vorth
04/01/03: I am married to a wonderful man and have 3 great kids. I had the VBG in 1997. I lost about 75#'s in the first year or so and maintained that loss for a few years. In the past several years, I slowly have put the weight back on. I decided to see a surgeon in my area to find out why the VBG was not working. Found out after some tests that the staple line has disrupted and no longer is holding my food in the pouch. My 2 choices were #1 pursue a revision surgery to the RNY or #2 leave things the way they are and try to loose weight on my own. I decided to pursue insurance approval for the RNY and go from there. I met with a dietician, set up my physc consults and sent in intial information to BCBS. I need to have this surgery to gain back my health so I can be there for my husband, children and hopefully someday, grandchildren.
06/26/03: FINALLY.......after more than 2 months of messing around with the insurance company........I am approved. After 2 denial letters, I got word via my call to them today that I am approved for surgery. Now I have to wait to find out my date. I have been calling them on a daily basis and I am relieved that this part of the waiting is now over. Now I am starting to get nervous.
06/27/03: Thank God setting the date was not as hard as getting the approval. My surgeon is booked solid for 2 months so my date has been set to Monday, September 8, 2003. Just over 2 months and I will be on the loosing side of life.
07/08/03: What a blessing. My date has been changed. They have moved me up to August 13, 2003 now instead of September 8, 2003. Life is good. Thank you Carrie for helping get this date changed. Now to make all the preparations and get everything set for the date. God Bless.
08/09/03: Just a quick update. My life has been going so fast that I find little time for myself lately. I am busy making my last minute plans for the surgery in 4 days. I am getting nervous and wish this day was over with. Had my pre-op blood work and physical yesterday. Everything looks ok, so on we go. I will update more once I am back home from the hospital and am feeling up to it.
08/13/03: Well today is the day. I will be leaving in about 15 minutes for the hospital. I weighed myself this morning and I have lost 5 #'s in the past few days. I guess the surgery is helping already by giving me some stress. All in all I am comfortable in my decision and feel at peace with God and my life. See you all on the loosing side!!!! God Bless.
08/31/03: Sorry it has been so long, but the last 3 weeks have been hard. I was in the hospital for 4 days. Came home Saturday after a Wednesday surgery. Because my surgery was a revision from the VBG to a RNY, my surgeon put a feeding tube into my old stomach. I had to eat all my nutrition thru this feeding tube for 10 days. The only thing I could have by mouth was ice chips and sugar free chewing gum. That was a long 10 days. The doctor felt that using a feeding tube would allow the new pouch he created for the RNY to heal more before introducing anything to it. I got both of my drain tubes out during the first 10 days and now have just the feeding tube. Even though I am not using the feeding tube anymore, he will not be taking it out until I am closer to 1 month post op. I started my liquid diet last Monday and it has been almost 1 week and all is good. Next Friday (about 10 days of liquid) I start the next stage of soft/mushy. I am looking forward to chewing something other than gum. I am down about 18 lbs already in just under 3 weeks. My first article of new clothing is going to have to be a new BRA for obvious reasons. I have been battling fevers often and lots of pain with the site where the feeding tube is and the lower drainage tube was. I hope that once this drainage stops in my wounds and the feeding tube is out that I will start to feel better. Not much energy and very bored with being at home. Try to get out, but even a trip to the store takes alot out of me. So far this has been harder than I expected, but I continue to pray for strength to get me to the point that I will realize how lucky I am to have had this surgery. God Bless and I will update again soon.
