armygal0502
For most of my school career, I was so thin that I had been branded with the nickname Twiggy. That is until my senior year when I was diagnosed with severe depression and placed on multiple antidepressants. I went from a size 8 to a size 18 in a matter of a few months. Being 6' tall helped hide just how much weight I'd gained, but my body hurt. That was the beginning of my struggle with weight. I worked hard my freshman year of collegeto lose weight and I got down to a size 14, which I was OK with because I looked healthy.
Fast forward a few years to when I'm married and pregnant with our first child. I was put on bed rest by mo 3. After having a miscarriage already, I did everything the Dr told me to prevent it again. The day I had him, I weighed in at 300lbs even. I slowly lost some weight, but it never wanted to come off. A few years later my husband joined the Army and deployed 1wk after we arrived at our first duty station. Growing up in had been an Army brat, but this felt so much different. I was away from family, stressed and depressed. By the time my husband had finished his 2nd tour I'd repeatedly gained and lost the same 40lbs. At this point, I'd had 5 miscarriages and had just found out that I was pregnant again, right before he was about to deploy.
Thankfully, under lots of monitoring, I came close to full term. However, once again, I had to be on bed rest. So my husband was gone and I had to figure out a way to still do everything that needed to be done as well as rest as much as possible, which was VERY difficult. This time though, I only weighed in at 290 before I gave birth. Both of my children were almost 10lbs but I'd still gained at least 60lbs during both pregnancies.
Fast forward to the last few years... My whole life I'd been incredibly flexible and double jointed, which I thought was awesome. By the time I was in high school I had to stop playing all of the sports I loved because my joints kept dislocating and they couldn't figure out why. Throughout my young adult life, my joints constantly hurt and would dislocate without any real reason. I'd also started having palpitations and chest pain. Then I started passing out while exercising. One night my husband rushed me to the ER because we thought I was having a heart attack. They ran all kinds of tests and couldn't find anything, but they kept me overnight for observation where I was told by the admitting Dr that I could "stop faking it now". After I was released, I was sent to the new cardiologist and given a ZIO patch to wear. She was able to diagnose me in a week where every other (more than 20) had failed before. I had POTS and EDS. Explains a lot. On good days, I can walk on my own. OK days, I need a cane. Bad days need a wheelchair. My boys are 13 and 7, I want to run around with them and enjoy life again. I need a restart.
So now, after being in the pathway for 6mos, I have a date. April 18, 2017. I opted for this surgery to help relieve the pain I'm in every day since I'm limited on exercise. I currently weigh 317lbs while my heaviest was 322.
Wow...That was a LOT. Sorry for the novel, but it felt good to get it out.
About Me
Before & After
rollover to see after photo
