Musings.................

[Maisey 260]

As of today, I am down 120 lbs. from my highest weight. My HW was 374 when I had my first appointment with a new endocrinologist in July 2019. My A1C was creeping up again and I was put on Victoza. I made a conscious effort beginning at that point, to maximize the weight loss side effect of the medication. I lost about 60 lbs. by the end of the year. In January 2020, my insurance began to cover WLS. I had my first appointment that month. The process of classes, doctor visits and supervised weight loss was going to take a minimum of 6 months. The insurance and program mandated everything was done through program providers. There was no option to see my local doctor or dietician. Covid slowed down my progression and I also made the choice not to rush to surgery when it first became available again. By the fall, I was ready to proceed. I managed to not gain a tremendous amount back (about 8-10 lbs.) but wanted to stop the trend. I decided to schedule surgery for right before the holidays so I could minimize the time off from work for recovery. I weighed 325 on the day of surgery on 12/14/20. Today, I am 254.

Surgery was relatively easy for me. I had post-op discomfort, but no pain. I was able to tolerate and progress through food stages as expected. I’ve not been hungry or overly full since surgery. I do experience old, bad habits trying to creep in at times. I know that is always going to be the case. Surgery did not eliminate my want for food nor the thought of how nice it would be to eat large quantities again. That will also be an on-going battle. The hardest daily thing for me is not to eat and drink at the same time and then to wait until time has passed before I drink again. Eating slowly and thoroughly chewing has been a challenge (with sometimes painful reminders) but I am gradually getting more mindful.

I feel better than I have in years. I don’t remember the last time I weighed 250. I would like to get to 180 but don’t know if that is achievable or realistic to maintain. We’ll see. I’m tall so that weight would put me just slightly over normal weight. I recently had 3 month labs run. Everything was normal and my T2 diabetes is currently in remission. I stopped all diabetes meds the day of surgery. The pressure was lowered on my CPAP but there is still a need for it.

I’m not done. Even if I never lost another pound, I’m happy with the changes and the regaining of health. One of my primary motivators was the desire to not lose mobility. I’m fortunate that I’ve never had any issues with mobility but I could see the writing on the wall if I stayed the way I was or continued to gain.

I did not want to have to participate in any of the pre-surgery preparation. I just wanted to have surgery and be done. I thought I knew all there was to know. And while I did know a lot going in, I really did learn things and have benefitted from listening and following the plan provided. I did not want to weigh, measure or track my food. But I did (and continue to) and it’s paying off. I’m troubled sometimes by questions that I read on this board and it leads me to wonder about the quality (or lack of) preparation that other programs offer. It makes me grateful that for once, I listened and learned.

What I take away from this board is the wisdom and experience of others who are going through the WLS process now and those veterans who share strategies that have helped. I try remember that everyone’s experiences are slightly different but I still look for common themes (same process I use when I read vacation/resort reviews).

Edited April 15, 2021 by Maisey

[lizonaplane 1,605]

Thanks for sharing your journey so far!

[DoodlesMom 98]

"I feel better than I have in years."-- Congratulations on the weight loss and feeling better! You should be so proud of yourself 😁 and diabetes remission? Woot Woot!

It's great to hear your recovery went smoothly.

"I’m troubled sometimes by questions that I read on this board and it leads me to wonder about the quality (or lack of) preparation that other programs offer."-- It really is shocking and sad how some people feel abandoned, or mention a lack of support or resources from their programs/teams especially when you consider their teams know patients do better with an all-inclusive approach vs. a limited scope.

Good luck! You're doing so great!