Diane_F
When did it all begin? I remember when I was 11 years old I was forced to sit down and finish my meals because they said I ate like a bird. What an amazing memory for me. By the time I was in high school and developing breasts and curves, but not getting very tall (I'm 5'2" ), I weighed 130 but felt fat and unattractive. The large breasts on my short frame made me uncomfortable - how I envied the girls who developed slower and had flat chests and stick like legs. Still, the weight wasn't my big problem in those days. At 19 I gave birth to my first son and gained an unbelievable 75 pounds!! OUCH! But a month after his birth I was down to 135 and shrugged off the weight gain of 5 pounds. Then the weight began to sneak up on me without my noticing it much at first. It seemed like the next time I remember weighing myself - I weighed 150 pounds and didn't know when it had happened. I married at the age of 24 weighing in at 160 pounds. A couple of years into the marriage and I'd delivered 2 more sons...10 1/2 months apart! Yep, the weight rose to 210 and stayed there for many years. A Gazillion diet plans, programs and adventures later I managed to lose, gain, lose, gain....you know the drill....and eventually gained back all the weight everytime plus the bonus pounds that came with each gain (lucky me!)...25 years into the marriage and I was weighing in at 245 pounds. Never giving up hope I continued to try a variety of temporary methods to trim off the fat. As always...3 months of success....the rest of the year in misery, disappointment and selfdisgust! The day I found myself weighing 270 pounds I was stunned and could hardly bear to look in a mirror. The aches, pains, shame and health issues that filled my life slowed me down and almost defeated me. 2 Years ago I was diagnosed with the Big 3...Type II Diabetes, High Blood Pressure and High Cholesterol! I was finally motivated to make a really serious change and I was dedicated! I lost 60 pounds in 7 months...I was so proud and began to feel better...even my knees stopped aching so much. Then my husband suffered a severe stroke and I became his full time caretaker and the weight of our lives was no longer a "shared" one...but one for me to carry for both of us. I was not only in charge of his medical and personal needs but also keeping his spirits up. I'm not complaining but before I could blink twice I had regained all the weight I lost as I focused all of my attention on him and our new situation. Everyday I watch myself getting further and further away from good health and closer and closer to risking my life through neglect and exhaustion. Then one day I got to talking to a friend of mine and she mentioned that she was having this N.E.W. surgery that was gastric bypass but not as invasive as the surgeries I'd heard of in the past. I was intrigued and after much conversation and some research I decided that this might be the solution for me. Well, that brings us to the present. I go next week to schedule the surgery and have my many questions answered. I am hoping that not only my health but the quality of my life will improve. I'm 56 years old and I want to do sooooo much more with my life.
