TeeBeau

For me it wasn't one specific incident, rather a series of incidents. Doctors over the years have suggested WLS but I never had insurance that would cover it. Maybe 8 or so years ago a little boy (maybe 4 years old) at church looked at my husband and I and asked his mom why we were so fat. I had a baby 5 years ago and I want to be able to do all the things with her (amusement parks, Girls on the Run, soccer, ice skating, travel adventures in general). Trying to do some basic home improvement projects last summer completely exhausted me--should not have been as exhausting as it was. I love yoga and I want to be able to do some poses without having to manually push my belly flab out of the way. In late 2016 I got a new job in a new state with new insurance and new doctor who suggested I'd be a great candidate for VSG. I said no. Fast forward to last July, and I told same doctor I had been thinking about what she said about VSG and had been doing research and asked for a referral. She gladly made the referral and I've gone through the six month preop program at the surgeon's office with surgery scheduled next month. I've lost around 45 pounds on the preop program. My daughter weighs 45 pounds. When she asks me to carry her, I barely can for very long and I can't believe that I used to carry around 45 extra pounds on my person every single day. Not again. I'm done with that.

I'm preop (VSG scheduled for 3/12/19) but joined a gym near my house that is affiliated with the hospital so I'd have a safe and climate-controlled place to exercise after surgery. I figured I'd start preop to be as strong as possible going into surgery. I go every morning before work and on weekends and I do various things. Some days are 15 to 20 minute warm up on treadmill, track, elliptical, or bike followed by upper body resistance machines or lower body resistance machines and core, with 15 to 30 minute easy walk to cool down. Other days are like rest days and I just walk 60 minutes on the track. My plan is to hire a trainer at the gym after surgery and when I have clearance to do full activity again. I would like to do more functional fitness things and free weights but I don't know what I'm doing, so I'll hold on that until after surgery when i can work with a trainer in earnest. I also want to take some of the group fitness classes that are offered if I can adjust my schedule at work. I view the gym and workouts as part of my toolkit to be successful, just like they say the sleeve is a tool.

March 12 for me. I've gone from impatient and annoyed to scared and ready to chicken out to feeling very much at ease with my decision now. I began the process toward the end of July 2018 and I had to participate in 6 months of dieting and nutrition, take 6 exercise classes, attend a group support meeting, pass a psych eval, attend certain education classes. I'll meet with the surgeon again on Feb 22 and then start a two-week liquid liver shrink diet on Feb 26. I've been overweight or obese since birth and I'm 45 years old. I'm looking forward to achieving and maintaining a normal weight for the next 45.