My Journey Through Weight Loss Surgery: Support Group Night

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Support Group Night

Tonight was support group night. I do not attend every Thursday but definitely once or twice a month. It is such a fun and good group of men and woman. The group of us that went together to the Walk From Obesity in October are planning a trip to Eureka Springs sometime in June. Shopping and a slumber party -- what fun!

The cold, or whatever it is, is still being passed around. Chuck has it now and Giorgi woke up coughing this morning too. There are also a couple of people at work with it. At this rate I am sure to get it and hope that if I do it would hurry up so it can be gone before I get on the plane to New York!

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The Start of My Journey

Below is my first post. It explains how and why this blog came to be.

I have struggled with my weight most of my life. Right after high school I lost weight on Weight Watchers and managed to keep it off until I started having babies. With each pregnancy I gained more weight. I tried most every diet plan out there. Some were successful, but each time I eventually gained all the weight back, and more. There were a few fleeting moments where I thought of weight loss surgery, but always talked myself out of it as being too dangerous. I also berated myself for not being able to lose weight and keep it off. At some point I just decided to stop trying, but that also meant I just gained more.Earlier this year, this all started to change. It was becoming harder and harder to come up with excuses as to why I did not want to participate in family activities. The truth was I just did not have the energy to do so. All aspects of my daily life started to suffer the results of my weight, including my relationship with my family. In other words -- I was miserable. Even then, as much as I wanted to change my weight, the thought of how much I needed to lose and how hard it would be just made me more miserable. I was to the point that I was not even sure it was even worth trying as failing would just make me more miserable. It was a viscous circle that always brought me back to the same point -- I was unhappy but had no desire (or energy) to change that. A chance meeting finally opened my eyes to the person I could be, and wanted to be. That chance meeting landed me a new friend for life and started me on the road to a new me.I heard an ad for weight loss surgery sponsored by WeightWise and decided to do some more research. This was in April. On May 3rd, Chuck and I attended a free seminar at their clinic and I scheduled my first meeting with Dr Walton on May 8th. I started researching like crazy. Initially, I shared my decision with just one person, besides Chuck. I then told my sisters and 1 other friend. I knew that before surgery I needed to tell the rest of my friends and family as support will be a major factor, especially in the early days. I decided the easiest way would be to create a blog for everyone to follow along with me. You will have to read the first few postings backwards to get the full picture up to the present but after that updates will be at the top. I hope you will come away with the understanding that this is the best thing I have ever done for ME. Read on to find out the results of my first meeting and my research.

My Surgeon

Gregory F. Walton, MD, F.A.C.S.

Dr. Gregory Walton is an Oklahoma native who earned his medical degree from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. He began his career with a general surgery residency at the Carraway Methodist Medical Center in Birmingham, Alabama.
He was awarded a fellowship in burns and ICU medicine with the United States Army Institute of Surgical Research at Brook Army Hospital, Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas.
His interest in bariatric surgery began during his 1989-1995 general surgery residency under the direction of the prominent bariatric surgeon Henry L. Laws, MD.
Until joining Foundation Bariatric Affiliates, he operated his own bariatric surgery practice in Enid, Okla. He serves on the board of directors for the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation. Dr. Walton is a Diplomat of the American Board of Surgery and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
Dr. Walton’s professional memberships include the American Society of Bariatric Surgeons, the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons, the Southwest Surgical Congress, the American Medical Association, and the American College of Surgeons.

My Journey Through Weight Loss Surgery

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Support Group Night

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