MicknMaya
My story?!?! I am a 52 year young retired (yahoooooo) woman who has just had surgery January 8. I was heavy as a young woman and child, but not severely so. I went into the Army upon graduation from high school and had a blast (for the most part). I was born in Marylaqnd at the Bethesda Naval Hospital (my dad was a Marine). I had one sister and a brother when my folks divorced and then my mom remarried and we moved to Okinawa, where I spent the next 9 years. I loved it there. My folks added to the mix and I got 2 more sisters and a brother, so there were six in all! Grew up with maids to take care of me (no wonder I cannot get the hang of housework) and loved it there! We moved from Okinawa when I was 14 to a VERY SMALL TOWN in New Hampshire and I hated it! I felt like I had landed in the middle of the Stepford Wives - everyone was very much the same - no diversity of culture or anything like that. I mean come on folks - I felt out of my element. I grew up eating Sushi, Sashimi, Tacos (from my friend Dinah) and had friends of every race, creed, religion and background. I landed in Alton?!?!?! What a shock that was to the system. Anyway, graduated and went into the Army and left that place behind. After getting out of the Army I went to San Diego and lived there off and on for about 10 years....what a wonderful city. I watched downtown change from the ugly place it was (with X-rated stores and street preachers and hotbed hotels) to the beautiful place it is today. Wish I could have stayed - but it was too expensive and too far from the rest of my family, so home I came....but not to Alton. I now live in Weirs Beach and love it. I worked as a Patient Advocate for the VA Medical Center in New Hampshire and loved that job with a passion. I am all about Veterans and helping them get all they deserve. But I found that I could not continue in that position, so I took an early retirement, and here I am today. Last fall my biological father died and I had been estranged from him. One piece of advice for anyone caring to listen: Do NOT put off until tomorrow those things you want to convey to those you love - you may not get a tomorrow. That being said - my other Mother has welcomed me with open arms and I am so grateful. I have also gained another sister and brother - so now I am the oldest of 8?!?!?! Sheesh! My weight started to move up rapidly after I got out of the military and did not seem to want to stop. I tried everything I could get my hands on to loose it. Some of the things I tried are: Optifast (not 1 time; not 2 times, BUT 3 times); Weight Watchers, B-12 shots; Overeaters Anonymous; exercising; some weird shots in San Diego that to this day I am not sure what they were); Curves; some other methods I will not discuss because they were so bad for me; and blasted near everything I could that was both legal and maybe not so much! So you can see - I tried. But to no avail! So here I sit now at my last birthday and am 52, fat and so damn unhappy with how I look I know I have to do something drastic. I had been preparing to have surgery since August 2006, but things took so very long I wondered if I would ever get there. But I did. And the wait has been worth the effort. Have a magical day!
