“There are people out there worse off”
I think sometimes we say that to make ourself not so sad. So we don’t fall into a big black hole. I know I’ve thought it plenty of times.
My house burnt down in a catastrophic bushfire in WA in Feb ‘22(86 homes lost) It was the first day of a Covid lockdown and that made it really hard not being able to go to the shops and buy clothes for my teens (16/17)
Only the supermarket was open. We had to stay with friends that were happy to take in a whole family when the Covid rules were “1 person only in your home”.
We had to give the new puppy back to the breeder for a week while we found a rental that we couldn’t even view (Due to Covid). She had some separation anxiety when we got her back and it was especially difficult for the teens.
The cats spent weeks at the vet after receiving burns to the feet, ears and face. One horse had to be agisted and the other one spent 5 weeks at the emergency hospital but was later euthanised due to his injuries.
It’s been a really hard time but knowing I’m not the only one and that there are people worse off actually stopped me crying everyday.
I kept telling myself that My family is safe, we have a roof over our heads and our animals back.
I kept reminding my teens that
Everyone has their hard times.
Find something good in life,Look for positives and Be kind. You don’t know everyone else’s story ❤️
During the next 10 months I put everyone else first. I never took time to think about my own needs and feeling and I put on a lot of weight.
Backstory…..I had previous looked into WLS when I was 10kg lighter. My GP at the time gave me a referral for a consult but asked me to see a psychologist before making a decision. My surgeon said I was at the lowest end of the BMI scale that he’d take and agreed he wanted me to see a psychologist too. My psychologist wasn’t a fan of the surgery and it was 8 years later before I was asking for a new referral.
My life was upside down. My eating was not at all mindful. My sister had just been diagnosed with breast cancer. The type of cancer she had was mostly found in overweight, menopausal women in their 40-50’s. All me!
I remember watching her go thru treatment thinking “ I just couldn’t do this too”.
I asked my new GP for a referral, went to see DR Gounder just before Christmas and was booked in Feb 2022 for a Gastric Sleeve almost a year exactly since the fire.
I must have lost and regained up to 30kg more than 5 times in my life.
I have PCOS and I’d tried diet pills, shakes, injections, fasting, paleo, low carb, weight watchers,Cohen… pretty much everything, but I’d never been able to maintain. I constantly had a sore back and knees, and my migraines were out of control.
I explained to my husband I just needed something simple in my life. I just wanted to be able to say to myself “I can’t eat that” instead of feeling deprived and hungry as I had with previous diets.
My teens were very supportive and said “you never do anything for yourself, you should do this”.
I’ve had to be very aware of how I talked about weight, having 1 teenage girl has its challenges.
I feel Like I have been very positive thru the whole process.
The nitty gritty…
I’m sure we all have the “should I cancel?” thoughts as the surgery date gets closer.
I turned 50 this year…. Am I too old?
Will it affect my family?
My friends?
Will my husband still love me?
Will I like what I see?
The first few days were absolutely the worst. I felt so sick🤢 but it improves.
I had done a lot of research but still I felt worse than I could have expected for the next few days. I kept it all to myself so no one could say “I told you so…”
I could only drink 10mls of water at a time the first day and about 30mls the next day. This increases quickly once you get home. Adding the smallest amount of cordial or protein waters helps. I slowly added more protein to my drinks untill my entire protein goal was reached in a litre of water that I could drink over the day. Food was just a bonus that I didn’t have to count (math is not my friend). I lost 25kg in 6 months/30kg in 8 months to get to my goal, with no health issues and never counted calories or ate “diet foods”.
I eat off a side plate to keep portions controlled. I’ve been out for lunches and dinner parties. I never miss a social function. I told one friend I was “thinking about surgery” and received a 10 min lecture about how bad it was and how no one eats healthy, I’m sure she meant it from a good place but I didn’t tell anyone else I’d done this surgery until after to avoid any more negativity about “only”needing to loose 30kg.
I’m so happy with my life I had to share. ❤️
Dr Gounder gave me a goal of 75-80kg (secretly I wanted 70kg)
At 75kg I booked to have laser eye surgery so I don’t need to wear glasses.
I jumped on the scales the morning of my surgery and I’m 70.2kg yay!!!
I just had my 50th birthday and my 30th wedding anniversary this month. I weighed 70kg on our wedding day.
Unfortunately my dress went up in smoke in the fire because I’d love to have been able to try it on again.
If you’re on the fence about WLS just do it! It will change your life.
I lost over 30 kg in 8 months. It’s been the best way I’ve ever lost weight (not the fastest). I’ve been very positive and not felt deprived. I can eat anything but just the tiniest bit. I always try to make protein and veg my first choice but I can still have a biscuit (just the 1) or the odd mini icecream. I have worked up to walking the dog 10kms most days and I plan to have a gym in our house that’s currently being rebuilt.
I chose Dr Gounder because I knew a couple of friends had been to him and had great stories about their loss.
The staff on the desk have always been so welcoming and friendly.
I’ve been really happy with my dietician and having all the staff you could possibly need in one place was very appealing. Sports/psychologist/nutrition.
Apart from a severe itch on my stomach immediately after surgery I haven’t had anything I couldn’t cope with. I don’t take any blood pressure meds. I’ve gone from 3 migraines a week to….. I can’t remember when I had the last one.
My skin is good for 50, I hardly lost any hair. I’m sure the huge amount of collagen protein and staying well hydrated helped. I have biceps for the first time. The whey protein and all the work I now do around the property help.
I’m happy, confident and loving life again.
Height 177cm
HW 103kg preOp
SW 100.5kg (bmi 32)
GW 75-80kg (Siva) 70ish- Me
CW 70.2kg 8 months post (bmi 22)
❤️❤️❤️
"*" indicates required fields
