Shae

I am a wife, Mother, and Grandmother. My biological children are 11 and 16 and my step sons are 27 and 28. My grandson is almost 4.

I have been overweight since I was 8 years old. I slimmed down a bit when I got pregnant with my son (145 when I got pregnant, 154 when I delivered, 127 when I left the hospital) and balooned after my emergency C-Section with my daughter. I got up to about 185 about two years after her birth and then decided to quit smoking. I balooned again after transferrring my addiction to food. I stayed between 203 and 208 for about two years then just went up and up and up to a highest weight of 258 in July of 2011.

I had been researching the VSG for about 5 years. I saw three surgeons, talked with numerous doctor's offices and was told each time that I would need to pay full price with no "complications" package included. All tried to push me toward the LapBand or the GB.

I found this website back in January of 2011 and Tiffykins informed me that I could likely have the surgery at a Military Treatment Facility since my husband is retired from the Marine Corps and we have TriCare Prime. I called my local MTF and they said that they did not have a bariatric department. I later discovered that the Bariatric Surgeons actually work in General Surgery.

I was finally sleeved on 10/19/11 by Dr. Layten at Keesler Medical Center, Keesler AFB in Biloxi, MS. This is only 15 mins from my house.

My journey thus far has been a roller coaster ride but this site has answered so many of my questions and has given me insights that I could never have gotten from all the slim people in my life.

Today I am only 30 days 60 days post-op and really looking forward to each new day rather than dreading getting out of the bed in the morning. Food is no longer in control of me, I am in control of what I eat and the sleeve controls how much.

07/??/2011 : 258 lbs

10/19/2011 : 240 lbs

11/18/2011 : 224 lbs

12/19/2011 : 214 lbs