PattyG2462
It's hard to know where to begin. I'm 45 years old and I've been overweight for as long as I can remember. I think it probably began in elementary school. I got psoriasis when I was in 2nd grade. It was severe and covered my entire body including my face, neck and chest. Suddenly, my friends wouldn't speak to me. Food became my best friend. I kept gaining, and I weighed 199 throughout high school.
When I was 22, I went to a weight loss doctor.....I called him the "fat doctor" He put me on diet pills, stool softener and a thyroid pill (even though he didn't check my thyroid) and I lost 22 pounds and got down to a size 16! I quit taking the pills because I didn't like the way they made me feel. Then it started....the yo-yo dieting. I'd lose 20 and gain 40 or 50.
I married my husband, Erik, in 1989 at age 27 and size 20. Our daughter was born in 1991 and our son in 1993. I was fortunate to only gain 22 pounds with each pregnancy and the weight came back off quickly.
However, my weight continued to climb. I remember sitting in my doctors office when I hit 300 pounds crying my eyes out and begging for help. He kept telling me I should be able to do it on my own. I'd already gone through his recommended group counseling "Don't diet, Live it". He finally agreed to give me Meridia. I lost 20 pounds (that seems to be about the most I could lose on any diet), but it was too expensive for me to continue taking it.
My husband has been wonderful during our 18 year marriage. He has never complained or put me down because of my weight. We have run a window repair business together for the past 18 years and it is extremely stressful. My life is full of stress and food definitely was comforting and eating out 2-3 meals a day became our routine.
I qualified to have Gastric Bypass surgery 4 years ago, only to find out our small group insurance policy had just excluded it from our policy when it renewed a few months earlier. I appealed, but it didn't do any good. I researched other companies to see if I could switch to an insurance company that would cover the surgery, but all of them have excluded it from small group policies. I hate being penalized for being a small business owner.
I have been researching the surgery since. I went to Fresh Start Bariatrics seminar in January 2007. I was very impressed by Dr. Myers and his staff and the entire seminar. My husband and I decided to self-pay, and I kept checking in with Annie until they set a rate for self-pay. Finally, I had my first appointment on 6/28/07 weighing in at 368.
I'm very excited to get my life back. My mobility has been very restricted for the last couple of years. I'm looking forward to my weight loss journey!
