Hi My name is Marina and i had my sleeve done on May 10th at 9 am and was finally able to come home the following night! I am 5 days post op and really felt alone until i stumbled across this forum!! For the past 3 days i have just been stalking everyone's chats... but now i'm ready to tell my own story. I am 35 years old , married with 2 children. I am 5'81/2" tall and before i started the process in nov '11, i weighed at my heaviest 335 pounds. My decision to make a change? 2 reasons 1. Well,, my best friend had bypass done a few years back and after a year of healing she is now running marathons and is the happiest i've ever seen her!! However, she did have difficulties with iron deficiencies and had to have transfusions for a few months. So i did my research and decided i would pursue the sleeve ! 2nd reason.. one day while i was driving home after picking my son up from daycare, my son asked me.."mommy , all my friends in school say you are fat?" I know , i know, kids are brutally honest even at 3 years old... but it hurt like hell. I grew up all my life with kids tormenting me and i just let it roll off my back.. or just went and grabbed a burger to make the hurt go away, or better yet.. chimed in with the kids and made fun of myself for being fat .. but hearing it from own kid.. i knew right there that i had to make a change. I started my journey Nov 7 , 2011 with all the nutrtionist visits, meetings etc.. and May 10th was the big day! I went home weighing in at 303 #s.. mainly the weightloss was because of the 2 weeks preop of liquid diet i had to do.. that was hard!! I just want to tell everyone that i am excited to be on here and be a part of a group who have had the same struggles as myself! I go to the doctor on may 18th.. so hopefully more weight has fallen since then!! ( we dont own a scale in our house!) I now understand what head hunger is.. I am not hungry but i find myself wanting to just taste everything .. becuase i cant have it.. or more than likely becuase i've been on a clear liquid diet since april 26th!! I'm sick of the clear liquid diet. lol.. Well thank you everyone for listening to me and again I love that there is so much support from everyone!! Oh.. for those of you pre-op wondering what to expect.. soreness on my right side.. doctor said it is because that is where they took out the stomache .. dont be a hero take your pain meds when you are supposed to , it'll help you function better and walk more.. walk , walk , walk... sip .. sip... sip... lol... thats what i'm doing now.. Good luck everyone!!

Congrats and welcome!!! What part of Maryland are you in?

I live in Reisterstown Maryland! you??

Marylander hear as well... In san antonio right now heading to Mexico for surgery Thursday morning with Dr. Alvarez.. Self pay and Johns Hopkins Bayview way too expensive..

Marylander hear as well... In san antonio right now heading to Mexico for surgery Thursday morning with Dr. Alvarez.. Self pay and Johns Hopkins Bayview way too expensive..

Good LUCK!!! you'll do great!!