Why??????
I am the son of a loving father, husband to a wonderful wife, and father to two adorable babies; and I found that I have to make a change in my life.
I am extremely fortunate to have all of these blessings in my life, and I fully recognize that I have been blessed by God and he has always protected me and prospered me. Although I cannot always see his plan, I can look back at my life and see how his hand has guided me through many difficult and dark times.
Now that I am starting to feel older and slower; now that I find that I am saying "ouch" and " ooof" as much as I am saying "yeah" and "let's go", I see that I have to make a few changes in my life to be the man that I want to be for God, my family, and ultimately myself.
As my wife and I found out that we were going to be the proud parents of twins, I buckled down at work, began working extra to pay for the kids, going to the doctor office ad nauseam, and began skipping the gym. It didn't seem like a big deal, but suddenly I found that I had magically gained 60 pounds. This weight gain came on the back of multiple surgeries to my knee and I found that I could not bounce back into shape like I used too.
At my new weight I did not really gain anything long-term, but I didn't really lose any weight long term either, I was a big dieting yo yo.
When the kids were born they spent quite a while in the NCIU and suddenly going to the gym and exercise were not a priority in my life. Even though they are healthy and growing like weeds, I still can see the small, frail newborns they were. I find myself wanting to spend all my time with them, playing, laughing, and enjoying each moment.
All of these things have coupled to result in me accepting my new weight as my new "normal". I don't have specific issues with what I weigh, but I do have the health concerns and that was what brought me to explore bariatric surgery.
For me, the means (losing weight) is to get me to an ends (living longer for my family and by proxy me). I want to be there to walk my daughter down the aisle, be able to run with my son, and be there for my wife through all the storms in life. I want this surgery to be able to live life in a way that allows me to serve others and to be able to help my family instead of hold them back.
Ultimately, my journey is one that will allow me to be the best dad/brother/husband/father/grandson/worker/manager/happy person that I can be.
