I just received a message from a soon-to-be bandster and she mentioned she was scared of the surgery. I thought it was important to mention that even if you are scared of the surgery, it is scarier to go through life without it.

I never mentioned, but I was not heavy all of my life. 22 years ago, just before marrying the man of my dreams, I had an accident at work. I was a Code Enforcement Officer and was removing an illegal sign that was nailed to a tree. The sign was very high up and I lifted my arms, pulling the sign side-to-side until the nails came out and the sign came down. The sign was extremely heavy and when it came down, it bent me in half. I rolled the sign over, end over end, and put it into my car. When I started to get out of the car, I could barely move. It turns out I hurniated 2 disks - one in my neck and one in my lower back. I also caused some nerve damage in my neck. The pain was and still is remarkable.

I went to several doctors who said I should stop going to the gym and not lift anything heavier than a loaf of bread. That surgery would be my best option, which I opted not to have.

Believe it or not, but I wore a size 3/4 to my wedding, that needed to be taken in.

Sitting around, doing absolutely nothing caused me to start gaining weight. Then I quit smoking, which added about 45 lbs to my already growing mass. I became very depressed and ate myself into oblivion. I was not allowed to exercise, which did me a huge disservice. So even back then I knew exercise would help me, but I listened to the doctors and kept growing and growing to a size 26. And of course all of the co-morbidities jumped on board for the ride and it became difficult to walk.

Well, I am on my way to a healthier, better life. I still have neck and back pain, but I push through them. I work out like an animal at the gym becuase I see how much better I am doing with this small weight loss and I can't wait until I lose all I need to lose. 35 lbs since my surgery, 14 prior to surgery and about 70 lbs to go. So trust me when I tell you I will get there. I am down to a size 18 pant and an XL top. People are really taking notice of my loss and telling me how good I look. I can't tell you how good that makes me feel.

I am already looking forward to my October picture in my green shirt!

Have a great night everyone.