Jenna40065
The beginning of the journey....
May 11, 2009
My name is Jenna. I'm 35 yrs old with 3 biological children and one stepchild ages 16, 9, 8 & 3. I weigh in at 360 lbs. Which is 5 lbs less than my highest weight ever. I started gaining weight after the birth of my first child. I started out at 135 lbs, and weighed 180 after he was born. I got back down to 145 but then had a terrible accident in which my right foot was nearly severed. I went thru multiple reconstruction surgeries to rebuild my ankle, but after 3 yrs of surgeries and a long time in and out of a wheel chair I had ballooned up to 220. At which point I was in an abusive relationship and pregnant with twins. The pregnancy ended when he beat me nearly to death and I lost my children. I left him and went on with my life. I was depressed and the weight just kept creeping on. I was 260 when I met and married my first husband. We tried for years to have a child and I lost 5 babies before my oldest daughter was finally born prematurely at 28 weeks. Our marriage deteriorated due to many issues that were unresolved and we divorced soon after. Leaving me a single parent of 2 children, with a handicap due to my leg (I use a cane) and no job since I'd been a stay at home parent. I worked hard doing everything I could to raise my children. Finances were hard and well fattening food is cheap. We ate mac-n-cheese with tuna, ramen soup, peanut butter on white bread. All very cheap and I could make it last, we could eat a lot of it cause it was so cheap and we'd get full. Depression kicked into full swing and I kept gaining. By the time my daughter was 6 I was up to 365 lbs. I had tried all kinds of weight loss programs over the years and honestly none worked. I went on the atkins plan and finally had some short lived success. I lost 90 lbs and got back down to 275, I was so proud of myself. I was dating again, and my boyfriend and I got pregnant. I was put on full bedrest due to my previous pregnancy problems. And my romeo spoiled me with food. All I wanted, all the time...and I ate like there was no tomorrow. I was stupid! My beautiful baby girl was born full term with no complications, it was a miracle. However I had gained back a ton of weight and I was back up to 330. She is now 3 and the rest of the weight has crept back on. Her father and I didn't make it as a couple, leaving me again a single parent of 3 children. About a year ago I met my current fiance, he's extremely supportive of whatever choices I make, but wants me healthy so that I can enjoy our children. I know one of the best ways to accomplish weight loss is exercise (trust me I KNOW), however with the problems involving my ankle I can't walk more than 10 mins without limping horribly and my ankle giving out. I feel that WLS would be my best chance at success. If I could take off about 60 lbs, then that would take a ton of pressure off my ankle and hopefully enable me to be able to walk again. I think the best thing in the world would be to be able to go the motor vehicle license office and give them BACK my handicap parking permit. I'm 35 yrs old, I shouldn't need a handicap spot! I want to be able to fit in the seat of a roller coaster again...I haven't been able to ride one since I was 17. I miss living my life. I feel like a prisoner in my house. I can't even garden without getting out of breath and nearly passing out after 10 minutes of working. I have to do the dishes in stages cause I can't stand at the sink for more than 10 minutes at a time. I tried dancing with my 3 yr old in my living room the other day and was out of breath in a minute and my ankle collapsed. I want to LIVE!
