Clara Painter
My story is really no different than most of the weight loss patients that I have met. I was obese as a child. I was constantly berated by parents about my weight. I did manage to stay between 140-150 during most of high school, college and the first few years of my marriage. However, I was always called the heavy one. I look at those pictures now and realize that I was not fat at all.
After the birth of my daughter my weight continued to grow. I did many of the same diets that eveyone has tried. I would loss some only to have it come back with extra pounds added to it.
I tried to talk to my primary doctor at one point about weightloss surgery only to have her tell me that was a waste of time. If I really wanted to lose weight I could. So I had her make out a diet for me to follow for 3 months. I gained 15 lbs in that 3 month period. I tried other diet programs and gained and gained and gained. After a couple more years I finally convinced her to send me to a thyroid specialist. She had done thyroid tests but only one test and it was always on the low side of normal so she kept saying that I was fine. The thyroid specialist found that I had severe thyroid issues. After 2 years of medication there still wasn't any change in my weight and the doctor asked me about weightloss surgery. I told her that I had considered it some years ago but had been told that it was a waste. She had several patients who had been very successful with it so she wrote letters for me to my primary doctor and to my insurance company.
Needless to say, I finally had the surgery. I never had a problem following surgery. The only problem was that I was so disappointed that I had not been able to have the surgery earlier.
Would I do it again? In a heartbeat and never look back. I try to encourage everyone that asks me about the surgery to look into it and to consider it for themselves.
