Surely you are someone outside of your surgery and struggles with our weight. You have interests and dislikes and families- jobs and hobbies. And honestly- yes it is exciting to have this stool and to be on the journey- but hasn't there been enough focus all our lives on just our weight?

I know VST is dedicated to our VSG stories, but I sort of think that who we are makes our VSG surgeries that much more meaningful.

So I'll go first...

I'm Danielle. I'm 27 and I have three sisters and one nephew. I am unmarried and have no children. I work full time running the office for a respiratory company. This semester I am also attending college full time via online classes. I'm now also trying to squeeze in going to the gym three times a week.

I suffer from PCOS and had this surgery to help increase my chances of having a family of my own one day.

I am a TOTAL girly girl! I love the color pink, I like Hello Kitty the way others like Betty Boop or Tinkerbell, and I HATE HATE HATE spiders! I'm not much of an outdoorsie person- my idea of roughing it is five girls and one bathroom. That being said I do love to garden and can't wait for spring.

I love anything to do with 16th century european history and am a total fanatical nut when it comes to Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I. My favorite movie and book of allllllllll time is Gone With the Wind. I love watching old movies with my mom- our favorites are Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, anything with Doris Day and the Tammy movies. We also make a point of watching A League of Their Own together whenever it is on tv. I'm close with my Dad but sometimes I feel like we don't have anything in common.

Prior to surgery I loved home cooked food! (Along with chinese and pizza hut haha) I still enjoy cooking for my family (One sister, my parents and I all live together for economic reasons) and resumed cooking them meals within a few days of coming home from the hospital. I have a dog, she is a chihuahua/yorkie mix. Her name is Gypsy and well... she is sort of a monster!! I <3 her tho!

Now it's your turn!! Tell us who you are!

Ok three weeks out and get to start my stage 2. It says I can have canned tuna/chicken' date=' ground meats, eggs, yogurt, applesauce, Peanut Butter etc

Anyone else eat canned chicken 21 days out? It scares me.[/quote']

I started this yesterday and am loving it!!! I pureed my canned chicken with some unsweetened applesauce, loved it!!! Just take tiny bites, and 30 or more seconds between bites....if you get too much or go too fast and it feels stuck, get up and walk a few minutes.....don't drink for a Little while though....have fun!!!

I'm glad you are getting the hang of things. Can you please keep this thread on topic though, because its good to talk about who we are apart from the surgery. There are plenty of threads about the diet stages or you can feel free to start your own. This is a long-running thread and I wouldn't like to see it derailed.

Lol I'm sorry! I will remove myself from the thread. Personally I find it annoying to have to bounce from thread to thread. I enjoy getting to know a group of people and communicating about our process. Thanks for the heads up! I'll find a thread that is welcoming to any discussion.

I'm glad you are getting the hang of things. Can you please keep this thread on topic though' date=' because its good to talk about who we are apart from the surgery. There are plenty of threads about the diet stages or you can feel free to start your own. This is a long-running thread and I wouldn't like to see it derailed.[/quote']

Wow, a little bit controlling and b**chy, don't you think?!

Lol I'm sorry! I will remove myself from the thread. Personally I find it annoying to have to bounce from thread to thread. I enjoy getting to know a group of people and communicating about our process. Thanks for the heads up! I'll find a thread that is welcoming to any discussion.

I would be happy to speak with you on ANY thread about ANY topic you may wish to discuss!! I am here to help others as much as others have helped me!!

Ok, I guess it is my turn. I am the mother of 3 grown children all with their college degrees.......very proud of them. I run the attendance office in a high school. I am married to a wonderful supportive husband for 32 years. We live by the ocean in Florida so it is my natural prozac............just sitting on the beach is an anxiety relaxer every time. I had my sleeve 5 weeks ago and am so happy that I did it. I just wish I had done it years ago. I am a saved believer in Jesus Christ and love the Lord. Life is short so I want to enjoy every moment especially now that I have 2 beautiful grandsons and 1 more on the way! My interests are simple. I love to go to the gym, bicycle, visit my family and tabulate surf competitions. My youngest daughter is a competitive surfer and very successful with it. I think I have lived one of my greatest loves which is surfing through her. I am looking forward to getting out and surfing myself. She is a surf instructor so I will find some private beach and make a fool of myself with no one else looking! I look forward to looking like the inner person that I am. Who knows what I am going to do next but I am 52 years old and will lean on the Lord and make the most of this life!!

