Hi, my name is Cindy and I’m 28 years old. A bit young to have high blood pressure, sleep apnea, two knee surgeries, and borderline diabetic don’t you think? Well sadly I had all of these issues. I have no idea how long I actually had sleep apnea or high blood pressure. I never actually knew what sleep apnea was until my father was diagnosed with it. He was also diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. He was told that both things were due to his weight. After hearing these things the people around me kind of pushed me to see a doctor and have a physical. I hadn’t had a physical in over 10 years because every time I went to the doctor I was always told I was “morbidly obese” and I needed to lose weight. You can only hear that so many times before you just don’t want to hear it anymore so I stopped going to the doctors. All through junior high and high school I was an athlete, I was never what would be called skinny, but I was fairly healthy. In order to play sports I had to have a yearly physical so I did it. But after high school I started gaining weight fairly quickly and decided I no longer wanted to hear how overweight I was so I didn’t get a physical for several years. When I finally was talked into getting a physical I decided to go to a new office and see a new doctor. She was fantastic; she was concerned with my weight but didn’t make me feel badly about it. She informed me that I had high blood pressure and after speaking with her she convinced me to see a sleep specialist. After a one of the most interesting night sleep I’ve ever had, wired from head to toe, I was told I had sleep apnea. I didn’t know how serious this actually was until I started doing some research. As it turns out, sleep apnea can kill you. At this point I started to get nervous. I attempted yet again to lose some weight on my own. I’ve tried so many diets over the years but with every one I always seemed to gain the weight back. Finally the summer of 2006 me and my wife went to
Michigan to visit family. She was also struggling with severe weight issues. While we were visiting her family she had her turning point. She hit rock bottom and decided she wanted to speak with our doctor about weight loss surgery. It was something she had considered before but was always told that was taking the easy way out. So when we returned home we saw our doctor. Our doctor mentioned the surgery and my wife said that she had been thinking about it a lot lately. Our doctor sent us to
Emerson
Hospital in
Concord, MA . We attended the information session together, but I was determined that I was only going to support her. I thought there was no way I was heavy enough for that surgery. During the session they gave us a body mass index card. I was horrified to find that my body mass index was 55, I was a perfect candidate. I still insisted though, this surgery wasn’t for me. I gave every excuse possible. I couldn’t give up my soda, I needed my greasy fast food, I don’t have the will power. She went through with the surgery though; I was supportive and was so excited to see her progress before the surgery. She started the surgical diet and lost 20 lbs. I started considering it myself but still stuck with the thought that I didn’t have the will power. She had her surgery on February 20th, 2007. That afternoon I sat in her hospital room and something clicked. I looked up and said “I want to do this”. She looked at me and laughed, it was like a light bulb went off in my head and I thought to myself, she just went through this to extend her life, and I was shortening mine every day. On April 3rd, 2007 I went to my initial consultation with Emerson hospital. I weighed in 286.4 lbs. I wanted to curl up and die, how did I let myself get to this point. The process was started and I was determined to do everything I could to have this surgery. The first thing I did was get rid of all my soda. I went from drinking a 6 pack of soda a day to zero. I started drinking water all day long. I lost 7 lbs right away. That was the motivation I needed, I stopped and thought to myself “I can do this”. The next few months were tough, but 15 lbs later I was ready for surgery. I had the surgery August 8th, 2007. I was on my way. I’ve had my days where I wondered if I made the right decision but here I stand 8 months out from surgery and a total of 122 lbs lighter, off my high blood pressure medication, no more sleep apnea machine, and for the first time in years I come home from work and my knees don’t hurt. I’ve finally stopped questioning my decision. Both myself and my wife have realized this is far from the easy way out, but if I had it to do all over again, I’d do it in a heart beat. I owe so much to the staff and surgeons at Emerson Hospital Surgical Weight Loss, and everyone else who may have had an impact in this decision. Thank you for helping me change my life. J
