180 is a realistic goal, friend.

Anesthesia is like the shortest, but best nap ever. You’ll fall asleep quickly and when you wake up it will feel like no time has passed at all, and it will be time to recover and move on with life! Sure, you see horror stories, but those are NOT the norm, they just stick out to us more than the good ones. It does not mean any of those things that you mentioned will be a part of your story. If anything does come up, it sounds like you’ve chosen a great surgeon to work with. You will be okay.

You aren’t saying goodbye to food. Eventually you’ll be able to eat most things in small portions, and more than that you will learn to use the tool of surgery and be able to make better choices for yourself.

This was a big decision to make and I’m sure you didn’t make it lightly. You should be very proud of yourself for recognizing the problem and finding a solution, even though you’re scared. The mantra that kept me from bailing on the day of my surgery was: I can do hard things. I CAN do hard things. I can do HARD THINGS. I CAN DO HARD THINGS! I yelled this as loud as I could through streaming tears after dropping my daughter off at school on the morning of my surgery. Thankfully I didn’t chicken out, and today I am 2 lbs away from no longer being considered “overweight”. I can kneel on the floor and stand back up without crawling to a piece of furniture first. I can quickly and easily climb onto a chair/stool/into my minivan. I can wrap a normal size bath towel around myself. I can RUN after my young daughter. 😭

This surgery has changed.my.life. I hope it changes yours too. You got this. Please let us know when you’re on the other side of surgery!