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Not really sure where to start. I want to document my journey and become a part of this community. So I guess I'll start with what brought me here. I have been large my entire life. I have very few pictures from my childhood where I thought I was normal size. I'd say that stopped by the time I reached first or second grade. I'm 35 years old now. I topped out at 360lbs in 2011. Until that point, I had not kept up with my health at all. No yearly doctor visits, I hadn't even seen an OBGYN since 1999 when my daughter was born. An occasional trip to the urgent care center for a horrible migraine that I couldn't get rid of would always result in my promising to see my PCP (didn't even have one) and taking care of my HBP. My breakdown came in 2012. I had always had unpredictable monthly cycles, but this one was off the charts! (TMI warning) I bled for a straight 4 months with no breaks! I finally had to break down and find an OBGYN to see. A month of trying different drugs stopped it for a few days, but it came back with a vengeance, ultimately leading to a D&C to reset my body. This scared me. I found a PCP and started to try and get myself together. I was lucky to find a PCP that I love on the first try. I would have given up if I'd had to "shop" for a doctor. So we got my BP stabilized with meds, I started on cholesterol meds as well and added in an antidepressant to help me through this. After more testing, she warned me that I was on the diabetic borderline. We started talking weight loss & she suggested phentermine. I started it and loved it! the weight was coming off, slowly, but surely. I did 3-4 months on and 1-2 months off. Things were looking up. I got down to about 320 or so, and I thought I was doing great. Then I decided I could do it on my own - without the phentermine. I seemed to be building a tolerance to it anyway, so I stopped taking it. Yeah, that didn't work out too well. I gained back every single pound! Not to mention, in the interim, I had a heart scare (another long story) that now prevents me from having the phentermine option again. So now, here I am. I'm at 333lbs. I finally had the courage to ask my PCP about surgical options. She was happy that I asked. She thought it was the right option for me, but was not going to push it. (I had mentioned it before & we decided to try phentermine first) I've been to the info session & have an appointment on the 28th for my first surgical consultation. It's been a few weeks since the info session & I'm trying to experiment with upping my protein, downing my carbs, etc. I even tried my first protein shake today...UGH, that's gonna be tough! Right now, I have a lot of confidence in my ability to get this done - with the help of a surgical tool. I'm excited at the thought of getting down to a size that I have literally never been before! I'm excited at the thought of cleaning my closet out because everything is too big! I'm excited to be able to walk for more than 10 minutes without pain. I'm excited to be able to ride bikes with my daughter - something she always wants to do, but I can barely make it down our street before feeling like I have to turn around, or I won't make it back home. I've been reading so many success stories in this and other forums and I want to be there too! Oh, and I can't forget! While it might not be good news that my husband was put on insulin this week for his diabetes, it's great news that he has decide to "seriously consider" having surgery as well because of it. I certainly hope he does. It would be great to have each other to lean on and to actually know what the other is going through. It will be a different journey for him - I think he leans more towards a lap-band procedure, while I am pretty much convinced I want to do the sleeve - but we could take this journey together. I sure hope he goes all in! I'm ready to start my journey. I hope that I will find friends here to support me along the way. I look forward to being able to learn and experience all that comes with WLS so that I can share my knowledge in the future to those who are just starting out. I'm ready for a healthier me. I'm ready to be a healthier wife & mom. I want to LIVE - not watch my life go by as only a spectator. I guess that means it's time for a change. Let's get this party started!

Good Luck with your journey. My surgery was on May 8th. And it seemed to take forever to get the surgery date. I started my journey on Jan 14th. But everything has to be followed before surgery, including the pre weight loss diet. So hang in there! To date, with the before diet and after surgery, I have lost 46lbs. So Good Luck!