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Originally posted on Facebook, August 13, 2013 Time for some honesty… are you ready? On August 26 I’m going to have a Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy. I can count on one hand the number of people I have told. I don’t know why, but for the past 7 months, I’ve kept this part of life super secret. I didn’t even tell my mom until a few months ago. Perhaps it’s acknowledging the shame I feel about my own body shape. No, it’s not that. I’m fat and beautiful. I’ve always felt that way; I’ve never felt shameful about it. I think it was the fear that people would tell me it was a bad choice. That I could do something else. That it was a stupid unhealthy decision. And I didn’t want to hear that. I still don’t. As the date has grown closer, I’ve told a few more people, mostly my lovely and trusted clients, because I will be out of commission for about 2 weeks. I’ve heard nothing but supportive, love-filled acceptance. In that spirit, I’ve decided to share it with all of you, interwebs world. Because you all are my friends, and if you decide to walk this path with me, I will gladly take your love-filled support. #sleevegastrectomy #beauty #fat #fear #surgery

Originally posted on Facebook on August 21, 2013 Will you be able to eat a normal diet in the future? The answer is yes and no. With the VSG, the stomach eventually grows back to about half of it’s previous size (it can get bigger). The goal is to keep it as small as possible for as long as possible. So, will I ever have soda again? No. Bread, rice, pasta? No. I will always have to be careful about what I eat, and make sure I eat small amounts all the time. But I will be able to have small amounts of the things I love, after a year or so. Many patients, however, say they don’t love what they loved before. So perhaps my decades long affair with chocolate will be over (I hope not), and perhaps I’ll finally be able to get over Ben&Jerry and our terribly co-dependant relationship (I really hope not). And, I’ve decided to not have any alcohol anymore. There is a weirdly high percentage of VSG patients who become alcoholics. And since I have the family history as well, I figure I’ll play it safe. #sleevegastrectomy #surgerylife #eating #postsurgery #alcoholics

Originall yposted on Facebook on August 21, 2013 Surgery Countdown – 5 days. Interesting things today? I had 6 figs. They were f@cking delicious and worth it. See, my father-in-law has a fig tree, and he emailed yesterday to say he had about 2 pounds of figs, did I want them, for canning/jamming/whatever. How could I turn down 2 pounds of delicious homegrown figs? Exactly. So I cleaned them, packaged them in 2-1 pound bags and put them in the freezer. But then there were just a few leftover. Nothing to do but eat them. And I did, slowly, while standing on the back porch and feeling the sun on my face. So. Good. Headache still hanging around, but the peppermint oil is really doing the trick. Also, adding a few frozen cubes of watermelon to a vanilla protein smoothie is so delicious. Beyond delicious. Heaven. #peppermintoil #sleevegastrectomy #sunonmyface