faithful
Halloween, 2007
Hello, my name is Judy Faithauer, but most people call me Mom, Mamma, Mother, Mom Judy, Momma Judy, or my favorite from my grandson, Mimi. I love the Lord with all my being, so my member name is "faithful".
As I said in my introduction I am 61 years old and have fought obisity since I was 7. As a young girl, I usually was 20-40#s overweight, but was made to feel I was the biggest person in the world by my family. As an adult I proved them all right by soreing up to 500#s by 1999 and the age of 53. I have tried every diet you can think oft in that 46 year period. I was so successful, I'd loose 50 -75 pounds and gain back 75 to hundreds. My whole lifer has been a yoyo of loss and gain. All the while everyone I loved would critize me so till I would go and find solace in food. During this time I became a very good cook and as my late husband once said to my favorite Aunt (who was defending my weight), "yeah she is a great cook , but she eats the hell out of it too". So I just nerly ate my self to death. So before I tell what saved me. let me tell you a little about my life.
My parents had two different families over the years. I have two older brothers ( the second who went to be with the Lord at the age of 46) an older sister and two younger brothers. The three older ones were married and had children of their own when my baby brother was born. For years I was the three older ones baby sister and later became the two younger ones big sister, since we have been grown I have once again become everyones "baby sister" again.LOL My mother had a minor weight problem, Daddy at 95 now could probably stand to loose 30 or so pound, my second brother and the two younger boys have all had weight problems, my oldest brother and sister were always the thin, good looking ones and that was how we grew up. Now my younger brother has a wife that keeps him at a healthy weight, and my older brother and sister have packed on the weight in their "older years" ( both are my size or bigger). Sorry to say my baby brother and I still have terriable obisity problems.
I have been married twice, divorced twice and they both passed away with-in four months of each other in 1999 and early 2000. I have two wonderful children. My son, Danny Riggs is a Paramedic, he has made me beam with pride many times. Once was when he married his high school best friend, Christina (Tina Riggs). Another was the day he placed my two hour old grandson in my arms and said "Daniel meet your Mimi". Of course there have been many other times but those are two of the top. I also have the most wonderful daughter that God could give any one, my Princess, Kristal Faithauer. Kristal is a surgical tech, she works in labor and delivery and is going to school to get her nursing degree. but mostly has been my care giver and best friend since she was 13. She has a wonderful man in her life, Steve Maris, and someday he will also be my son, and give me my second grandchild, his duaghter, Stephaine. My Daniel is truely the light of my life, barely out shinning his Aunt Kristal.LOL Daniel was born on October 4, 1999. May 25, 2000, Danny came with his ambulance, to get me, because I could not get off my bed side comode and I was beginning to be dilousinal. This is when God interviened,
I weighed 500#!!! I was so big I could barely move. I could only walk about ten feet without sitting down and that was with a walker. If we went anywhere, I had to use a wheelchair. I thought oh well I'm fat but I'm healthy, no heart problems, no high blood pressure, oh yeah I had been dianogist with type II diabities in 1997, but I was keeping it under control with medicine........boy was I in denial!!!! Of course dear Kristal was doing everthing for me and trying to go to tech school. I still don't know how she did so well. just her own determation got her through school. Little did I know that determanition would change all of our lives in a few years.
June 15, 2006, I moved into a two bedroom apartment in a new retirement complex in Webster. This is the first time in my life that I have lived completely on my own. Man do I love it!!!! Kristal still comes and does things I can't do like vacume, change the bed and she helps in getting my groceries, other than that I pertty much do everything for my self. She is also my transportation cause I can no longer drive. I could if I had a van lift for my wheelchair and had it fixed for me to drive. Oh well, that is a big dream.LOL
Back to May, 2000. My body just began to completely shut down. Over the next four months I died four times, was in two different comas, was trached, had five or six different surgical procediures, was on a ventolater for two and a half months, spent about a month on dylaisus.was completely paralized on my left side and both legs (this lasted eleven and a half months, still have limited use of left arm and little use of the legs). I was in nursing homes from September 2000 till May 2001, with several hospital stients in between. I know there are other things that happened over that two year period, but let's just say that is enough to let you know what I went through. OH YEAH, God took 280# off of me. However.....since I have been home, I have gained back about 130#, yeaha my same old story, loose it only to gain it back.
In 2003, Kristal started resherching gastric by-pass surgery. Up to that time all I knew about it was a friend who had her stomach stapled years ago and complained that she hurt all the time and my mother-in-law died as a result of it. Needless to say I didn't think too highly of my baby girl doing something like that to herself, nevermind that the 400+#s she was carrying around was killing her everyday, I just couldn't see her "doing that horriable thing that my sweet mother-in-law had died from". Well as I said earlier, she had some kind of determination!!! She very loveingly told me that she was old enough to do what ever she wanted to and she wanted this and she was sure it was safe. She got me into reading all the research she found and we spent hour after hour looking at before and after pictures and reading profiles. So after just a few weeks she had me convinced. On Jan.14, 2004 she had RNY, and I cried like a baby when Dr. Legget came out and said she did fine and that he took her very sick looking gald bladder out too. That night I stayed at the hospital with her and we discussed how good she felt the instant she woke up, and that she had realized that an illness that she had suffered with since she was ten years old, was probably her gald bladder the whole time. She has done extreamely well with her surgery. To date she has lost 200+# and kept it off now for almost four years. My ever so pretty daughter is so beautiful now!!! She has encouraged her sister-in law and my son to have surgery. Tina had hers in Oct. 2004, she did very well and got to goal in just a few months, but sorry to say she has put about half of it back on. Danny had his Feb. 2007 and has lost 200# to date. He just doesn't look like himself, he just looks like his daddy now, sometimes I have to look away to keep from crying cause he looks so much like him, and that is a very good thing. Kristal didn't even know about this site untill after she had her surgery, so she didn't have an angel, but she has and is all of ours. She ventured out on this all by her self, but has lead her whole family into a better life. I say her whole family, we will know if I get to join the group on Nov. 14. I'll give you all a big shout out if Dr. Garth Davis agrees to do my surgery. I am sure praying he will. I have wanted to have it since 2004, but thought I would have to be self pay and that just wasn't in any of our budjets. In May of 2006 I found out I should have been drawing Social Sercurity Widow's Benifits since Sept. of '99 and of course getting Medicare. All that is in place now and I have Medicare who will pay for it. Thank you Lord. I just had to try and get the address changed on my SS Card and found out I could have been right behind Kristal on the road, but everthing in God's time.
Well, that is my story so far. I go to the manditory siminar with Dr. Garth Davis on Nov. 14 and will get some answers then. If he says yes, then I'll be posting on the Texas message board and up dating this very often and will keep you all updated on my journey. I already have many friends here and know I will only get many more as the time goes by.
I'll close this by asking for your prayers as I beging this journey and thank you in advance for them. God Bless all of you and I am so happy to becomeing a part of this "family".
Hugs and Blessings.
Momma Judy
