bhern
Well here it goes.. My name is Barbara. I am a 39 year old mother of 2 beautiful teenage daughters. I have been married for 3 years to my wonderful husband and my best friend, Robert. I live in the beautiful desert of southwest Arizona and I work full time as a home health agency Office Manager.
I have been overweight my entire life. I was born a big baby, who grew up an overweight child, who developed into an obese teenager, and now I'm a super morbidly obese adult. I have never known what it is like to be small or have a "normal" healthy weight. I've had to deal with the teasing, the staring, the snickering, the name calling and the stigma for 39 years. I have tried countless times to lose the weight. I tried dozens of diets and weight loss programs, as all of you have too. I was tired of not being able to go out and do things with my family. I had enough of the joint pains and sleep apnea masks at night. I finally decided it was time to do something more and get my life back. Therefore, the past 5 1/2 years I have been researching WLS and I talked to my PCP about it. He was in total agreement and stands beside me in my weight loss journey. It hasn't been easy. I've been through 2 primary doctors, 3 bariatric surgeons. I've changed insurance plans 3 times. I started the process twice for insurance approval and jumped through the hoops they wanted, it was completely ridiculous the things they wanted me to do. I changed my surgery type from the LapBand to an RNY and finally to a DS. It's taken me 5 years, but I finally have a fantastic Primary doctor that is so supportive and I have a wonderful Surgeon..even though she's not a "vetted" one, I feel 100% comfortable with her. With all that said, I also have a great support system in my family, friends and my co-workers.
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UPDATE: I had my surgery on NOVEMBER 7th, 2012 at SCOTTSDALE HEALTHCARE, with DR. ROBIN BLACKSTONE. I am finally on the losing side and can't wait to get this weight off of me and start living life again!
