QOTD: So what's your story?

This was something I had wanted to do for several years. But my insurance didnt cover it. My DH got a new/great goverment job and recieved the insurance info packet in the mail. It never occured to me that it would be covered. I remember the night like it was yesterday and I just want to cry. I was sitting at the computer and DH was sitting on the bed. He was reading the booklet to me and said, "Whats bariatric surgery?" I was outta my seat and beside him in less then a second. With this HUGE smile on my face. I knew then, without a doubt, that no matter what anyone thought I was having this surgery. Six months later I did. Im so happy and would do it all over again! hugs, kristi

My Story~ I, like most of you, was overweight my whole life. In grade school, not only was I the biggest, I was the tallest too; which was really embarassing. When I was 17 I got my first job at Wendy's. There was a cute guy that worked there and one day for no reason he turned to me and said, "I thought cows grazed in the field....not worked in fast food joints." At that point I went on a crash diet...lost 33 pounds in one month and got attention from guys I never seen before. That's when I met Nick. Slowly the weight came back on and after having a child I was up to 250 pounds. Over the course of 5 years 250 became 317. In 2003 we had company over and everyone was outside playing around with a football. Nick threw the ball all wacky and it smacked right into one of our windows. I made a comment, "Nick, your no professional football player!!" He, without a thought, said, "Yeah, and your no cheerleader!!" My heart fell out of my chest and broke in a million pieces right then. The next day I called the surgeon and in the matter of weeks I was approved. The very next day I found out I was 7 weeks pregnant. I was upset but I got over it. I lost 41 pounds with my pregnancy and thought, "Maybe I can do this on my own." I went on Atkins after Madison was born...lost some...but went right back to 317...then 321. I was a work and I heard a woman whisper to her friend, "Doesn't she have just the prettiest face?" In my mind I heard, "Doesn't she have just the ugliest body?" I called my surgeon again that same day. Dawn

Hi all, Like many of your stories, I had a few encounters with the thought and then that one experience that made my decision. My doctor had recommended it years ago but I did not want anything to do with the idea. An old boss and good friend had it in Jan 05, I saw him in May and August, the results were amazing as was the quality of his life. Meanwhile I wa****ting a wall of frustration. I'd taken on a vegetarian lifestyle in an attempt to get my weight down, I took Tenuate, lost 50 lbs and then gained it all back, still taking the Tenuate, I was on it for years and constantly thought about my heart being damaged. My clothes were always tight, every day it was a nightmare figuring out what to wear and I spend thousands on a wardrobe that meant nothing. I hated any public appearance (key for my job) and those looks people gave each other saying 'oh she's gained weight again' and how little energy I had. The summer 2005 was incredibly lonely, I had little to do and did not care. I could not fit into my convertable and when I did, it was hard to get out of it. I could not attend to my garden. It was hell. Just pure hell. I have/had racks and racks of clothing in my basement and closet. 95% of it did not fit. All in anticipation of one day losing the weight and wearing it again. One day I thought about this and decided I needed to act to get these clothes out of my basement and tossing them was not the answer. The few propositions I had were from men I felt were..gross. None that I was intersted in had any interest in me. I was grossed out at what I was attracting. So thinking of my friends success, I finally hit rock bottom. A chair broke under me at a my manicurist and I cracked my tailbone (very painful). My labs were getting worse and worse, I was pre-diabetic and one of the docs said the vegetarian diet was all wrong for me and to eat some meat...so i did and had carnal hunger. I ate and ate - and gained 25 lbs in 2 months. Life was hell. I had not had a relationship in years. I felt completely worthless. Then one day I snapped and knew this is what I wanted. I spent hours on websites and ended up here, read the profiles of hundreds of surgeons and patients and then found my surgeon, Dr Frantizides. I called and made the appt. Their packet of info arrived, I read it all and wrote a bunch of inspirational quotes on the back. I cried for 5 hours that night at the state of my life - or lack thereof. My friend spent hours on the phone with me answering all my questions; he was so instrumental and I am indebted to him. At my first appt I thought I would not meet the requiremetns but locked him into a surgery date and started to go thru the testing. I made it happen in 3 months. During that time I was on the road for 30 of the 90 days I had to deal with. I met all the criteria other than 12 mths of supervised medical weight loss - due to my travels I had a 6 week gap in appts 2x in that year but 10 years of documentation on the issue. I was denied 3x by insurance. But nothing would stop me from getting there, I went into the hosp as self pay which was the most stressful thing I ever did. My surgeon was there for me 1000% as was my mom. When I told my ex he made a crack about the 10 boxes of clothes I'd hauled around for the last 15 years as I was at 175 when we started to date. I was 260 when we broke up 8 years later. We sent the bill to insurance, just for laughs, and they paid the hospital but not the surgeon. I cried the day I got the notice that my $25k would be refunded. I will never look back, this is the best decision I ever made. Soon those clothes in my basement will all be too large. Hopefully I will attract a special man who wants to share my life and a physical relationship. The deep seeded lonliness is starting to subside, I realize now that a lot of it is not knowing myself and I have been buried in fat and food. Its odd in that I have a highly successful career - I wonder how far I can now go as a thin person? I have always felt like a thin person who has had hard knocks.