Who Are You?

[BeccaR 7]

Adam loved hearing your story hope your doing well this week keep me posted

[sharon1952 2]

Hi my name is sharon. I am 61 and have struggled with my weight since 2004. I broke my ankle bowling and surgery was done to repair the break. Only healing never happened and in 2008 after 17 surgeries they took my leg. More of the same happened and to date I have had 27 surgeries. Each time in bed 6 weeks. So I learned how to make myself happy by watching TV and eating. Well got to a whopping 308 pounds. I knew things could not go on.. I was sleeved on Sept 15. I was not sure it was the right thing to do. But 3 weeks later I am 278. Wow down 30 pounds. I am grateful for the surgery and also for finding this Web site

[Butterbeanfly 19]

I am 45, have three kids, 26, 15, 12. Married to my second husband since 2006. He is the only one I count. I have a BFA in fine art and a BA in ceramics. So of course I am an accountant, lol. I groomed dogs for many years until my wrists gave up. Sucks because I was really good at it. I now have three dogs we show in rally and obedience.

I miss my clay and my studio. I do a lot of crafty stuff to fill the gap so if you need a crochet hat I am your girl. It is something that bothers me a lot and a big NSV I want is to re establish my studio and be an artist again even if it's only weekends.

Having surgery November 12. It's taken since April to get here. Just so many obstacles.

My husband is awesome. I am not worried about his support. He is paying for surgery and a few years ago I lost down to 145 on medifast but it came back. He loves me fit or fluffy thank god. He had prostate cancer surgery in February. All is well health wise but intimacy is not a go at this time. Still healing. Makes me sad, but I know we will get there together and the cancer is gone which gives us the time to do so.

So I am a wife, a mom, a puppy caretaker and I try to be a really good person. Hoping for my health to return quickly. I am tired of dragging this weight around.

Best wishes to all! Vicki

[sharon1952 2]

Well here I go. I was never Obie until after 2004. I was always active bowling, riding my horse fishing camping the sky was the limit. Then on Friday night bowling I fell and broke my ankle. It took surgery to repair a day that is when the nightmare

began. After numerous surgeries the had to amputate my leg just below the knee. I thought well I will learn to use the leg and life will resume. But not for me. To date I had 26 surgeries on my leg. During that time while laying around and in a wheel chair the pounds flew on. I made it to 308 pounds. Then I thought you do not look that bad. Then we were in a hotel that had a full mirror in front of the bed. I could see just how big I had become. I knew something has to be done. I did

All diets did weight watchers, and then paid 1500.00 to slime ics. No go I meet Dr Snyder and he changed my life. I had the sleeve on Sept 15 and have lost 30 pounds in three weeks. I use to hate the scales but I want to get on them every day cause they are in reverse. I fell so good. Can not wait to buy smaller clothes.

[Dajones 46]

I'm a 46 year old single woman. I work for a municipality and have been in this field since college graduation. I lead a fairly active lifestyle, but not as active as I would like. My weight is beginning to cause me to sit on the couch more than I'd prefer. I play golf and I own a boat and love to fish. These activities take energy and well-being, of which I have very little, more mentally than anything.

I've been on several diets over the last 20 years and have lost a ton of weight, only to gain it back plus 10 pounds. I chose the VSG because it will force me to change my unhealthy lifestyle. It will cause me to change my eating habits and think twice about EVERYTHING that crosses my lips.

[OnePhatWhoDat 54]

I'm a 46 year old single woman. I work for a municipality and have been in this field since college graduation. I lead a fairly active lifestyle, but not as active as I would like. My weight is beginning to cause me to sit on the couch more than I'd prefer. I play golf and I own a boat and love to fish. These activities take energy and well-being, of which I have very little, more mentally than anything.

I've been on several diets over the last 20 years and have lost a ton of weight, only to gain it back plus 10 pounds. I chose the VSG because it will force me to change my unhealthy lifestyle. It will cause me to change my eating habits and think twice about EVERYTHING that crosses my lips.

You could be my "twin"! I don't share the same hobbies, but I read this post, and I said, "Wow!" I, too have been in the same field since graduation, and I'm 45 and single. Good luck to you. I'm scheduled for October 15.