Wow' date=' a little bit controlling and b**chy, don't you think?![/quote']

I'm sorry you feel that way.

I am Shelby!! I am 23 and I live with my NEW husband, out 2 dogs, 2 cats, and 2 guinea pigs. We just recently got married (June 22) and he's very supportive about my journey, although quit the big guy himself!! I am VERY close to my family, I lived with my parents up until I was 21. They helped me come to the conclusion of dropping out of high school when I was 16 and helped me get my GED shortly after. I've been working every since. I've had lots of jobs but no careers, so 3 years ago I enrolled in college for business management. I love bookwork and numbers and frankly, ordering people around lol. I hope to one day have a career related to... WHO KNOWS! At first I wanted to run my own restaurant but after watching close family fail at it, I know now it may not pay the best, so maybe something food/restaurant related. That being said I have a never ending love of food. My mother was a cook at a restaurant since 2 years before I was born. She taught me to respect food and how to make it last for little to no cost. My dad makes decent money drilling wells and septic systems but it seems we never had "enough", so that is why I started working at such a young age. Currently I work or a company called REM, which cares for mentally handicapped people. I am passionate about it and love making people feel good and loved! I am an animal lover of obsessive amounts lol. Growing up we have had ANY animal you can imagine. About 3 years ago the pitbull breed first came into my life and has never left. I currently have 1 full and 1 mixed pitbull and I think they are just the greatest dogs ever. I love all dogs but these guys are just special! I love the outdoors and staying active, which my weight clearly doesn't show, but I really do enjoy it. I'm a fish out of Water and love competitive weight lifting, kayaking, wake boarding, bike polo, frisbee golf, softball and camping to name a few. I have battled serious depression at such a young age and it was all centrally related to my weight and obesity. I was so big for so long that I started to LIKE how big I was, and I called myself a BBW and seeked out men who had big girl fetishes, well I am still proud of who I am but I am no longer TRYING to be a BBW, I want to be healthy and start a family very soon!!! And I want to be an active and fit mom!!!

I'm so glad to be on this journey and appreciate ANY friends or feedback to relate to!!!

SW: 324 DOSW: 322 CW: 311 surgery date-7/10/13 Sent from my iPhone using VST

Surgery is in 2 days! Scared to death....

I know that in the long run, I will not regret it! Just the fear of the unknown is making me full of anxiety.

Surgery is in 2 days! Scared to death....

I know that in the long run' date=' I will not regret it! Just the fear of the unknown is making me full of anxiety.[/quote']

Best of luck,! I think most of us went through some sort of anxiety, I am now 3 weeks out, down 18# from surgery weight and am so glad I did this!! Hang in there!!! You will do great too!!,

Here is my story,

I am a wife, mom, sister and daughter. I am 29 years old. A lover of coffee, and good beer. I currently stay home with our two son's, before that I worked in the construction industry. Which is where I met my hubby, he was my boss...scandal, I know. Although I do not believe in perfection in a general way, my life is very close. I love my family, my marriage (most days), God, even the 2 huge dogs that came with my husband. I would not want to change anything, except...

My weight.

I have never been labeled a 'string-bean', I was more in the 'big boned' category, or rather 'husky'. I weighed 120lbs in sixth grade. Just to give you an idea. I played sports until I graduated, mostly soccer. I played on select teams so It was a year round thing. When I stopped playing soccer, I gained weight, obviously. It did not help I moved to Seattle and lived in a house with friends and partied all the time. I resorted to diet pills. And crazy diets. My weight was on a roller coaster for years. In 2006 I weighed 150lbs, which I thought I would maintain forever. I had sworn off junk food and vowed to never get so heavy again. Well, I am here aren't I? I met my now husband, we ate, drank, and married. We both gained weight. He stopped soda and added more veggies, and he lost weight super fast. I on the other hand did not. I have been on a the scale incline since. Add two babies, 15 months apart and now this roller coaster hasn't started the down hill part.

