kvalera
I was obese from childhood. I specifically remember being obese after I had my tonsils removed at age 8. For me, obesity was a combination of nature and nurture. Both of my parents are obese, which gave me some genetic predisposition to the disease of obesity, but the way I was raised contributed as well. I am originally from Indiana, and my mom was a stay at home mom. We had three square meals a day and a snack on most days. We would have bacon and eggs or sausage gravy and biscuits for breakfast many days, lunch at school and a full dinner (always on the table at 5:30 when dad usually arrived home from work). Nearly every evening we had a snack, which ranged from carmel corn to pizza to ice cream. Good grades were rewarded with trips to Dairy Queen and, of course, most major celebrations were at restaurants. So I can definitely say my obesity issues came at me from two direcitons.
I never allowed myself to take a close enough look at my body or my weight to realize just how bad things were. Throughout my life, I have been on dozens of different diets, and I've had success on most of them...for a while. I could get the weight off, but couldn't keep it off. After each of these diets, I gained back all of the weight I had lost and then some. Just like a lot of obese people, I avoided situations in which I felt like I wouldn't be able to do something or where I might not fit.
Finally, in January of 2005, I somehow came to the realization that I could not lose weight on my own and keep it off, and that it was time to look in to bariatric surgery. I found Dr. Garth Davis at Methodist Hospital in Houston in April. He became my surgeon, and I had my gastric bypass surgery (laparoscopic Roux-en-Y) on September 27, 2005. Did I mention that I weighed at least 475 pounds when I met Dr. Garth? He required me to lose weight before surgery and to go through his pre-op program, which I did. That was definitely a blessing.
Since the time I first met with Garth, I have lost over 200 pounds. It has not been easy. I realized in April of 2006 that I really had to get serious about exercise, and I found Austin Davis, who is now my trainer. He has been an amazing friend to me as he's made me stronger than I ever imagined I could be and helped me see that the world really is much bigger and more exciting than I ever allowed myself to see. In fact, on December 31, 2006, he took me out to SKydive Spaceland in Rosharon, Texas and gave me the gift of my first tandem skydive. Let me tell you, once you step out of a plane at 14,000 feet and end up landing, safe and sound, back on earth....well, there's nothing you can't do! I'm looking forward to learning to skydive on my own after I have my tummy tuck completed.
I am scheduled to have an abdominoplasty done on September 4, 2007, by Dr. Jeff Friedman at Methodist Hospital. After a lengthy battle with the insurance company, I have documented a serious medical need to have the skin removed. I will continue to keep my blog updated with the progress.
The best thing about all of my journey so far? Learning to love myself and love life. The world really is a beautiful place, and there are LOTS of things I want to do to enjoy it.
