I finally had my six month follow up appointment with the surgeon. I almost didn’t make it! I wanted to leave a little early because I knew there was construction down town. I went out to leave and realized that I didn’t have the keys to the truck. I panicked. I called my Grandma to see if she could come pick me up RIGHT THEN. She informed me that my cousin had her car and she was without one. I paced for several minutes before calling my cousin, April, to see if she could come take me. Luckily, she was able to. She just loaded the kids in the car, came and got me and I was able to make it there 5 minutes early.
I had forgotten I was supposed to get my labs done before my appointment. I had came across the orders a few days before and ended up getting them done on Sunday morning (day before my appt). I knew they wouldn’t be ready by my appointment, but luckily they were! According to the scale at home, I hadn’t reached 100 lbs lost yet, but at the Dr’s office, I had.
When the surgeon came in he came over to me, shook my hand and said “Congratulations, you are no longer morbidly obese.” That surprised me, because I hadn’t realized I had fell into another category on the BMI chart. I was pleased to find out also that my bloodwork had came back and all my levels were in the perfect range. That was something I was worried about, that I would be deficient in something. I had bruises pop up and hair loss, so thought maybe those were signs of being low on something, but was happy to hear that everything was where it was supposed to be.
I had all my measurements taken and I was able to see on paper how many inches I had lost. I hadn’t written down my before measurements, so I was looking forward to getting those numbers. I met with the nutritionist and physiologist and got my updated goals and next steps from them. My next appointment will be in 6 more months for my one year appointment.
So, now that I have reached my first goal of 100 lbs lost, it was time to reward myself. This weekend Tommie and I went out to the running store and I bought myself a new pair of tennis shoes. Tommie got a pair also. Felt good. It was funny, when I paid I had to show my drivers license, the sales lady was like “Oh My Gawd! You look so different! You’re going to need a new picture!” I laughed and said “It IS a new picture!” My license was renewed just about a year ago. I have about 15 more lbs before I reach my next goal. I want to thank all my friends and family for the support they give. It really helps. I’ll close this post with a photo of my new shoes. 😀
Congratulations, Amy! Keep up the good work. I don’t know if you knew but I lost 78 pounds 4 years ago and I have never looked back. I started at a size 4 and in my early 40s started gaining weight…fast! I went to a size 20! After losing the weight, I am now a size 0 sometimes a 2…mostly depending on the bust. It was the best thing I ever did so I feel your joy! Hugs!
Thank you, Ilse. Yes, I remember that you had WLS of some type. I didn’t know your stats though. I was a size 18/20 in high school and have always been over that as an adult. I was actually happy at size 20 (or XL), but over the years with all the yo-yo dieting, it’s just got harder and harder on my body and I ended up wearing a 30/32 at my highest weight of 315. At this appointment my nutritionist told me my highest recorded weight at the Dr’s office (not their office, but one of my other visits elsewhere) was 320. Today I am at 214. My next goal is to get under 200 and that will be mind blowing for me. Next goal after that is to get to the weight I was in high school, which was 180 and then the REALLY hard work starts and if I’m able to – I’ll shoot for 140, which is the high range of “Normal” weight on the BMI chart for my height. I’ve NEVER been that in my life. I think I just skipped right over it. Congrats on your success and your ability to keep it off over the years! This is NOT a cure all like some might think, just a tool to help get us there. It’s been interesting so far. 😀 I hope I can be one of those people who can keep it off once I get there.
Amy, you can do it! But you are right; it is constant work. I am extremely carb sensitive so can never exceed 50 g of carbs in order to maintain. After reaching goal, most can maintain at almost 3 times that number…but not me. So, I rarely get to eat bread, pasta or potatoes even though I had reached goal (actually I surpassed my doctor’s goal and reached my own personal goal). I got so low that I had to gain weight (20 pounds) to have some surgery done and then I just kept delaying re-losing that weight until recently. Now I am back on track to getting it off but it is hard to not touch any “good” food. It gets old to only eat protein but I am doing it again. It probably wouldn’t have ever been an issue if I hadn’t had to gain weight but, darn!, those carbs tasted so good after a few years of not having them. LOL. I continue to root for you and don’t ever be afraid to contact me if you need an emotional boost. Hugs!
Thank you, Ilse. Of coarse, I have good and bad days, emotionally. I recognize how far I’ve come, but I also recognize how far I have to go….I have seen several people mention that they can’t eat any carbs or they gain. I sure hope I’m able to eat carbs, as long as I watch the portion size, because I would be so unhappy to have to cut that out completely!!