My Gastric Bypass Journey - Long Beach, CA

Hello, My name is Latois and I had the RNY surgery on July 27, 2011 with Kaiser Permanente which the surgery was performed by (Fountain Valley Reg. Hosp).

The reason I decided to first have any type of surgery was I was diagnosed with HBP 4 years ago and was on several medications not to mention none of them were working. My mother has CHF and a difribrlator in place and I did not want to undergo the untold problems that she has.

I chose the RNY because this was the surgery that my surgeon reccomended for my problem. I wanted HBP to be gone once and for all. As a child and my teenage years I was very thin and not until i gave birth to my second daughter did i began to gain weight and could not stop even with the many diets and programs that I started.

On the morning of Jan 1, 2010 I woke up with a throbbing headache and tingling in my hands and feet and was rushed to the E.R. with Bp elevated to 135/109 and had to be hospitalized for relief. This was when I knew I had to take a stand and do something about my problem. I made an appt with my primary doctor and at that time it was still highly elevated and she and I agreed to go forward with the WLS referrel. I went through 4 months of options class and then later scheduled for surgery.

It was not a hard decision for me nor my children. My husband was not to thrilled with it, but later came to his senses because he too wants me to live a longer life. The surgery itself was not as painful as I thought it would be. I'm never good with anesthesia anyway and that was my problem. After returning home from surgery was when I felt that I had madee the worse choice ever for myself because I felt so emotional after the surgery. Later found out that because I was losing so fast and hormones were going crazy was why I felt this way. I did not know what to eat..could not understand the feelings that I was feeling and just felt I had destroyed my life.

2 months post-op I began to feel alive again and now I feel this was the best thing I have ever done for myself and would not turn back ever. I love my tool and would do it all over again. I started my journey weighing 238 and now I am 5 mos post-op and I weigh 182 and I feel great. My goal weight is 120 and I will get there with the help of my tool.

I exercise 3-4 days a week 1 1/2 hours a day. I can eat no more than 4 oz. at one sitting and I am very cautious of not eatting things that don't belong in my mouth. I love the slow process of losing because I don't have a lot of loose skin hanging. I am toning as I go. I feel complete and would not trade my tool for nothing. Good luck with all your decisions and God bless.