kimbaby74
My name is Kim Royalty. I am 32 years old. On March 20th, 2006, I was given a new lease on life. I had gastric bypass surgery and my life has not been the same since.
I've battled with my weight for my entire life. The very first diet I tried was in elementary school, fourth or fifth grade. It was Weight Watchers. I was so embarressed at school during lunch as everyone else drank their milk from cartons but I drame mine from a glass, as it was "special" milk (skim). I had to go to these boring meetings. Most of the time I would just bring my homework. I'm sure my mom asked me if I wanted to do Weight Watchers but I don't remember. I only remember coming home crying all the time because I was so much different than everyone else and was sick of being made fun of.
The next diet was either in Middle School or High School It was the wonderful 1200 calorie diet, given to me by my doctor. No horror stories from that. I really don't remember too much. I do remember how I felt so fat and so much bigger than everyone else and wanting to change. I didn't exercise other than marching band. I was a size 18 when I graduated high school.
Then came college...and the freshman 40...or more. That started my love of fast food and junk food. Yes, I had access to that stuff in high school, but without mom cooking supper at night, I had to fend for myself. Plus, I was less active and really put on the weight.
By the time I turned 20, I decided I'd had enough. A co-worker told me about this wonderful diet she went on called Nutri/System. She lost a lot of weight and knew I could too. So I made an appointment and started the diet. In eight months I had lost sixty nine pounds. This was with strict diet and exercise daily. Then I moved away from home, got out of my routine of exercise and eating healthy and started putting the weight back on. That was the fall of 1996.
Between 1996 and 2005 I started and stopped so many diets...Weight Watchers, Atkins, Mayo Clinic, Carbohydrate Addicts, Rice Diet, Grapefruit Juice Diet. I even took Merida and Xenical - prescription weight loss drugs. Tried Nutri/System again, joined gyms. Nothing seemed to be a long term thing.
In 2000, I had heard about a new procedure that had helped people lose weight much like stomach stapling, but different. Several celebrities were in the spotlight for having it done. So I checked it out to see if it was for me. The statistics scared me. 1 in 200 die. Is being then worth risking death? So, I put the thought of surgery on the back burner. My weight kept increasing. I thought more about surgery.
Finally I spoke to someone who ran a support group in Cincinnati (where I was living at the time) and had gastric bypass. She was such an inspiration to me and talking to her made me feel at ease. So, I attended a seminar for the surgical group that her support group was affiliated with. I was on a waiting list for a year before Icould get a consultation appointment. When the day finally arrived, I was excited. But that didn't last long. The next day I received a call from the doctor's office telling me my insurance didn't cover WLS. That was September 2003.
So between then and September 2005, I just survived. Tried more diets, didn't stick to anything. I would get discouraged so easily cause I never saw results.
Then, in September 2005, I met a woman who works at the same university my husband had just started working for. We were discussing WLS and I had told her my husband worked at MSU. She told me MSU insurance covered WLS. I was estatic! Of course, I tried not to get my hopes up until I knew for sure, which would mean January, when we were eligible for enrollment.
In the meantime, my health was deteriorating. 2005 was the worst year of my life, health wise. My weight was so high. I couldn't be weighed on the scale at my doctor's office that went up to 350. My knees hurt all the time. The arches in my feet had fallen. My IBS caused me to have chronic diarrhea for over a month. I had shingles on my forehead. I had my gall bladder out. I was tired all of the time and i was just plain tired of living. I was chronically depressed. It was bad. I missed work all of the time. Home was not fun either.
Then came January. Time to see if Hubby's insurance would cover WLS. Through Dr. Koelsch, who removed my gall bladder, I found Centennial Center for the Treatment of Obesity. Dr. Hugh Houston, who is from the town I live in, practices in that center. They had a seminar in Nashville on the 6th of January, and I found out only the day before. Yes, short notice, but I was on my way!
Dr. Douglas Olsen lectured at the seminar. (I was very impressed with this as the other seminar I attended in Cincinnati was ran by a secretary.) Dr. Olsen was very knowledgable and made me feel at ease. I was also very impressed with his credentials. He and his former partner invented the laproscopic gall bladder removal procedure. He must really know his stuff. So I chose Dr. Olsen over the hometown connection.
For the continued version, read my blogs. I have journaled from then on...just needed to get this journaled somewhere.
