The Road To Obesity

I’ve been Fat for 20 years.

20 YEARS.

That’s HALF my life!! I just turned 39 in October.

Senior year, 1993, I weighed a whopping 109 pounds. 

I graduated in May and married my high school boyfriend that July.

As soon as we got married I started putting on weight.  

6 months after we married, I found out I was pregnant.

I was 19.

I BALLOONED during my pregnancy, 

gaining a LOT of weight.

I thought it was temporary and in no time

I would be back to my pre-pregnancy weight.

But…14 months after my son was born, 

I was still at 170lbs , and discovered I was pregnant again.

With that pregnancy I only gained 30 pounds,

putting me at 200 pounds exact when I was 

admitted for labor and delivery.

I lost 15 of those pounds after my daughter was born.

A year later, after just four years of marriage,

my husband left me,

 one month after my daughter turned ONE and

9 days shy of my son’s 3rd birthday.

After my divorce, I lost around 30 pounds, 

putting me at 155. I fluctuated there for a while.

A little over a year later I met and then married 

my current husband, and the love of my life.

While pregnant with my Third child, another son, 

I once again BALLOONED,

putting on a lot of weight. 

After he was born, I stayed right around 230lbs,

During my fourth and FINAL pregnancy, (another girl),

I  gained little and ended the pregnancy weighing

exactly the same as I did before carrying her, 

but WEARING a size larger.

From 2002 to 2007 I had many, 

many failed diet attempts.

 At one time, on the Atkins Diet

 I got down to 200 pounds even.

I weighed on that Friday, 

and then over the weekend I got off track

on the diet, and GAINED.  

A couple of weeks later, 

I once again got down to 200 but  then I stalled, 

and never seemed to have the same success as before.

With the scale not moving, 

It was harder to stay strict and on plan.

  I then very rapidly gained back all the weight

 I had lost plus some.

I joined a gym and started working out

 but the weight just did not want to budge.

I worked out every day for a while, 

but eventually had to quit the gym due to a hernia surgery I had.

In 2007 I decided to have the Lap Band procedure

 done after talking to some women at work that had gotten it. 

I had complications with my port,

and had to go in for a second surgery. 

I never lost much weight with the lap band,

and I had trouble eating almost everything.  

No matter how small of bites I took, the food got stuck.

Sometimes after eating I threw up right away, and other times,

it took a while as my saliva would build up in my pouch

and start coming up.

 I never lost much weight with the band,

  and stayed constantly hungry.

Eventually, I began to gain again.  

I finally just had all the fluid taken out.

During those years, at one point 

I remember thinking that I was

fat, would always be fat, and that is just who I am.

Over the years my weight just kept getting higher and higher.

In 2011 I finally found a diet that worked for me.

I started Medifast and in 8 months, I lost 85 pounds.

I felt great.  FINALLY, I had found something that worked for me!

But the diet is very expensive, and due to financial reasons

I could not afford to stay on the plan.

From August 2011 to October 2012 I slowly gained back

50 of the 85lbs lost.  Then in October 2012, I went back to

work after being a stay at home mom for MANY years.

I thought going back to work would be better, having

more control over what and when I ate. 

After all, I could only eat what I brought with me.

Every day for lunch I ate a sandwich, no chips.

Sometimes I brought fruit 

(grapes, cantaloupe, honey dew melon, etc.)

or carrot sticks to snack on.  

I did good.

But….. with working, and my daughters cheer, it was always

LATE before I would be able to eat dinner.  

I was usually starving by the time I got home,

 and everyone else has already eaten. 

So I ate things that were quick and easy.

I didn't eat large amounts, 

but my evening choices weren’t always the healthiest.

The weight started piling on.

 I never thought in a million years

 I would ever let myself get to the point I reached.

I felt defeated. 

THEN…. 

Last year, my husband’s company was bought out

and our insurance changed a little. 

We've always had Blue Cross Blue Shield, 

but where before Weight Loss Surgery was 

excluded, it is now covered.

Within the past year several guys at my husband’s

 work have had the Gastric Sleeve procedure done, 

and all have had GREAT success. 

 My husband kept telling me  I should look into it, 

and I kept telling him I would next year, 

after I had been with my company a little longer.

 The guys that my husband worked with were out 

of work for 3-4 weeks following their surgery,  and I did not want

 to be out that long only being with the company a year!

But then in August, I began having chest discomfort.

And when it comes to chest pain, it’s not  

always clear cut whether it something serious or not.

  I wasn’t sure if it was heart related, or something simple

 and didn’t want to go to the E.R. and be told it was sore muscles, 

or anxiety, so I decided to “watch it”.  

After all, It didn’t feel like an elephant sitting 

on my chest like I have heard a heart attack described as.

 And while my arm ached some, it wasn’t always my left arm

(another warning signal) but switched between

 my right arm and my left arm. But within a couple of weeks, 

the discomfort was coming on a daily basis, 

starting shortly after I woke up and getting progressively

 worse throughout the day.

The swelling in my feet and ankles got worse, too, 

and I began to really worry.

Finally, I decided it was time to take action.

So I called my primary care physician and scheduled an appointment.

 After setting up that appointment, I immediately called a 

Bariatric Surgeon and set up a date for my initial consultation.

I went to see my Primary doctor first, 

who then referred me to a heart doctor.

We ran numerous tests, such  as an echocardiagram,

a nuclear stress test, and a sonogram of the veins in my legs, 

and THANKFULLY it was not my heart.

But it was scary experience, and a bit of a wake up call.

My primary care physician asked me if I had ever considered bariatric

surgery and said she thought it was a good idea.  

She said “It’s time to take control”.

She was glad to hear that I already had an appointment 

scheduled for a consultation.

I went in for my consultation, 

and we discussed the Gastric Sleeve and the Gastric Bypass.  

After hearing what the surgeon suggested,

and doing much research on my own, 

I decided on getting the Gastric Bypass.

My husband suggested I start blogging about the experience to

document everything and to give myself an “outlet”

as I go through everything the surgery entails.

So here I am.

Blogging openly and honestly about all that I experience as I

undergo this Dramatic Lifestyle change with the help of

Weight loss Surgery.