The Physical Side of It

Transitioning from 350 pounds  in September 2007 to my current size 4 body, that does exist and flex in the range of 125-135 pounds has been life altering.  Most people just look at the physical aspect of weight loss, which I have to admit is wonderful but there is also the intellectual, emotional and spiritual aspects as well.

The Physical Aspects

Surgeons are gifted mechanics, skilled at the art of repairing and redirecting human anatomy, making precise incisions inserting trocars into patients for laparoscopic surgeries, without being able to physically touch with their hands all of the human internal plumbing.  Operating at a distance through trocars.  If you're like me and really want to know how it's done, the science, the skill and the amount of absolute precision it requires here's an article to read on possible Laparoscopic Trocar Complications by Ronald A Rhodes, MD.

Physical benefits of bariatric surgery are endless.  Going from Class V Obesity to the classification of Normal Weight is a physical feat of endurance, nutrition, exercise, dedication, a medical marvel and for me involved bariatric surgery.  Countless people do it without surgery.  I admit, I tried my best without it.  It was my last resort.

The mortality rates scared me.  I was the mother of 3 young adopted children and 30 years old.  I made a whole binder of information for my husband just in case I didn't survive.  In the military people keep binders of important information, yes that's where the idea came from.  It listed everything from bank account numbers, our monthly budget and bill paying schedule, doctor's numbers, allergies that kids had, their friends phone numbers, recipes that they enjoyed when I cooked them,  favorite bedtime stories, and even went to the extent of having an updated will as well as letters to my children, husband, close friends and family members just in case I didn't make it.  I took a very calculated risk and was prepared for the worst possible outcome.  I was also a nervous wreck and nearly walked out of the pre-op area four times, goaded back into the reclining chair by my husband.

September 2010

Physical benefits: lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure, lower insulin levels, no more edema in my legs.  That awful feeling when walking, as if my weight wasn't being distributed through my feet, but rather like I was walking purely on my ankle bones, was gone once I lost a substantial amount of weight.  My inhaler that had once been my life line while attempting to chase around growing toddlers was no longer being grabbed for on trips to the playground.  I started playing with my sons outside, hiking, climbing trees and enjoying it.  My children now had an active mom who instead of cheering them on at the park from a bench was right along side them nudging them onward and upward.

My inhaler became a thing of the past, prescriptions for it never refilled.  Somewhere in a drawer it's old expired self lies there as a memento of the past.  My metformin for insulin resistance lies next to it, little buddies in a box from my past with an old favorite t-shirt and pair of jeans.  My body shows the physical signs of having lost over 200 pounds, loose skin, stretch marks, however that will be saved for another post.