unewillow
I grew up in a large, close-knit Italian family where nothing was celebrated without massive quantities of food. Despite this, I was never a heavy child. In fact, I was pretty average, healthy, and active for the majority of my childhood. It wasn't until puberty hit that I started packing on the weight. I gained so much weight, so quickly that my MD was concerned I had an endocrine issue and after extensive testing all the results were negative. But, even if there wasn't a reason, it didn't stop the weight from increasing exponentially. I remember being a senior in HS and crying in the doctors office the first time the scale went over 300lbs. That was the first time that WLS was brought up as an option. But, 10 years ago the procedure was still fairly new and I was too afraid of the possible complications. Not to mention starting college in the fall, it just wasn't the right time. So, time passed and it was always "never the right time" and my weight continued to increase and then level off around the 350lb. mark for the past 5 years or so. In that time I earned an undergraduate and graduate degree and moved from Pennsylvania and my family to Connecticut to start my new career as a Physicians Assistant.
I love my job, but it became very apparent to me that my size was a detrament to my career. I couldn't move quickly in an emergency, being scrubbed in for procedures left me soaked in sweat and on the verge of passing out. So finally after 3 years of research and talking to coworkers who had undergone RNY I decided that NOW was finally the right time for me to take charge of my body and my health.
I started the process in July of '10 but knew that I wouldn't be able to have my surgery until early 2011 because of staffing issues. Finally on January 10th 2011 I had Lap RNY at the Hospital of St. Raphael.