[brennyjill 1]

Hi. My name is Brenda and I am a survivor of the gastric sleeve surgery. I say survivor because I almost died from it. I had surgery July 23,2013 and was cleared to go home the following day after they did the swallow test. I started running a fever 10 days later, called my doctor and go in to see him about a week later. I was told, by the doctor himself, that he never had anyone have trouble with this surgery; and because he didn't correct the problems, he sent me to another doctor at a different hospital. I had a hole in my stomach and the infection was spreading through my body. The next doctor, explained that he would place a stent in my stomach and that would take care of it. This surgery took place on a Friday night and he went home for the weekend, failing to leave an order for something to keep me from vomiting every 5 minutes for the next 48 hours. Two weeks later, I was so weak I couldn't get up off the sofa myself and could barely get to the bathroom when I needed to go, which wasn't often because I wasn't able to eat or drink without throwing up. I went by ambulance to the local ER and that is when my mind shut down. I don't remember anything about the hospital until I woke up in ICU. My body was full of infection, my lung had collapsed and was full of infection and I had another hole in my stomach and one in my esophagus. I spent several days in ICU and then was told that there wasn't a doctor in my town who could 'fix' my problem and would need to go to St. Louis to Barnes. My son works with a company there that deals a lot with doctors and he was able to find a doctor who could help and was willing to take me on. This doctor is a thoracic surgeon and he saved my life, literally! I was taken by ambulance to Barnes and this doctor and his fellows were in my room within the hour. I was taken into surgery again where he had to scrape out the infection from my lung and put 2 drain tubes into it. Then he flipped me over and dealt with the hole in the esophagus, putting another drain into it. He also had to put a feeding tube in because I was unable to eat or drink anything for the next three months. In total, I came out of that surgery with 7 tubes coming out of my body and it was 6 months before the last one was removed. The incision in my stomach to repair the holes became infected several times and I had to have a wound vac on for 3 or 4 months. Every time it got infected, I had to go back into surgery to have it cleaned out. I ended up having 10 surgeries, spending 10 months of my life in and out of the hospital and then rehab facilities. I was on deaths door three different times during all of this and was begging God to let me die. He isn't done with me yet, so I am still here:) I spent 10 months in bed, too weak to even sit in a chair for more than half an hour at a time. When I finally did start feeling better I wasn't able to stand up without passing out, I was too weak. I would even pass out in my wheelchair when I was working with physical therapy, sitting down. I have been home since Mother's Day this past May and I am finally done with PT. I have a long ways to go; my stamina is very low and I tire quickly when I am up doing things around the house. I have taken over the cooking and laundry again, which thrills my hubby to no end. I can be up about a half hour working before I have to rest. People have asked for the good the bad and the ugly but I have found they really don't want to hear the ugly truth. But, if I can save someone from what I have been through I will keep telling my story. I have an appt on the 20th with an attorney. I have huge medical bills because someone did something wrong, maybe 2 somebodies and I need help paying them off. I lost almost a year of my life laying in bed wishing for death, my family was put through hell right along with me. Someone needs to be held accountable. I do love the new me; I have lost over 150 lbs and have gone from a size 32 to a 16. Sometimes I see myself in the mirror and have to ask myself who is that? Would I do it again? NO!!!!!
Thanks for letting me share.

[ChanteurSF 18]

So...The journey begins.

My name is Michael. I am 40 years old. I am a single gay man working as a professional singer and arts educator.

I began to take on excess weight in the mid/latter part of middle school. My first attempt at weight loss was in the 7th grade. My parents sent me to Diet Center. I am quite sure that began the shame cycle.

Fast forward to 2004. In July of 2004, I suffered a profound and significant personal loss. I have struggled over this time to deal with an extreme, and debilitating level of grief. During this time I saw the greatest amount of yo-yo-ing with my weight.

In March 2014, I found a new physician with Kaiser. My left changed forever. This doctor became a true, supportive, non-judgmental partner in my wellness. For any, and all, health concerns, we approached it as something that WE need to deal with. We began to treat my depression, and within 3 weeks of starting an anti-depressant, I lost 8 pounds. In July of this year, I suffered another significant personal loss, 4 days after the 10 year anniversary of my previous loss. In addition, I watched someone in my family suffer the devastating complications of a massive stroke. After some soul searching in August, I approached my doctor and said I was ready to explore surgical options for weight loss.

