So it hit me one day while scrolling through Pinterest (while avoiding real work that I was procrastinating doing) that I should start a blog…. Because I obviously have tons of free time on my hands. Cue the sarcasm. Actually, free time is one of the things I lack, as I sit here with hair dye lathered into my hair, waiting for Alexa to tell me that my 20 minutes is up.
I work full time for my family’s trucking company, which Ive done for over 10 years and where my newlywed husband also works. I run my own business on the side of selling LuLaRoe which I absolutely love doing. Im also the primary caregiver to my husband who is a US Marine Corps Veteran, diagnosed with both PTSD and a TBI. Im a dog mom to two of the best rescue dogs ever, and a step mom to the coolest 9 year old in the world. My husband and I also are in the process of starting our own company and branching off from my family’s company. And with this, and all the responsibilities that come with being a wife, Im getting ready to take my second shot at bariatric surgery. Let me give you some background….
In 2007, I underwent Gastric Banding Surgery… AKA the LapBand. I had great success and lost 130 pounds in the first year. I found myself stable at 180 pounds and had felt the most comfortable and confident I had ever felt in my life. I was always overweight, and can remember going to nutritionists and being on diets when I was only a child. This new size 8 body was something I had never experienced and I promised myself I would NEVER gain the weight back! In 2009, I had a tummy tuck done by my amazing plastic surgeon, and was even able to get it covered by my health insurance. SCORE! Well, shortly after that surgery and a really rough recovery (because I had gotten the flu the week before my surgery and I refused to reschedule it…. Yes, Im stubborn!) my LapBand started to go wonky. I could no longer get water down, causing dehydration and many trips to get IV fluids. After removing all of the fluid in my band, I started getting wicked acid reflux which I still suffer from today. Long story short (which I’ll get to at another time)…. My weight started to creep back up despite severe nutrient deficiencies and sticking to my strict diet. My LapBand was removed in March of 2015, at which point I was already back up to 250 pounds. My band was now causing way more damage then good, and they needed to remove my band to further diagnose the deficiencies they still couldn’t find an answer for. It was time to let my body heal.
Since surgery, I have also been diagnosed with PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) which could explain some of the weight gain, the sleep apnea, and the crazy emotional mess I am sometimes. Once I hit my original starting weight before I had the LapBand, I decided it was time to try again.
I had my heart set on the good old standard, Gastric Bypass, but my doctor had another idea…. The Gastric Sleeve…. AKA the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy. At first, I wasn’t keen on the idea, and the surgery seemed waaaaay too new for me (I had the LapBand when it was relatively new and all the cool kids where doing it). But after doing some research, I found out its been around a lot longer then I had originally thought, and I decided to jump on board. So away I went to get all my pre-op clearances and tests. Now Im in the middle of the insurance-required 3 month dieting and weight loss phase.
So that’s just a glimpse into my life….. lots more to come about many different topics. My struggles with weight, having bariatric surgery round 2, being a veterans wife, PTSD, PCOS, depression, anxiety, entrepreneurship and everything in between!
Thanks for reading!
Xoxo – Cheryl