Angib733

[color=#EE82EE][size=3][font=verdana,geneva,sans-serif]I have struggled with my weight most of my life. According to the industry standards, I have been obese (such an ugly word) for almost 20 years. I was diagnosed with early onset menopause 3 years ago. Initially the news was devastating because I don’t have any children. That summer my father, who was 51 at the time, was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer and he passed away a year later at the age of 52. I can't describe what I fealt at the time because it was beyond words…I became very depressed; in my mind I couldn’t understand the point of anything. I had been forced to live a child-free life and after finally “finding” my daddy, he was gone. As if this weren’t enough to carry, my doctor hit me with another blow, I had now developed high blood pressure. I tried everything to avoid taking medication but nothing seemed to help. I finally caved and started taking meds; at first nothing changed and 3 meds later, my bp started to decrease. At the time I was working for a local metal roofing manufacturer, I had been there for over 8 years and there was no room for advancement. My job stressed me out which didn’t help my bp at all. I hated going to work but with the economy in the toilet there weren’t any jobs with similar pay available. In 2010, something just clicked in my head, like a light switching on, I need to get healthy because I don't want to die. I immediately started looking for another job…I didn’t care if I had to work two jobs…that place was killing me. I found a part-time job in the evenings with the potential to go full-time eventually. I couldn’t quit my day job yet, so I worked both jobs for 6 months…I was so burnt out but in a good way because I didn’t have any time to feel sorry for myself. Then one evening while I was working my second job, my very dear friend from California, whom I have known for over 30 years, called just to say hi. She was blown away when she found out I was still working two jobs, she thought it was only going to be temporary…so did I. Anyway, (this story is getting long) long(er) story short, she has worked for a huge company for over 20 years and there was a teleworker position open....I could work from home. Within two months, I left both jobs and have now worked for an awesome company for 15 months....I love my job. One of the benefits of working for such a large corporation is the insurance benefits, they are phenomenal. With the stress of my job gone, I now started to focus on all of the other health issues and swore to myself that I would have a game plan set in motion by my 40[sup]th[/sup] birthday. I turned 40 in April and my first appointment with Dr. Merriman was on April 26[sup]th[/sup]....after jumping through all of the hoops, my surgery is scheduled for September 11[sup]th[/sup].[/font][/size][/color][font="Times New Roman"] [/font]