jtsmom02
I have been overweight my entire life. While I wasn't always morbidly obese, I was always bigger than my friends, even in elementary school. I don't remember how or where I first heard about gastric bypass surgery but in 2000-2001, my mother and I began researching it.
I decided it was something I wanted and needed to do, got my insurance approval on the first try, and scheduled my surgery for November of 2001. Then, SURPRISE! I found out I was pregnant. I had already been through pre-op testing (including x-rays), was taking birth control pills, and taking other things like ephedra. I was scared to death I had hurt my baby. Needless to say, I cancelled my surgery and in April 2002, I had my first child, a son, John.
Fast forward 17 months to September of 2003 and I finally had my lap RNY. It was a scary decision since I had a child now but I prayed and truly believed it would help me to be a better mother, in addition to all the other reasons I had. And it has! After losing 100 pounds, I can keep up with my active 2 1/2 year old. He asks me to dance with him and we dance and run and jump. He laughs and I think to myself - I would have missed that laugh at 245 pounds because I wouldn't have been able to keep up. Surely, he laughs at many other things but I absolutely LOVE being able to run, jump, and dance with my son. My husband and I have fallen so completely in love with this little boy that we are thinking about having another child.
It has not been all fun. I had a stricture very early out and it took me about three months to fully recovery from my surgery and believe I had done the right thing. Then at 13 months, I had a very painful distension in my bowel that eventually resolved itself. I was in pain for several weeks though.
Fast forward again to July of 2005. I am currently pregnant with my second child, Sarah Elizabeth. I have had NO PROBLEM gaining weight and really have had to watch myself. I hope and pray I get all the weight back off after she is born. I'm still so very happy I had this surgery!!!
Fast forward again to August of 2009 (someday I'll go back and fill in the holes!) . I am almost 6 years out. I had a baby in 2005 and gained back about 40 pounds. I carried it until this year. I joined Weight Watchers in January and am just now about 2 pounds from my lowest weight. I am very happy with the program. It's a mind game / numbers game for me and it's been enough to get me motivated again.
I believe my pouch still works and I don't know that I could have done WW prior to my rny. It's all about finding what works for you. Following the rules of the surgery, I began to allow myself too much fat and too many calories. And then I just went crazy, eating fast food all the time and ignoring all the rules.
I have resigned myself to the fact that my weight will always be a battle for me. My plan is to get to my goal weight and then work the WW program forever. I can eat ANYTHING I want, just not every meal of everyday.
