Marcia J.
My story...hmmmm, seems like I was always a big girl but in 2000 my life got turned upside down. My mom passed away, I went thru a bankruptcy and a divorce (which caused me to lose custody of my daughter for almost a year) all this happened in the same year. I turned to my best friend, FOOD, for help. I gained lots of weight and was unable to stop. I got to the point where I couldn't stand for more then a few mins. at a time, I couldn't walk very far. Going from my upstairs apartment to my car in the parking lot left me in so much pain I hated going out. No matter what I did my back and legs hurt, in bed, sitting in a chair, standing...it all caused me pain. Then one day I said to myself, you are not living and you are making your daughter suffer. My daughter is only 11 and at 8 she was able to take a short shopping list into a store and use my credit card to purchase the things we needed. I never took her anywhere that required me to walk around. If I took her to a park I sat in the car and watched her play, I never got out and played with her.
In 2007 my life changed again, this time for the better. On June 25th I had open rny. I was scared but I knew I had to do it. I am so glad I did. I am crying as I type this...my life is so much better now and so is my daughters. We do things together now. WE go to the park, play basketball, go for walks. I was able to go to her open house at school and see all the things she has done instead of her telling me about them. I can go to her school plays and assemblys. I CAN shop now, she is able to be a kid again. One of my goals was to walk around Wal-mart and not use one of thier electric carts...I HAVE reached that goal and am so proud of myself. I can now help her grow up instead of just watching it happen.
I started my journey weighing 479 pounds (that is a hard thing to type) I am now down to 311 (168 lost). I am still big but I feel better now. I was on insulin, and 2 different pills to control my diabetes..I no longer take any of them. My blood sugars are in control.
After my surgery I did end up with something very contagious....a SMILE, I can't seem to stop somedays, and it is little things that start it like walking to my car and thinking I need to get the mail..then walking to the mailbox instead of driving, taking my daughter to the zoo and not having to ask a friend to take her thru while I wait in the car. I am glad I made the decision to have this surgery, my only regret is I didn't do it years earlier.
