He Sleeves Me, He Sleeves Me Not... Houston, TX

I have always been an athletic person, so having an athletic build came with the territory. Not "fat" but defined muscles with curves. That was until about 11th grade. I started hanging out with people who's priorities included indulging in heavy, big meals and little to no exercise. I'm not blaming my habits on anyone, no one forced me to eat and be lazier then usual. My surroundings changed and so did my normal routine.

Once I stopped hanging out with these people I never went back to my "normal" eating. Food became way more important then ever before. I wanted to keep eating more. I still stayed athletic but I was putting more in than my body was using. I started college and made some wonderful friends, we all worked out on a regular basis. I became the girl that was always working out. I'm talking obsessive working out, five days a week, four hours a day. I loved the way working out made me feel. I lost a size or two but mostly toned up but still I was big. Granted, I didn't know I was big, I was a size 12-14 roughly.

When I met my husband I weighed about 180 lbs and still I didn't feel "fat". My BMI was rather high though. I'm 5"7' so I carry my weight very well. I didn't look 180, but I was. I moved states with my husband and we ate out all the time. This wasn't helping my weight gain at all. Bonus little tidbit, I have Hypothyroidism as well and wasn't on any medication. Needless to say, the amount of food I was consuming hadn't changed in several years by this point. After marring my husband we started our family very quickly. We had the most wonderful boy in the world in October 2008. I was over 200 lbs by this point. The 'baby weight' never went away and the bigger my son grew the bigger I grew.

I have tried every diet and exercise you can think of from nutri-system to prescribed pills. I didn't loose weight just maintained whatever weight I was at the time. Every time I tried a diet and couldn't see results, I would stop and the weight would continue to rise. This has gone on for almost 5 years now. I finally decided to do something about the weight. I called True Results in Houston, had my insurance verified and set a consultation. My consult was September 13th. I was weighed which is every plus size persons favorite part (sarcasm). I weighed in at 296 and I couldn't believe I was so FAT!!! "How could this be? I can't be this big. Some must be due to the breakfast I ate..." Yes, all these things ran through my head.

I was disappointed that I let myself get to this point. But, the more I thought the more I came to a realization. I'm not going to let my weight own me anymore. That's why I'm here. So, after a brief freakout, I gathered myself and sat down. "I'm ready for the gastric sleeve surgery. I'm ready for a 'one and done'. Not a ton of maintenance." (the lap-band is great for some just not my cup of tea). I had my blood drawn, EKG, and a physical. Talked about my history with the NP. My insurance is amazing so not to much is needed for approval. My BMI was done and I'm at a 47. I scheduled an EGD for October 15th and I'm waiting on approval from insurance (takes mine about a month) so, it should be here near the time I do my EGD.

My family have been extremely supportive of this decision. It not only impacts me but my son and my husband. My husband has been my rock through this emotion experience, and we are just getting started. I will be updating my page as regularly as I can. I have read many of the reviews on here and youtube and everyone has been so helpful to calm my nerves. I hope I can do the same for someone else.

So, I had a psych evaluation done since my surgeon calls for one. Next is the EGD on the 15th and then a pre-op appointment with my surgeon and a hospital pre-op on the 22nd. Not looking forward to signing a ton a paperwork, but it must be done. I start my 2 week liquid diet the 15th. Feeling nervous, I have the will-power not to eat anything other then what I am allowed to have but I'm still concerned with my head cravings to snack.. Anyone tips and tricks are welcome.. It's getting closer to D DAY.. Quite a bit more butterflies going on then I thought would be. I can finally see a light at the end of this tunnel.. I will keep yall posted. Pictures to come before I start my liquid diet and then update pictures to follow accordingly.

So, as my title stats, I had an EGD done this morning with my Surgeon Dr. Reilly. Its nice to finally meet him. He was super nice and answered my questions ( even the ones that I didn't need to worry about). The EGD went something like this. You get to the office really early in case the surgeon is on time.. Then, I was asked to pee in a cup and get undressed so that I can get in a "see-more-hinny gown" you can keep your underwear and socks on.. Afterward, I had an IV placed in my hand. I waited about 20 minutes and then was shuffled back to the room where I would have my EGD. Upon arrival I was told to roll over on my side ( shoulder under me) and proceeded to take a nap ( anesthesia was admitted). Woke up roughly 20 minutes later in recovery and maybe 20 minutes after I woke up, I was out the door. All in all, not a bad experience. It has been about 5 hours since my EGD. I attempted to nap after I got home but for some reason my body wasn't having it. I have a slight sore throat but that is to be expected. Now I just have to have my pro-op appointment with the surgeon's office ( have to pay) and the hospital on the 22nd.

I'm starting my 2 week diet today. I;m hungrier then I thought I would be for day one. No matter what, I;m not breaking my diet. As my husband says, Its 2 weeks of being hungry and then I will never feel this way again. In the grand scheme of things, 2 weeks isn't that long of my life. Also, since i'm on my pro-op diet that means i;m counting down the days until my procedure on the 30th. Its coming up rather quickly and I couldn't be more excited. Dr. Reilly told me something and I'd never thought about it this way before, "if you can eat 5 bites this year, you should only be eating 5 bites next year." I am wanting to have the best chance for success like everyone, so, I;m going to be monitoring my food intake a little more then i thought I would have been. I would love to get past the honey moon phase and in 5 years still be small. Eating a lot got me here in the first place, and I dang sure don't want to be this size again after all the hard work and effort I have put into this. I'm taking it one day at a time. No sense going crazy over the number of days I have to "DIET". I'm at 298 today and I will be tracking my progress via realself so i'm able to look back and see the results..