Tammi G.
I'm 46-years-old and have struggled with my weight since I was 8. I can still hear the taunts & teasings of classmates & kids in the neighborhood. I was always the "chubby" kid in the group and, although I was the best hitter & fielder out there, I was always chosen last for the softball team, simply because of my weight. My most humiliating moment growing up was when we had to get weighed in our 6th-grade PE class, in front of everyone. I was mortified when the scale stopped at 180 lbs (I was only 4'11" at the time) and I heard the gasps & saw the shocked looks on the faces of the rest of the girls. I was totally humiliated! I went on several "diets" with my mom, but nothing worked. I've tried Slimfast, Weight Watchers, Nutri-system, counting calories, fasting, joined 2 gyms & worked out with a trainer, etc. - you name it, I've tried it. The only thing that worked was the fasting, but as soon as I went back to "regular" food, I gained back all the weight I'd lost & then some. The final straw for me was not just the number on the scale, or the fact that my BMI is rapidly closing in on 38, but when I saw my photo on my ID badge at work. I don't know who that fat woman is on my ID badge, but it's not me!
I've spent the last year researching every weight loss option I hadn't yet tried, even talking with a co-worker who had RYN after her BMI reached 36. She looks great, has tons of energy and says, in spite of the few setbacks she had, she'd do it all over again. So, last Thursday, I nervously contacted my PCP @ Kaiser here in San Diego, telling her everything I had tried to lose weight and that I felt, at this point, WLS was my best option. She said she was "happy" to refer me to the Bariatrics program and that I am to call on Monday 7/20, to schedule an appointment. They say a journey begins with a single step. I've taken that first step...the journey begins.
