Esouza

So there I was...

I've always been the fat kid. No different and nothing out of the ordinary that anyone else who has had the experience of being obese their entire life. It just he way I thought I was going to be pretty much forever. I've been on dozens of diets and tried to fight it but there came this time when I was about 28 or so where I decided to accept it and give up trying. I began pretty much freestyle eating. Anything and whatever amount without thinking of consequences. I opened a business also and did very well. I got married and we had a condo in tierrasanta. Life was pretty good from the outside. Inside my health was failing as myweight increased. It seemed as if it all went downhill one year. I had every obesity related disease it seemed. Sleep apnea, diabetes, hypertension, back and joint problems, and my mental health was failing also. I found myself slipping in to depression and isolating. It began effecting my business and my relationship with my wife. The business eventually failed. I just couldn't handle running it anymore. It seemed as if it took everything I had just to get out of bed in the morning. I slipped further into depression and was isolating in my home office for laong periods of time. 12-14 hrs a day just sitting in the dark and not knowing what to do next. I had basically shut down. My wife used to knock on the door and ask if she could help. I would send her away and tell her everything was fine. She knew better and asked me to see someone for help. I really felt worthless. One night while the wife was out of town I work up at 2am and had trouble breathing. Nothing really bad just shallow and rapid. I was feeling weak that day but physically I always felt lousy so it was no surprise. I called 911. The EMTs get there and they ask me to sit down on the couch. One of them puts the O2 sensor on my finger. He looks at the other guy and says "52". All of a sudden they are slapping oxygen on me and telling my i need to breathe. There is a real sense of urgency going on around me and I have no clue what's up. The take me to the ER and there is a guy planted at the edge of my bed watching me. Turns out my lungs are full of fluid. The doctor comes in and says no one can keep up this kind of respiratory rate and I need to be moved to the ICU. I was there for 6 days and in the hospital for a total of 10. During that time they had told me how close I was to dying. I remember thinking I had missed my chance. I remember asking god to please let me pass. I was so tired and in so much pain. Instead I guess he decided to send an angel. My PCP was out of town and the alternate doctor came in the room. He told me wow.. your health is a mess. We'll get you fixed up before you leave here. He then said have you ever heard of gastric bypass surgery? I said yes. He told me I was a perfect canidate. I had heard of it because someone I met had it but I didn't know the details. When I had asked my regular PCP about it she said all I needed was more excersice and to eat less. I didn't pursue it any further. I get released from the hospital and refered to Dr. Callery. The thing is I'm feeling better so I wasn't as desparate anymore. The wife asks me if I'm going to the seminar and I put it off for 2 months. Apparently she knew I wasn't interested at the time. I wasn't taking care of myself and I had become a burden instead of a partner in the relationship. She wanted a divorce. The stress had become to much and I needed to leave and take care of myself. So within the year I lost my business, marriage, and almost lost my life. Now I find myself with $20 and one pair of sweats. That's pretty much it. I'm desparate gain and I decide to seriously look into the surgery....

Well that's enough for tonight.

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Dr. Callery
Open RNY
05/23/01
448/175