Misty A.

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Time has flown. I celebrated my 2 year surgiversary on 06/22/08. I was almost 9 months pregnant at the time but it was still a day that I celebrate because I know my life would not be the same had I not had surgery 2 years ago. My baby, Aliyah, was born on 08/05/08. She is now 6 weeks old. Time flies by seeing how much she changes every day. I gained 30 pounds through 9 months of pregnancy but I swelled up a LOT the last 2 weeks of pregnancy and gained 20 pounds in 2 weeks and had to stay off my feet. So technically I guess I gained 50 pounds for the pregnancy although the last 20 was all fluid that I lost the day after giving birth. I actually lost 40 of the 50 pounds in one week and am now down 45 pounds in week 6. So, I have only 5 pounds left from my pregnancy until I get back to where I was when I found out I was pregnant (which was 155 pounds). I would still like to lose 20 pounds and get to about 140 pounds but if not, I am still happy with the outcome. The excess skin I had before I got pregnant is 10 times worse after having a baby though. I really will have to have plastic surgery to have it all removed and plan eventually. I have started to "train" myself to getting back to healthy eating since I ate any and everything when I was pregnant. I am having to re learn good habits but I am getting there. I am also working on getting back to jogging. Right now I am just walking and doing 2-2.5 miles at a time. I have confidence in myself that I will be back jogging a 5k very shortly. It was something I really enjoyed and I want to go back to that. Life is very hectic with a baby now and trying to work out a schedule and routine everyday. Overall, I couldn't be happier with how things are going 2 years and now a baby later. I want to wish everyone on the journey much success and just stay with it  through the good and the bad. It will all be worth it in the end.

I am in my 3rd trimester of my pregnancy, I have 11 weeks left until my due date and counting. So far, I have gained 24 pounds. A little more than I wanted to at this point. I wanted to stay at a 30 pound gain for the entire pregnancy but now I am looking at 35-40 pounds. I will just have to work that much harder afterwards to get it off. Everything is going great. Me and the baby are both healthy. All of my tests are coming back great including my sugar tests which I thought I would have problems with since I had diabetes pre WL surgery. My labs did show that my B12 is low. It was always normal before I got pregnant so they believe it will go back to that after I have the baby (hopefully). Until then, I am getting monthly B12 shots and I am staying on top of my vitamins. I do think this pregnancy has been fairly complication free so far because of my weight loss and I am very thankful for that. I didn't have morning sickness and not having sugar problems and blood pressure problems so far is a blessing. I know if I had gotten pregnant at the weight I was before, I think this would be a much more difficult pregnancy. 
By the way, we are having a GIRL! Her name is Aliyah Renee. We can't wait to hold her in our arms. The countdown begins!

I found out that me and my husband Corey are expecting our first child. We are thrilled. I just recently found out so as of now, I believe my due date is not until 08/02/08. That may change when I go to the Dr. We are so blessed and praying for a healthy and happy 9 months. I have not even considered the weight gain at this point because I know it will be worth it in the end. Of course if you ask me in a few months I may be cussing about the weight gain. :). But as of now, we are just taking it all in. I am going to go to my nutitionist this week to discuss what my diet requirements should now be. I am pregnant with a baby! It is a really scary feeling right now and I have no idea what to do now. But I guess I will figure it all out really quickly.

Happy Holidays!

I am finally normal - by doctors standards anyways.  I weigh 155 pounds and I have lost 155 pounds. I have lost half of myself. I now have a BMI in the "normal" range. It is amazing to think about where I was and how far I have come. This past weekend I completed my first marathon. I finished the Susan G Komen "Race for the Cure" 5K marathon in 37:12 minutes. I have worked really hard over the past 4 weeks to get up to jogging that without stopping and I was able to accomplish my goal. I also found that I really like to jog so I plan to continue to do that. Although I have not been losing much weight anymore. I am happy where I am but I just can not believe with all of the jogging that I have been doing 5 days a week and really watching what I eat that I would not still be losing weight regularly. I guess it is my body's way of telling me I am where I need to be. Although I am not losing much weight, I know that I have lost inches because I went down in my clothes size.  I went shopping this past week and I was able to wear  a size 8 now - single digits. I used to wear a tight size 26 so that is crazy that  I can wear a size 8. I do have a lot of extra skin. I am going to go to a consult in a week with a plastic surgeon to see what options I have. I am not sure if I will go through with it but I am going to check into it. I have worked really hard to get to where I am and I would like to look like someone my size. I also still have problems realizing that I am not overweight and I think that is because of the extra skin. For some reason, I still feel big. I guess it is a mental thing and I hope that will eventually go away.  When I was clothes shopping ,the sales lady said the shirt I tried on was to cover up people "bad spots" in the stomach region but that I didn't need that. I was like OK. Thanks for saying that but you have no idea!! It is just still really hard for me realize I am that person. I am someone that can wear a size 8 and jog 3 miles and go to places and fit into the seats and I can cut my toe nails and tie my shoes without any problems. I am just me. And I have to say, I am very happy with who I am. And most importantly - I feel great.

