dnoreenh
I have been overweight all of my life. My parents were both obese, but my brothers and sisters were not. I am the youngest of six kids. I remember back in grade school my mother would drag me off to Weight Watcher meetings with her when she decided it was "time to do something about this". Unfortunately she would follow the program (which back then was nothing like it is now) until she was tired of it, then it would be back to our normal eating. My father was a chef and my mother was an excellent cook, so there was always tons of great food. Then a few months later, it would be back to Weight Watchers. I learned all about yo-yo dieting at a very early age.
Finally when I was 28 I decided to do something about my weight. I was standing in a dressing room at a plus-size clothing store and the largest size they had didn't fit. I remember telling myself it was okay because I could order a larger size through a catalog company. I stunned myself! The next day I went to a Weight Watchers meeting on my own and over about a year and a half I lost 142 pounds. Of course I didn't manage to keep it off.
A few years later my PCP (who was actually overweight herself) suggested looking into bariatric surgery. I was interested, but terrified. Finally I started researching the process and decided that this might be for me.
I was blessed in 2004 with a wonderful husband who loves me for me, not my size or looks. I realized that if we were to make a life together I need to be around for a long time to come. I again researched bariatric surgery,found a program that I was interested in, only to discover that our insurance would not cover it.
It's been a long journey, my company changed insurance, my husband even changed jobs, but no luck with the insurance.
My husband and I were hoping to buy a new mobile home or maybe a small house next year, but after talking about it we both realized that it wouldn't do any good to buy a house if I wouldn't be there to share it with him. We dicided that we would put our plans on hold for five years and finance my surgery. (I told you I was blessed with a wonderful husband!)
Because I didn't have to play the insurance company's game, I was able to get a surgery date three months after my initial seminar. I am now 2 1/2 weeks post-op and looking forward to a brighter future!
