Jennifer P.
I had not done my story before now because I wasn't sure what I wanted to say. I unlike most of the people on this board have not been big all of my life. I would say in the last 8 years I have gotten obese and hated it which made me more depressed and in turn I gained even more weight through depression. Before getting pregnant with my 17 year old I was always underweight which is also hard. I was teased and tormented almost as much for being thin as I was for being overweight. After having my oldest two daughters I remained a healthy weight but after my eight year old was born it was down hill from there. I got so tired of people thinking I could just go on a diet and exercise and everything would be better. I wish they could have walked a day in my shoes. After my 2 year old son was born I thought about weightloss surgery but all I heard was you are not big enough. How big was big enough???? I was miserable and feeling worse eveyday. I hated that I felt I could not get in the floor to play with my son for fear of getting back up off of the floor with my knees. My mom had surgery in August 2006 and I was in there visiting her when the nurse practitioner came in to check on her and I spoke up and said I would let you guys operate on me tomorrow and she said, "Awe you're not that big!!!" I told her that is what I have always heard but I really just carried my weight well. She then asked me how tall I was, how much I weighed, and what health problems I had. When I told her she thought for a minute and then told me I would qualify. FINALLY, someone who took the time to see that I was that big as they say. I went home immediately and started researching the surgery more than I already had. I called my husbands insurance company and guess what they do not cover obesity surgery SLAM right into another wall. I started looking into getting private insurance I talked to lawyers about fighting the insurance company I wasn't getting very far but I also was not giving up!! In October I called my husbands human resources office to see why they did not cover surgery. I think the heavens opened and the angels were singing when she told me that they were picking it up as of January 1,2007. I used the time between October and January to get all of my paper work filled out. I went to the doctor every month for my weight in case they wanted some history. I started documenting every ache, pain, and everything else. I went and had a sleep study and a gall bladder ultrasound because I knew with my mom going through it that they required those things. Well, when my insurance picked that up on January 1st I had an appointment already scheduled for January 4th with the surgeon he felt I was a good candidate and all I had to do was have my psych exam. I was approved in one day and had my surgery on February 28, 2007. That was the best decision I had ever made. In just ten weeks I feel sooo much better. I can walk without feeling like I am dying. I just want to tell everyone about my surgery and be an encouragement for other unhealthy people to take there lives back. It is so hard to believe what I can already do that I couldn't have done ten weeks ago. I can play with my kids and also be an inspiration to them because I fought back. I am so thankful for the tool that was given to me to help me better my life one pound at a time.
