Amber T.
I was a heavy child, heavy teen and heavy adult. I carried my weight really well but I was always heavy. It never stopped me from doing anything until.....
February 25, 1993 I fell and broke my tail bone. Painful, yes. I never dreamt it would change my life forever. Long story short, I have permanent muscle/nerve damage from the fall. December 5, 1993 I find out I'm pregnant. This if after the doctors have told me I couldn't get pregnant. My body stopped ovulating after the fall and they said I wouldn't start again until I was given fertility meds. My body did this once before and that's what it took so I wasn't surprised. This is why I call my son my miracle baby. December 21, 1993 (my wedding anniversary) I'm on my way home to get ready to go out to dinner with Greg and a car runs a stop sign, hits me, spins my car 180 degrees and I stop by hitting another car. I wasn't wearing a seat belt so I hit my head on the roof of the car and damaged my neck. I was told by my orthopedic specialist I would never work again and she was right.
Well, WLS story started in 1999 when the first of my three cousins had this surgery. My children were ages 11(Rachel/girl), 8(Morgan/girl) and 5(Devon/boy). After seeing her success I was aching to have this miracle surgery. I begged my husband and he went to a surgeon with me for a consultation. My husband heard that 1 in 200 died having this surgery and practically had a stroke himself. He couldn't imagine having to raise our three beautiful children alone. My second cousin to have the surgery (many years later) told me to ignore his wishes and have the surgery anyway. Well, not if I wanted to stay married I thought. I then had a cousin and her husband have WLS while I sat back and watched, convinced I would never have a snowballs chance at having WLS.
Even with a huge decrease in my activity level after my injuries, I had maintained the same weight (275) give or take 5 pounds for years. That was my weight the day I gave birth to Rachel and the weight I believed I was going to weigh the rest of my life.
In 1998 my world changed again, and so did my weight. My father-in-law was diagnosed with cancer and was moved to a nursing home in September of that year. For Thanksgiving we brought my mother-in-law over from Hamilton, Ohio for the holiday. It went beautifully. So for Christmas we brought her over again. She never left. Which was okay. She didn't want to go to the nursing home and Greg's dad didn't want to move over here. They were okay with the separation so we were more than happy to have her here.
The first couple of years things went very well. The more comfortable she became the more vocal she became. Vocal with me about weight, housekeeping, cooking, you name it. More vocal with my kids, they had three parents under one roof. I ate, usually downstairs in my bedroom or when I was out and about. I found that I gained about 50 pounds from the time she moved in to when she passed away in September of 2005. Really not bad though. That was only 10 pounds a year. I have lost and regained the same 20 pounds or so since then.
Present day... My son went camping January 18 - 20th of this year, the coldest weekend of this winter, and when he came home he stunk. There is no pretty way to say it. He smelled HORRIBLE!!! He came over and gave me a huge hug and Greg snapped our picture. Before I saw the picture I was excited to see it. We had gone to church that day and I was very pleased with how I thought I looked. The picture quickly changed my mind. I knew I was large but that picture hit me hard. Two days later, January 22nd, Greg came home and asked if I had heard the news about WLS that day. I had. It was the day that CNN ran the story that WLS was being considered a cure for diabetes. He started looking at WLS completely differently. We went to dinner Friday, January 25th and during dinner I asked him if he had changed his mind about WLS. He in fact had. I started doing research. I contacted St. Vincents Bariatric Center on Sunday, January 27th, they called me on Monday, January 28th and here I am today. Approved for surgery and awaiting a surgery date.
My husband, Greg, who has been a phenomenal husband for 22 years, is by my side and more supportive than I could have ever hoped. In 1999, if I would have had WLS, I would have had the RNY. I am so thankful that I waited. By waiting I have gained the support of my husband and through this community, I have learned about the Duodenal Switch. My surgery of choice.
The future.... looks brighter (and lighter).
