Amber T.
For me, having gastric bypass wasn't a huge sacrifice, once it came down to the wire. I'd seen it all before. My mom had her RNY in 1999 after seeing my aunt's success with it. My dad followed in 2000 or 2001. One of my first real recollections of dealing with both of my parents' weight loss was when my dad was losing weight, my mom and I were talking about something and of course, dramatic 13 year old here, my poignant quote was "Yeah, well, you've never been bigger than your DAD." (Both of us had pretty big guys for dads, so it was a hard thing for me.)
I pretty much gave into the whole weight gain thing. I wouldn't hear of gastric bypass. (Though, I would hear later that my dad wanted me to have it earlier than I had decided.) I thought it was *insane* and yeah, it was great for my parents, but I wasn't there yet.
I started getting uncomfortable in school desks in the end of high school or beginning of college. Looking back, it was kind of the beginning of the end.
At the beginning of January 2007, I was in a very VERY minor fender bender (basically got tapped. NO big deal.). My back freaked out, lots and lots of pain because of it. This was the time of my aha moment. I was in a lot of pain, and I was 19 years old! I remember thinking that I was in this much pain at 20, where would I be at 40? Would I be alive at 40? At that time, I was about 395 pounds. (I quit looking at the scale so I can't admit to knowing whether or not I ever hit 400.)
Feb. 5, 2007 I went to the informational meeting, followed soon by my first appointment with the surgeon. My psych exam showed a need for some extra work on how I relate with food, so we did that. Right around the end of that, my dad was diagnosed with cancer and later died. The stress of taking care of him pushed my story to the side for awhile, but I finished the course of treatment with her March 28, 2008. My surgeon gave me the go-ahead April 9, 2008, and insurance was approved by April 21, with a surgery date of June 27, 2008.
For awhile, I was down to 250 pounds. But life stepped in, and old habits returned. I moved away from my mom (the best support I could ask for) for work, my boyfriend moved in with me, and in August 2010 we moved to Alabama. I've regained 60 pounds, and am on my way to getting back on track. My ultimate goal was 199 pounds. Being 310 today, its frustrating that I was so close, but one thing that this journey has taught me is that when you're down, only you can keep you there.
