Deanna V.

1.) I had a total colectomy when I was 15 years old. Has an ileostomy bag for a little over 5 years and then got it reversed.. so the more I eat, the more trips to the bathroom, and the more pain I have since food goes through me very quickly. Extreme pain from the acidity of my bowels, rawness and even bleeding.

2.) the heavier I am the more of a chance my Ulcerative Colitis can return.

3.) I'm tired of not being strong and fit.

4.) I'm tired of not liking my body.

5.) I'm tired of sweating during the summertime and never wanting to wear summer clothes that reveal my arms and legs.

6.) not being happy with all the fat on my body.

7.) My husband and I want to get pregnant eventually and we are aware that the heavier I am the harder it is to carry a baby in a healthy way.

8. I have a strong desire to do Cross Fit and just working out like a beast. I want to be physically strong and healthy.

9. I don't want to be self-conscious about how I look and how I feel.

10. I want to wear all the cute clothes in my closet that I have been collecting for years!



Deanna V.

I guess we are all facing the same situation, people judging without enough information, or if they have it, still judgmental based upon preconceived notions. I'm going to hold off on telling anyone and do this for me. I hope you all do the same. If they don't like it, screw 'em. It's certainly not about them. It's about our health and well-being. I guess I will focus on that and only that.

I am only telling a select few and reactions are mixed but surprisingly not in the way I assumed. A couple I thought would object are in favor and while one person I thought would be enthusiastic said she has never considered wls and she outweighs me by 150. My husband was all in, which I thought I would need to convince. I am avoiding telling ones I know to be judgemental a-holez or obnoxious gossips, which I consider Facebook the supreme obnoxious gossiper.
The stigma for wls I think will remain regardless of surging trends because being fat is held as a bigger personal failure than going bankrupt. We can be successful in a thousand bigger ways but still looked upon like we are lazy and less serious if we are fat. And even if we do lose weight, the minute we gain there are those that secretly applaud, saying I knew you would just gain it back - you have no self control.

I took the plunge and scheduled my sleeve surgery. I spent all night last into the wee hours reading all the posts on here and WOW! Y'all are so helpful and supportive! Lots of unknowns answered for me, thanks!
I'm a bit anxious for Thursday and the aftermath that follows but I'm ready!
Can't wait to find the new me

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I'm sitting here at 4:45 am on post op day 2. I had a circumferential body lift, and liposuction to my thighs. Everything went really well. I came out of surgery feeling great. Minimal pain. The surgery took about 6.5 hours. I've stayed in the hospital 2 nights, and the nurses and staff here have been amazing! I'm at Rose hospital in Denver Colorado. I've been taking Valium every 6 hours for muscle pain, and 2 Percocet every 4-6 hours for pain, they help a lot. When resting, I feel pretty darn good. Getting up and moving is a bit awkward and painful, but is doesn't last long. It is MUCH easier to get up from a chair than a bed. I slept like a baby last night, didn't need any meds, but when I work up this morning I was really stiff, and had a hard time rolling out of the bed. I took a walk down the hall for some coffee, took some pain meds, and am now sitting in the chair and feel good.
Most of the pain or discomfort I have is in my upper abs. Feels like I did 800,000,00 sit ups, lol. There is one little spot on my incision that burns if I move just right, but goes away quickly when I correct. My back incision hasn't given me any trouble, and that was the one I was Moat worried about!
I got a very brief look at my tummy as they checked my incision yesterday, and almost started crying. My stomach is flat. No longer flabby with the fold in the middle leadin to my perpetual muffin top. My belly button is currently covered, but everything looks beautiful. I have three drains in that exit at my pubis area. They are quite the site, and make it a little awkward when using the restroom, but very manageable!
So far the Lipo to my thighs has been fine. Mostly when I sit on the toilet I feel like I've been kicked in the behind by a horse, lol!
Well, I think that's it for now. My dream is finally coming true, and I couldn't be more happy! I'll keep you all posted on my recovery and progress!
Oh yeah...Dr. Folk removed about 7 lbs of skin and fat, and 3 liters of fat from my thighs during lipo! . Amazing!!
Stats:
Highest Wright ever 285lb
Weight at sleeve (July 28 2014) 262
Preop plastics weight: 169
Hope you all have a GREAT day!

