Penny V.
Ever since I can remember, I have been overweight. It wasn't until recently that I realized that issues from my childhood have affected my eating habits, that I ate to feel better.
During my physical exam 3 years ago, I had a new doctor and he asked my health issue I felt I needed to address most. I said, "Duh, my weight!". He referred me to a dietician. I started meeting with her and had some success. My plan was that I did not want to have gastric bypass surgery. She helped me learn a lot and I lost a bit of weight. Then I plateaued. She continued to ask me why I wouldn't take are of myself. I didn't understand why. She suggested a therapist. Well, the first one was not a good fit for me, what did I know? That was how things went. I saw her for a while and found that she wasn't really helping. I stopped going to her and discovered Al-Anon. All the men in my life have had substance abuse issues - Father - husband - son. And, wow, I learned that it was okay to take care of myself - it wasn't being selfish.
My dietician then referred me to another therapist. The idea was that I was going to go to a Ranch for people with eating disorders. I tried to work with them but the cost was prohibitive and was not considered a "weight loss" program. We started talking about the fact that I may have to have weight loss surgery after the Ranch.
Things didn't work out with the insurance, and with changes in health insurance coverage in Massachusetts, I could not just easily change my plan (I am self employed) without knowing what my actual premium would be.
At that time, I thought I would look into weight loss surgery and maybe do the Ranch after the surgery. Well, long story short, the more therapy and Al-Anon I did and the more reading I did on WLS, I realized that the gastric bypass RNY was the right thing for me.
So here I am, getting ready for RNY at Tufts Medical Center in Boston and can't wait to be the thin woman I deserve to be.