10/13/03: Today is my 2 mth anniversary. This last month the weight has come off very slowly. I had a 3 week plateau that was very disappointing. I am now down 46 #'s. (264) I have lost just over 2 inches from the waist, hips and 3 1/2 inches off the chest. My neck is down 1 inche and my arms are down about 1 inch. I have bought a few new pairs of pants 1 size smaller, but it won't be long and I will have to get more in smaller sizes. I started all foods about 3-4 weeks ago and everything seems to go well. I found anything with more than 15 grams of sugar in it gets me sick to my stomach. Usually that lasts about 1 - 2 hours. I have not actually dumped yet, but been close. I eat chicken breast, meatballs, kidney beans and fish. Nothing has disagreed with me, but I have found out the pain when you have to much. I get most of my protein in daily and water all the time. This has been a learning experience and I continue to learn something new every day. I also started exercising about 4 weeks ago, but I know I have to do that more often. I will update again at my 3 mth mark. God Bless all you on this journey no matter where you may be.
10/24/03: The scale has moved again. I am down 50 #'s. (260) Overall I am feeling good. I was measured last week and am now down a total of 4 1/2 inches on the chest and waist. The hips are down about 2 inches as well. Some clothes I can't wear anymore, some just hang there but still can be worn. I am exercising about 2-3 times a week and try to be active on the days I don't find time to exercise. I started at 310#'s before surgery and am now at 260#'s. Gods Blessings to everyone on this journey.
11/11/03: Well it is almost 3 months since surgery. I saw Dr. Rebchook last week and he said all is well. They ran some blood work to check levels and so far no news is good news. I am down to 254 now. (56 #'s down) The weight is coming off slow but the inches are making up for it. I feel good and look forward to loosing more. I have not dumped yet and hope that continues. I don't drink many protein drinks anymore since I get most of the protein from the meats I eat at meals. I can eat chicken nuggets, turkey breast, taco meat, shrimp, fish, tuna, hormal chili and most hamburger. I use low fat/butter popcorn for snacks and also sugar free Schwans fudgesicles. Continued luck and success to everyone on this journey.
12/18/03: I am now 4 months post op. Most things are going ok. My blood work at 3 mths came back showing a low iron level. So I take an iron supplement, vitamin C plus my Flinestone Chewables daily. I still use B-12 and have my asthma meds to. Hopefully with the weight coming off I will being to get away from the asthma problems. I am down 71 #'s now (239) I have lost over 24 inches from my body, with 5 of them in the chest area. (YUK) My energy level comes and goes. I find I am tired more often than not and part of that may just be the holidays and all that I have to do. I find that I want to munch between meals (even though I am not hungry). I have tried chewing gum and do my best to pick healthy snacks for in between. I have been able to eat a minature candy bar, but have to be cautious not to have more than 1. Still have not dumped, but have been sick to my stomach at times from my choices of food. I have been buying some new clothes, which makes me feel better, but I still find that shopping is hard. I hate spending the money on the new stuff knowing that I may not wear them long. I got a treadmill as an early Christmas gift from the hubby and hope to continue to use it alot. I also lost my wedding ring due to the shrinking in my fingers. I should have taped the ring when it started to get loose, but I did not so one day it was gone. My dear husband bought me another one, but it is not the same. That is about all that is new. Take care and God's Blessing to everyone on this journey. Merry Christmas.
01/13/04: Today is my 5 month anniversary. This past month has been very slow for the weight loss and inches. I am sure the the holidays did not help, but I am praying that it is just a plateau and that things will start picking up again. I now weight 235#'s which is only 4 #'s down from a month ago. I was remeasured again and have lost an additional 3 inches (for a total of 28"). I have now lost a total of 75 #'s. I have been slowly buying more clothes, but still find it hard to buy alot since I hope to still keep loosing. My goal is to be at 175 by the time I am 1 yr post op. I starting walking on my treadmill. Every week is different, but I try every day to get on it for at least 10-20 minutes. I got some dumbells to, so I am working my arm muscles when I walk. Still have problems with being tired, but it seems to be getting a little better with time. I struggle every day with head hunger and find it hard to not "graze" during the daytime, especially when at work. (I have a sit down job). I consistantly am looking for healthy things to snack on. I just started chewing beef jerky to help not only with the protein, but with the urge to want to chew all the time. I don't regret having this surgery even though I have not lost as much weight as I originally thought I would. I pray every day that I can continue to succeed with this tool, even if it is only a few pounds here and there. Best wishes to all of you on this journey.
