I'm 55 years old, happily divorced for many years, and the proud companion of two beautiful, loving cats. I adore all animals, and if I had the space, time and money, would undoubtedly have a menagerie of cats, dogs, birds and who-knows-what-else to love and care for. (Don't worry--I love people too!)

My two favorite dog/cat jokes:
1) Dogs come when you call them; cats take a message and get back to you.
2) Dogs have masters; cats have staff.

I've struggled with my weight for 40+ years now. I'm really good at losing weight when I put my mind to it, and at various points I've lost 50, 90, 70, 100 pounds, only to gain it back every time. Over the past 20 years, my "highest weight ever" has steadily gone higher and higher. I'd considered surgery in the past, but never was at the point where it felt like the right choice for me. So, 3 years ago, I decided to take one more crack at a non-surgical weight loss program. It's a terrific program, at the UCLA Dept. of Medicine. I lost over 70 ponds in about 7 months, and was feeling great, only to....... I'm sure you can fill in the rest! Now I am at the point where I know that surgery IS the RIGHT choice for me.

I'm scheduled for surgery on 10/5/06, and go back and forth between excitement and fear. My body is begging for the surgery (especially my back, knees, and feet), but i'm afraid of giving up the one thing that has always been my refuge--eating! I know that I'll be able to eat after surgery; what's hard to give up is being able to eat as much as I want of whatever I want.

I know I'll be needing a lot of support, and it looks like OH is a great place to find it! I'm really fortunate that my friends and family are all completely supportive of my decision, but none of them have ever gone through this. Some of them are overweight, but no one even comes close to being a candidate for WLS. As much as they may try to understand (and they do try), I'm not sure they can really grasp what a challenge this is going to be for me.
I've logged onto the OH website before, and found it a great resource for information about types of surgery, finding doctors, etc. And the "Before and After" photos help keep me going when I start to have second thoughts.

Now it's time to join the community! I look forward to meeting and getting to know you, as I proceed on this journey.

About Me
Los Angeles, CA
Location
54.1
BMI
DS
Surgery
03/20/2007
Surgery Date
Jul 29, 2006
Member Since

Friends 81

Latest Blog 7
Tips on air travel if you're MO or SMO - pre- or post-op
Thinking of WLS? People telling you to just go to the gym?
I'm in One-derland! (aka 9-month update)
Diana's wise words for pre-ops
The Question was - Did you have WLS for health or a rockin' bod
Coping with Pills Post-op
My Blog that Isn't [really a Blog]

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