I'm having surgery in about 43 hours, so I suppose if I want to blog about my experience, I'd better get to it. So...
Welcome to my blog! This is really just a way to chronicle my attempt to get healthy with the help of gastric sleeve surgery. A way to process my thoughts on the journey, and maybe help someone else along the way.
I know that gastric sleeve surgery sounds extreme to people. I told a friend, someone I see socially a lot and would notice if I suddenly stopped eating very much, and while she was very supportive, I saw that split second of shock. Her eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open. She was stunned. I haven't been very open with my coworkers or friends about my surgery for just that reason. I don't want to have to explain myself, my reasons for seeking such a "drastic" solution to a problem that most of the people I'd be telling will never understand.
I will explain myself here though, in the interest of full disclosure. I want to be open here, in a way I don't feel I can be with people I know.
I've struggled with my weight for as long as I can remember. In retrospect, I wasn't all that heavy as a teen. I wasn't thin, certainly, but I was an athlete and I was healthy. I felt fat though. College was where I really started to put weight on. I was no longer the dedicated athlete I'd been, and I had access to tons of unhealthy food. Plus late night binges with friends. Plus alcohol. I don't know how much weight I gained my freshman yet, but it was probably a good two pant sizes. The pattern continued until I was a hundred pounds heavier than I'd been at my high school graduation.
I've tried everything over the last decade to lose that weight. Good old diet and exercise, which thin people seem to think is the only miracle cure you could ever need. I'd lose a few pounds, maybe fifteen, twenty if I was really lucky, but then the scale would stop moving, no matter what. I had my thyroid tested because it was so incredibly difficult to lose weight, but the doctor said it was fine. I tried Jenny Craig. I tried a medically supervised, very low calorie diet. And, I'm not proud to say it, I tried my share of unhealthy options, like juice and water fasts. I was just so desperate to see something work.
I'd given up hope, resigned myself to a life of obesity, when my dad started the process to have weight loss surgery. He'd had a heart attack years ago, and arrhythmia, and his doctor was pretty insistent that this was a last ditch effort to save his life. The closer he got to surgery, the more he thought it would be a good path for me. I'd never really considered it before. To be honest, I didn't think I was fat enough.
Through a lot of research and consultation, I realized that it wasn't a drastic choice, at least not as drastic as some people believe it to be. Nor is it a miracle cure. It still takes a lot of hard work and dedication, and it's really more of a tool than a cure. Now here I am, 43 hours from sleeve gastrectomy surgery and a brave new world. That's glossing over the process, of course, but that can be another post for another day.
For now, wish me luck.
Start Weight: 273
Current Weight: 273
