My Weight Loss Surgery Journey:
Nana's getting to her inner self, "The Wildflower"

Where to start? I am a mature female and have had a great deal of issues with weight all my life. Childhood, teenage years, and in adulthood things remained the same. You diet, you lose a few pounds, you walk and walk. You continue the same cycle but the end results remain the same, and sometimes you even keep a few extra unwanted pounds.

I have always been labeled. Big Bones, Her thyroid is low or maybe is not working, Look she doesn't eat much or She must eat late at night. You just don't realize the amount of food you eat.

If you eat more than you move, guess what... you will get fat. I have heard it all, been called all the names, done all the plans. I have purchased items from any and everyone who had a new plan to help me lose this weight and I have taken vitamins to help me stay strong while I maintained a fast. Which put me in the hospital for about a week - this was in my early 30's I guess.

So when you talk to me, you are talking to a long-time friend of being heavy and yes, the fat jokes and remarks still hurt to the core today. I have to admit that some people just don't care. They like to have something rude to say or just like to be plain hurtful. Maybe it fills their needs in some way.

I am past the 50-year-old mark in my life, which scares me a lot. Mainly because there is soooooo much I want to do and experience and learn about. I love to travel, do crafts, I try to dance and I love the outdoors. Life has been going on around me, and I have not been living because of my weight and self esteem issues.

I know now that my Bucket List is long and I may not get to do what I want to do, which takes me to the first reason that I am writing this post, which is my FIRST online post ever!!!! Hopefully I can be of encouragement or help to someone as they go down the path to their new life.

MY STORY:

I had gastric bypass surgery done in 2003 - Jan 29. I weight 360 lbs and was working at the time. I had sleep apnea and it was horrible, and I still wear a cpap machine at night with the pressure on 20cm.

I did fine with this surgery and I don't know what happened to me or my case. I did lose about 80lbs and as of today I’ve kept it off for the most part. But I did not lose anything else no matter how hard I tried and I was giving this program my all: Driving 72 miles one way to attend the weight loss surgery support groups, trying to stay active with others at work… I was going full blast, I was determined to be a success story. But I was not, not only in my eyes or in the eyes of my doctor but in the eyes of my family and friends. I stopped losing the weight and remained at 295lb. The lowest I was able to maintain for any length of time was 275lbs.

I am now trying to get the gastric bypass revision surgery done by another bariatric doctor who has done a scope and has seen the problem that I had for all these years and never knew about. My pouch has become elongated and the outlet is very large. I don't know the cm or the length of the pouch.

After 9yrs of mental stress believing that I had failed the surgery (not that the surgery had failed me), I am finally looking towards a brighter future, with great health more mobility and fun, happiness, and lots of sightseeing!

I have to let you know that during the last 5 to 7 yrs I was off and on work and insurance was not available, so I did not keep in close contact with my first baritaric doctor. I don't know if things would have been different or if he would have been able to locate this problem. All I know is that I had a lot of mental stress from not having insurance and feeling like a failure.

But on to brighter days, and meeting new friends (I hope). I will welcome all. I need the encouragement and support of others who know how this problem makes you feel. I appreciate any tips.

Thanks,
WildFlower

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