I have struggled with my weight for many years.  

I have decided to have gastric bypass surgery – a procedure called RNY – with Dr. Glenn Ihde in Arlington.  I have not made this decision lightly. In January of 2000 I woke up one morning and knew that I had to make a change and that I was not going to live very long or have any quality of life if I did.  I had medical issues that were not resolvable without losing weight.  I was also assaulted daily with social issues.  I was taking asthma medications, having panic attacks, I was depressed, I was on blood pressure medication and was being watched for irregular heartbeats. I could not climb into my own attic because I was above the maximum allowed weight on the ladder. (TMI?)  I could not fit into a roller coaster seat and it was very uncomfortable to eat in a booth.  I won’t even mention the problem with finding clothes. Anyway, that is when I began my weight loss journey.  Family and friends watched and cheered for me as I lost weight, and probably no one realized that I worked on it for 5 years.  In January 2000 when I began my journey I weighed 267.  When I ran the Chicago Marathon in October 2005 I weighed my lowest, 185 - - still not at a healthy weight. Over those 5 years I took pills, saw doctors, hired personal trainers, saw a registered dietician and joined running clubs.  I ran numerous 5 and 10ks.  I ran three half marathons, competed in two triathlons, ran 1 marathon and rode in many 25-40 mile bike rides.  I worked out 6 days a week and ate 1200-1600 calories.  And it still didn’t work. As I crossed the marathon finish line I hyper-extended my left knee.  As a result I went to a sports orthopedic surgeon who said that the knee would heal, but that I had plantar fasciitis, a heel spur on my right foot and a stress fracture on my left foot.  He told me not to run anymore until I lost weight because my bones could not take the pressure anymore.  Now we have a problem.  Running 50-60 miles a week was what enabled me to get down to 185 and now I can’t run because I’m too heavy.  I tried non and low impact activities but slowly over the last 2 years the weight crept back up.  I saw another doctor and took more pills but nothing worked.  When I started this journey in January 2000 I told myself this was the last effort and that I would put into it everything that I had.  I did.  I spent time away from my family – justifying it that I was setting a healthy example for them.  I spent lots of money on equipment, coaches and entry fees.  But I knew that if I failed my choices were extremely limited. This past summer I was miserable.  Now I didn’t just look overweight (which was never a huge issue with me) but I felt physically ill, and more importantly my quality of life was lowered and it became difficult to participate in family activities such as boating and tubing.  That is when my husband suggested that I go ahead and look into weight loss surgery – little did he know this had been on my mind for 7 years. He and I did many hours of research.  We read books, attended seminars and talked to people who had undergone surgeries and I visited with my doctor.  Ultimately we agreed that bypass best fit me and my doctor agreed.  Then we began our search for a doctor and the long, difficult process of gaining insurance approval.  In October I finally received approval and scheduled my surgery for November 19. You may think I’m nuts, but I actually enjoyed the marathon and the triathlons and it was important to me that I be able to do those post-op.  The surgeon said absolutely!  I’ll just have to carefully plan my nutrition and water needs (good thing this is what I am studying!). In addition to studying dietetics (want to be a dietician one day) I am a Certified Personal Trainer and have my license through ACE.  No, I’m not leaving my full time job.  But I can and will use this as a part time job now and maybe a second career later.  There is such a need for people like me out there and I know because when I was looking for trainers, coaches and dieticians there were none who had ever experienced a weight problem or had medical conditions.  I’m not ashamed of what I’m doing.  I’m not overweight because I’m lazy.  I’m overweight because my body is different that other peoples and I don’t mind sharing my story.