Faye S.
I have been procrastinating on entering my story because I just didn't know where to start . . so here goes . . 
I'm 57 years old and have been overweight for a long time. When I look back at my pictures from elementary school, I was overweight--- but no one ever told me! lol . . . . so let's start from high school. I was always overweight in high school and when I graduated I weighed 200 lbs. 
As the years went on I continued to gain weight. By age 31 I had reached 268 lbs. I decided it was time to get the weight off. Well, as we all know, through the years we try so many diets- some successful and some not so successful. But I was determined this time and at 34 years old I had lost 105 lbs. and was happy, happy about that. 
Well, that weight loss was great, but through the years I went back to my old eating habits and I gained all of that weight back (and more). 
I continued to battle with being overweight and about 5 months ago met up with an ole' (as opposed to old) friend who had just had the vertical sleeve gastrectomy. She told me all about it and I just said to her "that's great, I'm glad for you, but I'm not interested." I then joined another weight loss center, paying lots of money and getting little results. I started to do research on weight loss surgery. I researched every type of weight loss surgery. After a great deal of research and talking to people that had weight loss surgery, I made my choice to have the VSG. 
I contacted the surgeon on September 3, 2007 and was given an appointment for September 19, 2007. My husband and I went for the appt. with the surgeon and I was convinced then that the VSG was the right thing for me to do. I scheduled the surgery for November 12, 2007. . . WOW! The date had been set!!! 
Things just moved fast after that. I was sent to a nutritionist 
, psych. evaluation 
, barium swallow 
, and had my blood work done 
. When I met with the endocrinologist after the blood work he said I had a B12 deficiency and sent me to see a Hematologist/Oncologist. Well, that was enough to scare the heck out of me. 
After a B12 injection and more blood work, I was cleared and he said that I just had a "little low B12" and nothing to worry about and that would not stop me from having the surgery. . . 
so on October 31, 2007 I met with the surgeon again for the pre-op consultation. It was becoming a reality that I was actually going to have the surgery. At that point I decided to share the good news with my family, who have been very supportive --- as I told them "I'm not asking for your permission (because I've already made up my mind to have the surgery), I'm just asking for your support". My husband has been super supportive. He knows this is the best thing for me. Later, I started telling my friends that I was having the surgery. At first I was undecided whether I was going to share this news with my friends, but I was soooooooooo excited I wanted to shout it to the world!!!
So here I am two weeks after surgery. I must say it was not an easy road (ask my husband -- he was with me 24/7 for a week after surgery - he was glad to go back to work, I'm sure!) . . . for about 4 days after surgery I suffered with gas, heartburn (which I've never had and had no idea what that felt like), nausea (very, very bad), and even diarrhea. The surgeon had explained to me prior to surgery that I would have all of this, but I had no idea it would be that bad!!!! But after taking Prilosec OTC, Mylicon drops, and Phenergan, after 4 days I was starting to feel human again . . . . I no longer take the Mylicon drops or the Phenergan and only have 1 day left to take the Prilosec . . . As I told the surgeon yesterday "I didn't like you the day of surgery, and I didn't like you 4 days after surgery, but I sure like you now". 
So . . . . I had surgery 2 weeks ago --- I've lost 17 lbs. and my BMI has gone from 48.1 to 43.1. . I'm looking forward to getting this weight off and being healthier!!! I know that this involves a lot of lifestyle changes, but I have made that commitment. Thanks to everyone who continues to support me through this journey. 
FAYE 
