madie3
I am 39 years old. I have been overweight all of my adult life. I have been married for 16 years, I have 3 kids and other than being overweight I have been very happy with my life. I have always been a yo-yo dieter. I have been on every diet you can imagine. The most weight I lost with any diet was 40 lbs which came back and then some within 6 months. Luckily, at my yearly physicals I was never put on any medications for any reason. I was always told the same thing... I needed to lose weight before it did cause health issues requiring medication. I felt medication was inevitable since my weight was getting higher and higher every year.
I became a nurse in 2006 and up until that point had never thought about WLS. I began to meet different nurses who had undergone WLS and had gotten the same results... it changed their lives for the better. In 2009, I began to do my own WLS research and before I knew it the date was here. On April 22, 2010 I had my surgery. I was excited and scared at the same time because it doesn't matter how much research you do or how people describe the "new pouch" feeling, you don't know until you've gone through it yourself.
If I'm being honest, the first few days (5 to be exact) were the worst I've ever felt in my life. I had regrets and there was nothing I could do about it. On the 6th day, I felt well enough to say "I'm going to be ok." I followed the plan and am now close to 12 weeks out. I am adding foods back to my menu (within reason), and I'm still drinking my protein. I can honestly say at this time I no longer have regrets. To date, I have lost 42 lbs. I started exercising 2 weeks ago at the gym (not crazy exercise but I get my heart rate up). I am looking forward to the rest of my journey and hope to share my experience with people who are contimplating having WLS. This website has helped me tremendously (especially in my first week). It is comforting to know there are thousands of people on this website who have experienced the same pain, frustrations and joy as me and that I too one day will be able to put a before and after picture to let someone know there is light at the end of the tunnel.
