kevin D.
- I hadn’t given up on life, but I had given up on the life that I wanted to live – -
- I’m inspired by the OH members that have triumphantly completed their journeys and are now living the lives that they want to live! -
First let me say that I am to social networking, blogging or twitting as my parents are to hip hop and programming the DVR. That, in part, is why I’ve procrastinated on adding my story to my profile page. In any event, here’s my best attempt. Like many of OH members I’ve struggled for a lifetime with my weight. Also like many I had lost the joy of living as I was just functional enough to work as all other aspects of life suffered. Also I like many here losing weight has never been a problem for me. I’m a savant at losing weight…it’s the keeping the weight off that’s been the problem. Despite being good at losing weight I was at the point where I just couldn’t muster the energy, enthusiasm and commitment to losing a significant amount of weight again. Not again. Not only to gain it all back and more. The disappointment and self-loathing of doing so would’ve been too much to bear. So there I was at my highest weight of 426 lbs. I was, in hindsight, too afraid to try and too afraid to fail. It was at this point that my mother suggested that I attend a free seminar on WLS hosted by Dr Michael Snyder (see OH profile) and sponsored by Rose Hospital’s Bariatric Center. This was mid-September of 2010. I left that seminar reinvigorated with hope and convinced to have WLS and as soon as possible. I was fortunate to get through all the pre-op requirements in short order and on 11/1/2010 I had bypass surgery. Post surgery I’ve progressed well. At my 3 month check up I had lost 76 lbs and was 1/3 of the way to my target goal weight. Soooo…everything is groovy, right? Wrong! I’ve since learned what Dr. Snyder had forewarned prior to WLS, which is that surgery, by itself, doesn’t fix everything. The underlying reasons that brought me to that seminar in September still remain. However, without of the crutch of abusing food I’m now able to recognize and am forced to deal with those issues rather than continuing to bury them in an avalanche of food and despair. In dealing with those issues I’m now learning the importance of connecting with other people who are on the same journey as I. Rose Bariatric Center and Dr Snyder offer a host of free post-surgery support, including support groups, coaching, nutritionists, exercise guidance, etc. etc, most of which beginning to explore to see what works for me. OH has also been a great find for me too. I really like the tracking tools, forum discussions, etc. But more than that I am buoyed by the shared challenges of OH members that are traveling this same road and I’m inspired by the OH members that have triumphantly completed their journeys and are now living the lives that they want to live. So that’s my story…so far. As I said, blogging, posting, etc. doesn’t come naturally to me but I will occasionally post notes for what I’ve found to be helpful to me along the way. I wish all OH member success and may we all soon be living the lives that we want to live. K