Great stuff! My ultimate physical goal is to be able to make this 14-mile round-trip hike and climb the cables to the top of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park: https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/halfdome.htm
That's the #1 item on my "Skinny Bucket List." Boarding an airplane and not having anxiety about the seat belt fitting or sitting next to a stranger is on there, too! Oh, and actually being able to buy some cool clothes (though I may still be forced to shop online for tall sizes).

food isn't your best friend. It wasn't mine either.
I love your list. You know that last one? "Love myself"? That's one you can start on right now. I remember looking in the mirror & hating my reflection. And that energy did nothing but make me feel worse. Don't beat yourself up. Please understand that food isn't your best friend - you are.

I am just starting this journey and am finding my desire and excitmemt to be sleeved, growing each day. I am also finding that a lot of my relationship with food is incredibly mental. The first week after my initial Kaiser orentation my emotions swung like a pendulum at the thought of losing essentially my "best friend". So to combat morning the loss of food, I have decided to start a "Skinny List," a bucket list to fulfil missed opportunities. Mainly all of the things I haven't been able to do because of my weight or chose not to do because I was afraid of others judgement.
I am just curious if any others have a Skinny List, and what adventures are on it!?





~My Skinny List~
Buy a Bathing Suit without a skirt/shorts
Wear said bathing suit to the beach
Take a cruise
Indoor skydiving
Trampoline Park
"Run" a 5k
Ride in a Hot Air Balloon
Go to a spa
Water/Jet Skiing
Scuba Diving
Segway Tour
Ice Skating
Wear leggings
Wear a sports bra
Wear Skinny Jeans
Wear Shorts
Shop anywhere other than LB or Torrid
Do Pushups
Not be the fat friend
Fit in a booth
Have a date on New Years
Have a Valentine
Ride a non-disney roller coaster
Not have to use a seat belt extender on a plane
Love myself

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I have Blue Cross Blue Shield and I have yet to be approved. I have completed 2 sessions with my nutritionist, 1 session with my psychologist, have completed my endoscopy, sleep study, stress test, ultrasound, and other tests, and I've read a recommended book called, "The Emotional First-Aide Kit," which was phenomenal. My insurance does indeed cover most of the surgery.
I have one or two more calls with my nutritionist and psychologist for them to determine if I'm eligible for surgery.
I'm anxious and excited.



Deanna V.

I have to say, while I believe you believe you're being supportive of your daughter, many of the comments in your post reek of judgement - judgement your daughter has no doubt picked up on.

Let's take the following 3 direct quotes from your post below - read them on their own and imagine your daughter hearing this sort of thing every day. How do you think that would make her feel? Empowered? Or judged?

"she also gives up too easily on the lifestyle change required to keep a healthy weight"

"we fear because of her previous behaviors she'll do the same and not stick to this commitment"

"we'll work with her to go the healthy route" (an insulting insinuation that what she's pursuing isn't healthy)

You say your daughter has struggled with her weight since middle school - at that young age, control over the majority of her food choices would still have been made by the adults in her life (meaning you). The fact that, despite your good choices for her, (I'm assuming you made healthy food choices for your family here but please correct me if I'm wrong) she has still struggled with her weight, should go a long way to showing you that some of this is beyond her control. That's not to say there won't be a significant amount of personal work she's going to have to do on her end to make this surgery a success, but without support from the people who purport to love her, that becomes even more difficult than it already is.

You say she has successfully gone through all her pre-op tests. That typically includes (at a minimum) months of an MD supervised diet, a full psych eval, as well as a physical and other lab work/tests. If she's been successful through all that, AND her surgeon, the insurance company, psych, nutritionist, primary care physician, etc all signed off on her decision and agree with her that this is a good option to help manage her weight - why wouldn't you be supportive of it as well??

Thank you! So happy that that part has passed

Im headed to the hospital now and I sm extremely nervous but to late to turn back now...good luck everyone!

