Katie's Weightloss Journey 2006

Well where do I begin. I have been overweight for most of my adult life.  I was a normal weight through school, Thank god! Because Kids can be so mean. Anyways I didn't start having trouble with my weight until after high school. I started on my first real diet at the age of nineteen. My mom paid for me to join Jenny Craigs. At first I did well and loss about 25 lbs, but then after about four months the weightloss slowed down and eventually I gave up. I maintain that weightloss for about six months. Then the guy I was seeing decides to become a truck driver.  When I was old enough I went and got my license and started driving too. It was at this time I started to gain the most weight. Over the next few years I struggled with my weight and different diets. I tried diet pills, prescription pills, slim fast,not eating. I would lose a little and gain alot. Then in 2000 I started hearing a lot about WLS and decide to check into it. I got online and looked at the different types. Of course at that time the most popular was the RNY, I guess it still is. I thought since I have insurance I'll give it a try. I was going to check with my Dr when I found the Duodenal switch. What is this I thought? I read a bunch of info on the surgery and that lead me to the Duodenal Switch website. Their were about fifty people from all over the world with stories,pics and info for other websites. Bingo! I had struck gold. The more I read the more I knew this was the surgery for me, but how to make it a reality. I went to my insurance provider's website and found out they do not cover WLS of any kind.  I found Obesity help's insurance section and I researched my insurance company. It looked like they had at that time cover some surgery after an appeal, but most were for RNY not DS. So at that point I gave up and started Jenny Craig’s again in hopes of losing weight through diet and exercise. Surprise? I lost a little weight but just gain it back. So at that point I accepted I was always going to be fat. So over the next two yrs I just gain weight. I weighed 275lbs my feet hurt and I had so much back pain I could hardly stand for more then five minutes. I was having trouble sleeping and felt like crap. So at that point I decide to get off the road. I quit driving for a year and went to Massage Therapist School. I meet some great people and loss a little weight and was hoping to make a Career out of it but it wasn't meant to be.  So I ended up back on the road. This time I was with a company that went to all 48 States and it made it even more difficult to eat right, My weight went up even more. So I quit that job and went back to my old company that only runs on west coast for a while my weight stayed the same then in early 2006 I begin to have real health problems and needed to do something fast. I went to my PCP and told her I need help with my weight and need a referral for surgery. She didn't think I was in that bad of shape but decide to check my oxygen levels. They came back at 60% which is very bad.  I stop breath so much the oxygen in my blood drops from a normal range of 90 % to 50-60%. I would wake up every 20 mins and was so exhausted all the time. I would fall asleep at the drop of a hat. This isn’t good for anyone especially a truck driver. So I quit my job in fear that I was going to fall asleep and kill myself or someone else.  I didn't have any insurance and since I had the sleep apnea the weight just pile on. I was so miserable. My tongue was swollen, I couldn't sleep, and my back was killing me. I couldn't hardly walk or stand and I just wanted to die. I couldn't take it any longer. I spoke to my parents who at first weren't  excited about me getting WLS. They thought it was extreme but they had seen me struggling with my weight for years and knew I needed to do something. So I tried Nutrisystem and rejoined the gym and lost about two lbs. Then at Christmas time my parents and I started to discuss the option of  selfpay for surgery. I looked at San Fran and Delano,CA where a number of people online have had there surgeries, But they were all expensive.  Then I noticed on the top of Dina page on the Duodenal Switch site a web address called body by baltasar. I immediately went to that site and was amazed at how much cheaper the surgery was. I started to do so research. I knew people went out of the country for surgery but never thought about doing it myself .  But the more research I did the more comfortable I became with the Idea. So I contacted Dr B and had my surgery March 31 o6 and have lost 85lbs in 5 months. I no longer need oxygen, no more back pain, no swollen tongue and very little sleep apnea. This surgery saved my life and so did Dr B. Anybody who has struggled with there weight and is have medical problems don't wait. Do something now! Even if it sounds drastic it saved my life.  I would do it over again in a minute.

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