Robin L.
I've been overweight ALL my life. I've read about many people and their stories of how they used to be skinny, I do not know or understand what that is like. I can remember wearing size 14 to 16 when I was in 3rd and 4th grade. I wore 18/20s from my freshman year on ... I think you get the picture ... I don't ever remember a skinny moment. I remember eating candy and cookies ALL the time. I am a big eater ...
Fast forward to my 20s and I'm in college, still the big girl, but my main goal was to get an education. I never worried about my weight. Little did I know/understand the 'health' issues. I always felt I'd have time to lose the weight. (Boy, who was I kidding???).
Graduated from college, and no matter what ANYONE says ... being overweight hurts your chances of getting a job ... not sure if people took me seriously or not ... and needless to say I never dated ANYONE while I was in high school or college. Around the age of 25/27 I started having major health issues. I have 'female' problems, almost bled to death and had to receive 4 pints of blood. Fast forward another year or two, still having health issues, still not taking them seriously, and end up with diabetes (which remained untreated for several years because I refused to take it seriously). I also ended up with high blood pressure which made me feel like I was having a heart attack.
{SIDE NOTE: From the age of 31 to approximately 35 I had 14 surgeries in 4 years. I had my tonsils removed, my tubes tied (health issues/advised not to get preg.), 9 kidney surgeries (eventually lost a kidney, but it was due to being thrown from a horse as a child/ I've always had kidney problems), heart cath, and 2 DnCs}
Got married when I was 31 (never thought I'd be married), and at 32/33 I started trying to lose weight because I started taking the blood pressure/diabetes seriously and was taking meds and trying to control it all. I couldn't lose the weight ... I'm strong willed in somethings but not food (I have head hunger/emotional issues galore!). At 33 I was so sick, I ended up in ER thinking I was having a heart attack. I ended up having a heart cath and this was the moment of WAKE UP for me! Three months later I joined Weight Watchers. (My highest weight before trying to lose weight was 355 pounds.)
When I started WW I weight 336 lbs (I had lost in two months some weight before joining). When I joined WW, our work place 4 months later started aerobics classes of which I participated 4 days a week (one hour each day). I ended up in 1 year losing 75 lbs. I went from a size 28/30 to 20/22 (depending on the cut). For the next year or so I gained and lost weight, but eventually lost 88 lbs on WW, but I ended up in a size 18/20 on most clothes. For almost 2 years I couldn't lose any more. My weight bounced between 250 and 260. Then, my dad got sick, and I quit exercising and quit trying. I was rushed everyday. I went from 6:30am in the morning to 11:30pm at night. Seven days a week, and I didn't have time for me. In the five months that Dad was sick (he passed away Jan 2006), I went from approximately 255 to 296. My diabetes and blood pressure problems were starting to act up again. I have a friend who had had the lapband (several friends had had the surgery), and she's lost over 200lbs. I have several friends who has RNY and have lost 150 - 200lbs. I had been thinking about WLS surgery for several years even when I was 255lbs (altho I was leaning towards lapband from day one). I could never get under 250 lbs on WW. So, I started researching on the boards, went to the seminar with an open mind. I made the decision at the seminar that the lapband surgery was the best solution for me. I couldn't handle the complications from the other, and my main reason for losing the weight is for my health, and I felt I didn't want to trade one set of complications for another set, know what I mean?
So, here I am ... basically 3 months into the lapband surgery STILL dealing with head hunger issues, and emotional issues. BUT I feel better, and working on my issues, trying to adjust to band life, and exercising again. My journey towards a healthy life is going to take ALOT of time for me, and God's blessed me this far, and I know He will continue to do so.
