My Gastric Bypass Journey- A personal weight loss story

Hello and welcome to my journey to health via Gastric Bypass. In this blog I will share with you what has worked for me and what has not, what support groups I am a member of and what my eating plan is.  I am not a physician and all the experiences are mine. Consult your physician for your own journey.

At the age of 59 I finally took the step to have surgical intervention to aid me in my goal to good health. It’s never to late right? I can tell you now, 7 months out, it was the best decision and my only regret is that I did not do it sooner.

A lifetime of diets led me to an unhealthy body. One that had been abused by calorie counting, diet pills, over exertion exercise and yo yo dieting.

Since the age of 9, when my weight was considered “high for my height” I have been on a “diet” (notice that the first three letters spell “die.” If only my parents knew that what they thought that they were doing what was right was nearly going to kill me. Take it from me- tell your child they are perfect no matter what, offer healthy options and pay attention to what and why they are eating- do not say they are fat. Bullying starts at home and sadly sometimes out of love.

Amphetamines, weight watchers, Jenny Craig, Nutrasystem, Atkins, Fasting…. they all lead to weight loss.  At my highest in 2005 I was 328 pounds and 5’4″ a size 26/28us. I looked into weight loss surgery at that time but felt that the restrictions of what I could not eat were too much for me to handle permanently. So- back to working out and eating less. It took an number of years, but I got to 256lbs and stayed there for what seemed like FOREVER.

In 2016 I decided that I wanted to live well and live past 60. So I started the process for approval with my health insurance, which required multiple hoops to jump through.  Now while you are going through the process of completing the requirements I felt “why do I have to do this, I have made my decision why do I need to wait 6 months to get this done!” But, there is a reason (multiple reasons) that they require the steps and like a 12 step program you cannot skip any.  And frankly- I am glad now that I followed the rules and did them. They made me ready for my new way of life.  And it is a new way of life- everything is different (for the better).

My first journal entry states “I will follow my plan” and I have done that to a T. Which may be why I have been so successful and have had minimal side effects. My surgeon says I win a gold star for performance.

Here are the pre requisites for my insurance company.

Primary care letter of recommendation, Cardiology consult, WL Informational Seminar, 2 Support group meetings, Psychologist consult, Surgeon Visit, 5 years documentation of history of obesity, 6 months of nutritionist managed weight loss. (they accepted 3 consecutive monthly visits as I had documentation with my primary that I had been on her recommended diet for so many years), Joining the insurance company Bariatric Program (which offered counselling).

I began my pre requisites in May of 2016 and had my surgery on September 13, 2016.  My weight at day of surgery was 256.  Today I am 167. Six and a half months and I have lost 89 pounds. And fat is fluffy, so I have lost MANY inches and am now wearing a size large or 10/12 us. Went from a 44H bra to a 36D.

Has it been easy? No. Is it worth is YES.

Follow my blog for details, ideas, recopies and thoughts. Join me on my journey.