MARIA C.
I am 35 years old and have been FAT for as long as I remember. As a kid I remember my Mom buying me "toughskin" jeans, and things like that and they just kept getting bigger and bigger.
As a teenager my weight was anywhere from 150+ and I am only 5 feet tall. My family tried everything to get me to lose weight even bribery with new clothes and a trip to an amusement park. Needless to say that never happened.
At 18 I moved out of the house and met my hubby who I married a year later. We wanted kids very badly and I wanted to have them while i was younger so I could enjoy things more later on in life. I became pregnant not long after we got married and sadly miscarried 5 month into the pregnancy. The doctors told me that I would never be able to have children after that due to my weight and scarring. Dear God I was only 19 at the time and grew up in a large family, I am one of 6 kids, 3 boys and 3 girls. My Mom used to joke we had the brady bunch but no Alice to take care of things.
I was very depressed after the miscarrage but determined to have a baby so just after the 6 week waiting period I was again pregnant. The doctors classified me as high risk and I was constantly monitored. Four months into this pregnancy I started to hemmorage and was rushed to the hospital by my hubby and was told that the baby was fine but the placenta shifted and the next 5 months were hell. I was on total and complete best rest and my weight went sky high. I made it though my pregnancy and on Sept 5th 1992, my daughter Elizabeth was born, healthy and perfect 6 pound 1 ounce.
My weight ballooned up to almost 220 pounds and I was miserable. I went to my doctor and he put me on meridia. What a mistake!!!! Instead of supressing my hunger like it should have it made it worse!!! I was now up another 10 pounds. Again back to the doctor and off the meds and back to a supervised diet. I did well on it and got myself back to just under 200 pounds.
The next few years went by, I had another baby, YES I defied the doctors and was able to have 2 perfectly happy healthy daughters. With my second child instead of gaining weight I lost. I loved it I was eating well and dropping pounds steadily to the point where my obgyn asked me if I was on drugs. I laughed at her and during one of the tests I had to do I was unable to eat first. After the test was over my hubby went to the deli next door and brought me back a large lunch and I sat in the office and had my meal. The obgyn came out and saw the "spread" I had in front of me and just shook her head and said I guess you are eating.
By the time I was 30 I was consistently at a weight of 215-220. I didnt like the way I felt or the way people treated me and was miserable. This led me down the road to depression. We were constantly strugging to make ends meet and there was little time to devote to "Myself".
In 2000 I moved from NY to Michigan. At the time I thought it was a good decision. I had lost my Mom to cancer, and after that things just went downhill. I was depressed, angry, and just felt lost. After a couple of years of just "getting by" my husband got a good job with excellent insurance. My girls were now in elementary school and I had the time to do things now for me. I knew I needed to lose the weight. My knees hurt, my back hurt, and I realized I just wasnt living. I did some reading and then some more. I decided on RNY and made an appt at Hurley.
I went to the consult, did the psych eval, and jumped through all the hoops only to have hubby lose insurance. I was crushed, I felt that I had just lost my chance at changing my life. I didnt know what to do so I just gave up at that time and went on with life. Fast foward 2 more years. I go with my family on a road trip to Ohio, the trip itself was great, we spent the day at the mall shopping and getting together with friends. The next day I was in front of my computer relaxing playing a game when I completly lost feeling on my left side. I was terrified. Off to the er. They did all kinds of tests and ruled out a stroke, which was the good news, the bad news they found a congenital heart defect. I was 32 years old, how the hell did they miss it all these years? So I go back to my pcp and well to put it nicely she was a quack. She told me that there was nothing wrong!!! Needless to say I switched to another doctor.
My new pcp, did read my results from the er, and he redid the EKG right in his office. After the EKG he immediatly referred me to a cardiologist for surgury. I had some time to get all the tests and things done so my pcp put me on Xenical with a 1200 cal diet. I was so determined to lose and I did. I busted my butt and lost 60 pounds in 3 months. Then things went south again. I finished all my cardiac testing and was told I definitly needed surgury and that I had to stop working out, and taking the Xenical. That was the end for me. I got severly depressed and started gaining weight again. I was put on anti depressants and they only made things worse to the point where I tried to commit suicide. After a stay in the stress unit of the hospital I went into therapy and things really didnt get any better but not any worse either. My therapist wasnt really interested in helping me feel better he was more interested in getting me back into the work force. He kept pushing me to go back to work so needless to say I stopped seeing him. During all of this I filed for SSI, I was denied, so I appealed. After 3 long years of waiting I was finally approved for SSI and recieved medicare.
I went up to 250 pounds and had enough I went to my pcp and told him I wanted bariatric surgury. He was pleased as punch. He told me it was the best option for me after seeing me now for 3 years. So off to Hurley I went again.
