Celia K.
I wasn't always heavy -- I just thought I was. Throughout high school, I was convinced I was fat when I weighed 140 and had curves. Then at nineteen I got married and became a stay-at-home mother to my husband's 19-month daughter. We were young and poor and I had no housekeeping skills whatsoever. I truly thought you had to fry everything!! I remember going through tubs of Crisco each month and having no sense of the connection between all the fried food and my expanding wastline.
At 23, I was divorced and miserable, had lost access to my stepdaughter ,and was generally furious at the world. Food was my best friend. I kept getting heavier but it wasn't too bad until I was in my mid-30s and happily married and working at a job I loved and somehow, just got fat and happy. how the heck did that happen!!
I kept losing the wieght and gaining it right back untl finally I crossed over the 250lb mark. Just two years ago, I re- lost about 45 pounds and got really ill from my gallbladder. Post surgery, the weight all came back plus more. I have a very high strress job and I eat when I'm stressed. Ending up almost 300 pounds? No surprises here!
So now I have hit 287, have diabetes and sleep apnea and am fearful of the impending heart issues that I know are in my future. My sister who is also heavy (though neither parent ever was!) talked to me about her desire to get the VSG procedure so I started investigiatning it. Then I talked to my family doctor and he strongly encouraged me to proceedd wth WLS survery. Now I am certain that the time has come to do something.
So here I am -- Surgery is now scheduled for Dec 18 and I am focused on getting ready. I just suffered through a bad ankle break and I don't ever want to see that look on four grown men's faces like what I saw when the EMTs realized they had to carry me downstairs. This weight needs to come off and stay off!
By the way, my daughter and I reconnected when she was 14 and are very close today. I'm mom and she is daughter. In that regard, life couldn't be better!! She is now 33 and lives nearby so we see each other often. She is very supportive of this effort on my part.