Best Decision Ever. 107 pounds down in 10 months!

I was always kind of on the chunky side as a kid and teenager, but as a young adult, I went into the military and got myself in shape. But two years after I went in, my metabolism inexplicably slowed to a crawl. Neither my doctors, nor the dietitian and personal trainer assigned to me by the Air Force could explain it. I was doing everything right, and the weight kept piling on. I went from a Normal BMI to Obese in less than 1 year. By April of 2015, I was pushing towards morbidly obese. This drastic change in weight caused me to develop idiopathic intracranial hypertension putting me at risk for blindness and giving me excruciating crushing headaches. So, my medical team recommended vertical sleeve gastrectomy. What a life changer it's been so far! I'm one day shy of three months out as of today and I've lost 53 pounds already! I was 249 the day before surgery and I'm 196 today. I was told originally I could expect to lose about 60% of my excess weight which was estimated to be 100 pounds and that weight loss would occur over 12-18 months. I've lost 53 of those 60 pounds already in three months and at my last follow-up, my surgeon said based on my success, there's no reason I can't lose as much as I want to lose. My goal weight is now 150, but if I lose a little more than that, I'd be okay with that, too. ;) On the downside: my headaches aren't any better yet (fingers still crossed), I've developed terrible acid reflux (GERD) that I didn't have before, and since surgery, I've also developed a hiatal hernia that's giving me no end of trouble and discomfort. So, it's not all sunshine and roses having one of these procedures. I've lost a huge amount of weight, yes, but given myself two more health problems I didn't have before while not resolving the one thing I really needed the surgery for.

Still having difficulties eating and drinking what I'm supposed to, due to the hiatal hernia I've developed. Earliest appointment I could get with my doctor is July 14, and that's just to discuss what's going on. Who knows when something will be done about the problem? Since I'm not eating or drinking much, my body has gone into self-defense conservation mode and weight loss has almost stalled. Down only 1 more pound since I last posted. C'est la vie, I suppose. I'll update again after my appointment. It's important, I think, that I share the potential complications of this procedure and the outcomes of those complications.

As of today, I'm no longer obese on the BMI charts!!! Three months and ten days ago, I was a mere 6 pounds from being morbidly obese, but now, I'm merely overweight! 58 pounds lost since my sleeve gastrectomy. Today, I bought a couple clothing items in size MEDIUM! This is huge for me. I was wearing XL and XXL just a couple months ago! I finally had to break down and buy new shorts because all of my capris and pants were falling off of me. (I didn't want to buy new stuff until my weight had stabilized more--I was content to go through summer in my baggy clothes like a hobo, until it became a matter of public indecency, hahaha.) I'm looking forward to my appointment Tuesday with my surgeon to show off my progress and hopefully get some answers about this darn hiatal hernia I've developed.