HEIDI F.
07/14/04 Two and a half more years have passed - during that time I have learned a valuable lesson - the surgery is awesome but you MUST watch you eat! I was down to 223lbs and then took a high stress job, and started eating incorrectly - that's when I put on 15lbs!! SCARY!!! I did not want to go back to being in a 26/28!!! I hopped on Weight Watchers and through diligence and exercise I have lost almost 40lbs. I am looking forward to losing more through watching what I eat and sticking with the excellent exercise of KICKBOXING!!! Good luck on your journey and feel free to contact me with any questions you might have.
12/13/01 One Year has passed...what an incredible year! I want to thank everyone who has sent me emails, whether it was to ask questions about the surgery or to check on my status. At the one year mark I have acheived a ^^^^^^^^^100 LB WEIGHT LOSS^^^^^^^^!!!! I am solidly wearing an 18. I would like to be in a 16, but I am very content to stay in an 18 for the rest of my life. I love being able to go to a store and buy just about any 18 right off the rack and know that it will fit me! What freedom! I no longer cringe when I have to go buy clothes :-) and boy do I buy clothes! I am thoroughly enjoying the new me, and my family is enjoying me more (or less) now also!
God Bless each of you who are just starting on this journey and God Bless all of us as we go into the new year and attempt to meet our own goals and live happily in the skin we have been given.
6/29/01 *************I AM NOW WEARING A SIZE 20!!!!!!!!!********* This took me by such a surprise! I went to Dress Barn Woman and bought 4 suits...one was a 24, two were 20's and one was an 18. I figured I would hold the 20's and the 18 for later this year...but my husband wanted me try them on......and guess what!!!/???? The 24 was WAY TOO BIG! and the 20's fit perfectly and the 18, I could get on but it was a little too tight. Then lo and behold I realized that I had been wearing a pair of size 20 slacks just that day! I had no idea! I thought they were 22's! This is very exciting and I am looking forward to the continued drop is clothes sizes!
6/12/01 I met with my new doctor yesterday. Today is 6 months since I had the surgery and I am officially "74" lbs down! The 22's are bagging just a bit, but soon...I had stated earlier that I was getting ready to get rid of my 28/26/24 size clothes...well guess what??? I did! I took them to a consignment store...they are always eager for plus size clothes! If all of them sell w/in the 1st 30 days I will be looking at getting about $415.00 out of them! Much better than a yard sale would bring in!
I am also getting ready to take a trip to . We take off on Saturday the 16th! I'll tell you what, the attendant won't be asking me if I need an extension on MY seatbelt this time, thank you very much! I am also going to venture into the world of hair color for the first time in my life! I am going RED. Thought it might look nice. The next picture I post will show me with RED hair!
My scar still itches like crazy but otherwise things are going great. I feel good, have experienced a little hair loss, a lot of clothes loss :-) and have more energy and confidence than I have had in a long time!
4/19/01 I was supposed to meet with Dr. Wright on the 6th, but I got mad at him and the Vanderbilt Clinic so I walked. I won't be going back. I am seeing a regular doctor and things are going well. I have lost 61lbs!!! I am getting very comfortable wearing size 22's! I have no complaints, I only wish it was already all gone! I have no patience :-) I have to look at it as 15lbs a month...not a bad track record! Almost 4lbs a week. I am getting ready to get rid of my size 26 and 24 clothes!! I will never wear them again!
01/25/01 I went to see Dr. Wright yesterday. This was the first time I had actually seen him since the surgery (and to be fair it was only the second visit since surgery)But it is very RARE to see him at all. I had to wait TWO HOURS for a 5 minute talk! The good news is...I can eat regular food now!! I kinda was anyway..but it was good to get the official word.
STATUS::::::I am down 32lbs in 6 weeks, that's 5 and a 1/3 lbs a week!!! I hope it keeps going down at that rate! I am now at 290lbs and starting to fit into my old clothes. I can't wait until I can get into my size 20's, that will be so exciting...but right now I am happy that my 24's are fitting again.
I don't have another appointment until April 6th...I can't even imagine what my weight loss will be by then. Oh, one thing...my seat belt fits again!!! and I actually have some room to move around in it :-)
01/15/01 Well I am officially past the one month mark! I feel great and have already lost 27.5lbs!!! I am starting to see a difference in my face and the way my clothes fit. Having the staples taken out was a very simple procedure and very painless. I didn't have any infection and now I am just waiting for the day that my scar is no longer red :-) I know it will come, but until then it sure itches!!!
One thing I have done is kept vitamin E oil on my scar every day. I think this is helping the healing process. I still have a small amount of numbness at the upper part of the incision, but no pain! That is always a plus.
I have migrated to soft foods and that is going very well. At times I have tried to push it to regular food and have not been real happy with the result. I am trying to play it a little safer now.
I haven't been back to the doctor since I had my staples out. I have been scheduled 2X's but my job has caused me to reschedule, so I don't know my official weight loss. I am now rescheduled again to meet with Dr. Wright on 1/24/01. I hope their scale is as generous to me as mine is!
Oh, by the way...I am going to go on my first airline flight since the surgery, TONIGHT!!! I am hoping that I will fit a bit more comfortably into the seat. I am so tired of being embarrassed. I'll keep you posted!
12/22/00 Ten days after surgery! I am walking, talking and glad that the worst is over and the best is yet to come! I get my staples out on the 27th, boy am I ready for that! I was very happy with my surgery and the medical staff at
I am on pureed foods now. Day two. I still don't if I've lost any weight, but I will find out Wednesday and provide a status!
12/5/00 I am exactly ONE week away from my surgery date!! I AM SOOOOOO EXCITED!!! Everyone keeps asking me if I am worried and they can't believe it when I tell them that I just can't wait to start my new life! I want to be able to sit in airline seats, ride the rides at Disney World, when I go in March and have extra room in ladies room stalls!!! :-)
I had my pre-op appointment on 11/29/00 and everything went well. My doctor was unavailable so I met with one of his interns. The intern was nice and willing to answer any additional questions that I had. I only had one concern...they didn't do an EKG or a chest X-ray on me...according to the pre-op people, not everyone has this done. She said that since I was so young (31 is young?) and in good health w/o a history of high blood pressure, they probably felt it wasn't necessary. I'm going to double check! Better safe than sorry :-)
11/21/00 I am 31 years old and weigh 320# at this time. I am married to wonderful man who is very supportive of my decision to have WLS. I have four dogs who I love dearly and two cats who keep a smile on my face...to say the least I am a major animal lover.
I am really looking forward to my surgery (scheduled for 12/12/00 at 12:00, gotta love the date and time...so numerically repetitive)so that I will be home for a number of days with my animals! What a reason to anticipate surgery!!!
My family and friends are all very supportive of my decision to have the surgery, they just want to see me happy. Don't get me wrong, a number of them felt I should try other things first!! Other things???? I've done Phen-fen, Weight Watchers, Carbohydrate addicts, Slim-fast, Jenny Craig, LA Weight loss, Nutri-systems, Metabolife, Metabo-lite, Fit for Life...etc...including starving and binging!! What else do they want me to try??
Anyway, I have been very excited to read the profiles on this web site...I had resigned myself to losing 80-100lbs, according to the doctors statements, but the individuals on this site seem to have much better results! I would love to lose 120 to 125 lbs. Keep your fingers crossed for me!