A year ago today I was just waking up in my hospital bed from surgery the day before. My stomach was killing me and I was thirsty. I began my day staring down a medicine cup of water that I was required to drink in one hour. It may have well been a bathtub full.
My yearlong battle with food was just beginning and I was legitimately scared shitless.
There have been 365 days between then and now. And I almost can’t believe how fast it has gone by. Over the past year, I remember frequently questioning myself…wondering if I had made the right decision. Looking back now, I can honestly say that I did.
As of this morning, my BMI is 26. I have lost 129 pounds and I currently weigh 172 pounds. (at my lowest....I'm sort of playing with a few extra "relationship pounds" at the moment!) I am physically fit, still working out 3 times a week and staying motivated to do so. I also can eat pretty much anything….just in moderation. There really isn’t anything I feel like I can’t try or do.
My life has changed for the better. I discovered that what people think of me is not nearly as important as what I think of myself. For the first time, I’ve found that I really love and accept myself for who I am…inside and out.
I’ve also dealt with challenges I never expected. Some of my friends and family have become distant or stopped communicating with me altogether. But through all this, I was pleasantly surprised with the people I discovered that I could truly depend on.
In the last Chinese food meal I ate before my surgery, my fortune cookie read: “a goal is a dream with a deadline.” Ever since then, I’ve kept this little piece of advice tacked up on my refrigerator because it rang so true to me. When I started this process, I turned my dream of living a happy healthy lifestyle into a goal. And today, I've reached that deadline and achieved that goal in ways I could have never imagined.
I know I have made all of you proud this year, but most importantly, I have made myself proud.
Today, I feel like I can do just about anything, so world, bring it on…I’m so ready.
Today, I feel like I can do just about anything, so world, bring it on…I’m so ready.
I just wanted to say that I absolutely love your blog you are literally a life saver! I just had gastric bypass surgery on February 11th. So I am a week post op so far no complications and I have lost 26 lbs which is great but wasn't enough to convince me that I had made the right decision about the surgery. Today is the first day that I have felt kinda like my old self and I am so happy that I went to my computer and some how my Google search on gastric bypass brought me to you because you have given me hope. All the other blogs I have read have had so much negative to say about the surgery and reading them and feeling all the pain and emotions of this last week was so depressing. Thank you so much for sharing your journey and giving so many details it really has helped me to see how successful you have been and how it changed your life in a positive way and that someday I will be able to eat something other then yogurt and protein shakes. Thank you so much!!
ReplyDeleteKristen,
ReplyDeleteI love reading your blog and your email to me when I first had my surgery (11/30/10) was VERY helpful. I almost three months out and the time line you gave me for "what would happen when" has been right on the money! You must have had a great high school education.
I am down 90 pounds and am half way to where I want to be. I have a follow up appt this week and am actually looking forward to it. I haven't progressed to what Tufts call stage 5, (fuits, veggies, etc) because I wanted to wait to my appt., plus I don't want to mess this up.
I'd love for you to come by so you can see our new school. I am sure Ms. D would enjoy seeing you as well. Keep up the great work. You are inspiring me! Talk about the student teaching the teacher!
Have a great week
Rich Kelley (Mr. Kelley)
Kristen, you have touched more lives than you'll know. I am so impressed. You truly deserve to see yourself the way I have (along with so many other) all these years.
ReplyDeleteMr. Kelly, Congrats! Hope you are enjoying the new school.
Pam (Bloomquist) Provonche
I just bragged about you at my post-op group. Of course I didn't give names, but I did mention your blog. Hope that's okay.
ReplyDeleteHave you given up the blog now that you have fallen in love?
ReplyDelete