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Hello, everyone! :) I am a 32 year old female from Portland, Oregon, and I'm in the very beginning stages of my WLS journey.

I just applied last week to a clinic, was got the call on Thursday from the insurance coordinator. She said that my insurance does cover the surgery, and that I don't need to do any doctor supervised diets - the only requirement is that the insurance company wants to know an exact surgery date 6 months in advanced. So basically at my first appointment I'll get my surgery date (probably sometime in November, I'm thinking) and then the waiting will begin.

I'm 5'2 and I weight 240. I've been heavy most of the life, although in high school I was down to about 140, thanks to bulimia (not proud of that, but eating disorders definitely play a role in my weight history. I have 4 beautiful children, and last year I decided that I wanted to become a surrogate. I tried my best to get healthy and lose weight, and I went from 250 to 180. It was at this time that I was matched with an infertile couple and I started my surrogacy journey. I gained a bunch of weight due to the fertility meds I was on, and I got pregnant weighing about 200. I gained a lot of weight with that 5th pregnancy, and I delivered at about 260. Sadly, here I am 6 months later, and i'm only down about 20 pounds from when I delivered. But being able to hand an infertile couple the gift of their healthy, beautiful newborn son was by far one of the coolest moments of my life, and I will never regret doing that.

I am now officially hanging up my uterus ( ;) ) and saying no more pregnancies! It is time that I focus on me, and my health. I am so tired of my weight being such an issue for me. I hate the self loathing that I feel every time I see myself in a mirror, and see a picture of myself. I am tired of not feeling worthy to my parents, especially compared to my skinny siblings. I'm just tired of being fat.

I have a very supportive husband whom I love dearly, and I know that with him, we can do anything. I'm excited about the possibility of having this surgery done, and I'm excited about getting healthy.

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Welcome! Thanks for sharing your story. Good luck on yor journey. It is the best decision I have ever made!!

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Hello and welcome, I'm also having the sleeve in late autumn,

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Hi and welcome! You sounds like a amazing and I giving person! Good for you taking this step and giving to yourself what you have giving to others! The gift of life! You will be happy you have. Made this choice! Best Wishes!

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"Giving myself have I have given others - the gift of life."

I hadn't thought of it that way! Thank you - I love that perspective!

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Welcome! What a loving gift you gave that couple! You unselfishly sacrificed and now it's your turn to receive blessings! Good luck on your journey.

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
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    • KimBaxleyWilson

      Three months and four days ago... I was in Costa Rica having a life changing surgery! Yesterday we had a followup visit with Dr. Esmeral via video chat and this morning my middle number changed.  I'm down 47lbs and two pants sizes. I can wear a Large tshirt for the first time in like... 14 years! Woot!! Everything is going great. I have zero regrets. I went down to the riverwalk with a friend and walked 2 miles on Monday without even getting fatigued. And no more snoring or chugging pickle juice for crazy leg cramps! I need to go to the gym more... I'm making new shirts next week so that will motivate me. LOL But I'm also just not as TIRED all the time! I have a LONG way to go...but seeing the progress on the scales and in the mirror is a huge motivator!! Thank you all for cheering me on and supporting me!!
      · 0 replies
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    • bellaamey

      https://alluniqueguide.com/java-burn-coffee-reviews/
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