Banana Stomach – The Surgery
It’s been a number of years since I had my sleeve gastrectomy done and it does work. At one point in my life I weighed 300lbs (136kg). I was hugely, morbidly obese. I am not exaggerating. I have been heavy all my life since puberty. I ate wrong, was not active enough and dev
eloped body dismorphia. I never believed I looked as fat as I was.
Well, here’s the news, I’m still “fat”. But now, just obese!!!! I’m under 100 kg. Yes, I weigh less than my driver’s license says I do!!!!
The least I’ve ever weighed was right after my first daughter was born. I weighed less when I gave birth than when I got pregnant and she was 7lbs 11oz (3490 grams) and 13 days early. Why/how? I ate right; walked a lot; was working on my feet 8 hours a day and sleeping like a princess in a waterbed that let me sleep on my stomach comfortably. I also learned that you don’t gain weight if you are nursing and eating normally. It worked until the next pregnancy. I had learned that I wasn’t made of sugar and ice cream tasted better than yogurt and with a Dairy Queen just down the street, what could I say? “Hot Fudge Brownie Delights” is what I said. My second daughter came right on time and weighed 9lbs 7 oz (4240 grams). I think she liked that we lived near Dairy Queen, then.
Many years later: high blood pressure; gall bladder disease; multiple abdominal hernias; diabetic; replaced osteoarthritis joints (more to come); depression; and 100’s of failed diets; I decided to get the help I needed.
I thought a gastric bypass would solve the whole problem. You know, the magic bullet. Well, my awesome doctors knew better than I did. I needed a life-style change. I managed to get a cancellation opportunity to get in for bariatric surgery right before Christmas one year. It was a sleeve gastrectomy or nothing. I agreed. 
That was the liquid food Christmas. I lost weight quickly because I was full so fast. Over the following year I lost 80 lbs. I was feeling pretty good and then it hit. I hadn’t really changed my eating style. I could eat only a small amount at one sitting. But I could have many sittings. Chocolate went down without stopping and potato chips went down just like carrots only faster. Oh oh!
Yes, I gained a bunch of weight back. Now I’m losing it again. I’ve had so many health problems that did not have anything (that I could find) to do with my weight, that I was questioning whether it was all worth it.
YES IT IS! Good food, activity and loving myself is what it is all about. I’m still young. I have survived a lot so there must be a reason for me being around. I make a great cautionary tale.
So, as I look down at my life-formed body (Yes, I am a life form!) I am pleased that I have actively changed and am still changing – for the better! I have done things I once said I did not believe in, like: have children; have surgery to lose weight; take drugs for long-term pain and to tell the world my story. I once said I would not do those things but…I’m glad I did and there are some more for me to do. I plan on being here to do them.
Thanks for listening. ;D Diane
