Theresa P.
My story is like so many others on OH. I have struggled most of my life with my weight. In grade school I was alway the tallest and the biggest kid. Unfortunately, the slowest too. I hated P.E. because when it came time to pick teams I was always picked last. In high school I decided I had enough of being the outcast. I decided I was going to become skinny and stopped eating. I had become boarder line anorexic (118 lb at 5’10”). The doctors told my parents I had better start eating or I was going into the hospital. It was a very big fight on a daily basis with my parents. When I went to college I started gaining weight. When I was 30 I had my first child. With that pregnancy I gained 65 lbs..... Tried to loose it but only lost 30 of the 65 and then 2 years later I got pregnant with my son. I gained another 70 lbs. with this pregnancy. I have been on multiple diets, liquid fasts, WW, Jenny Craig, medical supervised and so on and on and on. My highest weight was 293 pounds. I have successfully lost 70 lbs 3 to 4 times and always seem to put it back on and add another 10 every time. Needless to say my husband and I have spent thousands of dollars on my disease. Yes, I said disease. I felt so much better when my doctor told me it is not my fault and that I have the disease of obesity. It runs in my family and it is not my fault....praise God! I have to say maintaining weight loss, for me in my life, is the biggest challenge I face. I am proud of my accomplishments as a mother, wife, daughter, sister and friend. I feel very successful in all those areas, but they sometimes don’t mean so much because I have yet to conquer my biggest nemesis of all...THE WEIGHT!!!!
My surgery is scheduled for July 6, 2010. Everything has gone fairly well for me. I have not really had to wait for anything. God has truly made this pathway easy for me. I needed him to do it that way. My prayer was simple. "God, if this is your will, make it plain." So far He has.I am ready to change my life forever. I have been reading, researching, talking, praying, crying, imagining... all of what this new life will be for me. I know weight loss, especially with the band is slow. I know it requires discipline. And regardless of what many say, it requires courage. I trust in God to see me through this until the very end.
