oneblessed_mamma
I have been heavy all my life. I come from a large family on my father's side. We all had the joke that we weren't fat we were just big boned. That seemed to work until my doc ran a DEXA on me and said I have tiny bones. That no longer flew for me. I was at the best shape of my life in my late teens. I was 125 lbs and had energy I didn't know what to do with. I made one too many bad decisions and turned my health into a disaster. By the time I hit 21 I weighed 281 lbs. Keep in mind I am only 5'3". I had a hard time breathing, fitting into any decent clothes, and trying to work 40 hrs a week was pure hell. I went on Medifast and had a tragedy take place in my life. I dropped 85 lbs in just 4 months. I became very ill during that weight loss and had to move back home to my family to recover. Just as quickly as I lost the weight I put it back on. I did the yo-yo for 4 years when I stablized at 255. When I was married is '98 I was in fair health at 255 lbs. I was diagnosed with Cervical Cancer and again made too many bad decisions in my life. I floundered around in life never going below 255 lbs until I had my first child in '03. I dropped to 236 after she was born. Then I found out 5 months later I was having another child. I thought for sure I would be fat for the remainder of my days. My son was born in '05 and I dropped the weight again but had so much pain and complications something was wrong. I was diagnosed with Lupus, Sjogren's Syndrome, and Arthritis. The treatment for this was Prednisone. In my opinion that is a medicine straight from the pit of hell. In the 4 months I was on a high dose of it I shot up to 276 lbs and was more unhealthy than before I went on it. I decided to go off it against medical advice. I am glad I did because they ran more tests and found that I only had Sjogren's and minor Arthritis. I didn't need to be on Prednisone to begin with. So, now that I can't get the weight off I am back to square one. I went through South Beach, Starvation, Weight Watchers, and tried methods from my past. Nothing worked. I wouldn't lose even 1 lb with all my efforts. That's when I sought out the Lap Band. I knew it was a viable solution in my case. It wouldn't cure what was going on with me but it sure would aid me. The day I went to orientation I weighed 276 (October 24, 2006). I was dealing with Sjogren's Sydrome, Arthritis, Glaucoma (advanced due to Prednisone), and pre-surgery stage one liver failure. The day of my surgery I weighed 256. I am now almost a month post op and weigh 238. I have a clean bill of health on my liver, my hypertension is gone, and I don't have the pain from arthritis nearly as bad.