02/13/04: Today is my 6mth anniversary. I am still loosing, but at a much slower pace. I am now down to 228 (just 7 #'s in the past month). The inches are still coming off, but again slowly. I have been struggling with headaches again and hope to get some answers next week from the doctor. In general my health is ok. My energy level is ok, but still not what I think it should be at. I have lost a total of 82#'s total since this journey began about a year ago. I see Dr. Rebchook next week for my 6mth checkup and lab work. Praying for good iron results and other levels as well. I still struggle with head hunger and grazing and still try to eat healthy between meals. This is still the best decision I have made in my life and I continue to pray daily that I use this tool properly. I look forward to the future and the things I will be able to do this summer that I could not do last summer. I look forward to swimming, camping and going places with my family. I also look forward to wearing shorts again. Good luck and God's Blessings to everyone on this journey.
02/17/04: Just a quick update. I saw Dr. Rebchook yesterday and all is well. He is pleased with my weight loss and feels things are going well. We discussed the hernia that I have just under my chest. (in the location of the scar from my first WLS) He feels that I would benefit from some tummy tucking while they fix the hernia. Once I get to my goal and start maintaining my weight we will consider the options. It sounds like a major surgery that would include the hernia repair, so I am not ready just yet to start thinking about another recovery period. I will be having blood work done later this week and hope to find all levels good. Also went swimming over the weekend and found out that my swimming suit is going to be replaced ASAP. The spandex only SHRINKS so much. Although last summer I stretched this suit beyond belief and now this year I have to hang onto it to make sure it stays in place. This surgery is truly a life saving blessing. God Bless.
03/13/04: Well today is my 7mth anniversary. It does not seem like it has been that long. I am still happy with my deicison and results and hope to continue to loose weight and inches. I am only down 3 more lbs since last month. It is amazing to only weigh 225 but I wish for more. Even though the weight is coming off much slower now, I still have confidence that with time I will get down to my goal of 175. My 6 mth lab work came back GOOD!!!! The iron pills I am taking helped my iron level. I take a daily multivitamin and iron pill and B12 once a week. Other than my asthma medication that is all I take. My biggest weakness is "Grazing" and not exercising. I know that if I would eliminate the grazing and add more exercise I would be loosing faster. Anyone who says this surgery is the easy way out or a quick fix is completely wrong. You still have to watch what you eat, limit the amount and freqency and exercise. It will be a life long struggle and the surgery is only a tool to help me accomplish my goals. Update on inches lost: As of 2 weeks ago, I have lost 8 1/2" off my chest (not a very nice thing...but it has to come off somewhere...lol); 8 1/2 " off my waist; 7 inches off my hips and 2 inches off my neck. That makes over 26 inches plus the few I lost in my arms. Obviously I have been shopping for clothes lately. I bought my first 18/20 a few weeks ago and IT FIT!!! I think I was in high school that last time I wore an 18/20. (I have my 20 year class reunion this year....so it has been awhile) Otherwise things are still going ok. I wish all of you the very best in your journey. God's Blessings to all.
05/13/04: Wow, it has been 9 months and I find it hard to believe it has been that long. I am still loosing weight, but very slowly. I have not measured lately, but plan to soon. I have gone from a 30-32 pant to a 20-22. Tops I have gone from a 4X to a 1X or 2X. I find that tops even though they fit when I buy an 18/20, that getting the 22/24 make me feel more comfortable in the waist. I still have a gut and if that were gone, I would really be in good shape. I am current at 218#'s. That makes 92 #'s total since the beginning of this journey. I find that grazing between meals is a very big problem for me. Even though this surgery limits the food you eat, it will NOT LIMIT the cravings or urge to want to eat all the time. What makes it more difficult for me is that I have a sit down job and exercise during the day is very limited. WILL POWER is still a very big problem for me and I continue to work on it. I feel good and can do much more physical activity then I could in the past and that is very encouraging. I can walk some hills without running out of breath and can walk 1-2 miles at a time without a problem. A year ago that would have never happened. I am finding lots of loose skin now and hope to find ways to minimize that soon. I will update again soon. Good luck to everyone on this journey. I hope my profile helps answer any questions you may have. If it does not, please email me and I would be happy to answer any questions if I can. Gods Blessings to all.
