nolsen
Wow! My story - no one has ever wanted to hear it. I'll keep it short and simple. I had a wonderful upbringing, I wasn't overweight growing up and I was never teased. I know how lucky I am for that. My weight crept up towards the end of college when life got stressful...student teaching to be exact. Those of you that have student taught know that it is a dog and pony show and you're kissing everyone's behind because you are in the market for a teaching job. Food was my way of dealing with stress and to top it off I was much more inactive because of the new 60 hour work week I now had.
Fast forward 15 years...I have kept the same lifestyle when dealing with stress. Add a divorce, a Chicago Public School inner city teaching job, a new and improved marriage, five miscarriages, an adoption, several surgeries (gallbladder yanked-three knee surgeries) and the pounds have never stopped coming on. Of course I've dieted to no end with Nutri System, Weight Watchers, medications, blah blah blah, but I've failed miserably in all. I would lose weight when I followed the program, but being an all or nothing kind of girl...well, when I went off the diets everything would come back and then some.
These days, my knees have given up on me. I don't go one day without incredible knee pain. I cannot live a normal life. My husband does double duty for EVERYTHING. I can care for my daughter and that's about the extent of it. I want to be his partner for life. I don't want him to be my caregiver for life.
Last September my father offered to pay for WLS if I was interested. That was my aha moment that most people talk about. It made me think how concerned my parents were for my health and that's what did it for me. My parents have ALWAYS been supportive of me and have never made me feel bad about myself. So for my dad to say something like that was big indeed for me. Ever since that moment, I have been pursuing this surgery. I want to remember what it was like when I had energy and no pain.
I'm excited to have this opportunity to get my life back. I am also lucky that I have health insurance that will pay for my WLS. I know others are not as fortunate to have health insurance or insurance that will cover the procedure. I'm most scared of the recovery process and any complications that come with having this surgery.
What a road I have ahead of me. I'm in the process of going to counseling/therapy to help me find positive ways of replacing all the emotional eating I do now.
