34 Yr Old Mom to 3 boys, Struggled with Being Overweight my Entire Adult Life

Incisions aren't painful just the area under my left rib cage is still very sore from surgery. I have intense hunger pains, probably because my stomach is still swollen. I was able to have applesauce and chicken noodle soup without the chunks yesterday.

I've been lurking on this site since December 2016. After just getting the sleeve done on Wednesday April 18th 2018 I've finally decided to become a real part of the community by sharing my story. I looked into getting the gastric sleeve done in Mexico but ultimately decided I really wanted to recover at home with my family. My insurance BCBS would of covered half of it if I went through all the hoops they set out. Instead we ended up paying for the whole thing ourselves, my husband and I. I was able to get a surgery date for two weeks after my initial consult because of that. I thought hard about getting the procedure for over a year now. With all my accumulating health problems I knew it was time I did something drastic. I was ashamed, I had hit my highest weight of 300 pounds and knew I did not want to gain anymore. I had done weight watchers off and on over the last few years with only losing a maximum of 10 pounds ever I knew it wasn't going to work for me. I have sleep apnea, diagnosed while pregnant with my first child in 2008. I have degenerative disc disease in my cervical and lumbar spine, sciatica, pins and needles in my right thigh when walking for too long, acid reflux disease, asthma, high blood pressure and I'm also prediabetic. My weight has slowly crept up on me over the last fourteen years. I've had depression since I about 10 years old and low self esteem until I met my husband. He gave me a lot of my self confidence back, because he always loved me for me. We had our three children within two years of each other so they could grow up together and become best friends. So between the babies and the depression I never took care of myself. I didn't really care if I lived or died and the depression most of the time made me feel like a bad mother and that they would be better off without me. But I never gave up on them because they never gave up on me. In 2017 I felt the happiest I'd ever been, despite my weight. Because of that I finally decided to take care of myself and get a handle on this weight so I could live to see my grandkids someday. I chose Dr. Terry Simpson to do my surgery, he had good reviews, his location wasn't too far from me and he listed a flat self pay rate on his website which helped in the decision making. So after taking the plunge, I'm now 2 days post op and feeling better each day. I'm excited to use this new weight loss tool to get me to my goal of 180 pounds. I'm excited to see what the future has to offer with a healthier new me in tow.