Letty A.

On August 2, 2004 I gave my son a kiss goodbye hoping it would not be the last. I talked to him while he was asleep and told him I loved him and that I was going to be back soon.

At around 5:00am in the morning my husband (now my ex) drove me to Methodist Hospital here in Houston. On my way to the hospital I cried and prayed. I cried so much I remember my eyes getting swollen. That morning I prayed for God to work through my surgeons hands. I have faith that’s how it was because I have not had any serious complications whatsoever.

I’m 150 lbs lighter and now 15 months post op! My doctor is very proud of me and my progress. I used to be a size 26-28 and now wear a size 12. I started off at 335lbs and now weigh 185lbs. Yeap!! 185lbs! I have not seen the ones on that scale since I was 16 years old. That’s when I had lost 50 lbs and was weighing 199lbs. I’m lighter now at 25 years old and that really amazes me!

There have been so many changes in my life. I have lost and gained allot of things. Let me start off by naming several things/people I’ve lost:

I lost my husband and first love of 12 years. He left me earlier this year and our divorce was final in June. It wasn’t my choice to get divorced and God is my witness I did everything I could to save our marriage. He chose to leave me. He chose to divorce me. I feel like my weight loss intimidated him for some reason. I don’t know why he left me and my son. All I know is that I wish the best for him and pray he finds whatever it is that he’s looking for. I’m not a fan of “divorce” and find it very difficult to accept it. My ex-husband said divorce is just a paper and what counts is that we are still married through church. I guess he was trying to give me hopes of us getting back together but he’s hurt me so much by him leaving me (this was not the first time) that I don’t see him with me in the near future.

With all that pain inside of me I had to concentrate on something else. Instead of turning to food like I would do when he would leave me I turned to something else. I had had a project in mind and I knew that the best way to not think about my husband and our divorce was to do this project. I had my house painted and removed all the carpet except the bedrooms and installed tile. Of course I didn’t do it but I was involved in everything. It was something I wanted to do when I bought my house in 2002 and accomplished my goal by the end of May this year. The paint in my walls was brown. YES BROWN! A very depressing brown color my ex husband had chosen and I changed it to a nice light beige color. My son’s room was dark blue and I also changed that to a lighter color (baby blue). I repositioned my bed/furniture in my bedroom and changed sheets and curtains. I wanted nothing to remind me of my husband. I now feel happy and have no hate for this man. One afternoon when he came to pick up my son to take him with him he was left speechless with all the changes I did. My house now looks bigger, newer and brighter. All I asked was “what do you think”? He was so stunned he could NOT say a word.

I also lost some friends along my weight loss surgery journey. Friends that I now know weren’t my real friends because never through this journey have they called to see how I’m doing or even cared about my divorce.

A few things I’ve gained are confidence, higher self esteem, and 4 friends named Norma, Candy (princesssplenda), Vicki and Raul and of course Craig! They are all my WLS friends and want to thank each and every single one of them for being there for me when I needed them.

Candy I know that you’re encouraging words when I was going through my divorce helped me enormously and I want to THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. I love you so much and I want you to know you mean a lot to me.

I have new friends, new body, almost a new home and last but not least a new stomach with a new body. I still have to loose at least 35 lbs more but I feel very happy with what I’ve accomplished so far.

I was tired of being tired and took the courage to do something about it. To anyone considering having surgery I say GO FOR IT! Don’t let anything or anyone discourage you. Put yourself in God’s hands and let him guide you. I had this surgery for ME, MYSELF AND I and I continue to think that way.

Hugs and God Bless everyone! Letty

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