06/29/04: I am nearing 11 months post op and not much has changed. I am now at 217 #'s for a total loss of 93#'s since last July. I measured a few weeks ago and have lost a total of 33 inches. The weight loss is very slow, but I am not gaining and that is very important. Still struggle with grazing and making bad choices at times of food. I still walk and exercise and that is a good feeling. With summer, I am actually enjoying wearing shorts and a bathing suit. That is about all new, just continuing to work on the eating habits and trying to loose more weight. Good luck to everyone on this journey.
07/17/04: I am now 11 months post op. I have lost another 2 #'s which feels good. I am only 5 #'s away from 100 #'s lost. I would love to reach that milestone by 1 year post op. Summer is going by fast and I enjoy having the energy to do things. The loose skin is starting to bother me and I hope that with exercise I can firm up some of it without having to have surgery. I have a hernia that needs repair but am waiting till I loose some more weight. Hopefully we can have some tummy tucking done with the hernia operation in the future. I still feel pretty good and am looking forward to continuing to loose weight. I still suffer with grazing and the desire to eat foods that are not healthy for me. This will always be a struggle and I pray daily for strength to make the correct choices. God's Blessings to you on your journey.
08/13/04: Happy Birthday to the new me!!! Today marks 1 year since surgery. It has been a battle, war, and an emotional rollercoaster. I have gained and lost a pound here and there over the past month and am sitting at 214#'s as of today. I had hoped to get those 4 dreaded pounds off to make it to the century club at my 1 year out, but it did not work. I am working very hard at eating healthy and not snacking. I plan to see my surgeon and have lab work done in the next month to make sure everything else is in order. I love the fact that I have lost 96 #'s, I have more energy and am able to do things I could not do a year ago. I get frustrated and depressed though when I think of how much more I should and want to loose. I had some photos taken recently and compared them to my before look and it now is hitting me in the head that I have made a difference in the past year. All in all it has been worth the pain, stress, frustration and time. This road we travel will always be difficult, but at least with the tool of my pouch I will find some things less difficult than others. I still promote and encourage anyone who has health issues and is overweight to consider this surgery. It may have very well saved my life down the road. Continued God's Blessings to everyone. I will update again soon. I also just sent in my photos to be posted so hopefully they will be posted soon. Take care.
10/03/04: Well I missed my update in September and alot has happend since I last updated. I have finally hit the century mark. 100#'s lost!!!! I am so excited to have made it. However, in the last 3 weeks I gained 3 lbs back and hope that it will come off soon. Also found out the reason for gaining the 3lbs and the sudden lack of energy in my life. I went in for my routine blood work since I had felt so out of it for a few weeks. Found out that not only was my iron level extremly low, but I was PREGNANT!! Since my tubes had been tied 4 years ago when my daughter was born, I found this news to be quite alarming and a shock! There is always a good and bad side to everything in life I with this I found out many things. First of all I had a tubal pregnancy. I was lucky to have been able to have it diagnosed early on before anything got dangerous in my body. They were able to treat the pregnacy with a mild form of chemo therapy. (Methotrexate) In spite of some of the side affects from this treatment, I am very happy to know that it has worked and I should not need surgery to remove this tubal pregnacy. So we are working healing now and pray that once things are back in order the doctors can tell me just how this could have happened with my tubes being tied. Sure makes one think... and of course makes you realize that not everything is 100% guaranteed. The doctors feel that the few lbs I gained will come back off once we get this pregancy out of my system and then of course my energy should start to come back with the extra iron they have me on. So I did reach the century club and will be very happy to get back there soon once I heal. I still deal with head hunger daily and am planning to go back to see a shrink in the next few weeks to talk over things. I have to find other ways to deal with stress other than food and even with this surgery, it is hard to watch what you eat. I am still very happy to have the tool to help me in this journey and look forward to winning this battle. God Bless everyone who is on this journey. I hope that my journal helps you out even if just in a little way. 
