OakCliffMom

My Story. Well, if that isn't a loaded title I don't know what is. I have so many stories.
I guess since this is a weight loss forum, I should start with the story of my weight. That tale shakes out more like a timeline, really. Childhood: Chubby kid. Recall dieting with my mom as early as the third grade. High School: Got down to about a size 8-10. Used Jenny Craig or Nutri Systems. . . Can't even remember which one. Most of College: Gained it all back and then some. Darn those Provolone grilled Bagels at the Coates Center and Queso and Tortillas from TC's. Senior Year: Jenny Craig again. Modest weight loss, but this time it seemed to stick. And then there was Law School (i.e. the best diet ever for a Type A student who suddenly found herself in over her head academically for the first time): Nothing will send a metabolism into overdrive like pure fear of failure. Combine that with living in a remote town with only 1 fast food restaurant and no more student dining and waaalaa (really not sure how you spell that) the weight just sort of started falling off. I was a solid size 8, sometimes even a 6, by the time I graduated.
The Wedding: You'll no doubt have noticed that I never really mentioned exercise up to this point. I never really did any, either, until the year of my judicial clerkship, which actually coincided with my engagement. That year I spent in an even more remote town where the only local that I had anything at all in common with happened to be a former CPA who decided to open a gym after her own weight loss journey. So I started working out. . . a lot. I had a 9-5 job and a long distance relationship. What else was there to do? I used a food and exercise journal (maybe a little too religiously) and by the wedding, I was 124 pound, hiking up my size 4 Vera Wang, which I really should have had altered one more time, and loving it. Its a good typing I got pictures, but my kids barely recognize me in them.
My 30s: Big city private law practice with its 12 hour days spent mostly behind my desk and its ready access to a constant stream of icy cold diet dr. peppers, we not kind to me on a number of fronts, one of which was my figure. After 10 years of relatively steady weightless or maintenance, 30 found me up a few pounds and pregnant with my first child. Every pound made me want to cry, and believe me there were many to cry over. Its like my body craves weight during pregnancy. I can gain 10 pound before that second line will even think about appearing on that stick. My boy was born, and I went back to Jenny Craig. Third times the charm? Well, not so much in my case. I think I got back down to 180 or so, but then there was the next pregnancy, and the next. I miscarried those babies at about 13 weeks, but I still found, and kept, a few pounds with each. Then there was the adoption weight. . . . who knew the stress of adopting would pack on the pounds like that. Then, when my beautiful daughter was only 6 weeks old, I discovered I was carrying her baby brother. At that point I was 208 which, miraculously, I managed to get back down to by the time I left the hospital with him. They call my OB the Weight Nazi for good reason.
Then, just as I had hired a trainer and was headed for a healthier lifestyle, my mom was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, my dad with MS. As an only chid and a mother of a then 5 year old, one year old and a 6 month old baby, I switched into crisis mode, quit my job and became the worlds most over-educated chauffeur. My babies spent their first couple of years strapped into car seats as we drove NaNa and Pops from one doctors appointment to another. Her chemo therapy sessions were long 12 hour days and she was hospitalized more than once. He spent 6 weeks in a rehab hospital and ultimately lost the use of his legs. You can't believe how many prescriptions they had between them. And I managed it all. I also gained about 40 more pounds in the process.
Please do not get me wrong. It was worth it. My mom is enjoying full remission from a disease that everyone said would kill her, and my dad is stable in an assisted living facility if not enjoying the retirement we had hoped for him. My kids are smart and beautiful at 3, 4 and 8, and it is time that I turn this weight issue around once and for all.
So, I have decided to get the gastric sleeve procedure. A colleague of my husband had it a few years back and has enjoyed amazing results. I know it is not a quick fix, merely a tool, but I have decided that I owe myself that jump start after all I have been through over the past 3 years. I know that I can stick to a program once I get good and into it. I just need to make sure that, this time, I am not derailed by life's unexpected tragedies. I have enlisted the help and support of my dear friend who has found her second career as a dance fitness instructor, and I am looking towards a brighter future where I can keep up with my kids, at least a little better, and shop for clothes in regular stores. My surgery date is August 7.

