~Tonya ~

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One year since my revision surgery, and I couldn't be happier!  I'm not officially at my "goal" weight, but I'm thinking that I need a tummy tuck, and possibly my arms done too, and that I'd probably lose another 10 lbs from just the tummy tuck alone.  I hope to move forward to plastic surgery this winter, maybe after Christmas.  Still, at 179 lbs I fit all of the clothes I have from when I weighed 165 after my first surgery.  

I'm so glad I took the steps necessary to revise my Sleeve Gastrectomy to a DS.  It was really awful to have lost all that weight just to have it gradually come back again.  I'm certain that if I hadn't gone for the revision when I did, I'd probably be very close to having gained back every pound I lost with the Sleeve, and maybe more.  The weight was coming back faster and faster, and no diet or exercise could slow it down, let alone take it back off.  

Now I feel like myself again.  I can do all of the things I had enjoyed when I first lost 130 lbs, like going on carnival rides with my kids, or feeling ok about wearing a swimsuit in public.  I'm almost fifty years old now, and certainly no pin-up model, but I don't look any worse than any of the other moms my age, and that makes me happy! 

Today I weigh 206.6 lbs.  3 years ago today I weighted 206. 6 lbs.  Three months ago I had revision WLS, from Sleeve Gastrectomy to full DS.  I've lost 3 years of weight gain in 3 months!  This is the best feeling :-)  If you look at my health tracker, you'll see I was also about this weight in the summer of 2011.  That was during the five month period that my daughter was dying in the ICU.  She was 11 at the time, and it was pretty rough.  I lost about 20 lbs during that time.  I jokingly called it the "PICU" diet.  (Pediatric ICU) I wouldn't recommend losing weight THAT way, but I highly recommend THIS way.  

Here's a link to a FB blog I keep about her story.  I don't write as much as I used to, because she's pretty stable right now, and we're just "living our lives", which is kind of boring, but at one time she had tens of thousands of people following her story.  The word "miracle" doesn't even begin to describe the fact that she's still with us. https://www.facebook.com/addiethepinkninja

Tonya

This might be boring as heck, but maybe someone considering revision would be interested?  I spent a couple of hours entering my weight and body fat history into the health tracker on this site.  It's pretty cool to see my weight loss and gain, and now loss on a graph.  I started the graph on the day of my first WLS, (Sleeve Gastrectomy).  One thing I noticed right away, my weight regain began when I started working night shift, and continued fairly steadily after that.  

On another note, I had some fun yesterday cleaning out my closet!  I've lost over a year worth of regained weight, and was pretty happy to find 2 swimsuits in a drawer with the tags on.  I'd bought them on clearance last fall, during a hopeful moment, since they were a size too small at that time.  Well they're not too small now!  

People are starting to be able to see the loss.  I'm really enjoying revisiting those happy OMGOSH I can't believe how fast I'm losing weight days!  Truly, this is the first time in a couple of years that I've begun to feel that life is worth living again.  

I should probably mention that the last couple of years have been very, very hard.  My older daughter nearly died in the summer of 2011, when she was 11.  I lived in the ICU for 5 months.  We did bring her home, but life has not been easy, and the emotional toll has been heavy.  Having this revision surgery has helped me to feel better mentally.  (I have severe PTSD from the "battle" to keep her alive.)

If you'd like to follow her story, here is a link to her FB page.  Scroll down...the blog begins right after we brought her home.  There are pics and videos galore. 

https://www.facebook.com/addiethepinkninja

You can see a downward blip on the weight loss graph from May 2011 to Oct 2011.  That was when she was in the hospital.  I called it the "PICU diet."  I wouldn't recommend it, though. 

This is the first post on this blog in a very long time.  I'm planning to post a more concise update and new pics soon!

Well, here I am, a big slacker.  I really have meant to get back in here and update the pictures and stuff, but I have been just barely able to keep up with my day to day life since moving into the new house.  We started moving on Dec. 8th, and here it is March and I finally feel like we really live there.  Everything is put away, and most things are hung on the walls, etc.  Still some painting to do, and we have no landscaping in the back, but still, we've made huge progress.  

Anyway, March 11th will be one year since my VSG.  I am still doing so well that it even suprises me at times.  I kind of feel like maybe it has been a little tooooo easy, you know?  Like maybe it will all disappear like some wonderful dream that was too good to be true.  As my weight had crept up over the years I used to think that one day I would figure out how to lose it.  I tried, for sure, but of course, like everyone else here, I learned that nothing worked very well, or for very long.  Now I have what I'd always hoped for, and the feeling is indescribable.  I wake up each day feeling joy at knowing I'll hop out of bed and start another day as the thin, normal, healthy person I always should have been.  

