bettyann29
Well my story is one that Im sure has been said before.. when I was a little girl I remember being a little hefty but when I got into middle school and boys of course, I dropped weight and was quite skinny.. by the time I graduated I was about 110.. When I got pregnant with my oldest I was 120, when I had her I was 200.. I got back down to 150 approx within about 6-8 months.. a little over a year after I had her I was pregnant again with my son.. my weight jumped back up again.. after I had him I got down to about 170 I think.. then about 3 years later I was pregnant with my youngest.. I actually lost a little with her and then it started... I didnt really notice it but the weight just kept creeping up on me.. When I met my current husband in 2001 I weighed 190.. since then it has continued to creep up on me.. first to 200 then 220 then 230 then 250 and when I weighed myself 1 week pre op on March 10, 2008 I weighed 255!! Can you say UGH???
I have actually researched weight loss surgery for years.. I know numerous people who have had gastric bypass and know several who have had lap band.. I weighed all options (no pun intended).. I checked into seeing if my insurance would cover it or not and it was really hard to get a straight answer so that kinda deterred me.. so then I looked into cash options.. the money just wasnt gonna be easy to come by.. I finally made the decision that if I had to that I would go to Mexico and have this surgery done .. no if, ands or buts about it..
I sat down and talked to my wonderful husband about this.. He has loved me for who I am.. my weight has never been an issue for him.. but when I told him how I felt and that I needed to do this for me he understood and stood behind my decision.
Meanwhile over the last few years while I was doing all this research I developed some health issues along the way.. I have been having major problems with one of my legs swelling so bad at times that I could hardly walk.. my dr said that it could be weight related.. I started having issues with High blood pressure.. again my dr said that it could be weight related.. I developed sleep apnea.. again my dr said it could be weight related.. I have been having issues with my menstral cycle and guess what my ob gyn said.. it could be weight related..
I had at this point decided that I had to do something about this.. I mentioned it to my parents and they freaked! They absolutely freaked ... I was kinda sad at this point because this was something that I wanted to share with them but I realized that I was gonna have to do this and not let them in on it because they were honestly scared for me.. I found a place right down the road from my work and they were having a free seminar so me and my husband went.. this was in 2006 I believe.. it could have even been back in 2005..
When I realized that insurance might not pay for it after research, I planned on going to Mexico in 2006 and chickened out.. I then planned on 2007 and I chickened out again.. :0( about July of 2007 I decided I couldnt keep putting this off.. I called the drs office that I went to the seminar and made an appt.. I figured that if I had to jump thru hoops to get my insurance to cover this than I was gonna jump.. The drs office was so nice and made everything so easy.. I gave them my insurance info and about a week later they called me with everything I had to do.. I had to have 5 years of weight history.. I had to have 6 months of supervised diet with weightloss and exercise attempts, a pysch eval, a stress test and a sleep study.. when I found out everything I had to do I was deterred but I decided that I was in this for the long haul and it took me longer than 6 months to put it on, so I was gonna stick this out..
I did everything I was told I had to and then found out my insurance was gonna pay for this baby 100%!! woo hoo.. I had no copay, no deductible..
I went in to talk to the dr about when the surgery was going to be scheduled for and the first available date was March 3rd.. I was told that I had a 1 week preop diet to follow.. I was absolutely bummed!! Me and my husband had already paid for and planned a wonderful cruise to the Bahamas, St Thomas/St John and St Maarten.. but we were coming back on March 2nd which meant Id be on that diet on my cruise.. My dr told me to go on that cruise and enjoy myself.. he had another appt on March 17th so I wouldnt have to start the diet until March 10th!!
That was the date I took.. Today I am 1 week postop.. I weighed myself on March 10th and I was 255 :0(.. I weighed myself today, which is 2 weeks later on March 24th and I am now 230!!! I am elated... I told my parents the day I came home from the hospital.. I told them the reasons I have done this and they are behind me.. they admitted that when I told them about it it terrified them, but they understand why I am doing this....
I couldnt be happier.. My wonderful husband, my parents and my kiddos are behind me 100% as I travel down this journey..
Im excited to see where this is going to lead me..