Hi, my name is Denise. I'm 53 and have been having an uphill battle with my weight since my early teens. I managed to stay 30-40 pounds overweight for years until my 30's and then every year more and more. I am now 330 pounds on a 5'4" medium built frame. That's roughly about 200 pounds overweight. I'm still borderline diabetic and my blood pressure is still normal, however my knees are shot. They are pure bone-on-bone; I need 2 total knee replacements. I can no longer work because I can no longer walk without the use of a walker. My time has come. I don't know why I've waited so long. August 10th is the 1st of 3 initial nutrition counseling sessions that my insurance requires that I attend. From there I imagine I meet with a surgeon; I'm not quite sure what the protocol is. I need to lose some of the weight before the doctors will even consider the knee replacements. I'm facing a challenging couple of years ahead. I've been going through a lot of anxiety these past couple of weeks thinking about the bypass surgery; wondering if I'll fail like I have at all the diets. That's why today I made it my mission to look up success stories; that's how I found this forum. What a difference in my mind-set now. I've read many stories just like mine. People with the same concerns and fears as I am having. It's funny how we think we're the only one's who feel a certain way. So now I feel much better having read the stories of the people just like myself battling obesity and winning.
I'm glad I found this site. It is comforting to know that you will be here when I need you. And I hope that I will be of support to others.
Thank you
Denise and Edward, my African Grey