I just hit 4 weeks yesterday, and today is the first day I'd say that I feel like my old self again - energy wise . The weakness and general sick feeling at first really did make me wonder if I'd lostmy mind doing this. I mean being thin will be great and all (if I don't turn out to be the only person in the history of the world who does this and does not lose weight) but, contrary to some opinions, I do not believe it is the end all be all of the world. Ill be honest. . . If we're talking forever, Id take fat and feeling human over thin and the way I felt the first month after this surgery. But, like I said, I suddenly woke up this morning feeling human again. Now, if I could just lose some weight!

I just hit 4 weeks yesterday, and today is the first day I'd say that I feel like my old self again - energy wise . The weakness and general sick feeling at first really did make me wonder if I'd lostmy mind doing this. I mean being thin will be great and all (if I don't turn out to be the only person in the history of the world who does this and does not lose weight) but, contrary to some opinions, I do not believe it is the end all be all of the world. Ill be honest. . . If we're talking forever, Id take fat and feeling human over thin and the way I felt the first month after this surgery. But, like I said, I suddenly woke up this morning feeling human again. Now, if I could just lose some weight!

Don't worry. I was the same way. . . only I was taking phenagren and zofran and even turning on the TV made me throw up. The spirometer. . . forget about it! I could not speak, move or think, much less drink without vomiting. . . well actually, dry heaving, because I was beyond empty. My doctor told me that 2-5% of people react that way and that it is mostly due to the anesthesia. I spent 2 nights in the hospital (my surgery was on a Tuesday too) and finally went home late Thursday afternoon. Even then, it took me a couple more days for the nausea to subside. Subside, however, it did. Yours will too. Hang in there.

Yay so.happy they gave me 4 ppl to.do different looks one natural second smokie eyes third dark and four glamour I love it

Had my surgery July 30th and I wanted to give an update. I am feeling 100% myself again....i struggled about whether i would ever feel normal again and the answer is YES! I am on soft foods and i've lost 18lbs so far. I hope everyone is doing well.

Not sure how I missed this Aug. group so far, but here goes. . . My surgery was Aug 7 in Dallas. It was performed by Dr. Nicholas at Forrest Park Medical Center. I had a pretty serious nausea reaction to the anesthesia so I had to stay 2 nights in the hospital. Home now on Dr. Nick's 3 week super thin to clear liquid diet. Sippin some iced tea and starting to feel a little stronger.

Am so excited and I don't even have a date yet! Went to my first Dr appointment this past Monday! I've had my stress test done, lab work done, sleep study done, EKG done, forgot to get chest x-ray while The hospital but I only live 2 blocks away so that's no biggie! They scheduled my endoscopy for August 31, got my phsyc eval done as well! I have to see the nutritionist at some point and attend 3 meetings and all will be done! I cannot wait to hear the magical news that they have a date set! This is so long over due for this momma! I want my kids to meet the skinny mom that can join in their fun!!!!!

I'm in the same boat right now. Surgery was Tues. So sick on Wed that they didn't even try to make me drink. I had constant dry heaves despite all of the anti-nausea cocktails. Home now and barely nursing Water and tea. Woke up at 4am nauseous and so scared that I have done this to myself. Somewhat calmer in the light of day, and I'm sure I'll be glad in the long run, but if I had it all to do over again. . . I don't know what I'd do.

I too am on day two of the pre-op diet and scheduled for Aug. 7th. Feeling really low on energy today. Hoping that turns around soon. Best of lucy to you.

Congratulations! Very encouraging. I have close to the same start weight (246) and would LOVE to be below 200 by mid-October. Its been 8 years since I've seen the 100s. Looking forward to it.

Just having a quick celebration. I started this journey at 244 pounds. I was sleeved on May 21st. I have lost 46 lbs. I am off all my blood pressure meds and have not had a panic attack since the surgery. Today I weighed in at 198!!! I haven't been under 200 lbs. in 13 years!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank God for the sleeve.

Very encouraging. Congratulations! And thank you for sharing.

