Ruby Tuesday, Oh How I Love You

how many days post op are you

Hi Circa,

I love your story, and I can see how eating health is very important to you. I am very curious about other aspects that have mostly changed in your lifestyle like friends, family, and personal relationships. How do you feel yourself changes after the surgery? I really like your blog and I would be very happy to hear more about your post op experiences. Enjoy every days

I'm in my 4th week post-op. Following my doctor's diet to a T.

I've always been a healthy eater for the most part. After I got sick, I was too tired to cook - too tired to do anything really so I became a fast food eater - and it definitely wasn't always a healthy choice. What I've been able to do is revert back to being the healthy eater I always was. Being that I'm only about a month out, there's not all that much that has changed with outer areas of my life. I do feel more energy - my thyroid is showing signs of functioning again. The ghrelin was fuelling the steroid secreting tumors on my adrenal glands and those are pretty much inactive now. I'm not fighting the uphill battle against steroids now, which is probably the biggest victory of all for me.

What I do know is, that as the weight comes off, I become more and more of myself. I feel a little more "ME" each day. I get more active, I have more energy. I get less frustrated with things that still aren't possible to do yet, because I know there's that light at the end of the tunnel. I will be running marathons. I will be hiking up Pike's Peak. I will be doing 10 mile backpacking/camping trips again. I will be hunting and fishing and all that good stuff. The biggest change in my life has been the knowledge that I know i'm not going to be ill for the rest of my life.

Thanks for telling more about your story. I really appreciate. Also, I really glad to hear that "I feel little more ME each day." I clearly feel that you are working hard toward your goal. can I ask a question that is about your clothing shopping experiences? I saw 2 pictures you post before. are they taken before you got sick? I hope my questions do not effend you, if so, I am really sorry. I want to set you as a moder example:)

Thanks for telling more about your story. I am so happy for you. “I feel little more ME each day” sounds so good!! I have another question hope this question will not be too strange. Have your clothing shopping experiences change?

Yes, those pictures are from before I was sick. I was a size 8.

I haven't done much shopping lately - I kept my clothes on the way up - it wasn't all that long ago (5 years since i got sick, 4 since I put on the weight) so most things that are basics are still relevant. I did go buy a couple of shirts and a jacket at Kohls which was no big deal - I knew what size i needed and grabbed them and left.

Thank you for that information. Eating and excising should be most important factors to stay health. Have you felt something differently changes on your life at the time when you put on your weight? As you mentioned in other story, which was having dinner with your husband and his coworkers, you said that you had lack of faith on people? Does that feeling change after you have sleeve surgery?

I love your story so much and proud of you telling your backstory, that is so touching, and that make me have so many questions for you. I hope that will not annoy you, if so, I am very sorry.

Well, the change that caused the weight gain was me getting sick. I was on severe steroid regimens that caused my weight to double in less than a year. So yes, I feel completely different - since I don't have the underlying illness going rampant and no more steroid treatments, I feel completely different.

I tried to never let my weight define me. But in that, I did let it control me a bit. I didn't wanna be the fat girl in the room. I didn't wanna be the one that, my husband's friends would look at him quizzically after meeting me, wondering why he's with me. So I isolated myself a lot. It was actually pretty easy to do because when I was sick, I couldn't go places with people - I had such a poor immune system and getting sicker was not something I was going to contribute to. So after I started rebuilding my immunity, I just didn't change that. Now, I'm still not wanting to meet a whole lot of new people, or even see people that haven't seen me since I've been sick, but its getting better. I'm a very social person normally, so its getting harder and harder to resist going out and having fun. I've made plans for the future - the next 6 or so months. If i hit goals, or even come close to them, I'll go ahead with them. And I really want to go ahead with them so I'm going to stay on track and hope my body does the same.