Teri: Hi I’m Teri. I had my surgery not quite a year ago, I had to do a duodenal switch and I’ve lost 153 pounds so far.
Before surgery I had sleep apnea that was my main problem. I also a condition called sarcodosis which effects the lungs and I was short of breath I had trouble breathing and I had two small children that were very hard to keep up with. I really wanted to improve my quality of life for them – to be around for them. I am a single parent so it was hard to consider weight loss surgery wondering how it would affect my family if something happened and the complications. But I am a registered nurse and I felt that it was important to do something proactive to be there for the long term for them.
There have been many positive aspects regarding the surgery. For the first time I understand what it feels like to be full. Before I would just eat and eat and it was a way of coping and now physically I can only eat so much and I have to stop and I realize how much I was really overeating. Basically medicating myself with food it was a way of stress management for me. If I had a bad day or if something was going on in my life I would turn to food and that was my coping. Now I might go for a walk or go do some retail therapy but it might be at like a thrift store or something like that not to an extreme. Or spend some time with the kids and do other activities. The good part is I’m really more focused more on my nutrition and making sure that I get my protein in and having more of a well balanced diet.
With the surgery I am forced to think about those things were as before it was just doing a diet that type of thing you could always maneuver around it and find ways to sneak things in. But it is very important to realize that you have to for the rest of your life watch your protein, watch your vitamin intake, you have to realize this is a life changing thing but you have to be responsible and be ready to do all those things when you make that decision.