My Story. Well, if that isn't a loaded title I don't know what is. I have so many stories.
I guess since this is a weight loss forum, I should start with the story of my weight. That tale shakes out more like a timeline, really. Childhood: Chubby kid. Recall dieting with my mom as early as the third grade. High School: Got down to about a size 8-10. Used Jenny Craig or Nutri Systems. . . Can't even remember which one. Most of College: Gained it all back and then some. Darn those Provolone grilled Bagels at the Coates Center and Queso and Tortillas from TC's. Senior Year: Jenny Craig again. Modest weight loss, but this time it seemed to stick. And then there was Law School (i.e. the best diet ever for a Type A student who suddenly found herself in over her head academically for the first time): Nothing will send a metabolism into overdrive like pure fear of failure. Combine that with living in a remote town with only 1 fast food restaurant and no more student dining and waaalaa (really not sure how you spell that) the weight just sort of started falling off. I was a solid size 8, sometimes even a 6, by the time I graduated.
The Wedding: You'll no doubt have noticed that I never really mentioned exercise up to this point. I never really did any, either, until the year of my judicial clerkship, which actually coincided with my engagement. That year I spent in an even more remote town where the only local that I had anything at all in common with happened to be a former CPA who decided to open a gym after her own weight loss journey. So I started working out. . . a lot. I had a 9-5 job and a long distance relationship. What else was there to do? I used a food and exercise journal (maybe a little too religiously) and by the wedding, I was 124 pound, hiking up my size 4 Vera Wang, which I really should have had altered one more time, and loving it. Its a good typing I got pictures, but my kids barely recognize me in them.
My 30s: Big city private law practice with its 12 hour days spent mostly behind my desk and its ready access to a constant stream of icy cold diet dr. peppers, we not kind to me on a number of fronts, one of which was my figure. After 10 years of relatively steady weightless or maintenance, 30 found me up a few pounds and pregnant with my first child. Every pound made me want to cry, and believe me there were many to cry over. Its like my body craves weight during pregnancy. I can gain 10 pound before that second line will even think about appearing on that stick. My boy was born, and I went back to Jenny Craig. Third times the charm? Well, not so much in my case. I think I got back down to 180 or so, but then there was the next pregnancy, and the next. I miscarried those babies at about 13 weeks, but I still found, and kept, a few pounds with each. Then there was the adoption weight. . . . who knew the stress of adopting would pack on the pounds like that. Then, when my beautiful daughter was only 6 weeks old, I discovered I was carrying her baby brother. At that point I was 208 which, miraculously, I managed to get back down to by the time I left the hospital with him. They call my OB the Weight Nazi for good reason.
Then, just as I had hired a trainer and was headed for a healthier lifestyle, my mom was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, my dad with MS. As an only chid and a mother of a then 5 year old, one year old and a 6 month old baby, I switched into crisis mode, quit my job and became the worlds most over-educated chauffeur. My babies spent their first couple of years strapped into car seats as we drove NaNa and Pops from one doctors appointment to another. Her chemo therapy sessions were long 12 hour days and she was hospitalized more than once. He spent 6 weeks in a rehab hospital and ultimately lost the use of his legs. You can't believe how many prescriptions they had between them. And I managed it all. I also gained about 40 more pounds in the process.
Please do not get me wrong. It was worth it. My mom is enjoying full remission from a disease that everyone said would kill her, and my dad is stable in an assisted living facility if not enjoying the retirement we had hoped for him. My kids are smart and beautiful at 3, 4 and 8, and it is time that I turn this weight issue around once and for all.
So, I have decided to get the gastric sleeve procedure. A colleague of my husband had it a few years back and has enjoyed amazing results. I know it is not a quick fix, merely a tool, but I have decided that I owe myself that jump start after all I have been through over the past 3 years. I know that I can stick to a program once I get good and into it. I just need to make sure that, this time, I am not derailed by life's unexpected tragedies. I have enlisted the help and support of my dear friend who has found her second career as a dance fitness instructor, and I am looking towards a brighter future where I can keep up with my kids, at least a little better, and shop for clothes in regular stores. My surgery date is August 7.

