Darlene G.
My guess is that my story is pretty common. I guess you could have called me "average" size when I was a child; I had friends thinner, I had friends heavier. I never had anything resembling a waist, mind you, but I was wearing a size 14 or 16 when I graduated. At 5'9" at the time, that's not too bad.
That all changed when I started my family though. When I had my daughter nearly 21 years ago I gained a lot of weight in my thighs, hips, and butt. After she was born I obtained my first (of many!) Weight Watchers membership. I was close to goal when I became pregnant again with my son. I left the hospital weighing 209 and haven't seen that number since.
I can't blame baby fat any more, my youngest is 18! I've done the roller coaster with companions ranging from Weight Watchers to Nutri-System to Meridia to Atkins to... you get the picture. I guess you don't always see this when you're young, but I now know that a large part of this is hereditary. I am smaller than many in my family; I have an aunt who had the surgery 11 years ago (she went from 416 to 212!). We all have thyroid disease; it's common for us to compare med dosages when we get together. We don't have much cancer in the family, but what we DO have is diabetes, heart disease, strokes - all complications exacerbated by excess weight.
Well, it's time to get off of the roller coaster ride. I never researched WLS much; I always thought you had to be in dire straits to qualify, as my aunt was all those years ago. Some time in June though a girl at work happened to mention that her sister was just leaving the hospital after having the surgery, and when I pressed for more info I realized that I WOULD qualify, that it WAS a viable option, and I didn't have to keep on being so depressed! I got the process started in July.
Since starting all of the pre-op prep I have actually GAINED 5 pounds (story of my life, everything I seem to do results in weight gain!). I attribute that to quitting smoking. When I had my appointment in October I weight exactly the same (to the 1/4 pound!) as I did in September, so hopefully I'll begin seeing some improvement on that front. If all goes well I hope to have surgery in February or March!
That's me in a nutshell. A very large nut shell! lol
