A Big Announcement – My Lap Band Update Plus Before And After Pics

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For those of you that don’t know, I had Lap Band surgery in April 2009. I was 374 pounds on the morning of surgery. I set goals along the way but all along my working goal was to get down to 200 pounds. My ultimate goal was to get down to 174 pounds. Some of you have been emailing me asking how things are going and I thought it was time for an update. Before I tell you where I’m at today, take a moment to look at where I started.

I feel it’s important that I tell you almost none of the before pictures are mine. Most were taken by my Mom. I got to a point where I hated the sight of myself in pictures so much that I just wouldn’t be in them. So, when I told her I was planning this post I had to ask her to find pictures of me at my fattest.

Here we go.

BEFORE SURGERY PICTURES

1986

I was an hour late for my own wedding. Why? Because the dress I had didn’t fit and my parents had to buy me a new one on the morning of my wedding. I did not see the writing on the wall. That reminds me. My Mom was showing my husband pictures once after we were married, late 80s-ish. He saw a picture of a slender young teenager and said “Val never told me she had a sister.” My Mom told him “No, that’s your wife”.

UNKNOWN DATE – 2004-2005-ISH

With LB2 before a prom he attended. When I looked at this picture last week I felt sick and started to cry.

At a Special Olympics function.

On Christmas morning.

2006

Lancaster, Spring 2006

With my favorite drummer, Lancaster, Spring 2006

Our first cruise, December 2006.

Me and my brothers.

Pirate themed dinner.

Another dinner.

Renewing our vows in the Bahamas, December 2006.

2008

June 2006, Wildwood NJ.

Fall 2008.

MAY 2009 – 1 MONTH AFTER LAP BAND SURGERY

One month after surgery I weigh 331.

In July 2009, 3 months after surgery, I have lost 50 pounds.

DECEMBER 2009 – 7 MONTHS AFTER LAP BAND SURGERY

APRIL 2010 – 1 YEAR AFTER LAP BAND SURGERY

I finally need new clothes. My stretchy pants that used to be tight no longer fit. Everything was so big it was falling off. I still felt huge.

JULY 2010 – 15 MONTHS AFTER SURGERY

I am still considered obese but a shape is starting to form.

17 months after surgery I weigh 219.

OCTOBER 2010 – 18 MONTHS AFTER SURGERY

I am no longer considered morbidly obese. This is one of the first pictures showing my face since I was a teenager where I didn’t feel completely hideous and that didn’t make me want to vomit.

TODAY – JANUARY 2011 – 21 MONTHS AFTER SURGERY

I now weigh 173 pounds. I have lost more than I weigh, having lost just over 200 pounds. Before surgery I wore nothing but size 3x and 4x stretchy pants. I am in size 11 jeans.

For the most part I feel good. We don’t think I have sleep apnea anymore but I need a test to confirm that. I don’t get winded after walking a few feet and I’m starting to exercise and work at getting fit. I don’t have as many aches and pains as I used to have. I do still have leg pain but they’ve found out that I have vascular insufficiency in my legs and I need to have some procedures done. My butt is a bit bony now – RB says I don’t really have one anymore. I actually had to put a pillow on my computer chair at home because I was hurting when I sat. I do get chilly a lot more often than before (I used to be always warm) – I’ll be talking to the doctor about that next time I see him.

I haven’t had a fill since September and am thinking I’ll get one at the end of March, which will have been six months between fills. Most days I eat under 1,000 calories. I can eat most foods. Some things are naturally a little harder to digest so I choose to avoid them for the most part. I’m not hungry very often, not like I was before. I know now that most of my hunger before surgery was a mental response to something going on and not real hunger. I still encounter those demons once in a while and now just beat them back instead of stuffing my face. Something interesting, I now enjoy cooking more then ever. And, I can actually taste the food because I’m not rushing to stuff myself and I enjoy the food.

Having the Lap Band surgery was the best decision I have ever made. I did it for me and I did it for my boys. I believe it has improved my life, my mental state of mind and my health. I feel so much better about myself, it’s given me some of my confidence back. Lap Band isn’t the easy out some people think it is. It’s a big decision and a lifestyle change. This journey has been a challenge and I have been fortunate to have had lots of support, from family and my doctor. I am proud that I have reached and surpassed my ultimate goal.

Being so tremendously obese was really lonely. For a long time I told myself that I was a happy fat person. I managed to kid myself for a while, but it simply wasn’t true. My weight had a big impact on my health and state of mind. If you would like to talk, have questions about weight, obesity, Lap Band, the decision to have Lap Band or anything else please feel free to leave them in a comment here. Or if you prefer to keep it private feel free to email me at valmg2 AT gmail DOT com.

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