CodyzMom
I have never been a small person...even at birth I weighed 9lbs 13oz. I was always bigger than the other kids. My first attempt at weight loss was when I was in about tenth grade and I got down to about 160 on Weight Watchers. I didn't look too bad at that weight. I got pregnant in my senior year with my son and I gained about 50 pounds with that pregnancy mostly, I think, because I quit smoking cold turkey when I found out I was pregnant. I never did take much time to lose the weight after my son was born. There were various times I tried to lose weight over the years. In 2000, my best friend was losing weight by taking Metabolife before they took the ephedrine out of it. Worst mistake I ever made was joining her. That stuff was addicting. Every time I tried to stop I felt absolutely horrible and had no energy. I took it for two years and lost an okay amount of weight on it (still not thin). I eventually had to go through the withdrawal because they did eventually take the ephedrine out of it and then I stopped taking it all together. I switched doctors at that time and my mom accompanied me to my first appointment with my new doctor and was absolutely sure to tell him that I took this stuff for two years and my doctor immediately sent me for an echocardiogram (ultrasound of the heart). He told me I would be very lucky if I didn't damage one of my heart valves by being on this stuff. Luckily, I hadn't. However, after I stopped taking Metabolife, I gained back all the weight I lost and then some and it has been down hill ever since. I had a few more attempts at weight loss with Weight Watchers over the years but failed to keep the weight off. In 2006, I went on Jenny Craig which I absolutely loved but could not stay with the program because I had trouble affording their food every week. The very first time I started researching weight loss surgery was in 2003. I was researching the RNY. I wanted to do it but did not have insurance coverage for it and was in no position to self pay. My next idea was the Lap Band and began researching that in 2009. I actually attended an information session at Barix Clinics in Langhorne, PA. Afterwards, we each got to meet with the surgeon individually for a bit and she did not recommend the Lap Band for me due to all of the weight I had to lose. She recommended the RNY. I was so disappointed because I do not want to have my insides rerouted. The idea just doesn't sit right with me. My gut did and does tell me not to do that. I still did not have insurance coverage for bariatric surgery at that time, but my parents were considering paying for the Lap Band for me. My mom attended the information session with me and after hearing about the possible long-term complications (ex. slippage, erosion, etc.), she absolutely would not agree to pay. I got married in 2003 and during all of this time, we were trying to conceive. I kept telling myself, if I wait to lose all of the weight, I'll never get pregnant. We have much better insurance coverage now which covers infertility and bariatric surgery. My first priority was getting pregnant, so we sought infertility treatment. I did get pregnant in September, 2010, with intrauterine insemination (IUI), but I miscarried at 6 weeks. My doctor blamed it on my weight. I was devastated and it left me feeling like I killed my baby. My doctor recommended I lose weight, as I was too heavy for in-vitro fertilization (IVF). I started thinking to myself, if our insurance covers infertility, maybe it covers bariatric surgery and so I made the phone call and found out it does but not the VSG...another disappointment. However, I do require a lot of ibuprofen in my life due to endometriosis, so I am hoping to get insurance approval for that reason. I still do not want the RNY. If I cannot get my insurance to cover the sleeve, then I will put off surgery until they do. I feel much more comfortable getting the sleeve rather then the RNY. I have known of people that have had nothing but complications with the RNY and I do not want to be one of them. I know there are risks with the sleeve as well, but I am more willing to risk the sleeve than the RNY. My infertility treatment was through Penn Medicine at the University of Penn and so that is where I sought a surgeon for weight loss surgery. I am now a patient of the Penn Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Program at the University of Penn. They do surgery at three different hospitals in Philadelphia depending on who your surgeon is. The surgeon I chose does his surgeries at the Penn Presbyterian Medical Center which I hear is a very nice facility and bariatric patients get a private room. So that is my journey that has led me to this point. I want weight loss surgery to better my health, to feel better and look better, but most of all, I would like to be blessed with carrying my husband's baby. I have a son from a previous relationship and he has a daughter from a previous relationship, but we have not been able to conceive a baby together. I am basically pretty healthy for an obese person. I have mild asthma and have been treated for high blood pressure in the past but has been pretty good as of late and I am no longer on blood pressure medication. I have the occasional bout of acid reflux when I eat food with red sauce and/or onions, but other than that, I am in pretty good health. However, I do want to get a handle on my weight now before I get any older and really want to get this weight off of my joints. I watched my mom get two knee replacements and I do not want to have to follow in her footsteps. That so did not look fun. I rather have weight loss surgery than to have even one knee replacement. So that is my story. I will follow up in my blog regarding my weight loss surgery journey (ex. consult, testing, insurance approval, etc.). I look forward to getting to know all of you as we travel down this road together :)
