Leah B.
My story starts like so many others....with my weight plaguing my entire life. I am a middle child of five and am the only one overweight. I remember that even at an early age I was ashamed of my body. In high school I had hips, boobs and extra weight. I hated my body and tried to lose weight. I even worked at a gym to get a free membership. Despite my weight I was popular. Everyone loved me for my humor and fun, bubbly personality. When I went to college I still continued to try and lose weight. It was also in college that I first started to self reflect and challenge the concept that you had to be thin to be beautiful or hot! What lies I had been fed by our culture! I started dressing for my shape and discovered that not only did I love fashion but I had some curves to work! With my new found confidence came attention from the boys. Oh how a man loves a confident woman! When I was 20 I was diagnosed with PCOS (polycycstic ovarian syndrome). I was told that the PCOS accounted for my inability to lose weight. Most people who have PCOS also are insulin resistant. I was also told that this would make it difficult to have children, which at the time I didn't believe. So in college I met and married my best friend. He is amazing, wonderful and also happens to be naturally thin (opposites attract). He thinks I am sexy and beautiful the way I am. We have been married for almost 4 years, and surprise I have had difficulty having a child. I am now at my heaviest weight. I thought about the surgery for a year before deciding to move forward. I was told that if I lost weight my PCOS symptoms would go away but the surgery would automatically put me into a high risk category for having a baby. I could take fertility drugs but was told I have a high risk of getting gestational diabetes and gaining a lot of weight with no hope to take it off. My Dad's family also had a strong history of diabetes and heart disease. So with much thought I picked the lesser of two evils. In some ways it is bitter sweet. I love that I am a confident "bigger"woman. I do feel like our society badly needs a revision for their idea of beauty. I do feel however, that obese people are discriminated against in our country and for the most part this discrimination is tolerated. Don't get me wrong, I am soo excited to be having my surgery. I can't wait for the day that I can walk into a store and buy designer clothing without having to settle for shoes or a handbag!!!