Now I am here. Somewhere in the 260's. Diabetes, hypertension and the like are knocking on my door. I don't have them yet, but I will if something does not change. My feet ache. Worse than just plain sore. I walk like a 90 year old when I first get up. My knees hurt, my back hurts. I am too young for this. I have tried every diet you have heard of. I lose weight for like a month or two and then I gain it back. I am so fed up with all of it. My aunt had the gastric band a couple years ago. She looks great. The best she has ever looked. I told her how great she looks and her reply was "I wish I would have felt this great in my 30's" I asked if she had any regrets and she said "yes", "I wish I had done it sooner"

I started looking into weight loss surgery a year or so ago. I settled on the gastric sleeve, for many reasons. I found a doctor who operates out of a hospital here in Seattle. Our insurance will not cover this so cost was a concern but we ruled out Mexico, again for many reasons. And we found Dr. Hunter. I have met his staff and have done all the 'testing' to qualify for surgery. I meet Dr. Hunter 8/16/13 and my surgery will be September 4th, 2013.

There is a lot to come in the following months. I am nervous, excited, and everything in between.

Here is my story' date='

I am a wife, mom, sister and daughter. I am 29 years old. A lover of coffee, and good beer. I currently stay home with our two son's, before that I worked in the construction industry. Which is where I met my hubby, he was my boss...scandal, I know. Although I do not believe in perfection in a general way, my life is very close. I love my family, my marriage (most days), God, even the 2 huge dogs that came with my husband. I would not want to change anything, except...

My weight.

I have never been labeled a 'string-bean', I was more in the 'big boned' category, or rather 'husky'. I weighed 120lbs in sixth grade. Just to give you an idea. I played sports until I graduated, mostly soccer. I played on select teams so It was a year round thing. When I stopped playing soccer, I gained weight, obviously. It did not help I moved to Seattle and lived in a house with friends and partied all the time. I resorted to diet pills. And crazy diets. My weight was on a roller coaster for years. In 2006 I weighed 150lbs, which I thought I would maintain forever. I had sworn off junk food and vowed to never get so heavy again. Well, I am here aren't I? I met my now husband, we ate, drank, and married. We both gained weight. He stopped soda and added more veggies, and he lost weight super fast. I on the other hand did not. I have been on a the scale incline since. Add two babies, 15 months apart and now this roller coaster hasn't started the down hill part.

Now I am here. Somewhere in the 260's. Diabetes, hypertension and the like are knocking on my door. I don't have them yet, but I will if something does not change. My feet ache. Worse than just plain sore. I walk like a 90 year old when I first get up. My knees hurt, my back hurts. I am too young for this. I have tried every diet you have heard of. I lose weight for like a month or two and then I gain it back. I am so fed up with all of it. My aunt had the gastric band a couple years ago. She looks great. The best she has ever looked. I told her how great she looks and her reply was "I wish I would have felt this great in my 30's" I asked if she had any regrets and she said "yes", "I wish I had done it sooner"

I started looking into weight loss surgery a year or so ago. I settled on the gastric sleeve, for many reasons. I found a doctor who operates out of a hospital here in Seattle. Our insurance will not cover this so cost was a concern but we ruled out Mexico, again for many reasons. And we found Dr. Hunter. I have met his staff and have done all the 'testing' to qualify for surgery. I meet Dr. Hunter 8/16/13 and my surgery will be September 4th, 2013.

There is a lot to come in the following months. I am nervous, excited, and everything in between.[/quote']

Congrats on your decision and date!! You will be joining us on the losers bench very soon!!!

Hi, My name is Melissa. I am 59 years old , a widow with 2 grown daughters. I live in northern New Jersey. I put on over 40 lbs since my husband passed 10 years ago, my weight climbed to 238lbs and have struggled to take it off. I started looking into weight loss about 3 years ago, but my insurance company declined me since I did not have a 5 year history documented with a physician. I went to the dr. regularly after that, and am happy to say that my insurance company approved my surgery July 3rd and Ihad surgery on July 15th.... I am feeling good and have lost a total of 20lbs since the day I found out that I was getting the surgery (6 lbs prior to the surgery and 14 lbs since the surgery).

Good for you Melissa.

I'm 48, army brat, married (2005), no children and have 3 dogs and a cat. Love reading, traveling and going to the dog park (so many dogs, so little time ). Favorite comedians are Kathleen Madigan and Gabriel Englesias. Generally pretty liberal; have friends from all walks of life. Have a somewhere techy job; been with the same company for over 13 years and generally like it. I like food (duh)...Korean, Thai, Ethiopian, pretty much everything. Like to cook (my mom says I'm good at it lol). Think life should be an adventure.

Shel in Kansas - Sleeved 5/21/13