I'm Cheryl and I'm thrilled to have found this online community and have been reading your posts! This is my first, so to start I'll tell you a little about me and my journey.

I'm a retired public high school counselor who lives in central New Jersey in a beautiful little town on the Delaware River. I love it here and I love my home, my family (teenage daughter, husband and grown steps, and their children) and I love being retired. Being a school counselor was great, but now on with another show!

I've basically always been overweight or obese since early childhood except for short periods when I was in a growth spurt. My weight increased throughout my life: in my teens (1970's) I weighed 170 lbs.+ and my highest weight was 318 lbs. in May 2014. There were many different "diets", many losses of 40 lbs. or more and inevitable regains of even more weight. After the birth of my daughter in 1998 I stopped the yoyo-ing. Basically I had decided that if I couldn't succeed in keeping off the weight, I wouldn't keep killing myself trying. But you know how that comes out...I just kept gaining! I hated exercise. And it got worse and worse.

Throughout the years I developed hypertension, sleep apnea, atrial fibrillation, fatty liver, joint issues (two hip replacements, arthroscopic knee surgery, ankle surgery). I was watching myself slowly dying! And finally I made the decision to reclaim my life, found the greatest surgeon and program, and had the sleeve in Sept. '14. I am ecstatic that I did it! I've lost 78 pounds to date and made huge changes. Eating better (and lots less of course), joined a great fitness club with my very supportive hubby and we go 4 or 5 times a week. I'm so much stronger! I work with a personal trainer a half hour a week (critical for me since I knew nothing about exercise, fitness and how to maximize it for myself with known joint issues). I feel better than I have in 30 years!

Yeah...I have moments when I'm not so sure I can do this, but mostly, not! Because I am (doing it). And nothing succeeds like success.

So.........there it is. My journey in a tiny capsule, so far.

If you're pre-op, please let this be one story to quell your fears. I had them. We all do! But I can say that it has been the most positive life-affirming choice I have ever made to have this surgery.

Looking forward to hearing more from all of you!

Welcome! This is a great community and I think you can find lots of support and info here. Take your time and get to know the forums. So many friendly people going through every stage of this journey!

Thanks for sharing your story. I live in south Jersey!

I am 8 days post op & am happy to report my recovery has been absolutely flawless. Best decision.

Best of luck to you on this journey!

Hello! Thanks for sharing. It's a wonderful journey isn't it

Hi there,

I am fairly new to the forum myself and I am in the pre-op stages of scheduling appointments, meeting with the nutritionist and working on a plan of minimizing my food intake a bit, not drinking 30 mins before and after eating, taking the time to chew my food and I must say its very hard - I am hoping that it will get easier post-op.

@@jadama22

When I was where you are in the process I found lots of it overwhelming, but if you ask questions and do what your doctor and the medical team tell you, it does get much easier. Also, some things become more automatic if you practice them, like the not drinking thing and chewing well. You'll find post-op that those things will spare you grief and discomfort if you stick to them. Good luck! I know you can do it!

Agree! Congrats on the best decision!

Thank you for sharing you journey! I also am a school counselor and my surgery is one week from today... Stories like yours are so inspiring!!!

Thank you for sharing you journey! I also am a school counselor and my surgery is one week from today... Stories like yours are so inspiring!!!

At one week pre-op I was resolved but scared (which is normal). If you feel that way, know most of us did! Thanks for your response. It's nice to know people are "listening". Good luck next week and stay positive. It all went very easily for me. I wish you that same experience!