ColB
I'm a 34-year old professional living in Rochester, NY. I have a good job, a *great* husband, two fab cats and a cute little green ranch house. I have, actually, a pretty good life.
And I'm fat.
I've been fat -- really fat -- all my life. I can remember being placed on diets as a child where my mother made me drink a glass of hot water and lemon juice every AM, and then eat nothing but chicken each night. I've never crossed my legs, I can't ride in rollercoasters, I hate going to the theater and having to try and squeeze into seats, and I'd love more than anything to just fit into a regular sized bathtub.
I first entered the bariatric program at Rochester's Highland Hospital in Summer 07. I went through the seminars and the psych exams and then, a week before my last nutrition consult, I fell down a flight of stairs and smashed a number of bones in my left foot and tore ligaments in my right ankle. Suddenly I was having surgery, indeed, but not the kind I had anticipated! Three weeks after the leg surgery, blood clots in my leg travelled to my lungs and I was back in hospital. And now, I was out of the bariatric program for the time being. A year later I'm still recovering and finally back in the saddle with WLS, but find that I have to start the program all over again: the seminars, the nutrition, the whole deal. And I'm willing to start again, because it's I believe it's just that important.
So here I am, still persuing WLS. Because I want to KEEP that pretty good life. Because I want to fully recover from my injuries so I can walk without pain, and because that's really hard to do when you're 350 lbs. Because I don't want to die before I hit 60 -- and let's face it, there just aren't many old fat people, we generally don't make it that far. Because I have a million things I want to do, and I want the time and the ability to do them.
That's why I'm here, and that's why WLS.
