J Bellamy
I am a 33 year old mother of two and wife of 5 years to my soul mate Brad. I have been chubby or down right FAT most of my life. I was only at a "normal" weight in my late teens after a serious depression (my mother died) and an excess of exercise and very active lifestyle. At that point I was at 130-136 on average. As soon as I graduated from high school and began life in the "real" world, the exercise slowed down the weight started creeping on... slowly but surely I got to 200 lbs., then up and up and my max weight was 276. I started to panic at the thought that if left to my own devices and nature I would soon be at 300 or more. I started researching Gastric By-pass and realized it woul dbe the best option for me. Finally with the support of my husband, I had my surgery on the 5th of October, 2009. It has been so far the best thing I have ever done for myself. I am not far down the path of my journey yet, at the time of this post I am only 6 weeks post-op, but I have already lost about 45 lbs. It is crazy to see the weight nearly falling off... I am the happiest I have been with myself physically in a very long time... My goal is 140lbs. I hope to get on the exercise bandwagon again and get there by next spring so I can enjoy the sunshine in a sundress that doesn't look like a shower curtain in size!!! :)
I had my surgery at Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio, with Dr. George Kerlakian performing my RNY. He is an awesome surgeon and very personable. Not only that but he and SGH are Centers of Excellence for Bariatric Surgery. I would totally recommend him to anyone. He and his staff are amazing and so helpful. Maria and Vickie make sure all of your questions are answered and you know what you are doing. The monthly support meetings are a great self-esteem boost and also a wealth of knowledge for new people like me.
