SURGERY.

Updated: I have gotten so may questions about the specific medications I was on so I have updated that section with the exact prescriptions.

There are some that have been following my health journey for a long time. There are those that are new here. I recently had major surgery and there have been so many questions and messages. I wanted to share my story and I figured the best place to start was at the beginning.

I was obese. I’ve spoken openly about that before. I think I started gaining a notable amount of weight in 6th grade. At least that’s when I remember noticing. I peaked weight wise in high school. I was roughly a size 18. And the world wasn’t as body positive then. There was no movement. There weren’t many options. I don’t even think we owned a scale. I do remember stepping on a scale at a doctor’s office once and saw 235lbs. I remember being really taken aback. I think I was around 16. Here are some photos of me then. As you can imagine, it’s hard to dig up full body pictures as A. I avoided them like the plague, and B. I’m old so camera phones weren’t a thing. Disposable or bust baby.

Long story immensely short, I lost weight. A lot of it. I started in Weight Watchers just after getting married to the greatest human alive. He supported me as I lost 50 lbs, and then moved on to run half marathons, study holistic health, try raw vegan, and lose an additional 30 lbs. I started a tumblr at the time called Fat Girl Runs. It was my first time blogging. Here are some photos of me after losing a ton of weight.

As life goes, I got pregnant. I was pretty much raw vegan at the time and very into natural living. The first day I found out, I bought a book called the organic pregnancy. Then I got super sick, hated everything, ended up on medication, and basically only ate rice, doughnuts, and chick-fil-a. Turns out, I had twins. And I carried those jokers to 39 weeks and a day. And they were almost 7 lbs each. It was a lot guys. Anyway, I threw away the book.

Imagine how annoying it was when once again, I had to lose weight. DIDN’T I JUST DO THIS? Another long story short, I found Beachbody and lost all that weight babe.

It was great. Angels sang, birds chirped, and all heaven rejoiced as I ONCE AGAIN worked really hard and lost the weight. So turns out, working so hard, I had to address my mental health and low and behold, ended up on medication for depression and anxiety. And with that, came a whopping 30 pound weight gain in a year that I couldn’t stop. I was on Paxil and while it was helpful, the weight felt unstoppable. It took a medication change to stop the rapid gain. I was switched to Zoloft. The weight gain finally stopped and as it turns out, this was a better fit for my mental health. But then I faced down losing it AGAIN. It was super disheartening. But dang it, I did it.

So that brings us to now. I have lost a substantial amount of weight not once, but three times. I have carried twins full term. My body was left in wreckage. Just one of those events would cause loose skin but all of them together? I was a stretched out mess. Plus with the twins, my core had separated so there was a gap in my abs. And to put it plainly, I’ve always had wildly asymmetrical breasts. It makes it really hard to shop for bras and swimsuits. I’ve always wondered how much I would need to lose before I was a candidate for skin surgery. So I finally booked an appointment to find out.

The doctor told me there really wasn’t much more to lose. That all the “fat” I thought I had left, was skin. The surgeon thought I was a great candidate for skin removal surgery. We talked about my areas that bother me. The skin on my stomach, my breasts, the excess skin on my arms, and the excess skin on my thighs. She told me that she thinks each surgery would benefit me except the leg surgery. She saw the skin but didn't think it was severe enough to make the intensity of the surgery worth it. She does the arms in a separate surgery so she wanted to start with a surgery for my abdomen and breasts.

And that brings us to today. I had my surgery Jan 19th. My abs were sown back together, they removed the skin from my stomach, performed liposuction on the sides to make the transition smooth, lifted both breasts, reduced one, and placed implants in both to even them out. I don’t mind being upfront about all of it. Recovery sucks. But I know it’s going to be worth it. The mental part is really tough.

Because my life wasn’t threatened, I felt silly. It was a hard surgery for me to choose. And I didn’t feel like I had earned help from community because it was elective. But people, and especially the community from City Academy Atlanta (where the girls attend school), really showed up for me. Dinners, delivery service gift cards, helping with my girls homeschooling…I’m just so grateful. Every message of support, every dinner, everything has meant the absolute world to me. I can’t begin to thank each and every one of you who have supported my journey.

All I can give back is to be open. I’m happy to answer any questions. I’ll keep you updated. I’ll pay it forward. I’m just…grateful.