klcook
Believe it or not I started out weighing a measly 4.5 lbs. I was born early and very sick. I had under developed lungs..which left me with severe asthma, failure to thrive..which led to force feeding,and a whole in my heart. The first 5 years of my life were spent mainly at Drs. I was one of the lucky one as my heart closed over on its own by the time I was five.
As a child I was on the small side..it wasn't until I was about 12 I became a bit chubby...which looking back now I was just developing faster then my peers and just had a more mature body.
In High School I became seriously ill with my asthma which required me to be on very high doses of steroids. In the matter of a couple weeks I went from a healthy weight to 35 lbs overwieght. That is pretty much where it all began. I remained on these meds for long term and the lbs kept coming. So fast I could hardly believe it. By the time I was 20 I was over 200 lbs. I stayed at the same weight for a long time... then My father passed away from cancer in 2000 when I was 25 and the stress made me not eat.. which ironically made me gain even more weight..I was now 245 lbs. The Dr told me that my body was in storing mode..so it went into overdrive storing any fat it could.
Since I was 20 I began doing all the fad diets, exercise programs, pills you name it. I would have some success, then I would gain back twice as much.
Finally my Dr brought up Bariatric surgery, we discussed it in full all the pros and cons...she thought it was a great thing for me. I agreed and the referral was made. I was 259 lbs at the time.
Since the original refferal in 2002 I have hit many roadblocks along the way. I am now on my 3rd Dr and hoping my time will come soon. I maintained my weight until May 2006. I had my gallbladder removed and developed complications. Over the past year I have now reached a staggering 303lbs. I am already on a diabetic diet and low fat diet..but the weight still keeps coming. I am so terrified I will not be able to get some weight off and maintain it before my surgery.
I pray my time will come soon and I will be able to live a healthy life. If I do not get this weight off I know it will kill me! On my Fathers side of the family so far no one has made it past thier sixties...this terrifies me!
I know my story is like so many others here and that gives me some comfort to know I am not alone. I appreciate the support and I pray we will all reach our goals of a healthy lifestyle!
