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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2005 |
Location: Orange County CA |
Age: 38 |
Posts: 146 |
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Hi There, and my story
Hi Everyone,
I have been watching the boards for a few weeks and finally started posting. Everyone has been so great, thank you!
I like so many have mentioned had always been a heavier person. During highschool and after I was more athletic than obese, however with each passing year, I happened to gain more weight as I found I was doing less activity. At about 27 I was at least 215, and I am only about 5-4 (well that's standing up very very straight) I maintained my weight for about 3 more years.
Then I got involved in the radio sales and loved my job, however it wasn't easy being the big girl, It never is, I found that a lot of my job involved entertaining and events where there was always food and beverage. And I lived by the motto of " When in Rome" my weight started to gain, the more depressed I got about getting bigger the more I gained as I used the food to curb my anxiety. When I injured my back, I felt too much pain to exercise or move around much, I ended up gaining even more weight and felt helpless.
I used to think that Radio would have killed me with the pressure and the life style, then I had a client, my client was a center in Up in Nor Cal that specialized in helping people who were interested in WLS but didn't know how to go about it. I still thought that WLS wasn't for me, but when I sat down to talk to the Doctor about his commercial I realized the person who needed to know about the surgery were just like me...
Radio actually saved my life, I truly believe that everything happens for a reason and there was a reason why my client became my Dr.
I was so lucky to have a great PCP who thought this would be a great idea for me, as we'd tried so many other things, I didn't want to be on pain medication for my back but the only way to make it feel better was to make it stronger, to make it stronger I needed to exercise it, thus the cycle that kept me depressed.
My Doctor had me go through everything as far as tests, Psych, Endo, everything.
I was so completely scared at the Psych eval, I wanted my surgery so bad, I wanted to see the light at the end of the tunnel and I knew she had the door to the tunnel. At my first apt, I did some tests and was completely scared, I remember she asked me what I was on at the time. I was so stunned, I'd never done any kind of drugs so I was ashamed that she thought I might be on something. I told her nothing but I didn't think she believed me, she had me do some kind of computer test, and when she got it back she seemed kind of shocked, as I guess it showed that I was someone who was most unlikely to do illegal drugs. (I laugh now, I wasn't at the time!)
She asked me why then was I so anxious. I remember thinking to myself, she's never going to let me have this surgery, she's perfect how can she relate to WLS...
I blurted out to her, that I was so nervous and anxious because she held the keys to something that would change my life forever, and with one word (NO) she could comdemn me to my life the way it was.
I don't think she was used to people being so blunt, but it worked, after a few more meetings we go to the bottom of things and realized that I used food to calm myself. It was a natural reaction to fear and being nervous. She actually was great in that she spoke with my Primary and they got me on a medication that helped me as well, so I could think about eating prior to just doing it. They wanted to see how I handled my new medication prior to my surgery since they thought I would need it to help adjust after surgery as well.
It worked, They gave me the go ahead and at my surgery date I weighed in at 274. I'm a very small boned person so at 274 by body was just done, nothing felt normal I ached and hurt. I was ready for surgery.
I remember two things that I thought were the worst things you could hear from someone, My work was completely supportive, they were so awesome and literally cheering me on! Although, I had one person whom I worked with tell me on my last day to be careful as "he knew someone who was related to someone who died from the surgery!" Would you tell that to someone having their heart surgery? The other is something that my mom said, she had had the Lap band over twenty years ago but didn't change her habits, unfortunately she gained her weight back. "She said just remember Chocolate goes down much smoother than carrots" I understand now she was just a little jealous maybe and maybe negative that she hadn't kept her weight off. (this was also the person who stopped for Crispy Cremes on the way home from bringing me home from the Hospital yes I was in the car too!)
Anyway, I had my surgery and began to lose weight, I lost 30 lbs in my first month, then plateued, then would lose and plateu.... at six months I began to lose my hair and panicked, I kept on though and continued to lose the weight. I increased my protien and can say I now have a healthy head of hair and strong nails, my search for protien also helped me find my dream job.
I was lucky that I had friends that were supportive, I had one friend who was into weight lifting and he was wonderful with advice and with encouragement. Ten months after my surgery I made a life changing decision, I decided to move from home in Nor Cal to So Cal. The best decision ever, I love the weather and have friends here. My friend who was so supportive also became my boyfriend, and we now live together here in Orange California.
I even found a job here as a National Sales Manager for a company that deals with Protien and Nutrition! I'm working in my dream job and living in my dream place, with my dream guy, sometimes I have to pinch myself!
I've done well in that I have lost and reached my goal, I have struggled lately with gaining about 12lbs back which is what made me realize I needed to get back to the basics, and what brought me here.
Your stories have been so inspirational I was afraid I was alone, and realize I am not. Don't get me wrong, I'm a happy but one of the things I have noticed is that even though we look normal on the outside after reaching goal we still have lots of stuff going on inside, we have to take care of ourselves and remember how we got where we were, and what it takes to stay on track.
Thanks for letting me share my story, I am sorry it's so long, If I can ever be of help to anyone with questions, please let me.
Kristen
Last edited by Kristen; 05-04-2005 at 05:13 PM..
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Great Story
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