Hey I am new to this site and figured I would give it a try. I am 24 years old and from New York. In March of 2011 I had decided I wanted to get the gastric sleeve done after trying to lose weight and struggling I had thought this was something I had to do with being only 23 years old and 285 pounds. At this time my mother had also chosen to have the sleeve done and we were going to do this together we had picked the same surgeon. I was going to have my surgery about a month before my mother so I would have time to recover to help her as she was going to help me. My surgery day was April 5th 2011 which was my mothers birthday and I picked it because my mother had told me the best gift I could ever give her was making myself healthy. The day of surgery I will admit I was so afraid this was the first time I had ever been to the hospital for something other then a little issue. I remember walking to the operating room and shaking and thinking I made a mistake then kissed my parents and went into the room where I was so afraid. My surgeon then came in and let me know I was doing the best thing for me and next thing I knew I woke up yelling what did I do why would I let them do this to me my surgeon then came over to me and told me I'm fine and see if I felt the same one year from now. I then came home 2 days later and I will admit was a struggle I had an issue with my sugars dropping and I mentally was still having an issue with what I did and how could I live on liquids, my parents were very supportive during this time where I would cry at times or lash out at them. Little by little I then came to realize this is what I needed and I was ok and I could do this. Little by little the pounds came off then I went to the gym and then the pounds came flying off and I was getting back to my normal life going out with my friends and enjoying myself. About 5 and a half months later the weight was really flying off me to not realize I was actually sick. I has gotten gall stones and almost 6 months to the day I found my surgeon and myself in the same situation. My next step in my journey came 7 months and 5 days after surgery I had reached the goal of losing 100 pounds this day was one of the happiest days I had ever had. I remember getting on the scale that day and seeing the number finally come up and starting to cry because I never thought this could happen. My sleeve is the best thing I had every done. I still have moments where I struggle but the struggle is mentally. I still wake up some says thinking I'm still the 285 pound girl I was or I look in the mirror and still think to myself when will I be skinny or I always pictured what my life would be and how it would change when I lost weight and I feel it's not what I imagined but still deep down I know I had done the best thing for myself which is giving myself a second chance of really enjoying my life. I realize my story is kind of long but actually writing this has helped me to feel better about some of the issues I still struggle with.

how did the gall bladder removal go? how did your moms surgery go? congrats on begining your new life.

My gall bladder went fine and have had zero problems since. My moms went well also. Thanks

Glad to hear everything turned out okay in the end with you and your mom. Losing over a hundred pounds is an awesome accomplishment. Congratulations and I hope you find support that you need from these boards. I have found them very helpful. Even if you don't always comment on other posts, reading situations that you have been in or are going through is very helpful. Best of luck to you.

If you do not mind me asking......you said "it is not what you imagined", in what way?

Sadly I live in a part of New York that is very much based off of how you look what you wear let's just say its very much a place where your looks are everything. Being heavy most of my life I always would think to myself if I could just lose weight I'd be like all of the other girls I see or even better I would be like all of my friends I wouldn't be the "fat" friend any more or I wouldn't be the one never with a boy friend because I'd be so happy with myself id find someone. When the time came to losing the 100 pounds everything was still the same nothing changed I feel I still go out with all my friends and still at times feel like the "fat" friend

it takes a while for your mind to catch up with your body

your mind still thinks of you as fat, while others see somthing different. you might try doing some counceling on how to improve your self image/esteem.

you are young, you have your whole life ahead of you, and you have done a terrific thing for yourself. make sure to go out and buy the nice clothes that you have always wanted to wear, and go out with your friends to those places that you have always wanted to go. you are worth it.

Welcome to the forum, I think this is one of the most supportive and informative environments you can find. There is always someone here at the same place in their journey as you are. You story is really inspirational Congrats on the great weight loss and recovering from two surgeries! It is just awesome how far both you and your mother have come.

its so funny that u should say that. i weigh 272 but when i look in the mirror, i still see the girl that used to wear asize 6! i live in westcheater ny & i feel like the fat girl on the block! i hate it but hopefully ill be sleeved soon! aiming for dec 20th

Sadly I live in a part of New York that is very much based off of how you look what you wear let's just say its very much a place where your looks are everything. Being heavy most of my life I always would think to myself if I could just lose weight I'd be like all of the other girls I see or even better I would be like all of my friends I wouldn't be the "fat" friend any more or I wouldn't be the one never with a boy friend because I'd be so happy with myself id find someone. When the time came to losing the 100 pounds everything was still the same nothing changed I feel I still go out with all my friends and still at times feel like the "fat" friend

I'm so glad your doing well and your mom too! Keep up the great work

Thank you everyone for the support. Yea sometimes I feel great about my looks and other days I'm not the only positive thing is when I feel down it motivates me to go to the gym and work out the stress and clear my mind

:welcome:

Hi, and welcome to the forum! Wow, you have accomplished so much, and done so well with your weight loss, congrats!!! Yes, I know what you mean, we always tend to think our weight is the root of all our problems, but when we lose weight, we find out that things are still difficult, we can still suffer from self-esteem problems, and losing weight doesn't magically make everything perfect. There are going to be struggles no matter what size we are. We still have difficult emotions to deal with, and it's a big change to find other ways to deal with these emotions and stress. You said it motivates you to go to the gym, and that's great, not only for helping with the weight loss and your stamina, but a great way to relieve stress. Your story is very inspiring, thanks for sharing. I hope you enjoy this forum as much as I do!

Thank you very much. My hospital has meetings for post op patients which I'm really looking forward to going to and this site is helping even though I have great support from all of my friends and family I feel that they can't not fully relate even though my mom is going on the same journey we've had different experiences from each other. I do get motivated to go to the gym but part of me knows some of its not positive motivation so I need to work on that