An Introduction

[Guest guest]

I've been reading the posts here for the last month or so and on

October 4, 2002 I reached my one-year birthday. My surgery was on

October 4, 2001 at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. I had an open RNY

and have had no real problems or complications. I have a small

abdominal hernia which will be repaired at the same time I have

plastic surgery for the extra skin. I've found that recovering from

the surgery and developing a new lifestyle has been a process. It

doesn't happen overnight and requires patience and some education.

While I've been thrilled with the physical changes and vast

improvements in my health over the past year, I think the most

fascinating experience for me has been psychological. I have emerged

from a lifetime of depression and self-hatred and discover new things

about myself every day. On the morning of surgery I weighed about 277

lbs. and on my one-year anniversary I weighed in at 152. I had been

wearing size 26/28 or 3X and now wear size 12--it depends on the cut

and the fabric--one of my dresses is actually a 6! The sound of that

echoing through my brain as I write it leaves me awestruck. I can

hardly believe it's real. On a personal level--I'm a divorced mother

of two kids who are married and have kids of their own. I was in a

relationship at the time of surgery but recently broke up with him

because I simply was not the same person any more and did not want the

same things I once did. I just couldn't give him what he wanted and

deserved. Well, I hope that's enough information to give you an ideal

of who I am. I look forward to participating in the group.