Today, I celebrate my one year surgiversary. Whoo Hoo. One year ago today, I was crying to my family while I was being wheeled back to the OR. And oh what a year it has been. I am actually excited my one year is over and now I can take everything that I have learned this past year and use all of these new tools to live a long and healthy life. I began at 310 pounds and I have lost 146 pounds. I now weigh 164 pounds. I had a BMI of 50.1 to a BMI now of 26.5. I am almost half of the person I used to be (in weight and size only!). I used to wear size 26 and now wear a size 10. My whole life with food has changed. I eat to live now instead of live to eat (which until after this surgery I did not know that was what I was doing before). I am now in the normal range for body fat percentage and body fat weight. I have not made it to my goal weight YET of 155 which would put me at the high end of a normal BMI. I only have 9 stubborn pounds to go. But I know even if I do not lose anymore weight, I have accomplished more than I ever thought I would in this year. I am soo happy that I did this journey and I would do it all agian in a heartbeat. 
I had my one year check up and everything went good. I was told I can go ahead and try to conceive a family which I am so excited about. I know I should still be focusing on my weight loss but I am in a good place with that and I am ready to move forward. I will be going to a liver specialist regarding my bilirubin count being high but all of the tests that I have had has showed fairly normal. Everything they were concerned about is fine so now that they have ruled out any major problems, they want me to see a specialist to determine if it is anything I need to pursue further or if it is just "normal" for me. 
HAPPY SURGIVERSARY TO ME!

Today, 5/22/07, marks my 11 month mark from my RNY surgery. I have lost 140 pounds. I now weigh 168 compared to 308 the week before surgery. I only lost 4 pounds in this past month. I know that is better than nothing. I really wanted to meet my goal weight of 155 by my one year next month but it does not look like I am going to meet that. Although I only have 13 pounds to go. I know I will get there eventually. I have gone through a few things these past few weeks. I recently learned about sugar free candy and my self-control went out of the window. I have done well staying away from unhealthy foods but I thought that sugar free candy/chocolate/cookies would be a "treat" for being so good this past year. Well, it turned into an addiction instead of a treat this past week. I stocked up on all kinds of sugar free cookies and chocolates and just ate and ate and ate them. I still ate pretty good during meals but when I was at home (like on the weekends and evenings) all I did was eat that crap. And I hate to say it but it was sooo good. And I really missed eating something really good this past year. I feel like I was just getting by on foods this past year so it was a change to get something that was really good. I actually ate two boxes of cookies in one day. That is when I knew it was a problem. So, as of yesterday, I officially ate all of my stock. And I told my hubby to help me to keep that stuff out of the house. I may have been able to lose more weight had I cut that out this past month. You learn with this surgery to eat to live and not to live to eat but when you do what I did and let you self lose the control, you have to get back on track. I am disappointed in myself for losing the control but at least it helped me to realize I really do have a food addiction or self-control issue that I am able to mask because of this surgery. Now that I realize that, hopefully I can keep my control and not lose it agian like that. Even though it is sugar-free candy the bad snacking habits can get the better of you. You have ot keep the control.
As far as health wise, I have been having a few issues. I am going to be going through several tests over these next two weeks. A CT Scan, a colonoscopy and an EDG (scope). They are just checking me to make sure I do not have anything major going on. I have had a rise in my Bilirubin count and they do not know why since I had all of that taken care of when I had my gallbladder and bile duct surgery in Nov/Dec. Also, I am having ac colonoscopy because of IBS issues.  So, hopefully they figure all of that out. I was sent to a specialist by my PCP who was recommended by my surgeon and this specialist does not know how to handle WLS patients at all. He basically said you did this to yourself because you had surgery and now you have to live with it the rest of your life! He said he will do all of the test since my Dr and Surgeon wanted them but he doesn’t think it will show anything and I will have to deal with it. Uggghh. That is really irritating to deal with Drs like that. He may be right that a few of my issues could be WLS related but I am sure not all of them are (especially the IBS stuff because I had that before surgery). Of course, he could have been nicer about it! 
This weekend if Memorial Day. My husband and I are going to Charleston, SC for a few days. I think I will end up having to ear a bathing suit. Siiggghhh. I do have a lot of loose skin on my arms and my legs are not that pleasant to look at. I can not believe how much I am dreading it. It is crazy to think that when I was larger, I would have done it without thinking twice. I would not have liked myself in my bathing suit but I would have just got out and done it. Now that I have lost all of this weight, I am actually dreading being seen in a bathing suit. And it is not like I care what people think of me. I think it is just a mental thing and you just do not see your actual size. You still see a larger size. Plus, I can not hide all of my "imperfections". Oh well, I will get over it and I will have fun (hopefully)!
 I go to my surgeon for my one year check up on 6/19. I will update then for my one year checkup and hopefully that everything is fine with me and these tests I am getting done in the next couple of weeks. 

