I began my journey in about 2001. After 9/11 I was faced with the fact that I was extremely unhappy at my weight of over 250 lbs. I like many people here stopped weighing myself, so I have no idea what my true weight was then. I am only 5 foot 1 inch, so anything of that size was too much!! My father died at the age of 52 from a massive heart attack after having suffered a stroke several years earlier. I could see that I was headed down that same path, and on my own was unable to stop it.
As most of us here have done, I tried Weight Watchers, 6 Week Body Makeover, Curves diet plan and countless others that never did much. I should also say, I've been a Type 1 diabetic since age 13 (over 25 years now) and even the ADA recommendations did nothing to help me lose the weight permanently. By 2002 I started to hear about gastric bypass surgery, and some of the local hospitals in Southern California had quickly set-up programs to accommodate the influx of new patients. I first went to Cedars Sinai and although I was approved by the doctors, my insurance denied my request. That process took at least a year to get through, and although I was discouraged, I continued on.
By 2003 I had switched jobs and had Blue Cross of So. Cal. and began the process again. I had other complications from my diabetes and decided to try and take advantage of the insurance I was paying so much for. I did my research and found that USC had started a program a year or two before, so I made an appointment. At that point i was at my heaviest 273 pounds!! The staff and Dr. Katkhouda were extremely helpful and considerate, but due to the popularity of the procedure and Dr. K's schedule my wait would be over 1 year!! I took it in stride since I was approved almost immediately, and decided to do my best to be proactive in the changes I needed to make. I stopped eating fast food, I exercised on the stationary bike for an hour a day, and over that year lost 30 lbs. pre-op. By 2004 I had completed a second round of cardiovascular tests, psych evals, etc. and I was ready for surgery. I had my RNY on July 20th, 2004.
Although I did well the first year on my own, USC had little to no follow-up or support. Their support meetings at the time consisted of group meetings at 12 noon (during work hours), once a month in the back conference room of the staff cafeteria. Very inhospitable for a food addict who had a job and couldn't afford to drive the hour plus each way to the meetings. I went to one meeting, was completely discouraged, and never went back. Unlike Kaiser's pre and post-op program, there was no pre-education requirement at USC, so my innumerable questions had to be answered on OH, or by other people or resources I could find. Not a bad way to go, but at best it was inconsistent and unreliable. These were the early days of message boards, so a lot of misinformation was floating around back then. 
Eventually I found a group meeting at Kaiser that was extremely helpful initially, but other times felt like I was listening to the same people talk about the same issues meeting after meeting!! It's a wonder why no one said, "You need to put yourself in therapy, this is beyond the scope of the time we have here"!! So by 2006 I started to slowly gain the weight back, but I do mean slowly. I never fully realized my goal weight, but at the time had been steadily adding a pound or two a year.
In 2008 I was involved in a car accident. Although the accident was my fault, I have had to deal with the physical set backs that came with it. I already had orthopedic problems from an accident and surgeries as a kid, as well as complications from my diabetes, but nothing prepared me for being bed bound for three months!! With much help from family, I was able to get through and returned to work only to be layed-off four months later. It was the summer before the recession hit, so finding a job was nearly impossible. It was at that time that the depression hit hard and the weight began to pile on quickly. Over the course of a year I gained twenty pounds, much to the dismay of my doctors and my self.
Last summer, in 2009 I was able to find a job for a few months, then left to work for a larger more prestigious company. After several months, I was let go because I couldn't keep up with the demands of the job and the job had evolved from what it had originally been. Since then, I've found out that I was/am extremely anemic from the previous RNY and have had to have daily doses of iron to restore my 'reserves'. In part, I believe this was one of the reasons why I was unable to maintain my work level, so if nothing else I try and look at the job loss as a blessing in disguise. 
It may have saved my life!!
So now I find myself continuing to re-cooperate from all the things that life has brought my way. I recently started to look back at my accomplishments and my failures and hope that I can learn something from each and every one!! I have begun the "5 Day Pouch Test" in order to do a "hard re-boot" of my pouch, and will continue to make small and major changes to improve the quality of my life while I am here to live it!! 
