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Onederful Opportunity

A blog by rhodywoman in General

  • Entries

    15

  • Comments

    17

  • Views

    5,910

About this blog

Following one New England woman's journey to lose half of herself to feel whole!

Entries in this blog

The Big Change

When you see people a lot it's harder to tell how much weight they are losing. I had my surgery on December 3rd and I attend church weekly and have meetings several times a week there as well. My loss (now about 80lbs) is noticable but people have been able to see it gradually leave over several weeks.   Living in New England we have a lot of Snow Birds. Those are the retirees that leave and spend the winter in Florida or someplace much warmer than Rhode Island in winter... especially this wi

Twenty Days Later - The Weigh In

In a previous post I mentioned that I don't have a scale in my house. I plan to keep it that way. I had my surgical follow up yesterday and I know that I've lost weight but I didn't know how much. Of course, my family decided to "weigh in" and guess my loss:   Me - 15lbs Daughter - 17lbs Sis in Law - 19lbs Husband - 22.5lbs Mom - 23lbs   It was actually 28lbs! I lost 28.bs in 19 days. Praise the Lord!   Things have been going very well. Still no pain or nausea and I'm healing well. I l

The End of the Beginning

My surgery was originally scheduled for December 10th but I was moved to December 3rd so exactly one week ago I was at the end of the beginning of this journey. I didn't know what to expect. I just knew that I wasn't anxious, nervous, or mourning. I was just excited.   All I can say now is that everything went perfectly. I have very little feelings of hunger and no cravings or head hunger. I felt amazing the next morning and when I was discharged the afternoon of my second day the nurses said

Informing the Masses

I tend to be a secretive person about personal things. I like to write and I feel I express myself best when I'm able to communicate with written words which is why I've been blogging in various formats for nearly 13 years. But there's another reason why I find so much comfort in writing. I like the anonymity of it. I like that I can express myself but not put myself "out there." When you put yourself out there you can get scrutinized, criticized or worse. Now you can read what I write and if yo

Drumroll Please....

MY TIMELINE   July 2013 - Started researching WLS   November 2013 - Spoke to primary doc about my thoughts   December 2013 - Exhausted myself looking up surgeons and facilities   January 2014 - Found Bariatric Pal   February 2014 - Found the hospital and surgeon that I liked   March 2014 - Hospital Mandatory Weight Loss Seminar   April 2014 - Nutrition Appt - Previous medical weight loss program met my iinsurance 6mo requirement   April 2014 - Psych Eval - Cleared on first visit

W A I T I N G

"A watched pot never boils."   I can hear my mother say this in my head as I type. I know it's true but it doesn't make it any easier. As a Christian woman I also know that things happen on God's time and not mine and for His own reasons. Despite this knowledge, I still can't shake the agony of the wait... or of the weight.   I'm just ready. As ready as I can be mentally for this surgery and things took off with such lightening speed and then came to a screaching halt. In my mind's eye I ha

The Difference Between Guessing It and Seeing It

I've been known to not see the forest for the trees meaning I can miss the big picture because I was fixated on a small detail. I've been working on it for decades... literally. Well today I received another wake up call that I can't believe hit me so strongly even though I've been wandering through this "forest" of my weight for quite some time especially considering my family history.   Let's start with my family history. I come from a large family that came from large families. By large I

Minor Setback, Not Discouraged

I had my pre-op follow up and it's been the first time that I've seen my actual surgeon since March. All of my pre-op work is done, all evaluations passed, all done, done, done. I was looking forward to hearing these words from my doctor: Your surgery date is... I didn't hear it. I'm glad I didn't hear it because if there's something wrong I want to know before surgery, not after where there could be complications.   Apparently, my blood work showed that I have been exposed to H. pylori which

So Close... But Yet So Far

When i made the call to the bariatric clinic in February I wasn't sure how this journey would turn out. I wasn't sure if my insurance would cover it, I wasn't sure if my family was going to accept it, I wasn't sure how long it was going to take. As the days progressed to weeks and then to months, I'm finally at the tail of the process and the beginning of the real adventure but it seems things have s l o w e d down considerably.   I flew through the initial part of the process and ev

The Anxiety of Waiting

Up until Saturday it was a hope. It was a prayer. It wasn't quite real. I was on the way and doing my best to maintain a level of calmness because if I didn't get approved for surgery I didn't want to be upset. I would've been upset anyway but I certainly would have been MORE upset had I gotten excited, told everyone I knew, and then didn't get approved.   When my surgeon's coordinator told met that she was submitting my paperwork for approval I asked her how long is the "usual" turnaround fo

All The Weapons

I think there's a big misconception about people who are overweight. It seems as though skinny people seem to think that we have no idea how to lose weight. Perhaps that's true for many overweight people but my experience is that the exact opposite is more accurate. I think we all have that Fit Friend that wants to help us by imparting their knowledge to us. I've explained that it's not knowing what to do that's the disconnect... it's actually doing it.   I think - in theory - most of us know

Are My Fat Friends Threatened?

I wasn't going to go here.   I really wasn't.   But I can't seem to shake it and when I can't shake something I usually have to write it out.   I know that everyone will have opinions of weight loss surgery and I'm finding out that I really don't want to hear it. I know that I've failed in the past, I know that surgery can be dangerous, I know that life is going to change considerably for me, and I know that it's a completely different life than the life that I've led. I also know that

Expectation vs. Reality

Expectations. I think one of the biggest problems with my gaining and losing weight over the years is my expectation of the situation. Reading the forums here I see that I'm not the only one who suffers from expectation problems.   For example in late 2012, I joined Ideal Protein. It's a medically supervised low carb, high protein diet that garners relatively fast results. I was expecting to lose weight quickly and I did. What was the problem? I expected to lose it faster than that! I expected

Origins of Overeating

Many of you can probably relate to the seemingly never ending yo-yo dieting of a fat person. As I sit here and get pretty retrospective as I await my first introductory meeting at the surgeons I can't help but thinking about the journey before this journey. The many attempts at losing weight over the years and I've learned a few things about myself in the process.   From when I was twelve years old I have a memory that I won't likely forget. I was putting on a little weight and I had to go to

Again...

I can't believe I'm here. I've battled with my weight for 30 years and here I am beginning a journey for weight loss surgery. Why can't I believe it? I remember when people first started having surgery in my circle of friends. I always had such a strong opinion about it. It seemed so extreme. I felt like if I even thought about surgery it only meant that I was so far gone that I couldn't possibly do it on my own. I've always had a problem asking for help.   I spent the last decade especially f

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