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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2008 |
Location: Erie, PA |
Surgeon: Arreola |
Age: 39 |
Posts: 231 |
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Wendy's journey to happiness....
Wow, where to begin? I guess I have had a weight issue since I was young. I would be a pudgy kid one year and then my body would catch up and I would be very proportionate and curvy. I was VERY developed at a young young age. I was wearing a 32C bra in 6th grade, age 10, by 14 yrs old I was in a 36D. I was a six 8 with a huge chest. I HATED it, boys my own age teased me relentlessly, men in their 20's propositioned me. I soon turned to food, as most of us have.
I married really young and made a bad choice, he was very abusive. I was pregnant and I thought if we could only have this baby, things will be great. Our baby did not live and his abuse only got worse. So I stayed in bed for months mourning the loss of our child and eating my way to another 35 pounds. After 2 years, and 3 attempts on my life, and another 30 pounds, I left. I had to move 25 hours and 13 states away to get him out of my life, but it was worth it.
Just before moving I was raped, I was now pregnant again. Every doctor and most of my friends and family said to not have the baby. I was so afraid of men at that point, that I was afraid it was my only chance at parenthood. I went on to gain more weight and have a beautiful baby boy. He was to become my best friend, I named him Greyson Scott.
It took me 8 years and even more added weight to get to where I could even consider trusting another man. This one I met online in 2000. Within weeks we knew we wanted to be together. I was so scared though, what if my weight turns him off? I was so terrified to send those first pictures. His first response was, wow I think you are beautiful. Eight weeks after our first messages to one another, he came to Maine to see me. I was head over heels in love. He loved me just the way I was, all 200 pounds of me.
Immediately we made plans for us both to move to upstate NY to be close to my parents. before leaving to get life settled in California, so he could move East with me, he proposed to my son, not just to me. I knew we had found the missing part of our family. I was so happy but still continued to gain weight. My thyroid was not regulated, my mood swings we terrible. Why did I still feel this way?
We moved in together in October of 2000. Three weeks later, we miscarried, not knowing we were even pregnant. I was on birth control. On November 27, 2000, Blair (the husband), woke up and said let's get married. I said we are silly, next August. He says NO, today! Wow, we went to the court house and found out we would need to wait 24 hours. He had off that day and the 29th. So we got married with no one present but my son, my parents and the Mayor of Auburn, NY!
Life was going well, we liked upstate NY. My son was thriving in school. In April 2001, we got pregnant again (still on birth control). I was put on bedrest immediately because of my past pregnancy issues, and I am diabetic, I have MS and had hypertension. We had Natalie Elysium on December 21, 2001. She had immature lungs and was jaundiced, but was otherwise perfect. During my C-section, the doctor says by the way, you have a small cyst on your ovary, it should have fallen off by now. It gives you any trouble, we can certainly go back and remove it. I will forever regret not being alert enough to jump up and say TAKE IT OUT NOW.
Over the next 3 years, I became more overweight, topping off at 300 and bouncing back down to 260, it was never very stable. I was tired, had been for years, doctors said it was just my weight. I could not work, I was sleeping 12-16 hours a day. I was weak, and sluggish. I had no energy to even play with my kids anymore. I had gone from being a very active Mom to a lump on a log.
In spring 2003, it after a routine girlie visit, and some bad blood work, i told my doctor how much pain I was having. It turned out my little cyst was ovarian cancer. I came around for 3 visits over the last 5 years. Each time worse than the last. I am at the moment cancer free. YAY!
Over the last 5 years i have tried everything to get to have WLS. In fall 2006, I went through the whole process just to get turned down by insurance 2 weeks before surgery. Then my health was so bad the last few years that I just kept gaining weight. I was diagnosed with PCoS, and I have had multiple sclerosis for about 12 years now. I could not exercise, I just felt so terrible about myself.
We moved to Erie, PA in May of 2007. Almost immediately, my new doctor suggested WLS. She found out that my new insurance DID support it. I started the process in September 2007, I had my surgery via Lap. RNY on April 1, 2008!
So much has changed in the last 2 1/2 months. Not just the weight loss. I can walk the mall from end to the other back and forth now. I can walk my daughter to and from school. I have a work out video I do daily. I feel like a new woman. I look better, weekly someone tells me how much they can see the weight loss. Our sex life has improved. It seems that my attitude has changed tremendously.
I have to say that reading all of your storied really made me want to succeed and then in turn to tell you my story. Thanks for all of the help and support that you all lend here. Just knowing that so many people DO understand where you are coming from and where you are going, it makes the journey that much easier!
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