My Story. Well, if that isn't a loaded title I don't know what is. I have so many stories.
I guess since this is a weight loss forum, I should start with the story of my weight. That tale shakes out more like a timeline, really. Childhood: Chubby kid. Recall dieting with my mom as early as the third grade. High School: Got down to about a size 8-10. Used Jenny Craig or Nutri Systems. . . Can't even remember which one. Most of College: Gained it all back and then some. Darn those Provolone grilled Bagels at the Coates Center and Queso and Tortillas from TC's. Senior Year: Jenny Craig again. Modest weight loss, but this time it seemed to stick. And then there was Law School (i.e. the best diet ever for a Type A student who suddenly found herself in over her head academically for the first time): Nothing will send a metabolism into overdrive like pure fear of failure. Combine that with living in a remote town with only 1 fast food restaurant and no more student dining and waaalaa (really not sure how you spell that) the weight just sort of started falling off. I was a solid size 8, sometimes even a 6, by the time I graduated.
The Wedding: You'll no doubt have noticed that I never really mentioned exercise up to this point. I never really did any, either, until the year of my judicial clerkship, which actually coincided with my engagement. That year I spent in an even more remote town where the only local that I had anything at all in common with happened to be a former CPA who decided to open a gym after her own weight loss journey. So I started working out. . . a lot. I had a 9-5 job and a long distance relationship. What else was there to do? I used a food and exercise journal (maybe a little too religiously) and by the wedding, I was 124 pound, hiking up my size 4 Vera Wang, which I really should have had altered one more time, and loving it. Its a good typing I got pictures, but my kids barely recognize me in them.
My 30s: Big city private law practice with its 12 hour days spent mostly behind my desk and its ready access to a constant stream of icy cold diet dr. peppers, we not kind to me on a number of fronts, one of which was my figure. After 10 years of relatively steady weightless or maintenance, 30 found me up a few pounds and pregnant with my first child. Every pound made me want to cry, and believe me there were many to cry over. Its like my body craves weight during pregnancy. I can gain 10 pound before that second line will even think about appearing on that stick. My boy was born, and I went back to Jenny Craig. Third times the charm? Well, not so much in my case. I think I got back down to 180 or so, but then there was the next pregnancy, and the next. I miscarried those babies at about 13 weeks, but I still found, and kept, a few pounds with each. Then there was the adoption weight. . . . who knew the stress of adopting would pack on the pounds like that. Then, when my beautiful daughter was only 6 weeks old, I discovered I was carrying her baby brother. At that point I was 208 which, miraculously, I managed to get back down to by the time I left the hospital with him. They call my OB the Weight Nazi for good reason.
Then, just as I had hired a trainer and was headed for a healthier lifestyle, my mom was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, my dad with MS. As an only chid and a mother of a then 5 year old, one year old and a 6 month old baby, I switched into crisis mode, quit my job and became the worlds most over-educated chauffeur. My babies spent their first couple of years strapped into car seats as we drove NaNa and Pops from one doctors appointment to another. Her chemo therapy sessions were long 12 hour days and she was hospitalized more than once. He spent 6 weeks in a rehab hospital and ultimately lost the use of his legs. You can't believe how many prescriptions they had between them. And I managed it all. I also gained about 40 more pounds in the process.
Please do not get me wrong. It was worth it. My mom is enjoying full remission from a disease that everyone said would kill her, and my dad is stable in an assisted living facility if not enjoying the retirement we had hoped for him. My kids are smart and beautiful at 3, 4 and 8, and it is time that I turn this weight issue around once and for all.
So, I have decided to get the gastric sleeve procedure. A colleague of my husband had it a few years back and has enjoyed amazing results. I know it is not a quick fix, merely a tool, but I have decided that I owe myself that jump start after all I have been through over the past 3 years. I know that I can stick to a program once I get good and into it. I just need to make sure that, this time, I am not derailed by life's unexpected tragedies. I have enlisted the help and support of my dear friend who has found her second career as a dance fitness instructor, and I am looking towards a brighter future where I can keep up with my kids, at least a little better, and shop for clothes in regular stores. My surgery date is August 7.

