Emily S.
My name is Emily. I'm 20 years old and have been overweight as long as I remember. I've been classified as morbidly obese since about age 13. I always ate and exercised as much as the other kids, but something just didn't work out...and as I got older, it got harder to exercise and do the stuff I really wanted to do because of my weight, and it began to snowball out of control.
My weight problem, as well as my bipolar disorder, has taken my childhood from me. I never got to do the stuff I wanted, I was teased relentlessly, my health suffered, and ultimately I dropped out of high school at 15. I got my GED a few months after and have been attending community college off and on until a year ago, when I became so fat that I couldn't even walk in between my classes. Something had to change.
I've had the idea of weight loss surgery floating around my mind for years and years. I waited and waited until I turned 18, when I met with a surgeon in my local hospital. He told me that he wouldn't operate me because of my age, and the risk of osteoperosis and anemia. I was absolutely crushed.
I tried again at UNC Hospitals. At my first evaluation I was told I wasn't mentally stable enough. That was pretty harsh, too. In a year's time I worked hard to get my emotional problems under control, and they finally approved me. I had my surgery on September 25, 2009. I can't wait for the new me...I'm going to make up for my lost childhood.
