Where do I start?

So you have thought about having weight loss surgery, but don't know where to start?  Start with your family doctor.  Having a candid conversation with your doctor can help you know and understand what being overweight means for your body.  Many doctors tell you that you need to lose weight, but they don't get into details about what being over weight does to your body.  Being overweight affects your joints, your circulatory system, your skin, etc.  It's your whole life that gets affected. 

Many of us go through the beginning of this process feeling at the very lowest they have ever felt.  Many times the process begins with a seminar that you sign up for through whichever bariatric center your doctor refers you too.  From there they will discuss with you about insurance approval.  Then will begin the most intense and scary journey that you will face. It's a wild ride full of ups and downs, but it is truely life changing and the most amazing thing I have done for myself.  :) 

A good website to head to for more information is Obesity Help.  Good luck beginning your journey! 

Cranky Pouch

Warning:  This post will be incredibly whiny and self pitying.  Okay you have been warned.........


For the past two days, everything I eat seems to form a knot in my stomach. It doesn't matter what I put in my mouth.  It hates me.  Do pouches get PMS?  I'm pretty sure my pouch reacts to my body going through PMS.  I have a couple of weeks of smooth sailing before my pouch decides it hates me again.  I feel like all I want to do is eat and eat.  I have been avoiding carbs like the plague, but it doesn't seem to be helping.  You would think that my head hunger would be calming down a bit.  However, I have a very stubborn head who wants to remember what bread tastes like, what pasta tastes like and most of all what potatoes taste like.  

On another note, exercise is not as daunting as it used to be.  The stair stepper actually makes me happy.  Getting to that point was pure torture, but I feel so much more accomplished when I use it.  I also lose weight so much easier when I am working my fanny off on the stairs.  

Speaking of my fannie!  I am losing my butt.  All my pants are suddenly sagging in the back and sitting on hard chairs are TORTURE!  My butt constantly feels like if I was applying all my weight to my elbows and sitting on them!  

Well I better end this.  My hubby is taking me out to dinner so I have to go try to calm all my "new hairs" down.  They are sticking up all over my head!!

Before and After Pictures

The first picture is before surgery at my last sugical consult.  The next one is at my six month surgery visit.  70 lbs down.  The last is my first selfie at 8 months out and 100 lbs down.

My new post op life

I had my RNY, which stands for Roux-en-y, gastric bypass on May 6, 2013.  This came after almost a year of seminars, tests, and psychological evaluations.  I am 5' tall and at my highest weight I was 260lbs.  I had so much weight on my body that when I went to bed at night, I would stop breathing.  My body mass index was 49.  I wasn't really "living" my life. I was doing the bare minimum of what I had to do to get through daily life.  I was often exhausted and always in pain from somewhere on my body. 

My husband was affected by this as well.  He had a wife who was insecure, not interested in sex, and felt horribly about herself.  We had been married 12 years and due to PCOS had been unable to concieve a child. 

I am now 8 months out from surgery.  I have lost 103 lbs and I have lost most of my medical problems.  My life has improved.  I am more active in my job.  My life has changed for the better in more ways than I can even list on this blog post.