henner33
OK so here is my story. I have been overweight my entire life. When I was a kid, I remember people commenting, " She is such a beautiful girl if she would just lose a few pounds..." I hate this comment with a passion!!! It is as if to say you aren't beautiful unless you are thin. Anyway, I remember when I was 9 years old, I fell in a hole and sprained my ankle. It was late in the evening so my Mom waited until the nest morning to bring me to the Doctor. When we got to the office, the first thing out of his mouth was, " She really needs to really lose weight", Horrifying!! I was NINE. Another horrible memory was around the same age. I received in the mail, an envelope, no return address, and inside it had an advertisement for some weight loss miracle cream and some other "miracle" weight loss gimmick. At the top of the page was handwritten, "Heather give this a try". I was still NINE. Nice, I know, I still haven't figured out who sent it to me, but obviously it was someone who knew me. I will never forget the feeling I got when I saw that piece of paper. I was so very hurt and embarrassed. I never told anyone about that. I tore it up and threw it away and asked my mom if I could join Weight Watchers. It didn't work. Despite being a chunky kid, I was a very active one. I was in figure skating for years, and I played basketball and volleyball all through school. I was always outside riding my bike, skipping, at the pool swimming etc. I have never gotten my weight under control despite the fact I have been dieting since that day back in 1984 when I got that dreaded letter! I own every book on every diet that has been out for the last 15 years. I have tried the Master Cleanse, Jenny Craig, cabbage soup, zone, Atkins, south beach, sommersize, low carb, no carb, kimkins, the no white diet, You on a diet diet, etc. You name it I have tried it. I have bought thousands of dollars worth of "magic" pills, Herbalife, Trimspa, Thermo something or other bla bla bla. I even went through he ephedrine taken with wake-up pills and just coffee phase that was popular in the early 90's. I have joined gyms left right and center. even an all ladies gym (which closed down shortly after it opened). where has all of this gotten me? Here to my nearly 300 lb self and suffering the effects of morbid obesity. My decision to explore LS was sparked by a friend who had the procedure Dec 2007. When I first heard that she was going to have WLS my immediate reaction was, "Wow that is kind of drastic don't you think?" I stated that I would never go that route, I could do it on my own, no surgery required here, ha ha, that was nearly 2 years ago. I have since watched my friend transform into a thin healthy and happy post-op, and I so want that for me. Last spring, I asked my Doctor for a referral to the Surgeon in Victoria. I got an appointment date for Nov 9 2009. Perfect, that gives me a year and a half to lose the weight and cancel my appointment right? I joined a 10 week fitness program and started counting calories, I lost 20 lbs in 10 weeks and I was feeling great. I even started running/walking and I thought I would be just fine. In October 2008, I suffered a back injury which resulted in a ruptured disc in my lower back. I lost all feeling and function of my left leg and required emergency back surgery (By the way, emergency meant 14 days after seeing the surgeon a month and a half after the initial injury) if I was to regain the full function of my leg. in Dec 2008 i had the back surgery and because of my limited mobility, began to regain the 20 lbs I had worked so hard to lose. As an added bonus I got an extra 10 lbs as well. Yay me 
! I started physio re-hab in Jan 2009 and I was exercising 5 days a week. 45 min on the elliptical 3x week and light weight training as well. I am still at the same weight. I came to the conclusion that if I want to get healthy, I need the WLS as a tool to help me. I am sick an tired of feeling like I am 80 years old, and I find myself comparing aches and pains (and surgeries) to people who are in their 50's. I want to enjoy the rest of my life as a healthy vibrant active person, not suffering from ailments that I am far too young to have. I began to go to the local WLS support meetings and I am learning as much as I can about the different surgeries available out there and which one is right for me. I am meeting new people who are going through the same issues and am loving the network of support out there.I have since found a different surgeon (appt Dec 2009) and I am hoping that my wait for a surgery date is much shorter, with this surgeon. I love reading the posts on this site and would like to thank all of you who have shared your journey. They are great sources of info and support. I hope that one day soon I too can sit on the loser's bench, and maybe be an inspiration for someone else to take control of their life.
