Lloyd S.
I wasn't born overweight, but for as long as I can remember I have always been overweight.
My mother said that I had to walk early because I was too heavy to carry.
At nine months old, I weighed 50 pounds.
When I heard that recently, I couldn't believe it. I asked her, "What did you feed me?"
She said that I wouldn't eat, so the doctor told her
to give me Karo syrup and concentrated milk. No wonder I gained so much.
I can't blame my mother on my weight problems; it's mainly my
fault and maybe some genetics.
I was always teased about my weight, mainly by my oldest brother, Tim.
My sister, Trina will never forgive him for the teasing she received.
Tim was never overweight, in fact when he joined the Marines they had to
"fatten him up". The teasing from an early age toughened me up. After
a while, the names never bothered me. I was called every name in the book,
some of the top ones were; jelly belly, lard ass, and SLoyd (play
on my name... "Slow Lloyd").
Growing up, I was always one of the biggest kids, but I was athletic.
I swam, biked and did what most kids growing up in the 70s did. I played
PeeWee football, then Jr High and High School Football. I also did Track and Field,
mainly the Field part. I was a shot-putter, also known
as a Weightman. In High School, I weighed 208 pounds. I knew I was overweight,
but I ran two miles twice a week, played football, but my
weight never changed. I even started skipping lunches and I didn't lose weight.
After High School, I went to the University of Arizona. I lived with my brother,
Terry, who was a starving artist and I was a starving student.
I got down to about 190 pounds, but I got a job making pizza, so that changed.
I eventually ended up back home to go to the local university.
I found that I had a knack for computers and I ended up getting a degree in
computer engineering. During my senior year, I starved myself again
before I looked for my "real" job. During this time I met my future
wife and we became close friends. Later, she ended up getting a job in
the building where I worked. In 1988, we got married. I was amazed that a
skinny girl like her could love me.
As each year went by I seemed to gain just a little more weight. Then by 1996,
I realized that my weight was out of control when I weighed 377
pounds. I tried all sorts of diets and the lowest I got was 353. Then we had two girls.
During each pregnancy, I ate like I was pregnant and
the weight just piled on. Soon I was over 450. I tried all sorts of diets,
but I could never stick to them. I just kept gaining. Before
long I was over 500, exactly how much over 500 I really don't know.
I couldn't find a scale that would go that high. Talk about depressing.
Then in 2004 I developed an open sore on the back of my calf. My lower legs
started swelling and turning almost black. I found out that I had
venous stasis disease. I was not getting good blood flow to my legs. I also started
to develop knee problems, but I attributed that to old
football war wounds. Finally in 2006, I could hardly walk and I knew that if I didn't
do something I was going to be crippled. I talked to
my Primary Physician and he said that I probably have osteoarthritis in my knees.
I went for several tests and sure enough I did. He said it
was weight related and he suggested that I see a nutritionist and to think about
weight loss surgery. For the longest time I was so against
the idea of weight loss surgery. I thought, "If I just had the will power I
could lose the weight". I also thought it was too drastic. I
saw the nutritionist and she suggested writing everything down that I ate and
to go to a seminar put on by the local surgeon, Dr Maguire. I
started tracking my intake and I was amazed how hard it was to control what I ate.
I was also addicted to Mountain Dew. I had a hard time
giving it up, but the nutritionist said if I quit drinking Mountain Dew, I might lose weight.
So, I did, sort of. I did mostly quit, but at
times the Dew just called my name. I couldn't help myself.
On 14 July 2006, my life changed. I went to the Miami Valley Hospital
bariatric seminar and I learned about the different weight loss surgeries.
They had a scale there that said I weighed 502.5 pounds and
my BMI was 76. After listening to the descriptions of the Lap Band, RNY
and BPD/DS, I gravitated to the BPD/DS. I knew that for my size I
needed the malabsorption that the DS offered and I didn't think I could
live with as small a stomach as the others entailed.
On 20 Dec 2006, I had my surgery. It went very well and the rest is
history...
Lloyd S. © 2006-2008
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