Leslie B.
I have struggled with my weight for the past 17 years. I was a bone skinny kid who could eat anything (or so I thought). But, I never quit slowly gaining weight. I graduated from High School at a healthy 5' 4", 140 lbs, but soon I was at 160. Then, at 23, I had a baby, and my weight inched up to 200. When I was 27 I decided to really do something about it and exercised a lot and made it down to 140 again. I was so happy, but it only lasted for about 6 months before the weight started to come back again. I plateaued at 180 for a few years, but when I quit smoking I jumped back up to a new high, 212. I got down to 180 again using weight watchers, but I just couldn't maintain it. I've tried many programs; a medical weight loss program with a doctor and dietician, weight watchers again, exercise on my own, all with limited success. In November of 2009, ended up at an all time high of 234. The thought of starting again was scary, because I wondered what weight I would end up at if I tried and failed again. It seemed like I would have some success, only to end up in a worse place than I started at. I was really having a hard time. I was isolating myself from friends and family. I was embarrassed for them to see how much wight I had put on.
In December 2009, I got a Christmas letter from a long time friend of mine. I remember looking at the letter and thinking that she looked great and being impressed with all the positive changes she has made in her life since she lost weight after by-pass surgery. Then, it suddenly dawned on me, I weighed enough that I might be a candidate for WLS myself. I hopped online, and did a quick google search and found out that I, indeed, just fit the criteria. I sent a heart felt email to my friend that night, sometime around mid-night, asking her if she could go back in time and tell herself anything before she made the decision for surgery, what she would say. I expected to hear some advise about what more she could have done to try to loose weight on her own before surgery, but that's not what I got at all. Her advise to her pre-surgery self would be, "don't wait another minute." If she could have done anything different, it would be to not wait so long and just get it done to move on with life. She reminded me that swim suit season was coming again in just 6 months, and I had time to do something about it.
So with my dear friend's advise and encouragement, I am starting my path toward WLS. Even though my physical circumstances haven't changed, I can see a light at the end of the tunnel and I have hope where I didn't before. That has helped me tremendously. I know people who are content and happy and overweight, I am just not one of them. I have had advise from people to find a way to put my weight out of my head, after all, look around, one in 3 people in the US are obese. But I am reminded everyday when I get on the bus and have a hard time with the narrow isles, and the seats I take up too much room on, that I am just a little too big. I can't wait to continue on in this process and become healthy and fell more fully me again.