01/31/05: Happy New Year, a little late. Time has just flown by and I figured I better get my profile updated before I forget all that has happened. The tubal pregnancy took over 2 months to completely leave my system and all is good now. I am back on birth control until we decide if we want another surgery to fix whatever is connected inside. Spoke to Dr. Rebchook a few months ago about repairing my hernia and possible skin removal. He sent me to Dr. King who is a plastic surgeon. Found out that to have the skin removed from the "apron" it would cost me somewhere between $6000 - $8000 to have it done. Wanted to have all 3 done (hernia repair, skin removal and tubal fixed) but the insurance company has said NO to the plastic surgery part of it. So I am in a holding pattern now until I decide if I want to pay out that kind of $$. For now, I may just have the hernia fixed and tubal done and then decide in a year or so after I loose some more weight to have the skin removal done. Maybe we will have another insurance by then to, who knows. The GOOD NEWS IS that I have officially dropped below 200#'s. I can't remember the last time I was under 200. I now weigh the same as my husband and that was my 2nd goal. I can't wait to get to my third goal which is 175#'s. I still struggle with head hunger and find it hard at times to say no to bad foods. I am grateful that I don't gain sometimes. I find talking to the shrink helps as well. Otherwise, I still feel great, my iron count is good (as long as I take the iron pills) and I enjoy almost any kind of food without getting sick, just have to watch the quantity. This surgery has given me back my life and I am so ever grateful for that. Good luck to everyone on this journey.
04/22/05: Funny how I used to be able to update monthly and now it seems hard to get to the site every couple months. Things are still going well for me. I am down another 5 lbs and figure it is due to stress mostly, but however it happened, I'll take it. I was blessed with kidney stones about 2 months ago and had them blasted out with a laser last week. I am still recovering but it will take a few weeks for the stones to leave my system. Waiting to hear what the cause of the stones are so we can work on it not happening again. I decided to go ahead with the hernia repair and tubal fix which will be done on May 9 now. (was delayed because of the kidney stone issue). I can't afford the plastic surgery and really need to get both the tubal and hernia taken care of so we will have to wait and see how things go next year and then consider plastic surgery. I have been doing ok with the excess skin, but summer is just around the corner, so I expect it to get worse. I hope this journal helps you in your journey and as always, email me if you have any questions I may be able to help you out with. God's Blessings.
06/08/05: Wow, once again it has been a busy few months. I have dropped more weight and have not even been trying. Stress does wonders to the body. Since my last update I have healed from my kidney stone surgery, had a very large hernia repaired, got the tubes removed and tended to my 4 yr old daughter who also had surgery. (tonsils/tubes in ears). Not to mention in the past 3 weeks we moved from our dream home in the country back into a very nice home in town. We have been busy. Life is wonderful with weighing 120#'s + less then I was almost 2 years ago. I find it amazing the kinds of clothes I can buy and wear comfortably and the amount of extra energy is just amazing. I don't have knee problems anymore, the blood pressure is great and no acid reflux. I only have EXCESS skin, so that is a small price to pay for my health. Someday we might have it removed, but I am happy with the way I am now. I still continue to get comments from many people and still find it hard to accept those comments, but it is getting easier to just say "Thanks". One thing I have learned about the kidney stones I had. The doctor says the stones may have formed due to the bypass surgery and the malaborption that takes place. With that in mind, they recommended less peanuts and beans (which I love because of the protein content in them) and to ALWAYS DRINK, DRINK, and DRINK more water and liquids. Hopefully with that we will avoid future stones. Guess that is about all for now. Take care and email me if you have any questions that I can answer for you. God Bless.
