Starting my blog from the beginning

Dec 22, 2017

Hi All! I had started documenting my journey on a different site, but feel this is the place to be. I will copy and paste my previous entries and then go from there. Would love any advice, recipes, support, etc. Thanks!

Originally written October 30, 2017:

Hello there! I am pre-surgery and I've been using this site (as well as Youtube videos) to see what other people are doing and how their experiences with WLS have gone. I figured I'd start to document my own journey for others and for myself.
To start:
Highest weight: 287
Weight at the start of the process: 277
Current weight: 268
Goal weight: 150 (we'll see if this changes as I get close to it)

"Backstory":
I've been overweight for most of my life. I remember considering myself fat when I was 10/11, though it really wasn't that bad. I was just chubby. Unfortunately, in middle and high school, my weight went up pretty rapidly. I was about 190 when I graduated high school. Now, at 35 years old, I've lost and gained weight multiple times. I've done nutrisystem 3 or 4 times, weight watchers, gotten personal trainers, Curves and other gyms, my own program, etc. The most success I've had was in 2010 when I lost 80 lbs for my high school reunion. Surprise, surprise, I started gaining almost immediately after. I lost 40 pounds again in 2013 and have been on a gain, stay, gain, stay pattern ever since.

I've thought about bariatric surgery in the past, but I wasn't heavy enough at the time. Now, I'm big enough (not that that was the goal, obviously) and I'm at a place where I know I can lose weight on my own, but I never keep it off. WLS is the tool I want to make sure that I keep the weight off for good. I don't mind working out and I even have a trainer right now! It's just that my eating is so bad that I don't lose weight.

Getting ready for surgery:
Once I made the decision that surgery was for me, I attended a free seminar at a local hospital (August, 2017). I met the doctor a week later and have been going through the process ever since. I did blood work, breath tests, upper GI, nutritionist visits, mental health visits, cardiologist, PCP visit, sleep study, etc. My insurance should cover it, but I expect to pay about $600-700 or so in deductibles and co-pays. So far, I've paid $300 for co-pays and lab tests.

I have been planning to have my surgery in late December so that I could potentially avoid paying another full deductible in 2018 (though I might have to do it anyway if they order follow-up blood tests) and so that I can time it with time I already get off from work for the holidays. I was on track until Friday (3 days ago) when I had my follow-up appointment from my sleep study. I now know that I have sleep apnea. This is "good" because I don't have any other comorbidities (no problems with cholesterol, blood sugar/diabetes, heart, etc). Sleep apnea will help me with my insurance covering the surgery; HOWEVER, now, I have to wait to get a c-pap machine and wear it for at least 2-3 weeks before surgery. I'm hoping that I can get a surgery date and wear the machine in the meantime instead of having to wear the machine for several weeks before even getting a date. If I have to wait, that will push me into January/February and I would have to take real time off of work instead of hiding my recovery time in Winter Break. Sigh...

General thoughts:
- I'm thinking about going for bypass instead of sleeve because my issue is with food. Dumping syndrome will help me stay on track. Also, people seem to lose more weight and keep it off with bypass over time. I know that I'll have to be more strict with my diet and with vitamins, but I'm ok with that
- I'm worried about being alone during the recovery process. I do have an offer to stay with my parents and I do have friends that would come over if I asked, but I think I should be able to do it alone. Let me know if you disagree
- I'm hoping to lose most of the weight in the first 6 months. Maybe even 100 lbs? I won't be disappointed if I don't lose it that fast, but that would be awesome
- I'm worried about hair loss and extra skin. I know that these are very common. Hair - I guess it starts growing back after a few months? I hope so. With skin... best case scenario is that I don't have much once I really start working out. In reality, I'll probably have a lot of loose skin around my arms and my stomach area because that's where I'm biggest and don't have as much muscle (my legs are stronger). I've already started looking into the different plastic surgery types and costs. I know this wouldn't be an option for at least a year. Plus, I would like to have kids at some point and it wouldn't make sense to do it until afterwards (unless I just do my arms first). 

Anyway - that's where I'm at right now. Any advice, thoughts are welcome! I hope to be one of those people on here who write/update regularly and include photos. :-)

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