jessperry

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Hello all,

It has been a while. I haven't forgotten about you, I've just been enjoying my life to the fullest. Today marks my 2yr. surgiversary and I tell you I think I feel better this year than I did during the first year. The first year I was worried I was going to put the weight back on and blow everything. However, this year I'm just thankful for where I am. I feel good, I know I look good(finally after all these years) and I'm enjoying what I'm able to do. It has been a true blessing. I have completely done a 360 degree turn with my life. I'm ready to get up and move, I'm active with my children and actually feel good when I realize I can sit in a chair and have plenty of space or have people compliment my clothes. Those are just the small pleasures, compared to being healthy, not having to take any medicines, still sticking to my 30 minute before/after meal drinks, still only drinking water (a decaf coffee with splenda sneaks in every now and then, but not enough to count) and still taking my vitamins daily. I'm still loosing inches and pounds and I'm still trying to keep up my lifestyle.

Last Sunday, I watched the 4 part series on TLC on people who were way over 600lbs and had gastric bypass. The cameras followed their journey for 7 years.I took a lot from those shows. One, we are all blessed to be where we are and for making the decision we made to have surgery. Secondly, the journey doesn't end after year one, as some would have us to believe. It is a life long journey. There were people on the show still loosing weight in year 7. It helped me relax my thinking some and realize how blessed I've been over the past two years and to look forward to the future. Keep the faith OH members, if you are having some down moments or don't feel like you are seeing the progress, keep pushing forward! The physical change doesn't have to happen all at one time, it is a never ending journey!

I hope this post has encouraged someone! I know just writing it has continued to encourage me. I'm off to enjoy my surgiversary! I'll try not to stay away so long next time! 

Write to you soon....best wishes for more success! 

With it being summer time, many people are outside and in work out mode. I've been alternating firming and aerobic walking each day and just as before, I'm not seeing that much of a different. I'm looking at other people who have gone from a Size 26 to Size 6 and I'm still in the double digits.  I realize each body is different and they may be doing other things or they may not have started out as heavy as I was ,but I'm still trying to do this thing the right way. Still sticking strictly to what my dietician says, trying to work out, even though it takes all that I have to do it, because I really don't like exercising. Either way, I just had to come back to OH and look at my before pictures to get a reminder of how far I've come. I mgiht not physically look as small as other people, but I'm  nowhere where I was prior to March 2010, not even close. I just needed a little reminder to keep it up! It has worked and it will continue to work! Just a moment in time, but always good to know I can come back to OH at any point and always see progress and change, not just with myself, but with all of my OH friends!

Hello OH friends!

I know it has been a while since I last blogged. I've logged in and checked up on you all, but have been pretty silent. Today marks my 1 year post-op date! I'm excited and then I have this sense of fear. I'm worried that I haven't lost enough in one year's time. I'm worried that I won't continue to lose but to gain. I guess these are all probably common fears, but then this morning as I was praying and thanking God for this year, I remember the other things I have been blessed to go through this year, which are far more outstanding!! So, here is my list of blessing:

1. I'm down 155lbs!!
2. I'm down to a size 16 from a size 26/28 in pants and down to a size 18/20 in shirts from a size 30/32.
3. I've kept up with my water and my vitamins and haven't been dehydrated or malnourished
4. I haven't been sick since before surgery!! 
5. I'm off all of my prescription medications!!
6. I haven't been back in the hospital, except to visit my friend who was having surgery in October!
7. I can walk and I want to walk long distances without giving out of breath
8. I want to play with my children and our new Yorkie poo
9. I don't mind getting up and getting things myself
10. I want a bike for my 1 year surgiversary and I'm ready to ride! 

I'm sure I could go on, if I really sit down and think about all I couldn't and didn't want to do before having surgery! I'm sure someone will find something wrong with my list, but you know what it is MY LIST and MY BLESSINGS!!

I took some pics this morning and plan to post some this afternoon! I'm having a hard time expressing how I feel or getting people to realize how much has happened for me this year, but then I remembered my OH friends always understand!

Thank you for your support during this year and for the support that is yet to come!! 