10/23/05: Wow once again I find that I don't update this profile as much as I should. Over the summer I gained/lost most of the time within a few pounds. I also had some issues with rashes and skin breakouts due to the wonderful warm summer we had here in WI. I now weight 185#'s which considering I found myself back up at almost 200#'s about 5 weeks ago, I am happy to say I am back on track. I went to see a plastic surgeon again in September and had him resubmit my request for plastic surgery to our new insurance company. While waiting my husband and I discussed me having the plastic surgery after the first of the year so that we would be able to use some flex spend $$ to help offset the $6000 - $7000 that is was going to cost to have my apron removed. We were almost ready to sign our flex spend papers for 2006 when we found out that my new insurance company APPROVED me for an adominoplasty due to medical issues. YEAH!!! I was so suprised and excited and now worried about it. Surgery is November 22, 2005 and they say I will be able to go home the same day, which I would really like to. Dr. King is doing the surgery. They are going to tighten up muscles in my stomach and remove the panus. So once again I get to go under the knife. I hope and pray this is the last time. I don't have any other problems with my extra skin under my arms, legs or thighs so I expect the stomach should be the end of plastic surgery. I can't begin to imagine what I will look or feel like once I don't have the apron. It is exciting but also scary all at the same time. I have NEVER in my life not had a huge stomach so after 39 years I am going to finally find out what it is like. Other than getting ready for another surgery, I'm doing well. Don't gain or loose much on average anymore, but still have to be careful what I eat. Again, this surgery was / is a TOOL not a cure for being overweight and you have to use it properly. I am going to try to get some new photos on my profile since it has been awhile and I really should before I have my plastic surgery. God's Blessings to everyone on this journey.
11/28/05: Well I made it thru yet another surgery. Most everything is going fine. I am getting very bored with being home and glued to a chair. My abdominplasty went well. I was in the hospital for about 9 hours total including registration, surgery, recovery and going home. It was nice to not have to stay overnight. I am guessing at this time they took about 10lbs of extra skin off me. I am swelled and have a back ache from sitting so much. I am looking forward to being able to get up and around more. So far, I can't tell the real difference as I have not been wearing any real clothes. (just sweatpants) So once I am up to that I expect I will see more of a difference. I do know my stomach is flat and I have NEVER seen that before so it is very exciting to say the least. I see Dr. King again today and look forward to feeling better and getting back to work soon. Until next time, take care.
12/21/05: Well it has been almost 1 month since plastic surgery. I have been feeling pretty good. I got 1 tube taken out along with the few stiches I had at 10 days post op. Then at 2 weeks post op the 2nd drain tube came out. I have been getting around pretty good and even went back to work on week #3 part time. It feels good to get out and get around. The biggest thing for me now is the SWELLING. I feel pregnant sometimes. My stomach feels like I am wearing pants that are 3 sizes to small and all I have on is a pair of sweatpants. I see the doctor this week and would expect to hear the same thing. This is normal. I have been able to wear "real" clothes but some of my non stretch jeans still don't fit from prior to surgery. The ones with a little give fit nice now. I am still wearing a binder/girdle 24/7 and I hate it but the doctor says that will help the swelling. According to my scales and the doctor they removed 10 lbs of excess skin from my abdomin. I can see the difference now even with the swelling. I am looking forward to getting back to work full time next week and hopefully enjoying the holidays. I find that if I am on my feet to much in the day my stomach will hurt by the end of the day. Getting in and out of a car is sometimes a little painful to, but otherwise I am doing great and am very glad to have had this surgery done. I am looking forward to the swelling to go down and to see if I actually will loose a little more weight as well. I have been able to get into 16's and I can't remember the last time I was able to do that. I will be very pleased if I can end up a size 14/16 after all this. That would be about the right size for my body frame. Hope to update again soon. Have a great holiday everyone.
