monalisasmileca

Send Message

Block

Add Friend

Hello everyone, it has been a couple of months since my last post.  I am not even sure anyone reads these.  I am doing really well, I have lost approximately 86 pounds all together.  I am wearing size 14 now, I have not worn that size since I was 21 years old.  I always liked shopping, but now it is so much fun to have more choices.  I love when people that have not seen me in a while tell me I look great.  I don't even cringe any more when people take pictures.  I have not had too many issues with food, except for chicken breast sometimes causes me alot of pain.  My middle son was suppose to have had the surgery also, he is actually the reason I started on this journey in the first place.  He tried to convince me for months that he wanted to do this and then I started going to doctor's appointments and meetings to find out more for him and with him, then I decided that I wanted to do this for me also, for my health.  Well along the way he was doing well and loosing the weight and he decided that he could do it on his own and had decided that he was not going to get the surgery.  Well, he has had set-backs and he is back on track and is going to go thru with the surgery now.  Everyone take care and talk to you soon.

It has been a while since I have posted anything.  When I went back for my 6 week and 2 month appointments, I was a little disappointed that I had not lost as much as I had hoped.  I have still been struggling with getting enough water.  I am losing weight slowly but steadily.  I am down to about 186 and to a size 14/16.  I have enjoyed going shopping for new clothes.  I am taking a trip to Portugal the first week of April to visit my parents and they have no idea I have had the surgery.  I am looking forward to seeing their reaction to my weight loss.  They have not seen me in two years.  Not really sure how my dad is going to react, he has alzheimers, so he might not even recognize me.  My friends and co-workers have been so supportive, I really appreciate all their positive comments.  It is still difficult for me to "see" my own weighloss.  When I look in the mirror I still see the "overweight" me, I wonder how long it will take for that to change.

Yesterday, I had my two week post op appointment.  I have lost 14 pounds since the surgery. Plus the doctor gave me the green light to start eating soft foods.  I have tried scrambled eggs  and cooked veggies and I was fine.  To me that is pretty exciting.  The doctor took the surgery tape off the incisions and now I will only see him again in a month.  I am feeling pretty good, I am going for walks, I can handle up to 30 minutes at a time.  I do still have a little bit of pain on my biggest incision, but I realize that will take a while.  I am finally under 200 pounds.  I have not been 196 pounds since my divorce, 16 years ago.  I hope everyone is doing well.  See you soon.

It has been a week since  my surgery.  I am moving much better now.  Don't need help doing anything.  Going for short walks.  I have a doctor's appt next week.  Hope all are doing well.

Tomorrow is my surgery date.  I am a little nervous.  See you soon.

Well I finally got the call I have been waiting for, I am scheduled for surgery on January 9, 2012.  I am very excited and nervous at the same time.  I had to get an EKG, but  I don't expect anything to change the date.  I started a liquid diet on Monday, that has not been as easy as I hoped.  Even though I like sweet things, when you are having that for 3 meals a day it gets old fast.  Yesterday I picked up some unflavored whey protein, then I pured some vegetable soup and added a scoup.  It was much better.  The regular chocolate protein in the morning makes me a little nauseous.  I weighed myself this morning and I am down to 212, but I don't trust my scale at home, so I am looking forward to my appointment tomorrow.  It is my last appointment before surgery, I will get officially weighed and will be given all the info for surgery date.  I will write an update next week.

This is my first time on this site and my first time writing a blog.  A little bit about me.  My name is Ana Paula, I have 3 sons, ages 25, 19 and 17.  I am an office manager for a high school and love my job.  I found out about this site from the support group that I attend twice a month.

So, I have been over-weight most of my life.  There was a year or so that I was at my ideal weight just before I married, but it didn't take long to change that.  At that time I was about 138, I had been practically starving myself for months trying to loose weight before the wedding.  Fast forward 12 year and I was at about 250sh.  Then after the stress of my divorce I actually managed to get down to about 198.  But over the years the pounds just keep going up and down.  Like most of you, I have tried so many different diets, pills, powders, etc to try to loose the weight, but it ends up all coming back and more.

My middle son had also had a weight issue most of his life and he is actually the one that got me thinking about the gastric surgery.  About a year ago he started talking to me about getting the surgery and wanting to make the changes in his life.  At first I really was opposed to it, especially because of his age (he is only 19 now).  But I listened and told him I would think about it.  We have few friends that have had the surgery and only one of them was not successful and has gained the weight back.  So I decided to talk to my doctor and my son's doctor to get more information about options.  Deep down inside I didn't really think that Michael was going to follow through with the whole process, because I know how easily he gives up on things.

After giving it much thought, I decided not only to support my son with the process, but also to get the surgery myself.  Especially after I found out that I have diabetes.  So at my heaviest weight I weighed 254, I am still waiting for my surgery date, but I have lost 36 pounds.  I have Kaiser and they require that you lose at least 10% of your highest weight before they will schedule you for surgery.  I have completed all the necessary tests, plus psych exam and at this point I am just waiting for the surgery date.

I almost forgot to mention that my son Michael has decided to just continue to lose the weight on his own.  Which is what I thought would happen from the beginning.  He still goes with me to the support group meetings and he walks with me everyday.  So now I am just waiting for that wonderful phone call giving me the date.  In the meantime, I am continuing on my dieting, eating slowly and exercise.