Carowinds was awesome!! It was hot as all get out, 97 degrees,  but other than that, the time I spent with my family, my brother's family and parents was great. We had a great ride down to Concord and then we had lunch and headed to Carowinds. The children enjoyed themselves and although my daughter and I didn't get to the bumper cars, I did get to ride a few rides with my younger daughter and son that I never would have attempted to do, because I would have thought I was too heavy. I wasn't' breathing heavy or tired, but the heat did play have a toll on my body after a while and I couldn't help but get dizzy a few times, bu it was great. I would have never wanted to do half the things I did if i hadn't had surgery. So, thank you all for your encouragement. 

Well, I have also been blessed with a new job, away from the co-worker I talked about a few months back. I start on Oct. 11, so next Friday is my last day. It has been interesting, because I will definitely miss some of the people I work with, but will be glad when I'm out of "her" presence. However, she took my being off Friday to let people know that I'm difficult to get along with, that I yell and scream at her, that I only want to work on projects and not do my entire job, and the list continues. At first this upset me, becuase I knew what she had said about me wasn't the truth,  but then I realized that it is just her conscious making her aware of the way she has treated me and how it will look to other people that I'm leaving, so before she looks bad, she is trying to make me look bad. But, you know what this battle is over! Fortunately, my acquiring my new position had nothing to do with her or my working relationship with her, as she sees it., but with my own capabilities and what people have seen I'm capable of doing.  Little does she know, that some of the people she has said this too, in our department, actually served as my references for my new position, so they already know and appreciate the work that I've done.

Always somebody trying to steal your joy, but don't let them have it!

My family and I are traveling to Carowinds Amusement Park, in NC/SC on Saturday. My mom and dad wanted to go last year, but due to my health issues at the time and not to mention, I could not have fit on a roller coaster ride if they strapped me in with 10 seatbelts, we did not go. Well, this year we are going and I'm excited. I can't wait to try to ride a rollercoaster or my favorite bumper cars. I have promised my daughter and husband a race/battle with the bumper cars and I'm just praying I will fit. I'm still 62.8 lbs away from my goal, but hey I should have lost enough to ride, right? I mean I'm down 128.2 lbs! Anyway,  I'm praying I can. I weighed more than what I am today,the last time I went, and the fit was tight, but I was able to ride. So, hopefully my exciting weekend will go great as planned. The key is to think it into being and stay positive.  Believe it or not, I'm actually ready for the excessive walking and being outside in the sun. Before I would have dreaded it and been tired just from thinking about it, but I'm ready to go. I do plan to take pics and will definitely post them here, so that you all can see my new found freedom and hopefully my family and I enjoying our time at Carowinds!

Stay encouraged...

I will be officially 6 months post op tomorrow! I'm writing this today, because my family and I are moving to a new home tomorrow, so life right now is hectic. I didn't even realize it had been six months, or 1/2 a year, until I received the e-mail from OH yesterday, asking how I felt. I can truly say this has been a great experience so far and I'm finally coming into my routine. It is not such a burden anymore, to have to pick and choose what I have to eat. It is not such a burden to make sure I'm drinking plenty of water. It is not such a burden to make sure I'm up and moving.  Everything now just seems to be the way I want to live my life and what I have to do for me. So, all of those foods I just felt I had to have before, or all of those excuses of why I couldn't do something, because I was too big or always tired, are slowly slipping away. I still have my good and bad days, but I can honestly say that my good days outweigh the bad. Some days it is as if I have to remind myself I had surgery 6 months ago, because for once in my life I feel "normal." Isn't that the word we try to use for things that just seem to be second nature for us? 

I do find it funny though, that some people make the comment, "Are you still losing weight?".  Um, yeah, that is the plan! I know that eventually things will even out, but considering where I started at 391, even after losing 124lbs, I'm still have a  ways to go. Of course they just see the outward appearance, but they don't know about the mental and emotional battle that we have after WLS.  The ones I have told about my surgery, haven't said it, but think that this is a piece of cake. That what I did makes it easier to lose weight than them trying to do so with Weight Watchers, but I'm quick to correct them.

Anyway, back to work. Stay encouraged! I couldn't imagine even getting to the size I am now 6 months ago or even 3 years ago and look at where I am! 

Be blessed my OH friends! Have a great Labor Day weekend! 

