’s ones with the chairs attached!  Before surgery, I avoided those tables because I had to squeeze to get in them.

I can walk so fast without feeling like I am being dragged backwards

I can run up and down stairs

Doors push me backwards as I don’t have enough weight to hold them

I can share some of my clothes with my tiny 14 year old daughter

My daughter can pick me up!

The other day I got into my basement crawl space without even getting on my knees!

I bought the first Halloween costume in years – in a girl’s size no less!

I can eat most foods now but still have some difficulty with meat.  I will chop roast beef; hamburger etc. up fine and it goes down no problem then.  I cook chicken in the slow cooker all day and it is one of the easiest things for me to eat.  I can eat some bread now but it has to be toasted first.  At Subway, I will get them to toast my bun before they put anything on it and I can eat about ½ of a 6” sub.  I will occasionally order a takeout of Chinese food with chicken fried rice, sweet and sour meatballs, garlic spare ribs and an egg roll.  I can get about 4 meals out of it and still end up throwing out ¼ of it!  Lol.  It’s so nice to be able to eat “normal” food again.

I can eat chocolate and other sweets again although I don’t want to eat more than a couple and even then, only at certain times or I will feel sick.

I only have one thing that I was disappointed with.  My arthritis pain has not decreased any since my weight loss.  Doctors would always tell me:  lose weight!  You will feel better!”  Well, I guess they were wrong but I am managing it.

My hair is FINALLY starting to grow back.  I guess my hypothyroidism really didn't help the ol' hair loss.

People walk by me and don’t have a clue who I am.  I am having fun with it now and will pretend that I am totally hurt by it.  It’s kinda mean but I will tell them I am joking once they realize who I am.

There are so many other things that I could list about how my life has changed in one year, but I don’t want to bore you too much!  Lol

I want to wish all of the newbies the best of luck, the freshly post-ops a congratulations, and my fellow goalers a thank you for all of your support in the past.  I don’t know how I would have done it without you.

This is the best thing I have ever done for myself by far.  I still have many goals, such as getting a good fitness program going, but the weight loss was the biggie and I am so happy and proud of myself.

Nancy D