Yesterday, 4/22, was my 10 month anniversary for my surgery. I have lost 136 pounds. I am now 172 pounds. I would like to get to my goal of 155 pounds, which will give me a "normal" BMI in these next two months. I need to lose 17 pounds. I am going to try hard to do that. I actually made a menu of what we are having for dinner every night this week. I never do that but I am going to try and stick to it and cook everynight.  I went and got some healthy breakfasts (yogurt) and lunches (Kashi lunches) to eat also. That way I can cut down on my calorie intake for the next several weeks to get in some weight loss. I have been walking between 1.5 and 2 miles every day at lunch with a co-worker. I think we will start at 2 miles everyday starting today. I also have been taking the stairs more at work. I work on the 6th floors so it is about 14 flights of stairs. I am going to try and take those at least twice a day (I am still working on taking them once a day!). Now, that is a workout! I know it is not as much rigorous exercise as I should be doing but at least it is something. I do need to get back in the gym like I was doing before but I find that really hard to fit into my life. I know that is a bad thing to say since it needs to be a focus. I still fell like I am in a much healthier and active lifestyle since losing the weight. Not to mention I eat much healthier.  I just never imagined that at 10 months post-op, I would be this close to goal. So close, yet so far away. I need to lose about 2 pounds a week to get to my goal. We shall see! 

I am down to 175! My stall lifted enough for me to lose 7 pounds this past month. I am very excited about that. I haven't lost weight in a couple of months. Only 20 more pounds to my goal. Maybe I can make it by 6/22 (my one year date). We shall see. I just can not believe I weigh 175. It is unreal. I haven't weighed that since I was probably 13. I still do not see myself as this size either but I guess that is normal.
I did go to the Dr a couple of weeks ago because I have not been feeling good. I have been exhausted (majorily tired) and having some kidney problems, ankle swelling, lightheaded, headache every day and some nausea. I just knew something hasn't been right. My blood work came back that I am malabsorbed with my vitamins. Honestly, I have not taken my vitamins and calcium at all in several months. I know that is horrible. And I wonder why I do not feel good lately. My Vitamin D was in the critical stages. So, now they have given me a prescribed Vitamin D pill and Foltrin (prescription with Iron and B-12 in it). I am taking those and my vitamin and calcium daily now. It has been about two weeks and I am still not feeling really well so I hope it gets better soon. Two days ago I actually passed out with a low blood sugar attack. That was really scary for me. I haven't passed out in a few years. 
So, if you have this surgery, please, please take your vitamins and prescriptions like you are supposed to. I just hate that I didn't. I just "assumed" that since I was so far out from surgery, that slacking on the vitamins would be ok. Now I just do not feel good everyday. I did not feel good everyday before having this surgery and that is why I went through all of this and now I am back to not feeling good everyday because I did not follow the simple instructions! I do not regret this surgery by any means but I am ready to fell "normal" and not feel tired and bad every day.