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I am approved for surgery and have decided to tell immediate family and select friends. These forums were helpful as I considered if I should tell people and who to tell. Since many of my friends are overweight as well, I decided that that I owed it to them to be upfront about having surgery. Hope this helps as other consider how to tell.
-----------------------------------
Hello Family & Friends,
I have decided to have a type of weight loss surgery called the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy (or Gastric Sleeve). This is something I've been thinking about and looking into for nearly a year now.
This is not a quick fix, or the easy way out. The sleeve is a permanent tool to assist with making life-long changes. I've been morbidly obese for nearly 20 years and right now I am at my heaviest. I have tried countless diets and medically supervised plans but have had limited success in managing my weight. I have reached the point that that I am no longer willing to accept the physical limitations of my weight. When my insurance agreed to cover the procedure – I decided I needed to take advantage of this opportunity.
I have done a full investigation into this surgery and my surgeon, gone through all of the seminars, and have finished all the required testing. My surgery is scheduled for June 13th. The hospital and my surgeon is a Bariatric Center of Excellence. If you would like to look further into this surgery and the program I chose, please visit http://denverbariatrics.com/
At this point, I am only telling a select group of family and friends. I do not want this to be a secret however I also do not feel the need to publicly broadcast personal medical information. Your discretion with further disclosure is appreciated.
I’m excited about this next step in my life and your support would mean the world to me.

Surgeon wanted me under 200 lbs. didn't really set a goal weight for myself. But I woke up this morning and weighed in....



Pretty stoked!!!!

Spent a little time today putting together a video of my before and after pictures. I think it turned out pretty well. I'm having a ton of fun with my new grasp on life! Trying to take advantage of the opportunity to do things I could never do before.

Today I had an awesome NSV!!!

I work for the State Patrol and they are supporters of the Special Olympics. They were looking for people to run our leg of torch run. So I participated. It wasn't pretty but I got it done. From Olympic Drive in Gig Harbor to the war memorial SR16/Jackson. It was a good 4 miles. Doesn't sound like much but considering this time last year the only way I would have completed it would have been in the back of an ambulance... this was a major win for me. Not only was it a win for me but it was for an awesome cause.

Put together a new set of before and after photos.... 370lbs to 209lbs.

Still losing weight, down to 209 so I'm closing in on 1derland. Spent one day last weekend out at the barn riding with my wife. She snapped a photo and I shared it on Facebook, so many good comments from my friends. I still get a kick out of running into people and having them not recognize me. Happened twice last weekend

Thank you for the kind words! I went to my first support group yesterday. I think it was pretty good. I plan on continuing to go. Hopefully it will help me keep my head in the game. Maybe my experiences can help others who are just beginning their journey.

Been hovering around the same weight for a while now. This morning I weighed in two pounds lighter. Guess the scale isn't done yet

It is AWESOME!! I'm really happy with how things are going. I went from a size 48 jeans to a size 34 and a size 4x shirt to an XL.

It's been a while since I've posted. Thought I'd give an update. I've continued to go to the gym and eat within my surgeons plan. I'm down 155lbs now. Meals are getting easier as I learn more about what I can and cannot have.

Happy to report my blood tests came back with excellent results. The only level that was a little low was Vitamin D. But I do live in Seattle, everyone's Vitamin D is low here.

Things have slowed down a little for me, which I'm totally alright with. My nutritionist added in some more carbs and fat. I was dropping 1 to 2 pounds a day now it's much slower, about a pound every couple days. I'm down 110 pounds and feeling really good. I've been going to the gym four to five times a week and am in the best shape of my adult life. If my weight loss stopped now I would perfectly content. My surgeon would like me to get down to 200. Guess I'd be alright with that as well.
I've been using the PatchMD Vitamin patch, just had my blood drawn the other day and have an appointment with my surgeon this afternoon. Time will tell how well it's worked for me.

I just read this whole thread and I'm so inspired by your journey! Keep up the great work! You look great on that horse -- was that on your list of things to do when you lost weight?
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