waferqueen
I began my journey in July of 2006. I had some flex money left since my son no longer required braces :-). They pulled a couple of teeth and everything just dropped in place beautifully. I think it was a gift from God actually because he knew what I needed.
I had been contemplating weight loss surgery for many years. In fact, I had no idea what my present weight was when I went into the doctors office - I just knew I was very overweight. I almost had a heart attack when I got off the scale. I was fortunate because I have a great husband who cared a lot for me and wanted me to be happy. He went (and still does) to every doctors visit I had and was right by my side after the surgery was done. He was really my motivation as he was always so positive and supportive.
It was a quick justification for the surgery because I had a BMI of 53 and had severe sleep apnea. During my sleep test I stopped breathing 85 times and my oxygen levels dropped as low as 69%. I got a call the next day from the Physicians office saying I needed a CPAP machine immediately and they had arranged for one to be delivered to me that day. My husband used to think I was going to die during the night all the time because I would snore terribly, then completely stop breathing. It was lucky for me that I didn't die in my sleep. Lucky for me, my insurance does cover obesity surgery. My surgeon had a great staff who prepared my total case for the insurance and it shot through with an approval on the first submission. I was into surgery by September of the same year.
Never in a million years would I have believed that it would be as successful as it was. I have lost 196 pounds to date, have a BMI of 23, and a weight of 151. I am 5'8" tall. It was hard starting with the liquid diets, talking with the nutritionist about how I should eat before and right after surgery, working with a physical therapist on dreaded exercise, and having to keep track of so many things. I stuck to my Physicians program completely. I did not waiver and did not cheat. Oh, but I thought about it a lot! :-) LOL But, because my weight loss was mostly steady (except at about 8 weeks where I didn't lose weight for 3 weeks or so) and that kept me motivated. Plus, for the first time in years, I was able to sleep and woke up feeling rested.
I am so greatful that everything went to smoothly for me. I was able to leave my CPAP machine behind within 8 weeks of my surgery. I no longer snore at all. In fact, my husband now has to check to see if I'm still breathing because I sleep so quiet :-). I did have my gallbladder removed in October though. I guess that is common for people who lose a lot of weight. I thought some of the problems I was having were what we call a dumping syndrome, but actually they were due to my gallbladder not functioning. Since the gallbladder is gone - all of those problems have disappeared.
If you are contemplating weight loss surgery I encourage you to read and review profiles on this site. That is what really convinced me that I wanted to proceed.
Unfortunately I only have some before pictures. I will take some recent photo's during the holiday and will share them. I think a picture is worth a thousand words anyway!
Best of luck to you if you are trying to decide. I don't regret my decision for even a second. It won't be easy and you will question yourself on days afterwards. But, when you see that scale move and move and move - you will find such a feeling of satisfaction and happiness - I just can't explain it! And even when it gets stuck for a few weeks - you will still feel your clothes getting roomier.
Trust me - if I can do it - you can too!!!!! Hugs and best of luck!
Lisa