I am 8 and half months out from surgery. I have lost a total of 126 pounds. I am 5'6" I started at 308 pounds a week before surgery and now down to 182 pounds. I started at a size 26 clothes and I am now wearing a size 14. I would like to lose about 30 more pounds (primarily just to get to a BMI in the "normal range"). My weight loss has stalled big time. I know that would happen but I didn't think it would happen this quick. I maybe have lost 7-8 pounds in the past six weeks to 2 months. I have read other boards and profiles that say around this mark that it stalls but will pick back up. I have been eating really healthy and eating mostly vegetables and salads. I am definitely not getting in my protein and that could be it. But I like vegetables and salads - believe it or not. I actually like them so that is what I eat. I have not been working out at all. I have maybe gone to the gym 5 or six days in the past few months. I am sure that has a lot to do with it. I went through the major gall bladder surgery problem at the end of November and beginning of December. I had a lot of complications from that surgery and my liver not working properly afterwards. I had to have two surgeries two weeks apart and I was in and out of the hospital for 17 days total and was anorexic for 21 days. I got a bacterial infection in the hospital after the second surgery and got sicker than ever.  I could not eat or drink because of the gallbladder/bile/liver problems. The hospital kept me on IV vitamins and fluids the whole time.  I was finally released from my Dr.'s care in January. That was harder than my original surgery to recover from. I had no energy and it was bad!!! It made me more self conscious of my body and everything that goes on with it. I even tell people 9especially women) that we need to be aware of what is going on with out bodies. I waited way to late with my gall bladder/liver problem and ended up suffering because of it. I was having a problem for months and didn't know it or didnt think it was anything to get checked out until I ended up in the hospital.  I am just now starting to get back my energy. I need to get back in the gym but it has been hard and I didn’t go back for a while because I didn’t want to push myself after going through that. I was going to the gym about 4 times a week prior to that. Also, I think after starving myself during my gallbladder ordeal (not intentonally) and my blood work showing I was anorexic has caused my body to store my food now. I think that me be why I have not been losing the last two months. I hope it starts again. No matter what happens with my weight loss, I have learned so much from this surgery. I have learned a new appreciation for food. I eat SOOO much healthier that I did before. I eat a lot less (obviously) and my mentality about food has changed. Now, when I see people eat the way I did before surgery. I just think to myself - "I can not believe I could eat all of that" I have become a really picky eater. I still don’t eat any sugar or desert items. I also don’t eat any pork (personal decision), pasta or bread (including pizza). Actually, it is possible that I could eat pasta or bread now that I am so far away from surgery but why? I figure if I could get by for 8 months without breads and pasta and pizza, why try it because if I try it and like it, I don't want to know that so I don’t eat unhealthy and get back into my old habits so I don't even try it. Now if I only didn't like potatoes! I still sometimes splurge on certain potatoes like mashed potatoes or baked potatoes. Not really french fries though because they are greasy and don't taste good to me. Overall, I am very satisfied with my progress. I do wish I had more energy (that has been my biggest complaint about this surgery). I also need to do better about working out. I do have some hanging skin on my arms. I hope to work out more to get that not to be so bad. I also plan on getting pregnant with my first child this summer (shhh - don't tell my surgeon!). I wanted to wait until I was one year out from surgery. Once I go for my one year check up with my surgeon, I will let him know that I am ready to have a child and we will see what he says. I tried to lose most of my weight this first year so that it would not be a problem to get pregnant after the one year - and I have lost most of my weight. I do not think I will lose much more. So, hopefully in a couple of months, with my surgeons approval of course, I will be posting my happy news and I will be able to have my first child. Well, that is how things have been for me lately - slacking a bit on weight loss. Hope to be on a better track next time I post.

It’s a New Year. I have not been doing so great with updating my profile. I am almost 7 months out from surgery. I have lost a total of 115 pounds (and finally in one-derland!). I am very happy with my progress. I did have to have surgery to have my gallbladder removed the week of Thanksgiving. I really do not consider that a complication of the gastric bypass although technically losing weight rapidly does increase your chance of having to have that surgery. Now that I have recovered from that ordeal, I am starting to finally be "hungry". I am not really hungry but I just feel like eating and I have been eating! Now, I have to adjust to that new feeling. I am still trying to work out the protein intake. I am not getting in the protein I need. I have lost a lot of hair. Luckily I had really thick curly hair to begin with so now people just assume I got my hair cut or thinned and it actually looks good. However, if it keeps falling out, then I may start to become concerned. I am not a big protein eater. I try to eat primarily protein but I still do not eat enough to get in what I need. I have tried all kinds or protein powders and liquids and do not like any of them (including slim fast). I just do not know how to supplement my protein. That is the biggest problem right now. If I could find a tolerable way to supplement my protein, I probably would not eat meat that much. I want to be able to eat the salads and vegetables because that is really good to me but instead I have to feel up on meat. Food still doesn’t taste that great to me. It is really weird - but I guess a good thing! Since surgery, I do not like any type of bread/crust, any pasta, or any fish/shrimp. However, I have found a love for crab legs! I just cannot believe that I do not like foods that I loved before. I am also really really strict on my sugar intake. I try to stick to the rule given to me by my Dr, which says not to eat anything with more than 13 grams of sugar in it. I didn't think that would be too difficult since I don't eat sweets but even some salad dressings have a lot of sugar. I also do not really eat fruit because of the sugar in it. I guess I am scared of the "Dumping" syndrome. I have never had a dumping syndrome or thrown up since surgery. I al soo happy about that. I have always hated throwing up. So, I am just really strict on myself to weigh my food and check the sugar level. However, I never cared about the fat levels and what I was eating as long as it tasted good to me and did not have sugar. That is until now. The weight loss is slowing down and I am eating more. So, now I am going to start paying more attention to what I am eating and start to eat more healthy foods. I never really set a goal for my weight loss. I just wanted to be healthy and feel better. I still do not know what to set for a goal weight. I would like to lose at least 30 more pounds so that I will be in the "normal" BMI range. So, if I could get there, I will be happy. I am not looking to be a size 2 by any means - not to mention that my body (and hips) will probably never be skinny skinny. So, just to get into a "normal" (by Doctors standards) will be good for me. So, 30-40 more pounds to go. Wish me luck!