jtag10_4
I was a bigger kid in high school, but not horrible 5'5" 165-175. After high school though LIFE happened and I gained 90 lbs in 3 years, I really was naive, I didn't realize the long term effects I was doing, it never occured to me how hard it would be to get off! But, at 22 I lost 40 lbs by myself doing weight watchers (not working, in school full time). My mom had mentioned this surgery several times within the last 5 years but I always weighed around 225-230 so I barely would have qualified for it. Plus, with no insurance and in college - how was I supposed to do anything. I also thought I wasn't "fat" enough - that I wasn't one of those people :-) Ha! Well, 5 years later and 55 lbs heavier, not able to WALK due to the back pain, I finally realized that it's been 10 years - if I wanted to "do this myself" I would have done it already. So, this summer I finally "gave in" and started considering surgery.
It's been an interesting road, one which I am finding out a lot about myself and when I had my consult with Dr. Johnell he asked when I became overweight, I replied "My BMI has said I was overweight as long as I can remember, I've never been under 25 on the charts" he laughed! I had never thought of it but it's true - I've always been overweight.
So, here I am anxious about what's in store, but excited that my life could change completely. The biggest thing is I believe I had 2 paths to choose from....this path where I do whatever it takes to have a meaningful healthy life or the other one which would have been dark and depressing and empty. I chose this one. I think it takes a lot of COURAGE to jump off and believe that life will be better.
WLS people have a lot of courage!
