Kim Ferguson
I have been fat all of my life. I honestly can't remember when I haven't thought about being on a diet. When I was 34, I did an amazing thing, I lost 120 pounds. WOW, I was so proud of myself! I certainly wasn't at my goal, but what an accomplishment, I will never be that big again!!! The world was at my doorstep!!! I started dating Doug (now my hubby) that fall, I had life by the tail!!! Over time, I started to gain some of the weight back, so I started a new program, Slim for Life. When I am on task, gosh, I'm there!! I lost about 80 pounds and again was feeling great about myself. Doug and I decided to get married, so i definitely had a great goal to strive for!!! That was 3 years ago. Doug and I are doing great, but today, I'm back to my highest weight that I was when I was 34. How did that happen??? Doug and I are so busy with our lives that I started neglecting myself. Now, I'm uncomfortble in my own skin. I still am pretty active, but I find that I can't do as much as I did when I was lighter. Since January I've been trying to get "back on program". I have been great one week and bad the next, I think I have this huge fear that I'm going to work really hard again, only to gain it back. Dumb, huh?
So, here I am, just turned 39, my hubby and I are planning a big trip to Mexico for my 40th and his 50th birthday in April 2009. Trying to get a bunch of people to join us and have a blast. The only thing... I'm fat and I want to get healthy and skinny. I was talking with my sister, her hubby, Matt is a bariatric surgeon, she mentioned that she and Matt thought I might be a really good candidate for gastric bypass, mostly because they know that I can lose weight, I just have a major problem keeping it off. Matt contacted Dr. Snyder, whom he had met at a conference, and asked if I could set up an appointment. At the same time, a friend of my hubby's just had a lap band surgery done and my hubby was getting all the details from him about his wife, Doug came home that night and said I should go for it. Doug has been a great supporter for me, I feel like our relationship is becoming stronger somehow, because I can finally open up and say, I'm fat, I have a problem, it's a disease and it is within my power to make a change.
Doug and I attended Dr. Snyder's seminar last weekend, what a doctor. Almost his entire staff, with a few exceptions, have been former patients, and they are just amazing. Dr. Snyder went over all the details, Doug and I agree that gastric bypass is for me. As Dr. Snyder says, I'm 39, I've been dealing with being fat all my life and I'm ready to just be done with it and move on with my life. It's true!!! He absolutely "nailed it"!!!
We have insurance, it won't cover the surgery. My mom and dad are working with us to see if we can do this anyway. That's where I'm at today. It's funny, but when Doug and I were dating, he used to ask me, what are your dreams, and now, I've got dreams that seem within my reality. I'm ready to do this, I want get it done as quickly as possible and start living my dreams. I've been looking at the many before and after pictures on this website and I can't help but think, I want my after picture to look like that and inspire somebody else, like some of these stories have inspired me.
