Tammy_in_PA
Well, this is the beginning of my journey, and there is no time like the present to start!
My Background:
Growing up, I can't really say that I was too heavy....I wasn't a petite little thing, but it wasn't so bad, and oh what I wouldn't do to be that weight again. I guess my real problems started after I had my first child. The weight just would not come off. After struggling, and fighting, and struggling some more, I managed to get most of it off ( It took about 3 years). I still wasn't happy with my weight, but it was better than nothing. Then, I had my second child.....all the weight came back on with a vengeance. I still haven't lost that weight, and my daughter is 6. I tried weight watchers for awhile, and it worked OK as long as I worked it, however I got very frustrated because I would plateau for weeks before I would see a drop. It's very hard to stay diligent with the program when you aren't receiving that incentive of seeing the scale move.
Slowly I put the weight that I did manage to lose back on......and then some. Then the worst possible thing happened. I started breaking out in hives about 1 1/2 years ago. Nothing would stop it except steroids. So I was on doctor monitored steroids every day for about 4 months before they finally found something else that stopped me from breaking out. BUT, during that 4 month period, I put on 30 pounds. And this is where I sit today....at my all-time heaviest of about 265 pounds.
Currently:
I am 35 years old and in the morbidly obese category with a height of 5'7", weight of 265 lbs, and a BMI of around 42.3. Both of my parents, neither of which are severely overweight, have been diagnosed with diabetes in the last year. At this point, my risk factors for developing it myself are extremely high. My main goal is to avoid this problem.
We just switched insurance companies in January, and the first thing I did was to find out if and how much of bariatric surgery was covered under our plan. I was extremely happy to find out that they pay 100% as long as we are in-network. The lady was extremely helpful in giving me some choices of people to call. I've settled on a hospital in Pittsurgh, which is only about an hour's drive. I have an appointment for the educational seminar next Monday, March 10, 2008. I am excited to be starting this journey, but now that I've made the decision to do it (after much reading, talking to people that have had it, and reading posts on message boards) I'm impatient to get through the whole process. If I could do it tomorrow, I would.
