Des0520

I have been over weight most of my life. Growing up I was constantly made fun of for being the fat kid in a small town school. I don't know what it is like to be able to go into a trendy store and find something that fits. I can remember having to shop in the women's section for nice dresses for school programs and always looking like I had on clothes way too old for me. In high school I transferred to a larger school for a better education and finally wasn't seen as the fat kid. I fit in and was very active. I've always been into sports and as long as I was active in them I maintained my weight. After high school I started gaining weight because I wasn't as active and never really understood why. I wasn't addicted to food, I ate healthy almost every meal and I didn't over eat. I was a size 22 on my wedding day. Luckily I found someone that saw me for me and finds me beautiful, even when I was my heaviest.

Fast forward 2 years and finally being totally freaked out over female problems. At 24 I was diagnosed with PCOS (Poly-cystic Ovarian Syndrome). I learned that it was the culprit behind my constant and steady weight gain. I started hormone treatments and was able to maintain my weight with diet and exercise, but never able to lose. When I was 25, a year after being diagnosed, I injured my knee. I tore the cartilage in it and was told I would need surgery. Prior to my first knee surgery I fell in a parking lot when my knee gave out and bruised some bones, but that wasn't the worst. I was supposed to be on crutches for three days. I woke up out of surgery being told no weight on my leg for 6 weeks. The fall had damaged my knee to the point of needing reconstruction. A micro-fracture would cause scar tissue to replace the cartilage now gone from my knee. I shot up to my heaviest weight, 342 lbs.

After I had recovered I was more determined than ever to lose the weight and stared working out hard core. I joined a gym and weight watchers and was there every day working out. The downfall was my diet. I didn't leave much time to properly cook and I was drinking more. So I maintained my weight. Enter the personal trainer. By now it was close to two years later. He worked me out hard and I lost tons of inches but the scale barely moved. One day my knee wasn't as flexible, then it started to throb, then I couldn't bend it without being in tears. Yep, I did it again. I tore up the cartilage again. Only this time it was worse. I tore the other side of my meniscus and an inch hole in the cartilage covering my femur. This time it was 8 weeks of no weight on my leg. I didn't gain pounds this time, but I had gained back my inches.

Prior to that surgery I went to a WLS seminar. I had researched them for a couple years at this point, but didn't like the two options available through my insurance - band and bypass. I didn't want to reroute nature's pluming and I didn't want something plastic in my body. So instead I started seeing the non-surgical weight loss doctor. She helped me get my eating back on track and I lost some weight, but the knee got in the way. I kept seeing her for about 8 months post surgery and loved it. I was doing well and although I wasn't working out as hard I was eating better. I didn't lose weight at that point.

About one year after my second knee surgery I was still having severe pain and went to my Dr. He gave me some shots and they didn't help. So he sent me to a different specialist. I learned that I had stress fractures. I was told I could go on crutches for 6 weeks to let them heal, but they would come back unless I lost a lot of weight and quickly. He gave me a referral for WLS.

By now the insurance company has started approving the sleeve. I went to visit my doctor at the beginning of Sept and was booked for surgery on Oct 4th 2010. I went in weighing 342 lbs. My surgery was delayed, but other than that it went great and I don't regret a thing.