mljohns
My story is the same sad story many of us share....I was born a perfectly healthy weight. 51 years later I found myself at an all time high of 248 pounds. I'm 5 feet nothing tall! I have never been thin in my life. I was a pudgy kindergartner, a plump teenager and a fat adult.
Of course through the years I tried several different diets. Several different programs all with the same result. Lose some weight, stop the plan, gain it back.
Everything changed in 2000. I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Didn't know it was in my family history since my parents aren't close to their families. I later discovered that nearly all of my father's relatives have diabetes or died from complications of the disease. As most newly diagnosed diabetics, I panicked!! I started eating super healthy, started riding a bike a minimum of five miles a day. In four months I lost 50 lbs with diet and exercise and was able to stop taking any medication. Yay me!
I did well for some time and then got really sick, thrush. The only thing I could eat for two weeks was ice cream. Interesting choice...eat ice cream and watch my blood sugars skyrocket. Or don't eat anything and watch my blood sugars crash. I chose the skyrocket. Once I was healthy again it was tough to get back on track and eat the right way.
Shortly after this my teenage step-son started getting involved in drugs, having/causing problems at school, etc...I couldn't concentrate on my health and my son and so I ate.
The years passed and the pounds piled on,I'd lose some and then I'd gain some. The merry go round of the obese.
Eventually, meds for my diabetes weren't enough to control my blood sugar. I started insulin injections and then I was on an insulin pump for five years. At one point my dr. prescribed U500 insulin (a 5x concentration) to help control my numbers. Even on insulin my A1c was 11-13.
More diets....no success. The insulin was hampering any efforts to lose weight and it was frustrating. So what did I do??? I ate. Why not have teriyaki if your blood sugar was going to skyrocket even if I ate a grilled chicken breast.
I finally tried eating a vegan diet thinking that would help. Nope. So I started researching WLS. I had been one of those who said, "why can't a person eat as if they've had surgery without the surgery?" "That's the easy way out" and all the ignorant things people think and say.
So after months of research and interviewing a couple of co-workers who had WLS, I went to a seminar. Decided the DS was the best option for me. I started the insurance approval process. My surgeon recommended a newer procedure called SADI or SIPS, which seems to be a bit controversial on the DS forum. On January 27, 2015 I had the SADI operation. I was able to come home the same night and have been doing well since.
So far I've lost 55 lbs (30 pre-op surgeon's diet, 25 since surgery). With the pain, the nausea and everything else involved, it's one of the best decisions I've ever made.
I got to wonderland in a couple of weeks. My next goal is 175 the least I've ever weighed as an adult. The charts say my goal weight should be 118-120 based on my height. Not sure about that one. I've always been pretty solid. We'll see, not exactly what the future holds. Best part, I've been off of insulin since surgery. And although my numbers are slightly elevated, they're out of the danger zone. As I lose weight the numbers should drop as well. Here's to my health as well as yours!!