There have been lots of fun "wow" moments along the way.  I've had many, many people introduce themselves to me, even though they've known me for years.  I've seen people whom I know in the grocery store and places like that, and had to speak to them and tell them who I am because they didn't recognize me.  That was fun, but a little sad too, because it makes me realize how very different I looked with 130 more pounds on my frame.  I FELT like me inside, but I didn't LOOK like me anymore.  People often tell me how great I look now, and I say, "I look like ME now."  They just didn't know me then.  Even my mom says I look like the "old" Tonya now.  

I know that many WLS people have a hard time "seeing" themselves thin.  They don't think they'll fit into a booth in a restaurant, or airplane seat, or a certain size jeans, and then are suprised when they do.  I feel the opposite way.  Since I grew up very slim, and was slim into my late 20's, my mental image of myself was already set, and I had a hard time seeing myself heavy.  I have actually broken chairs just sitting in them, never guessing I'd be too big to sit in them.  How embarrasing that was!  Now I am just overjoyed when I pass a window and catch a glimpse of myself, and I look the way I have always felt inside.  

I also am sad to say that people treat me differently now.  I really notice a big difference.  I feel as though people see me as being "smarter" now.  I am an intelligent women, at least average, maybe a bit above, but when I was heavy I felt that I was often treated as if I were a little bit stupid.  Especially by people who didn't know me well, like a bank teller, or one of the doctors at work.  It was subtle, but undeniable.  I won't bore you with examples, but I have many.  It just goes to underscore how stereotyping and bias can affect you.  I understand better now about how persons of different races or physical handicaps can feel when they are being discriminated against simply because of their appearance.  

I know the some of the pre-op people reading this will want to know details about what and how much I eat.  I do still enjoy my low-carb latte every morning, and I often have 2 of them.  I generally don't eat until about 11 am, probably because my coffee has low carb milk, which is high in protien, and keeps me satisfied.  When I do eat I still focus on protien first, and I eat vegtables, and some fruit, although not a lot of fruit.  I never really was a big fruit person before surgery, and that hasn't changed, and since I am careful about sugar and carbs, I generally choose vegatables over fruit when I want to eat those things.  I have really realaxed about grains though.  At first I ate almost no carbs at all, but over the past year I have begun to eat whole grain crackers and breads, some cereals, and occasionally rice, pasta and potatoes.  I am careful though, to eat these foods with protien, and in moderation.  You won't see me with a big place of pasta, or having a baked potato as my entire meal.  It's still protien first.  I really like cheese, and I often have some wonderful imported cheese with whole grain crackers or crusty bread.  I also stay away from simple sugar and sugery drinks.  Not to say I've never had candy or a desert, but those are an occasional indulgence, like they are for any NORMAL thin person.  If I eat 3 girl scout cookies, then I am done and satisfied.  I don't feel the need to keep eating them until the box is gone, you know?  And I don't munch on snacky stuff and then eat a meal, then have more snacks, etc.  I eat 4 times a day, 2 "meals" and 2 smaller "mini meals".  This works for me.  Really well, in fact.  I actually seem to be losing still, but very slowly now.  I think I am nearly done, but only time will tell.  165 pounds was my own mental "best case scenario but I'll probably never even get close to that" goal, and here I am, so I'll just wait and see now.  I don't think it would be bad to lose a bit more, as a cushion for the little bit of regain most people seem to experience before they level off.  

A lot of people ask me about caffine and soda.  First of all, let me say that I have always been honest on this forum, and that what I am about to say is simply MY experience and MY opinion, and should never replace or displace the advice and direction of your surgeon.  Also, I did discuss these things with MY surgeon, and if you have the same surgeon, please don't go to him and say "Well Tonya said I could have soda and caffine."  He and I discussed it, and he was sort of non-commital on the subject.  He said that caffine was really only a problem if you were struggling to get enough water in to begin with, and that there was "some thought" that the carbonation in soda could stretch out your `pouch`" (Refering to the RNY gastric bypass pouch.)  This discussion took place about 3 weeks out from my surgery, and I was his first VSG.   He may have stronger opinions now, so talk to him directly, please.  I personally do drink soda occasionally.  Only diet, of course.  Drinking sugared soda would by like WLS suicide.  I also am not comfortable drinking soda directly from the can or bottle.  Each sip from a can or bottle would be followed immediatly by a burp, and so is not the most socially acceptable way to drink anyway.  If I am going to have a soda, I have diet, usually caffine free, poured over ice and stirred a couple of times to take most of the bubbles out.  Obviously this has not slowed my weight loss, (130 lbs in one year).  I do not, however, "live" on sodas, and I would never recommend that any one food or drink become the focus of your daily consumption.  I also drink water, decaf iced tea, sugar free crystal light or other SF fruit type drinks, zero calorie flavored water, hot tea, coffee, occasionally milk, and very occasionally orange juice.  (I like the reduced sugar type)  I don't think that anything is healthy if you overdo it.  I once read about someone who died from drinking too much carrot juice.  Some health fanatic who thought carrot juice was going to make him healthy.  Well, you might think that when his skin turned orange he could have guessed that maybe it wasn't such a good idea, but he kept it up until he overdosed on the vitamin A in the carrot juice.  Just an example of why variety and moderation are a good policy, you know?  So yes, I do drink soda, but in moderation, like everything else.  

