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Pre-op, and feeling prepared. CW: 338.5 HW: 386.2 GW: 155.0
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"You're a cool kid, and we really want you around for awhile. I am going to approve you for the surgery."
Hey Team VSG/WLS,
I am Kayla, 29-years-old; live in San Diego, and work at the Symphony full-time. I freelance as a professional makeup artist for fun on the side, and am also a full-time college student. The hustle is real!
Yesterday I was approved by the SoCal division of Kaiser Permanente for the VSG surgery after my 24-week lifestyle Healthy Options program completion. I've already taken off a bit of weight, but I don't want to go into my thirties struggling with plateaued weight loss. I've lost almost fifty pounds in the last year, but am ready to kick it up a notch. Admitting you need help is a big step.
My weight loss focus began when I literally broke a bike while cruising the lakefront in Chicago and had to drag the bike on the walk of shame seven miles back to the starting point since cabbies wouldn't load it. Am a very active fatty (run marathons, yoga, swim, surf, et al.), so watching the junk food alone took of the first chunk of weight... but after years of battling medically diagnosed Binge Eating Disorder, I am used to having a mixing bowl-sized salad, and only began taking off weight again this month by replacing two meals per day with Soylent and intaking Water at 100 ounces. It's miserable; am hungry all the time.
Decided to take the next step to pursue WLS when in Istanbul, Turkey. After leaving the 8th Wonder of the World, locals extending typical Turkish hospitality asked me to sit with them for tea, and I nearly broke one of the small public stools. They had to search for a sturdier chair, and I hat to hold back tears... even though they weren't being judgmental (most of Europe has the "a body is a body" mindset, but I was still mortified). My weight hasn't stood in the way of living a full and dynamic life, but for the first time having to inconvenience a group due to my body mass was just too much.
So far, things seem to be okay with Kaiser and the surgery albeit dealing with psychological issues as they are under maintenance, and after discussing this angle with the bariatric team yesterday, they said most of us deal with exceptionally high rates of depression/anxiety/Binge Eating Disorder. Tackling it two years ago to this point... is 1) why I think I lost the first chunk of weight, and 2) that they approved the surgery.
Really looking forward to interacting with you all here. Thankful to the community I've seen already. I'm on Instagram at @fatgirlsvelte if anyone wants to follow along and support each other's journeys there.
All love,
Kayla
P.S. Here's a face with a name... in my fave plaid shirt that I bought last year, and could button up this morning all the way!