My Story. Well, if that isn't a loaded title I don't know what is. I have so many stories.
I guess since this is a weight loss forum, I should start with the story of my weight. That tale shakes out more like a timeline, really. Childhood: Chubby kid. Recall dieting with my mom as early as the third grade. High School: Got down to about a size 8-10. Used Jenny Craig or Nutri Systems. . . Can't even remember which one. Most of College: Gained it all back and then some. Darn those Provolone grilled Bagels at the Coates Center and Queso and Tortillas from TC's. Senior Year: Jenny Craig again. Modest weight loss, but this time it seemed to stick. And then there was Law School (i.e. the best diet ever for a Type A student who suddenly found herself in over her head academically for the first time): Nothing will send a metabolism into overdrive like pure fear of failure. Combine that with living in a remote town with only 1 fast food restaurant and no more student dining and waaalaa (really not sure how you spell that) the weight just sort of started falling off. I was a solid size 8, sometimes even a 6, by the time I graduated.
The Wedding: You'll no doubt have noticed that I never really mentioned exercise up to this point. I never really did any, either, until the year of my judicial clerkship, which actually coincided with my engagement. That year I spent in an even more remote town where the only local that I had anything at all in common with happened to be a former CPA who decided to open a gym after her own weight loss journey. So I started working out. . . a lot. I had a 9-5 job and a long distance relationship. What else was there to do? I used a food and exercise journal (maybe a little too religiously) and by the wedding, I was 124 pound, hiking up my size 4 Vera Wang, which I really should have had altered one more time, and loving it. Its a good typing I got pictures, but my kids barely recognize me in them.
My 30s: Big city private law practice with its 12 hour days spent mostly behind my desk and its ready access to a constant stream of icy cold diet dr. peppers, we not kind to me on a number of fronts, one of which was my figure. After 10 years of relatively steady weightless or maintenance, 30 found me up a few pounds and pregnant with my first child. Every pound made me want to cry, and believe me there were many to cry over. Its like my body craves weight during pregnancy. I can gain 10 pound before that second line will even think about appearing on that stick. My boy was born, and I went back to Jenny Craig. Third times the charm? Well, not so much in my case. I think I got back down to 180 or so, but then there was the next pregnancy, and the next. I miscarried those babies at about 13 weeks, but I still found, and kept, a few pounds with each. Then there was the adoption weight. . . . who knew the stress of adopting would pack on the pounds like that. Then, when my beautiful daughter was only 6 weeks old, I discovered I was carrying her baby brother. At that point I was 208 which, miraculously, I managed to get back down to by the time I left the hospital with him. They call my OB the Weight Nazi for good reason.
Then, just as I had hired a trainer and was headed for a healthier lifestyle, my mom was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, my dad with MS. As an only chid and a mother of a then 5 year old, one year old and a 6 month old baby, I switched into crisis mode, quit my job and became the worlds most over-educated chauffeur. My babies spent their first couple of years strapped into car seats as we drove NaNa and Pops from one doctors appointment to another. Her chemo therapy sessions were long 12 hour days and she was hospitalized more than once. He spent 6 weeks in a rehab hospital and ultimately lost the use of his legs. You can't believe how many prescriptions they had between them. And I managed it all. I also gained about 40 more pounds in the process.
Please do not get me wrong. It was worth it. My mom is enjoying full remission from a disease that everyone said would kill her, and my dad is stable in an assisted living facility if not enjoying the retirement we had hoped for him. My kids are smart and beautiful at 3, 4 and 8, and it is time that I turn this weight issue around once and for all.
So, I have decided to get the gastric sleeve procedure. A colleague of my husband had it a few years back and has enjoyed amazing results. I know it is not a quick fix, merely a tool, but I have decided that I owe myself that jump start after all I have been through over the past 3 years. I know that I can stick to a program once I get good and into it. I just need to make sure that, this time, I am not derailed by life's unexpected tragedies. I have enlisted the help and support of my dear friend who has found her second career as a dance fitness instructor, and I am looking towards a brighter future where I can keep up with my kids, at least a little better, and shop for clothes in regular stores. My surgery date is August 7.

