So I first started this journey in 2005. I was young and it was expensive, so I thought, "Who needs this? I can do it on my own!" I believe I was around 250 pounds then. Since then, I would gain weight, lose a whole bunch of it, and then gain even more back. (Just like many of us have, I'm sure.) In the years since, I went back to that same doctor, stopped going, went to another doctor in a different city, but it just never felt right. I was always so stubborn and kept telling myself I could do it all on my own. Last year, I had my first child, which added another almost thirty pounds to my overall weight. Months went by with nothing coming off. I watched as my son's father played around with him on the floor, knowing that it would knock the wind out of me to even attempt the things he was doing. It broke my heart. Then one late night, I was watching TLC; a show about the world's heaviest woman. She was beautiful, although she was almost 1000 pounds. She could move, even touch her feet. She told her story, how she spent so many years struggling with her weight, until it just kept adding up. I thought to myself, "sounds like me." Little by little, she reached her highest weight of almost 880 pounds. I swore to myself that night, I was not going to let this happen to me because I knew in my heart that was where I was heading. I don't need to live this life and my son and family deserve better.
I made an appointment the next day to go back to the most recent doctor I'd seen. Scheduled to go to the seminar and then I started the pre-op visits the following Monday. I weighed in that day at 338.5 and am now down to 316.5. We sent off for insurance approval last month but it had not been their required time frame yet, so we resubmitted Friday and are now waiting again to hear from them so we can get scheduled for surgery. So I'm looking at the next two weeks to a month for me to be on the table and beginning my brand new healthy life. I love the WeightWise group in Edmond, OK. They are so amazing. Dr. Walton and Dr. Broussard really care about what they are doing. I cannot wait for that phone call to get scheduled!
My highest weight was 338.5. My goal weight is around 160, making my goal weight loss 178.5 pounds. That's a whole person!