So, I finally worked up the courage to go into the store and try on some clothes, since my 22/24s were falling down around my knees or falling of my shoulder and guess what, I can now wear a size 18 in pants and I'm in 18/20 in shirts. It is absolutely amazing. To think back to where I was just a little over 5 months ago in a size 30/32 shirt and a size 26/28 pants, that were tight might I add and now down to 18, 18/20 it is amazing. Even looking at my body in the mirror now is not such a terrible thing. I'm beginning to like the way that I look and I feel confident about myself. I was at a workshop the other day and one of the facilitators said they were going to put me on the spot and have me speak in front of the group. In the past, this would have made me almost break out into hives, I would be so nervous, but this time I didn't care, I was ready to go. I got up said what I had to say with confidence and I didn't care that others where focused on me or that I was the center of attention. I loved it! I have to speak this week in front of 550 teachers at a conference and I'm not worried at all at this point, I'm sure on the day of I will get a little jittery, but right now, I'm ready to go. It is amazing how this surgery not only helps you physically, but also mentally.

Well, we are moving at the end of the month and we are packing things up, so I gotta go and get to packing! Keep on keeping on OH members!! God bless!

Today marks my 5 month post-op date. I am so thankful at the results I have experienced. I feel absolutely awesome. No more excessive sweating, just from walking to my car. No more worrying about how I look or if people are looking at me. I think right now, I want people to look at me and recognize the different. No more, wondering if I going to be able to fit something I just bought because of gaining weight, now the problem is worrying about if something I just bought will be too large, because of the weight I have lost. I think I'm really down to a size 18/20 right now, all of my size 22/24 is extremely too large. I mean so large, that I was standing in my kitchen the other day and I reached for something in the cabinet and my capris fell to my ankles. Yes, I need to get up the nerve and try a smaller size. However, I'm still working on the fear of not being able to fit something again.

Update on my irregular cycles: I have my NovaSure procedure scheduled for August 24, I should only be out about 1 day. So, I'm praying that my period will hold off until after that time, but I know that is not going to happen. So, I'm hoping that this will work. I've managed to drop some weight since it has been off, so I need for this thing to regulate.

Well, I hope that you all have a great day! If you are just starting this process, hang in there, it will get better. You will see the results of your efforts. If you have been in this for a while, keep up the good work. The stories that you tell and advice you offer, continues to inspire and help others.

Best wishes....

Hello all! It has been a while since I last posted to my blog. July was a rough month. My menstrual cycle starting coming on every 11 days, my grandmother was having a rough time recuperating after her back surgery, and the list continues. At times I didn't even feel like I had anything to post. All of the stress was really taking a toll on my body. I'm still fighting the cycles and hope to have a procedure done by my GYN to help with this issue. I just don't have the energy to do much, I usually go to work and them come home and lay down. My GYN is afraid that I'm anemic due to this, so I'm hoping things will clear up quickly.

Weight wise... I have been progressing well. I'm still loosing weight and inches. I think I'm back to where I was in the beginning and I'm loosing more inches than weight. I can tell it some on the scale, but I can really tell it in my clothes. I took a picture the other day of a room, not realizing I could be seen in the mirror and I actually looked like the size of a "normal", whatever that is, human being. I have a little waist now and really starting to show my womanly features that I was hiding behind all of that weight. My husband loves the changes! 

Well I just wanted to stop in and say hi! I will try to take some pictures and post them here.  I will be 5 months post op on Tuesday, so hopefully this month will go better and I will be more photogenic! 

Until next time...

I have officially entered the 100lbs club!! As of today, I have lost 100lbs from my highest weight, which was 391.2. I'm so excited. Yesterday marked 16 weeks post op for me, but  I didn't weigh because my grandmother was having the first surgery she has ever had in her 75 years of life, back surgery, so the entire family spent the day at the hosiptal with her. I was eager to weigh this morning, with the hopes that I had met yet another one of my goals. However,  for some reason, my ticker says I have list 101lbs, not quite sure why. Anyway, I'm very thankful for how far I have come.

The other day I went into Avenue to get a blouse for my husband's family reunion on Saturday. I was always so use to looking for the bigger sizes and not being able to find what I needed, because they had so few in stock or because they sold out. Well, this time I was able to walk right in and they had plenty in the size I needed. It felt so good to be able to try something on and know it was going to fit with any issues, it was even a little loose. It just felt great.

Well back to the grind! I just wanted to share my success. Maybe I will post some pictures this weekend! You all enjoy the rest of your week!