They cut my head open, your excuse is invalid!

Ok, in all seriousness, I am a super nice person but I like to have some fun too so I hope the title doesn't offend anyone. Life happens to all of us and some of us let it get us down and others give it a swift kick in the you know what. So I am going to try to keep this long story as short as possible. I joined MFP in January of 2011 at 188 pounds and I am only 5'-2" tall, wearing a size 16. Please excuse any ridiculously sized pictures, I am not that good at this. This is what I looked like then:



Then I started eating proper portions, never depriving myself of anything really, just paid attention to quantity for the most part. I didn't eat terribly before, just way too much food. So in my first year I lost right around 50 pounds, wearing a size 10 by eating better, running, lifting weights (machines in the beginning using Jamie Eason's Live Fit Trainer, then free weights using Stronglifts 5x5), and doing some other things like kickboxing videos, about 3 or 4 days per week. This is what I looked like then:



I continued focusing more of my time on lifting throughout the spring and summer of 2012, and by the middle of the summer I had lost only 2 more pounds, but was wearing a size 6 and looked like this:



So, during the time between summer of 2011 and summer of 2012 I started having headaches every morning. I chalked it up to dehydration, stress, you name it, but nothing was wrong with me. Well, mid summer 2012, the headaches started getting worse and they would linger or happen more often, etc. I decided at that point to try and just maintain my weight as my health was more important that trying to lose the elusive last few pounds. In September of 2012 enough was enough and I decided to see my doctor for a physical and ask about these headaches. We did a bunch of blood work and pretty much came up with nothing. Two weeks after seeing the doctor I got a cold that knocked me down harder than a cold ever had in my life. Two weeks after that I was still so fatigued that I went back. She ordered more blood work. Still nothing. Then I was sent to a blood specialist for more blood work. Still nothing. The symptoms I had were as follows (if I can remember them all): Dizziness, Extreme Fatigue, Double Vision, Weakness in my limbs, Heavy feeling in my chest, Confusion, Numbness and Tingly in my body, The headaches and neck pain continued almost constantly, I became very clumsy and was falling a lot. I stopped driving. Finally in December of 2012 I had MRIs done of my brain and cervical spine. On January 8th 2013 I got my diagnosis, I had a rare brain condition called Chiari Malformation. Here's the link to the Mayo Clinic page on it: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/chiari-malformation/DS00839

I met with a Neurosurgeon on February 5th and he said I had to have brain surgery as soon as possible to relieve the pressure on my brain stem. Basically I had almost no spinal fluid flowing into my brain, causing all of the neurological problems. We scheduled surgery for February 18th. Here's a pic of my stitched up incision:



Here's a pic of my healing incision from a couple of days ago:



And last, here's a pic of me today after getting back from a Starbucks date with a girlfriend 18 days post op still wearing a size 6 and an occasional 4, at 132 pounds:



So, what I am saying here is, life will hit you with ALL kinds of stuff. If you are going to succeed with maintaining your weight you have to be smart about the choices you make during the weight loss process. Don't restrict in ways that you can't continue for the rest of your life. Don't think you have to exercise all day every day to maintain your weight. I haven't worked out since July and I've even lost a few pounds in the process! Ultimately just keep pushing through, don't let things get in the way...big or small. I go back to my surgeon on March 19th for my post op visit where is SHOULD clear me for driving and exercise again. I can hardly wait to get moving again. This surgery has given me my life back, most of the symptoms disappeared before I left the ICU. A few more have gone since I have gotten home. Pretty much all that is left is an itchy incision and a bit of a headache. If I can get through this, you can get through your tough stuff too!

I you.


This brought tears to my eyes.