Future Update
03/13/06: Well it's been 3 months since plastic surgery on my abdomin. I am pleased with the results, but wish swelling would go down. The plastic surgeon feels that everything is going well. The swelling is normal and could take up to a year. The biggest change for me is the extra skin being gone. I am so greatful to have that gone. It is hard at times to remember what it was like to have that extra 10lbs of skin hanging there because when you see it gone all you want is for it to be more flat etc. I am now faced with the possibility of yet another hernia in the same area that my last one was. I have not checked into it much further with my doctor, but according to my plastic surgeon there is another one to be dealt with. I have what I consider a large 'buldge" under my chest which is much larger than my stomach now that I had the abdominoplasty done. Some of that buldge is scar tissue from previous surgery and some is the hernia. I guess we will look into it but I am not big on yet another surgery, so I will be putting it off as long as possible. I am going to submit another photo today to show my latest with the plastic surgery being done now. I still face my daily struggles with snacking or grazing. I also still have to work hard to maintain or loose any weight. I hover between the 185 & 180 mark and should learn not to get on that darn scale so often. I also had my measurements done last weekend. WOW, when you look back at the inches before and now, it is truly amazing. As of today (2 years and 7 months post op) I have lost 13 inches off my chest, 13.5 inches off my waist (2 inches of which was the result of the abdominoplasty surgery); 14 inches off my hips (of which 5 inches was removed with my abdominoplasty); 5 inches off each arm and 4 inches off the neck. So total I have lost close to 50 inches off my body. That along with over 140lbs gone as well. Life is good and I thank God daily for the blessings from having this surgery. Take care.
Future Update
10/23/06: Well I find life so crazy sometimes I forget that I should really be updating this page of mine. A few things have changed for me since I last updated. I found myself going thru some emotional ups and downs over the spring and summer. When I finally decided to talk to my doctor, we came to the realization that I was suffering from mild depression. Never thought I would be considered depressed but that is what the doctor says. In a nutshell the theory is that over the past 3 years I have lost alot of weight and some excess skin. My body has changed 125% but my head has not "caught up" with all these changes. So I agreed to start taking anti depresents for a while. Within the first 2 months of taking them, I gained 20 lbs. Not a good thing. I was and still am very upset over this as I never wanted to see that 200 lb mark again. After 3 different types, I finally have a drug (Zoloft) that is not making me gain weight and not making me so tired I can't function. Needless to say those 20 lbs are still hanging on. I fight every day with the scale and it does not like to dip below that 200 mark very often. Although the weight gain is frustrating I am still glad to be on the pills as my level of emotions seem pretty controlled now. I only hope and pray I can get off them soon so that I can eventually loose those 20 lbs. I also made a life changing decision about 2 months ago. I left a very good paying job after almost 7 years without another job lined up. Since then I have secured a part time job and for now am very happy to have left the full time world. I am getting used to the part time work, trying to cope with the idea that my husband can and does provide for our family very well and I just might not go back to work full time. I wonder how I did it before sometimes. For me the hardest part of not working full time is that for the 40 years I have been in this world I have always taken care of myself and now I am depending on my husband to take care of myself and our family financially and nobody (other than my parents) have ever done that for me before. Hard thing to accept, but very comforting to know that we are ok. My stomach is still numb and feels swollon from the surgery I had almost a year ago. I think alot of that "swelling" feleing I have is actually part of the weight gain I have had. The numbness is weird, but not a bad thing I guess. I hope to update again soon and as always, God's Blessing to everyone who is on this journey. -Vicky
About Me
Before & After
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