Laffingbead
I am currently 55 years old. I have one daughter, two grandkids. I have been married to the same person for over 35 years.
I work in Bartlett as a special education teacher's assistant.
I have osteoarthritis in both knees, which will require replacement once I lose enough weight.
My main form of exercise is to swim. I generally go before work, either at the Fox Valley Park District's pool or at Lifetime Fitness.
Growing up, I was thin (120 pounds in high school, 126 pounds when I got married) I gained a little after getting married. I think I was around 135 for a long time.
Then, I got pregnant. I had heartburn for last 2 months of the pregnancy. My solution was to drink milk. I ended up drinking one gallon of whole milk a day. Needless to say, I gained about 70 pounds with the pregnancy. That was the start of being overweight and staying overweight,
My highest weight was in 2000, when I was 380 pounds. In March of 2000, I went on the Carbohydrate Addicts Diet. I lost about 100 pounds in about a year. I found out about the arthritis. My mind went bonkers. All I could think about was being permanently disabled. I started overeating, mostly on PB & J sandwiches (several consumed evenings after a normal dinner)
I got in control again when my DD and I went to WW. By August of 2004, I had lost down to about 215 pounds. However, we went ti WDW at that time. I was sick and tired of "being on a diet" and I decided to "enjoy" my visit to Disney by eating what I wanted. At that time, I lost my focus and didn't get any back for any length of time until recently.
I think I peaked out at about 330 pounds in the last year or so. It felt like I tried everything to lose weight, and nothing helped.
In October 2006, I saw a bariatric doctor. I didn't follow up with any tests or anything. In March of 2007, I went through the whole gamut of tests needed for lap band surgery. The doctor called at the beginning of April and said he was going to submit to insurance, but I never heard anything again. When I was on the phone with the insurance in May, I asked how the approval for WLS was going. They said they never got a request. I didn't pursue it further, as the psych exam said I had signs of depression and anxiety. I was told to seek counseling.
I joined a weight loss group for a while that felt like group counseling. It dealt with emotions and other causes for overeating. I would have continued with the group, but in June, the leader bowed out.
Finally, I got a list of bariatric doctors from this website. I compared the list to doctors on my insurance. I called Lifeweigh Bariatrics and got an appointment.
The day of the appointment, I was 318 at home at 316 at the doctor's office. I consulted with Joey, the exercise physiologist, with a dietician, and with Dr. Rosen. My insurance required a three month supervised diet and exercise program. The first month, I recorded my food, but didn't track calories myself. In October, I started tracking on Fitday. Generally, I need to be around 1000 calories to be losing weight. More than that and the weight seems to hover or almost plateau.
After my appointment in November, the doctor sent the request in for laproscopic RNY surgery. I was approved by the end of the next week and got a surgery date of 12-22-08.
I start my two week pre-op liquid diet on 12-8.
