A Little About Myself

I'm 45 (3/06). Divorced. I live in Southern California and have a great job. I finished my Bachelors degree when I was 35 and my MBA when I was 41. I started raising my 8 year old nephew by myself 3 months after I finished my MBA - so much for thinking I'd have time for MYSELF now!

I have been yo-yo dieting since I was 13. I have tried every diet known (WW, Phen-Fen, Nutrisystem, Beverly Hills, a liquid diet (don't remember the name), Atkins, and a few other fad diets. I can lose the weight - but I can't KEEP it off - and when I gain it back, I gain it PLUS (I'm sure we all know this story!). My mother and brother were SKINNY - my mom was always asking me why I couldn't lose weight - but EVERY time I started a diet - that would be the week she made ALL of my favorite foods. She was a smoker - so one time she asked me why I couldn't lose weight - and I said "I HAVE to eat to live, I just prefer fattening foods over healthy ones - however, YOU don't HAVE to smoke to live so why can't you quit" - she left me alone after that! I met my husband when I was 18 and had just lost 50 pounds to be a slim 128. We married at 21 and then I started gaining all my weight back again. Thus began 15 years of fighting as he was naturally thin and could not understand my gaining. He said if I just did what he did - I would lose weight - so to shut him up, for 3 days I was his SHADOW. Bite for bite, step for step, bathroom trip for bathroom trip - I did EVERYTHING he did. By the end of it - I had gained 3 pounds! He finally realized that metabolism maybe DOES have something to do with it - but it didn't stop him from questioning every bite I put in my mouth and sighing everytime I said I was trying ANOTHER diet. He brought home divorce papers when I weighed around 190 and said he would file them when I got to 200. He never did - but then had the attitude of "aren't I a great person for STAYING with you even though you got over 200 pounds??" We finally divorced in 1996 after 14 years of marriage. I continued to go up and down for the last 10 years. I've been raising my nephew for 3 years now (got him at 5, he's now 8) as a single person - which has made life very interesting. I would like to be able to play with him more. Go bike riding, to amusement parks, etc.

I of course have tried every diet available, Phen-Fen, Weight Watchers, Cabbage Soup, Nutrisystem, low carb, low fat, low calorie, Bevery Hills diet, Dr. controlled diet....... I would lose weight - then as soon as I stopped - I gained it all back PLUS. My doctor had suggested the surgery 2 years ago - but I thought "No, if I'm THAT desperate, I can stick to Atkins that allows me to eat meat and cheese. So I started on that and lost 52 pounds in 6 months. My HEAD said nothing would have me cheat and I did well and felt good. But I got off the plan for the 2 weeks around my birthday because everyone was taking me out for lunches and dinners - and I never got back on plan. It took me about 4 months to gain everything - plus. I started researching WLS - found a friend at work that had had it 2 years earlier and had lost 110 pounds and was thrilled. She got me really excited.

Finally, I reached 290 in October 2005 and that was it (I'm 5'3") - my doctor mentioned the surgery again and I said yes - he submitted my paperwork that day and after lots of hoops (blood work, EKG, Ultrasound, 2 Psych tests, Nutritional consult) - I was approved and tried to make an appointment with a surgeon at UCLA in Los Angeles - only to find out they had a 6 month waiting list. That would have put my surgery right at a time at work that would have been very bad timing. I needed to get it done no later than April to be back for our busy season. They told me I'd be off work for 4-6 weeks. I found out I could have it in San Diego through Pacific Bariatrics and if everything got done - I could have the surgery within 2 months. I had to meet with their Psych evaluator even though I had already met with another one for UCLA - but not a problem - just more time!


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About Me
Duarte, CA
Location
49.6
BMI
RNY
Surgery
03/31/2006
Surgery Date
Mar 23, 2006
Member Since

Friends 20

Latest Blog 3
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