2 years ago (looooong)

[Guest guest]

Hi gang,

Tomorrow is my 2-year wls anniversary. Two years ago tonight I was having my

clear-liquid dinner and getting everything ready for my trip to the hospital

and changing my life. I had no idea just how much change that would be!

Two years ago I started almost every day in tears, because I had plantar

fascitis so badly that I often crawled to the bathroom on my hands and knees

rather than put weight on my feet right away.

Two years ago I had to buy a new folding chair every other month to sit in to

watch my son's ball games. No matter what they said their weight limit was, I

always broke them down in short order.

Two years ago my knees hurt all the time. They were swollen and inflamed and

when the doctor gave me the cortisone injections that enabled me to walk, she

said it was like injecting something into a " box of rocks, " the cartilage was

so badly damaged.

Two years ago everything I ate burned all the way down and often back up

again, as I had Barrett's esophagus and GERD. Esophageal cancer was an

ever-present threat. I had a hiatal hernia in my throat and every swallow was

difficult.

Two years ago I wore a size 22. I was 5'6 " and 260 pounds. I looked 20 years

older than I was, and I felt that way, too. My children's teachers always

thought they were meeting a grandmother instead of a mother.

Two years ago, I am ashamed to say, I defined my self according to my career

above everything else.

BUT NOW........... 2 years later....... everything is different.

I have no joint pain. I have no foot pain. I very seldom have stomach pain or

indigestion.  I can do anything, physically, that I need to do. I wear a size

4/6, weigh 125 pounds and am 5'8 " ,  2 inches taller than the day I went in

for surgery! All that weight really dragged me down, I guess. And, wonder of

wonders, I have small bones. I told everyone for years that I was big-boned.

But I wasn't -- I have a 5-inch wrist!

About 6 months postop, I stopped defining myself by my career and decided to

be a person, a spouse and a mom instead. I cut back to 60 hours a week and

refused all the discretionary travel that I had once lived for. I stopped

" settling " and started challenging the status quo. And the organization

couldn't handle it. We parted company and I spent a year rebuilding and

healing my identity, my body and my family.

Today, at almost 52, I have a better body than the day I was born. I look

good, I feel good, and I have a new career that has meaning and purpose. My

children and husband enjoyed my year off but are happy to see me challenged

by work once again. They are proud of me and seem to mark time by " the old

mom " and the " new mom " .

Two years ago, I thought I was changing my body. I didn't know I would be

changing my whole life. I thank God every day for this new chance at

everything I ever dreamed of and a lot of thing I never imagined!

hugs,

Ann

see me before and after:  <A

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http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/profile.phtml?N=Alan928718346</A>