Becca Tennill
I was never heavy as a child. I think that if I weren't so active then I probably would have been. In high school I seemed to be obsessed with staying thin. I would work out 2 hours a day after school and became very toned. I didn't eat very much at all. Obesity ran very heavily in my family and I was always scarred to end up that way. As I got into my older teenage years I became more involved with boys and hanging out with my friends that I just didn't have time to work out any more. My senior year of high school I ended up getting to 174 lbs and wore a size 12/14. That is also when I found out that I was pregnant with my daughter. I gained 52 lbs during pregnancy and could not get it off. Not too long after that I became pregnant with my son and put on another 40 lbs. I was in a really bad marriage and became depressed. All I ever did was turn to food. I ended up weighing 250 lbs. I couldn't believe what I had become. I didn't even recognize myself anymore. I had to pull myself together and I did. I left that miserable marriage and got my kids out of there and I lost 50 lbs. Then my body decided to stop and reverse. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't get the weight back off; then I just gave up. I ended up right back at 250 lbs.
I also developed a lot of health problems. Let's see: PCOS, hypertension, hypothyroidism, sleep apnea, tachycardia, acid reflux, and a few others. Of course there is a pill for everything, so I have my handful of pills everyday so that I can get through my day. Well, enough was enough! I was tired of of all the pills, I was tired of being told how sick I was! And I was tired of being a disappointment to my kids. Oh, they would have never said they were disappointed in me, but they didn't have to. I could see it when they were so excited to play and I came out to join them and within 5 minutes I would have to sit down. I could see their disappointment; I could feel it, and it hurt.
I had been looking into weight loss surgery since about 2005, but I was always too scared to actually do anything more than go to an information seminar. When I finally did get enough courage to go through with it I found out the insurance I had at the time would not cover it. What a bummer! All that did was give me more time to let fear sink back in. In 2007 my younger brother, Chris, had a gastric bypass. He was 450 lbs. Today he is 227 lbs!! I watched what he went through and asked him an overwhelming amount of questions about everything he had gone through. After seeing him, I wasn't afraid anymore. I got a new job with new insurance and began the process. Nine months later on 12/23/2008 I had a gastric bypass. I had lost 21 lbs before surgery so I weighed 229 lbs the day of surgery. Today I weigh 173 lbs! I have lost a total of 77 lbs, so far! I am feeling GREAT! I can get around without hurting and without getting out of breath. I don't even snore anymore when I sleep. I have come off most of my medication. I no longer need my C-PAP machine and I no longer need medication for high blood pressure, PCOS, or for acid reflux.
With all of that extra weight gone I have become very active! I workout all the time. I lift weights, do my stomach crunches, run, ride my bike. The best part about my activity level is that I no longer feel like I am a disappointment to my kids. In fact, sometimes they have a hard time keeping up with me! I have been given my life back and I'm not going to waste it!
I feel very blessed to have been given this opportunity and thank God for it. It is through His will that I have come to where I am and it will be through His will that I follow where He leads me.
