mgaffney
My name is Mary Helen, I have three wonderful cats and an awesome husband named James. My story begins with the love of food as a child. I am the youngest of five children and it didn't matter when anyone ate, it was time for me to eat too. My dad loved to bring home junk food for us just so we would be happy and civil. However, even though I loved food I was never really heavy,maybe chunky at 10 or so but really grew out of all that. High school was a blast, I was involved in theater and singing was Dorothy my senior year and had a long time boyfriend.
After High school is when things sorta began to change. I was probably 160 when I graduated and then lost more weight by running three miles a day. I was really addicted to running for about 2 years. Then when I was 21 I was diagnosed with a rare endocrine disorder. It was an immune disorder that affected my ovaries and thyroid, possibly threatening my adrenal glands and pancreas. So, I was not having any periods at this point and I was thrown into early menopause at 21, also being told that I will never be able to have kids. Kinda a lot to deal with at 21. So, this is when I really started to notice the pounds packing on.
Ten years later I am at 360 and have never been this large in my life, i even feel that I am looked at differently in job interviews as well as social situations. I never used to feel like this. I was always the life of the party and plenty of guys after me and all that. Now, my knees creek and hurt, my feet swell. I can barley fit in food booths and I almost broke a chair at a party once. So, embarrassing. I am so happy that I have a loving husband and family that want me to get healthy. They think I am beautiful either way but they want my life to last a long time not be shortened by morbid obesity.
I am now ready to make the change and commitment to change my life forever. I want to RUN again. I am confident that this surgery will give me the tools I need and maybe cure my disease. I am very optimistic and ready to change my eating habits. I think I will always love food but maybe I can love it less and make better choices.
