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Goals

learn to ice skate

8 People
 in progress, 
1 Person
 achieved this

Complete a Half-Marathon

73 People
 in progress, 
24 People
 achieved this

run a mile straight without stopping

0 People
 in progress, 
1 Person
 achieved this

Listen to God & let Him lead me where He will. With God, all things are possible

77 People
 in progress, 
13 People
 achieved this

go horseback riding

77 People
 in progress, 
10 People
 achieved this
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Surgeon Testimonial

Joseph Caruana, M.D.
Dr. Caruana was great! From the first day I met him up till the surgery date he was so helpful and he will answer any questions. He was very open with me and explained everything. The day of the surgery he held my hand and re-explained everything to me. He was so great with making sure I was calm and ready. Then he checked in with my fiance and reassured him about everything. He came in to check on me several times and was so great about everything!
Member Interests
  • Cats - My kitten is my baby! She is the best little cat ever!
  • Dogs - I have one black lab who is so dumb but i love her!
  • Teaching - I am a teacher, and looking for a full time job for elem. ed, speech, or deaf ed
  • Scrapbooks - I love working in my scrapbooks I just never can find enough time!
  • Hockey - I'm more of a fan of watching my fiance play and watching the Buffalo Sabres
  • Tennis - My fiance and I are members at a tennis club and we really enjoy it!
  • WLS in your 20's - I am young and ready to live the rest of my life!

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I am 26 years old, and just got married August 1st.  I had the best time on our honeymoon, and did things like Zip-linning that I never could have done before.  I had open gastric bypass in Buffalo, NY on January 13, 2009.  At my heaviest weight I weighed 286, and hope to some day be down to 140.  This is my life!  Welcome to the new me!     
Samantha's Blog
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My Story

I have been severely over weight my whole life.  I was born at almost 10 lbs so that tells you right there what kinda life I was headed for.  I had a horrible family doctor from the begining.  I would go in for an ear infection and come out crying because he would be telling me (a 10 year old) that I was obese, and was going to live a short life.  It's almost as if he was waiting for me to turn old enough- he suggested gastric bypass- I was so mad at him, to even suggest it that I stopped going to him.  I went away to college, and made something of myself.  I became a speech therapy and a teacher of the deaf.  It was not until I moved and met the man of my dreams that I realized I needed to do something.  I had tried diets and diets and diets, and had done really well on some, but I would always have the re-gain of more than I had lost, I had been to nutritianist since I was 10 years old, and did diet after diet, my mom tried to put me on special meal plans... nothing worked.  Before I knew it I was up to 286 lbs, and I was disgusted with myself.  I started going to a new doctor, and had the same health concerns.  I had high cholesteral, borderline diabetes, and not to mention the strain on my heart at such a young age.  I realized I am 25 years old, I have met the man I'm going to marry and start my family and life with.  I need to do something now so my kids don't loose their mother before they should. I had a friend who had the open gastric bypass and it went really well for her, so I decided to start doing my research.  I decided I needed to do this because I want to be able to have a family, and at the time I didn't even know if that was possible.  I started my process in April 2007.  At first I was denied because I have severe depression and the risk factors after were apparently too high that they thought I would kill myself or something.  I fought the insurance company and they ended up approving me in the middle of Novemeber.  I was then scheduled for surgery January 13th, 2009. 

My wedding is August 1st, and I just hope my wedding dress isn't too big!  I've ordered it 4 sizes smaller than what I was initially.  So hopefully this will be the begining of my new long and healthy life!  It's the best thing I could have done, and I've never felt better, and happier, and expecially never felt this good about myself!  Which is the most important. 

I think it is also very important to mention that I had a lot of people tell me I wasn't big enough for surgery, and they didn't think I needed it- It doesn't matter what other people think- they don't know you're medical history, and they don't know that you wake up hating yourself everyday.  Do this for you.  That is who is important, and to me it was also for my future children.  I want to be able to play with them and enjoy having children, I don't want them to have a mother that is sick and can't play with them.  My family and fiance have all been so incredibly supportive I couldn't ask for a better situation.  I have to say I have lost one "friend" through the process- she was my roommate in college, and a good friend through school.  When I told her I was having it done, she fought with me and told me i was going to die and that i was stupid for thinking about it.  Then she just stopped takling to me when I told her I was going through with it no matter what.  So you don't need people like that in your life.  If you have those people, tune them out, or find someone who is going to understand and support you.  Because thats the most important thing.