lgwallace

I am a 50 year old wife, mother of 3 beautiful adult daughters, and Grammy to 2 small children (a boy and a girl) all of whom I love dearly. All of whom will miss me if this surgery doesn't work, because I am dying. I am an insuln dependent diabetic with uncontrolled numbers for over 5 years now. I have severe COPD from 35 years of smoking (I have quit in the last year) I have high blood pressure, cholesterol, and Gastroparesis (paralasis of the stomach) from my diabetes. In Sept. 2010 I had a stent put in my heart and in March 2011, I had a heart attack anyway. At 285 lbs the hardest thing to take is that I have done this to myself. If I don't take control of my life, my beautiful Grandchildren will not remember me, and I will not see them grow up. I wish I had taken these steps sooner but to be honest, after 7 years of research, I couldn't afford to pay the amount not covered by my insurance. I was referred to Dr. Nazarian by a friend, and he was the first one willing to work with me. I have had all of my counseling, testing, authorizations from my many Doctors, and I have 1 appt. left before we schedule surgery. I expect to have the actual surgery by the end of Oct. early Nov. I am now working on the lifestyle changes I need to make to be successful in my journey. I am chewing longer and slower, I am drinking alot of water, I am stopping  my meal when I am full, and I am keeping a daily food diary and calorie count. The one thing I am worried about is the exercise regime which I am not able to perform because of my COPD. I get out of breath just walking across the house. But I keep trying. Some days are better than others. At this point, I just want to make it through the band surgery with no complications. I just want another chance to become healthy again and I am committed to doing whatever it takes. I am scared but hopeful, and I would appreciate any tips and support anyone has to offer. I know I will need this Forum in the months and years ahead. My ultimate goal will be to achieve good health and be able to pay it forward to someone else in the future.