kewlmom53704
They say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” In that case I should be able to lift a Buick.
For as long as I can remember, I have always been overweight. I was always picked last and I could never pass the Presidential Fitness Program in school. I was always ridiculed and teased by my teachers and my peers for being fat. That was until I reached high school. I was probably the only 13 year old that was on the slim fast as well as many failed fad diets. I would lose 20# gain back 40. That teeter tottered all the way up to when I was a senior in high school. I can remember only eating French fries and drinking Diet Pepsi, I don’t recall what weight I was, but I remember that was the only time in my life that I could fit into a size 14.
I have also had knee problems. I had my first arthroscopic knee surgery at 16 years old and an open surgical procedure on the same knee a year later.
I married and had children young, and everything was about my family. I worked 2 jobs for 20 years working 70 hours and 7 days a week. I had my sedentary full time secretarial job and then part-time always on my feet in restaurants mostly. I also worked in 2 gas stations, and also as a caretaker for the developmentally disabled on the weekends. I was busy, eating on the go, and taking care of everybody else but me and gaining more and more weight as the years progressed. Again, more fad diets, I was even so desperate I tried hypnosis and acupuncture. In 2004, I started having anxiety and insomnia issues so I started taking prescribed medication. Many of them were unsuccessful but that was when the weight really started to come on and the knee pain persisted. I remember being on 1 certain medication in 2006. I gained 40# in 3 months and that is when diabetes type 2, anxiety, hyperlipidemia, metabolic syndrome, asthma, sleep apnea, high blood pressure, migraine’s and shortness of breath started. I was in constant pain and I felt meaningless. I cannot remember a time where my weight was not brought up at a doctor visit. In my pursuit to be pain free, I went to a Rheumatologist until he could do nothing more for me so then I went to see a pain physician. Over 300 pounds and more trials of medications. Finally, methadone and oxycodone eased the pain but it never went away. In 2010 I had to quit working 2 jobs because my legs hurt too bad to stand. I also saw another orthopedic surgeon who did another arthroscopic knee surgery which didn’t work out as planned so my primary physician ordered me a scooter to ride because it hurt too bad to walk. I finally had more x-rays done and I was told that I needed a total knee replacement on the L side and I have grade 3-4 Chondromalacia of the right knee which can only be fixed by surgery. Again, I consulted orthopedic surgery and due to the level of my pain medication and a BMI over 50, I am no longer a surgical candidate.
I have been struggling with my weight all my life. I always feel hungry and I never feel full. Struggling with my weight has been a very long time issue with me. Also being obese, I have a 50 to 100-percent higher risk of premature death from all causes. I am 42 years old. I am severely morbidly obese at 345 pounds and 5 foot 5 inches tall and unable to exercise because of pain.