I attended my first orientation at Kaiser, South San Francisco. I then received my referral to attend the next major orientation. To date, I have attended my pre-classes, a support group, and an appointment with the Dietitian. I have my surgical consult in 3 weeks, and my psych appointment the following week.

I began using the suggested bariatric food plan after my orientation meeting on September 23. As of October 8, during my meeting with the dietitian, I discovered that I lost 17 pounds. I am now officially, since March 6, down 41 pounds.

I am looking forward to my surgical meeting and beginning the next steps in my journey. I am also looking to connecting with the members of this site, so as to add new partners in my health and wellness journey.

[woo woo 872]

@ Thank you for sharing your story.

It sounds like you are really poised for success with this process, and you are off to a wonderful start. Welcome!!

[Mander1112 9]

Hi, I'm Amanda. I'm 21 years old and am going to have surgery after Christmas, which is a scary scary thought. I'm a student majoring in Elementary Education and Moderate Disabilities. I work on a farm which is too fun for words and it forces me to be active. I have a wonderful, large family that are 100% supportive. I love to go out with my friends just like any other 21 year which is going to be a hard habit to break after surgery. I mean I just turned 21 and I'm a senior in college!! But I know this will be worth it in the long run. Just like some of you have stated, I'm a girly girl but definitely have a Tom boy side. I love sports, football in particular and I'm also a Disney freak (yes, frozen included) but my favorite is Peter Pan. I'm looking forward to having surgery but like I said, scared.

[Mander1112 9]

Hi, I'm Amanda. I'm 21 years old and am going to have surgery after Christmas, which is a scary scary thought. I'm a student majoring in Elementary Education and Moderate Disabilities. I work on a farm which is too fun for words and it forces me to be active. I have a wonderful, large family that are 100% supportive. I love to go out with my friends just like any other 21 year which is going to be a hard habit to break after surgery. I mean I just turned 21 and I'm a senior in college!! But I know this will be worth it in the long run. Just like some of you have stated, I'm a girly girl but definitely have a Tom boy side. I love sports, football in particular and I'm also a Disney freak (yes, frozen included) but my favorite is Peter Pan. I'm looking forward to having surgery but like I said, scared.

[Tiffleigh 7]

Shannon K I am just starting, and the Drs are calling me Monday to let me know my date. Tleigh1669@gmail.com email me I'd love to talk more. Tiffany

[trisey 17]

I'm 21 years old post op.I'm already down to 261, when I intially started I was 310. My family is super supportive. My mom had a bypass when I was 7 so she and my husband have been my rock. I never really had an issue with my weight until after my son was born in 2011. It became so hard to lose the weight. On top of that I take medication that makes it nearly impossible to keep weight off. I never thought about bariatric surgery. But once I found out about it it became fixated on my mind. I would goggle all day looking at post op patients and their success and wanting it so bad to be mine. Finally went and sat down with a surgeon and found out my insurance COMPLETELY covered it and listent o the pros and cons and decided what the hell let's do this thing. Now I'm almost 2 weeks post op (October 1st was my date) and I'm happy and energized. A little frustrated because I can't eat like I use to but when I step on that scale I quickly think man forget them chips look at this scale.

[Tiffleigh 7]

Good news everyone I just found out my surgery date this morning!!! I'm 45yrs old and was married for 20yrs and had 3 beautiful children. Twins Makala came into the world first then 14mins later her brother Matthew came into the world. It was a natural birth and I was actually overdue and had to be induced!! I started putting on weigh after that and then 5yrs later we had a son Jacob and then the weight came on more and more. I went to Weight WATCHERS and lost a lot of weigh, but it to return. Then 5yrs ago I got divorced and I haven't driven since so for the first 2yrs I took the bus and walked everywhere and was down to a sizing 18 20 and felt healthy. Then I met my soul mate and he did all the cooking and told me I needed to eat more and I did, and put ona about 150lbs. 6months ago I decided on Sleeve surgery. I've lost 33lbs since Nov. But 5 months ago my knees started hurting really bad and had a MRI done and I have severe arthritis in both knees. The Dr gave me shots in my knees and I have 3 months to go to get the shots again and they are starting to hurt really bad again. Its hard to do stairs, so I'm going to walk my apt halls

Wish me luck everyone as I wish everyone good luck too

[Kiki2004 24]

@@Tiffleigh if you click my avatar and go to my profile and click "my story" you will see we have something in common i will pray your journey is textbook and you get relief from your pain