My Story. Well, if that isn't a loaded title I don't know what is. I have so many stories.
I guess since this is a weight loss forum, I should start with the story of my weight. That tale shakes out more like a timeline, really. Childhood: Chubby kid. Recall dieting with my mom as early as the third grade. High School: Got down to about a size 8-10. Used Jenny Craig or Nutri Systems. . . Can't even remember which one. Most of College: Gained it all back and then some. Darn those Provolone grilled Bagels at the Coates Center and Queso and Tortillas from TC's. Senior Year: Jenny Craig again. Modest weight loss, but this time it seemed to stick. And then there was Law School (i.e. the best diet ever for a Type A student who suddenly found herself in over her head academically for the first time): Nothing will send a metabolism into overdrive like pure fear of failure. Combine that with living in a remote town with only 1 fast food restaurant and no more student dining and waaalaa (really not sure how you spell that) the weight just sort of started falling off. I was a solid size 8, sometimes even a 6, by the time I graduated.
The Wedding: You'll no doubt have noticed that I never really mentioned exercise up to this point. I never really did any, either, until the year of my judicial clerkship, which actually coincided with my engagement. That year I spent in an even more remote town where the only local that I had anything at all in common with happened to be a former CPA who decided to open a gym after her own weight loss journey. So I started working out. . . a lot. I had a 9-5 job and a long distance relationship. What else was there to do? I used a food and exercise journal (maybe a little too religiously) and by the wedding, I was 124 pound, hiking up my size 4 Vera Wang, which I really should have had altered one more time, and loving it. Its a good typing I got pictures, but my kids barely recognize me in them.
My 30s: Big city private law practice with its 12 hour days spent mostly behind my desk and its ready access to a constant stream of icy cold diet dr. peppers, we not kind to me on a number of fronts, one of which was my figure. After 10 years of relatively steady weightless or maintenance, 30 found me up a few pounds and pregnant with my first child. Every pound made me want to cry, and believe me there were many to cry over. Its like my body craves weight during pregnancy. I can gain 10 pound before that second line will even think about appearing on that stick. My boy was born, and I went back to Jenny Craig. Third times the charm? Well, not so much in my case. I think I got back down to 180 or so, but then there was the next pregnancy, and the next. I miscarried those babies at about 13 weeks, but I still found, and kept, a few pounds with each. Then there was the adoption weight. . . . who knew the stress of adopting would pack on the pounds like that. Then, when my beautiful daughter was only 6 weeks old, I discovered I was carrying her baby brother. At that point I was 208 which, miraculously, I managed to get back down to by the time I left the hospital with him. They call my OB the Weight Nazi for good reason.
Then, just as I had hired a trainer and was headed for a healthier lifestyle, my mom was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, my dad with MS. As an only chid and a mother of a then 5 year old, one year old and a 6 month old baby, I switched into crisis mode, quit my job and became the worlds most over-educated chauffeur. My babies spent their first couple of years strapped into car seats as we drove NaNa and Pops from one doctors appointment to another. Her chemo therapy sessions were long 12 hour days and she was hospitalized more than once. He spent 6 weeks in a rehab hospital and ultimately lost the use of his legs. You can't believe how many prescriptions they had between them. And I managed it all. I also gained about 40 more pounds in the process.
Please do not get me wrong. It was worth it. My mom is enjoying full remission from a disease that everyone said would kill her, and my dad is stable in an assisted living facility if not enjoying the retirement we had hoped for him. My kids are smart and beautiful at 3, 4 and 8, and it is time that I turn this weight issue around once and for all.
So, I have decided to get the gastric sleeve procedure. A colleague of my husband had it a few years back and has enjoyed amazing results. I know it is not a quick fix, merely a tool, but I have decided that I owe myself that jump start after all I have been through over the past 3 years. I know that I can stick to a program once I get good and into it. I just need to make sure that, this time, I am not derailed by life's unexpected tragedies. I have enlisted the help and support of my dear friend who has found her second career as a dance fitness instructor, and I am looking towards a brighter future where I can keep up with my kids, at least a little better, and shop for clothes in regular stores. My surgery date is August 7.