LSteph
I have been overweight for most of my adult life. I started gaining weight in college and used food to cope with the stress, but of course in hindsight it didn't really help and just set me up for years of difficulties ahead. I've been on multiple diets in the past, but never been one to yo-yo. In fact, I can only remember losing up to 25 lbs on any one diet that I ever tried. My weight just kept getting higher and higher. I have used my obesity to isolate myself from others, and I believe it's been a huge barrier in my ability to have a social life, make friends and get married. I had been resistent to WLS for a long time, thinking that I wanted to lose weigh the "right way", which I thought was good old hard work - exercise and calorie restriction. After all, who goes to the extreme of having surgery to just lose weight? After berating myself for years for not sticking to the diet, I've come to believe that WLS can be the "right way" for me, that the reason I haven't been successful is not my weakness. In fact, it takes alot of strength and commitment to continue dieing the way I and millions of others have for so long. There is significant diabetes and heart disease in my family and if I don't get the weight off soon, I'm going to be facing these problems too. I want to avoid these problems at all cost!! Therefore, I have embarked on a journey with the Kane Center through Alexian Brothers Medical Center in April 2007. My insurance company requires a 6 month medically supervised program before WLS is approved, and I'm in the process of completing that program. I can still remember the feeling of being thinner and I long for that day again!