MsAlejandro
I am a NeuYorican from Brooklyn New York, living in Orlando, Florida. My family is back up north still in Brooklyn, Staten Island and New Jersey. My reason for remaining here is because as much as my family loves me, I always have to get the digs from my brother and father.
You see as I child I was not fat. My mother suffered with being pleasantly plump her entire life. She made it a point for her four children not to have the same problem with weight that she had growing up and as an adult. Most of my weight gain was after I had my son twenty two years ago. Gaining 73 lbs I never made it to 200 I was actually 3 pounds shy of that benchmark. After giving birth I went down to 160 lbs. and to think I thought I was obese, can you imagine? After the death of my husband I lost a few pounds but nothing terribly drastic, I swung between a 14 and a 16. A few years later I remarried, and 3 years after that my husband decided he did not want to have the responsibility of a wife or a son, whateva!!!
I believed it was because I had ballooned up to 221 lbs. For the next three months after he left, I cried every waking and sleeping moment, literally. I lost a total of 52 lbs. within 3 months of not eating, but crying (smile - I think it's funny now, my mother still thinks its funny) But not eating really works. I moved to Orlando, Florida shortly thereafter, and the sedentary lifestyle of Florida as opposed to New York, allowed me to put on at least 40 of the 52 pounds I had lost.
In 2005 I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. Another cookie and you will be signing your death certificate was what the Endocrinologist told me. She put me on medication and told me to stay away from all white flour. NO CARBS? ! However, I noticed 1 week later that I had so much energy that I started working out. In 1 month I had gone down from 234 lbs to 204 lbs!!! OMG! Another month went by and now I was down to 193 lbs I was looking and feeling fine as wine. I had my eye on someone I new from 30 years back and I thought this was it. I continued to lose weight for the next few months getting down to 180 lbs. I made trips to my friends town on a regular, and to be honest with you, I thought he felt the same way I did. But sad to say, I was too fat for his liking. He liked modelesque girls. You know the kind that have legs up to their necks and are a size 2?!?!....Whateva. That broke my heart. I cried for what seemed ever, this time to the tune of ending up in the emergency room with what I thought was a heart attack. It was now March 2007 and 6 months had gone with the return of 40 lbs - 
The more depressed I became the less I thought of what to eat. Meanwhile I was unhappy at work, unhappy with myself, unhappy overall I was just a mess. On a scheduled visit to a GYN appointment. The nurse took my blood pressure. She asked if I had a headache, yes I said for the past few weeks. She said your pressure is 170 over 110!!!!! You need to go see a doctor. She referred me to who is now my PCP. After a few visits with her she suggested I think about WLS!!!!!.....Weight Loss Surgery!!! What! Me???? A few days after that conversation I was standing in my boss’s office with another co-worker and she asked him if he had lost weight. “No he told her, I think it is the combination of this shirt and pants.” “Yes that could be true; then again it could also be because you are standing next to Priscilla me.” I had never cried so much!!! I had never been outwardly told that I was FAT. 
That was when I decided it was time to make a few changes, not only begin the journey to a better quality of life, but also a change from that windbag I was working for.
I attended a seminar in Celebration, only to find out my insurance did not cover the doctor. I attempted to attend one of Dr. Jawad’s seminar but there was always something that prevented me from attending.
I finally met someone who had gone to Dr. Jawad, and she raved about him, his staff, and his bedside manner. Also the fact she had undergone the procedure and had lost nearly 85 lbs. in less than 6 months!!! The same question I ask anyone that has undergone the procedure, was what I asked her, if you had to do it again, would you?
I finally made the trek to Dr. Jawad’s office in Ocala, on September 9th. Walked out so confident of what I wanted to do. I had my labs done on September 12th, Gallbladder Ultrasound on September 17th, Psychiatric Evaluation on September 17th and I received a phone call from the pre-determination coordinator on September 30th telling me I still needed the notes from the PCP and I was not cleared from the Psych Evaluation. Everything looked good but they never provided me with the clearance. I felt so deflated and sad. As if my world had stopped spinning. Could this be true that it was not going to happen?. As fast as I got the call, I typed up two letters and faxed them over faster than quick. Asking the doctors and their nurses to provide Dr. J's office with what they needed to move ahead. I have not heard from Dr,. J's office, but I hope and pray this will be taken care of soon.
As I sit and wait I now am carrying 246.5 lbs. on a 5' 3.5" frame, my knees hurt, my back hurts, every joint in my body aches. As I look back I can remember every single diet that I have been on, every gym I have had a membership to; every exercise equipment I have owned, and here I sit waiting anxiously for my life to begin; just a glimpse of hope from someone informing me of my surgery date.
Oh by the way, my mom, well she too has had a weight problem. But she continues to be a lifetime member of Weight Watchers and hopes to one day achieve her goal weight and become an Instructor.my brother is a lean 5’9” 165 lbs. Adonis, my twin sisters are two beautiful 5’3” and weighing no more than 130 - 140lbs. My dad is pretty lean as well. My son is 6’1” and weighs over 275 lbs. But he is young and since moving back to New York City is slimming down.
I will keep you posted as I get closer and closer to the beginning of my life. Hope you will be there to stand by me as I begin my journey and become part of the "Losers Circle".