That reminds me though, that early on in the weight loss process, I did seem to go on some "food jags".  For a couple of months there I couldn't get enough of CRAB LEGS!!!  That was one expensive little addiction, let me tell you.  And it was even worse when one of the twins learned how yummy they were, and started "helping" me eat them.  My 17 year old likes them too, and so we did go though a lot of crab legs, for sure.  Gradually they lost their appeal, and I don't really know what the deal was.  Maybe there is something in them I needed, but I do know that as the weight loss slowed, I just sort of forgot about them.  Weird, huh?  There were others along the way, but crab legs really sticks in my mind.  Very odd.  

So now that I'm caught up on this, my next job is to take some anniversary pics.  I'm going to try to get them up this week, after my new swimsuit shows up.  I'll post on the board to let everyone know when I get it taken care of.  

For anyone reading this who is considering having a VSG, I say, "What are you waiting for?"  Just do yourself a big, big favor, and get on with it.  I have had a wonderful experience.  I have no problems, really, and I feel even better than I look.  I wish I could have done it years ago.

Yours, 
Tonya

Wow, what a hassle that was to switch to the new format!  Mine wouldn't go over automatically, so I had to figure it out.  I ended up putting my old "profile" stuff into the "My Story" section, but it didn't all fit, so I put my old pics in a blog.  Well, at least it's all there now.  

I have been so bad about keeping up on the posts!  We have been building a new house, and are about to close on it in just a day or so.  I can't believe how busy that has been keeping me.  Between my husband overseas, the 4 kids, and the full time job, and then selling one house, building another, and preparing to move, well, you get the picture.  

So how is the weight loss going, you ask?  Well, as I sit here typing, my wedding set is twisting around annoyingly on my finger.  I couldn't even get them on before surgery.  I am buying size medium tops, and 12 and 14 pants and jeans.  I have given away piles of clothing and shoes that were just too big.  Many things I'd saved for years thinking one day I would wear them again only fit for a few weeks, or I missed them entirely on the way down!  I was kind of sad when I tried on this really nice damask suit that was a "larger" size 14, and found it was huge on me.  Well, I know someone else will love it too, so out it will go with the rest of the donation items.  I am keeping nothing.  I have found that even though I used to love big, baggy and comfortable things, (even before I gained weight) now I shun them.  I feel really good in clothing that fits properly, and just don't like the baggy stuff anymore. 

Of course I have some loose skin.  Mostly I think I look ok though.  My arms are a bit floppy, and my skin over my knees looks a little loose, but not too bad.  I was pleasantly suprised to see that my chin came out ok.  It's my belly that will need help, and that doesn't suprise me.  Between carrying twins, and carrying most of my weight in my belly, it was bound to be the problem area.  I will have a tummy tuck one day if we can afford it, and probably have my breasts done too.  I was always small chested, but gained there along with everywhere else.  Now I think the last 10 pounds I lost came directly from my bustline LOL!  Well, no matter what I'd rather be a bit loose than obese any day!  FOR SURE!!!!!!!

Ok, enough for today.  I will try hard to post more often, and be the resource and inspiration I would like to be.  I know that reading other VSG profiles gave me the courage to continue on toward surgery when I was frightened pre-op.  Now I want everyone to know what I know.  This is one really great surgery. 

Tonya
294/182/165

 

My "before" picture, 294 lbs, the day before surgery

 

 

 

My 1 month picture

 

 

 

My 2 month picture

 

 

 

My 3 month picture

 

 

 

My 4 month picture

July 24th 2006 212 lbs

 

 

 

My 6 month picture

September 11th 2006 194 lbs

May 2007 165 lbs