THE ULTIMATE MOM'S MAKE OVERS! (Post pics)

Hi. Here's mine. I'm 44, mom of 4. I've dropped 111 pounds in one year.

I just LOVE this. I think I got tearry eyed the first time I saw you post this somewhere else. Great job!

In a couple months maybe I have a little B&A to share too.

I love being healthy.

I have 3 kids, the youngest by c-section and he is 10 months old. When I was 2 weeks postpartum with my 2nd child, I was in a bad car wreck and put on strict limitation (wasn't even allowed to carry her.) I went through 4+ years of chronic spine pain and extremely limited activity. I had major spine surgery, then went on to have one more baby! If I can do this, anyone can. I'm 5'10 and currently weigh 140. I used my starting weight on MFP as my weight from my 6 week postpartum check up, as I had lost the baby weight that comes off easy (I actually gained 8 lbs back in my postpartum period.) If you would like a more detailed account of what I did, I have an entire write up email (with lots of pictures) I can send you, just message me your email address.


Thanks very much for the info. The website is very helpful. I def need more info on my condition, my doctors treat me as if its no big and me being upset about it is an over reaction.
Thanks Again you've come a long way, awesome job.

[img]http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m215/jbekme/Weight Loss/WeightFeb12001-1.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m215/jbekme/Weight Loss/Weight2Feb001.jpg[/img]

What an great job. I am battling spine problems my self and am in alot of pain all the time. I have two ruptured discs a bone spur on one of them and a cracked spine. I used to run and exericse all the time but now I hurt and I'm kinda scared to do anything that might cause more pain. If you wouldnt mind sharing with me what you did I would really appreciate that.

Thanks,
Angie

Angie,
I went through 3 years of conservative therapy trying everything under the sun. This is my signature, of all the treatments I've done, from the spine forum I'm on: 31 years old- 1/06- In wreck with 18 wheeler at 25 years old; 6/06- Head on collision on Interstate, both wrecks other drivers fault. Numerous MRI's, PT, chiropractic, acupuncture, TENS therapy, massage therapy, facet injections, epidural injections, Nerve study, Discogram, confirms pain in L4/5, IDET, decompression, Bi-lateral neurotomy L3/4/5, denied by insurance twice, in Active L clinical trial, had surgery March 17, 2009 in Miami, FL- received Active L disc at 29 years old. Pain and medication free as of October 2010!Mommy to Emma- 8 years, Ava- 6 years & had baby Eli after ADR, via c-section on March 25, 2011 , completely pain free still! Here's a link to my post surgery story.... it's long. http://www.spinepatientsociety.org/forum/surgical-outcomes/l4-l5-active-l-3-17-09-dr-rolando-garcia-87/

Long story short, lots of treatments and nothing worked. By the time I went in for surgery there was nothing else left to try. Doctors had told me I needed chronic pain management and would never be out of pain, work again or function normally again. I then found out about the surgery I had, began research and figured it was worth a shot. I had 3 herniations in my discs (L3/4, L4/5 and L5/S1). My L4/5 was ripped in half and dead (black, not full of fluid like a healthy disc.) My L4/5 had degenerative disc disease, which basically means it's shot, arthritic and so on. I only had that level operated on, as the surgeon believed that it was my pain generator (luckily he was right!) They went in through my stomach, to my spine, removed the entire old disc, smoothed the bone and put in an implant (two pieces of metal with a polyurethane core.) It was 18 months of healing and the pain got worse before it got better. I was couch bound for awhile... that's how I found out that you could lose weight with diet and no exercise (not that it's a good idea, but if you are physically unable to exercise or it makes it worse, then it's not worth it.) I hated when I would do something and then have to 'pay for it' for days with extra pain. I still have the 2 herniations above and below my surgery level, bone spurs and arthritis, but it's nothing compared to where I've been. I had my baby after surgery and it was the easiest pregnancy of all, first c-section and it was cake, apparently being in chronic pain gives you a high pain tolerance. Check out spinepatientsociety.org for more information and lots of knowledgeable people who are going through the same thing as you. No one can truly get what it's like to live in chronic pain, unless they've lived through it. Good luck and feel free to message me if you want more information.