Amy C.
I am 5.6”, 33 years old and was morbidly obese, weighing in at 310lbs. I have lived all of my life being overweight. I noticed that after high school, where I was involved in sports, I was getting heavier and heavier and was on a vicious cycle of dieting and regaining, plus some. I have lost about 90lbs eight years ago through nutri-system and only could keep it off for about 2 years. The weight then started to pile back, on plus an extra 50lbs, which brought me to the point that I decided to have weight loss surgery. I had diabetes, high cholesterol, slow thyroid and high blood pressure from being so overweight and from a very poor family history. I am now off all my pills,except for thyroid, since starting to lose the weight. The worst part of being overweight for me was having poor health and not being able to go to concerts or sporting events because of fear of not fitting into the seats. So to sum it up I was about 160lbs overweight and was so ready to lose the weight and keep it off forever to improve my health.
8/17/02 - I am now 5 days post op and just looking forward to each new day that comes for I am sure everything will get better with time. I am so happy the surgery and first post op week is over with. Robbie has been wonderful, she is always there whenever there is a question or concern.
8/22/02 - I had my final tube and staples removed today, thank heaven. Everything is going well and I get to go on to a regular diet on Monday.
09/14/02 - I am now 1 month, 2 days post op and am feeling great and have more energy. I'm already off all my medications for my health problems and down 35lbs so far.
11/25/02 - I am doing great and have lost 70lbs to date. I have so much energy. I can't wait for this summer because I'll be able to do so many more things then in the past. I'll be able to go on amusement park rides, water rides, go to concerts and sporting events and actually be comforable in the tiny seats. I'll update again soon.
01/02/03 - I feel so great! I am now down to 225lbs and couldn't be doing better. I excercise daily and am just loving life. Can't wait until I get under 200lbs.
04/03/03 - I am finally under 200lbs and so thrilled. I am now 190lbs and in excellent shape. I work out daily and have so much energy. I thank God everyday for how good I'm doing and for all the blessings I've been given. I also thank Dr. Peters for giving me the tool I needed to achieve my dreams.
08/12/03 - Well it's a year ago today that I had my surgery. I am now 164lbs and am doing great. I lost a total of 146lbs to date. I have about 20lbs of excess skin so I know I would really be at my goal weight. I workout atleast 5 days a week either by jogging up to 5 miles or by going on the excercise bike for a half hour at a time. I also do light weights, sit-ups, crunches and push-ups. I am now in excellent health and am doing great with all my labs.
06/04/04 - It is now almost 2 years since my surgery. I am doing fantastic and lead a very active lifestyle. I work out daily and am enjoying the new me. From lifting weights my muscles are very toned and cut. My best feature is now my arms because I always wanted strong, sexy arms like Madonna has. I actually look forward to working out every day because it is now my outlet for any stress in my life. I will try to update again soon.
08/26/04 - It is now over 2 years since my surgery and I noticed that some of the old habits try to sneak back up on me. When I get emotional I tend to turn to food still. I am now trying to break away from those terrible old habits that made me the way I used to be and realize that despite having the surgery we all still need support in rough times. I am a fitness fanatic and work out atleast 4 times a week but my eating has increased since the early stages of the surgery. I am now actually trying to diet because I have noticed that even though I excercise quite a bit I have gainned weight and some of my clothes are tight fiting. I still fear the scale and hate when I gain weight. I know I gainned muscle weight but some of it is from over eating in between meals. My only advice for newbies is that this surgery does not cure all and we are still prone to gain weight if we don't keep up on it. I am about 25lbs more then where I want to be at and am aiming to get to my goal weight of 150lbs by Christmas.
05/14/07 - I'm finally back to update my story. It's been quite awhile since I've updated and things have been good as far as no complications, thank God, but I've developed a severe drinking problem and had to go to rehab. I always liked to drink socially, perhaps always to the extreme but only did it about once a month or so. After my surgery I learned that when I drank even a very small amount I would feel GREAT! It didn't take me much to get drunk but I soon started blacking out and/or passing out and couldn't stop before that happened. I now am an active member of A.A. and realize that I have an alergy to alcohol because my life has become unmanagable. My weight has increased as well, I'm now up to 200lbs and have to get a grip to start losing weight and go in the right direction again. Hopefully things will work out. I'll update again soon.