chocolatetye

I was a thin child but hated to exercise and loved to eat. I didn't start to gain weight until I got to high school, I remember starting 9th grade at 138 pounds and feeling like the fattest kid on the planet. I went though high school and was pretty stable until my grandfather died and I gained another 12 pounds. When I went to college I didn't put on the freshman 15 but the freshman 25. My weight stayed the same until I moved in with my then boyfriend and soon to be ex husband (but I digress). I went from 185 to 215 over one summer, and within a year my weight had gone up to 270 pounds. I remember a doctor telling me that I needed to go on the Atkins diet and thinking, "I'm heavy but I'm not fat." You see, I didn't see myself as a woman who was now wearing a size 24 pants, I still saw the size 16 frame. My weight continued to remain between 270-300 pounds for the next 15+ years. My mother had a RNY and lost over 100 pounds then my sister lost over 100 on her own. I was now the only fat one, then my girlfriend called me hysterical one day to inform me that she had decided to have WLS. It was at that point when I realized that I would need to get my weight issues under control and that I deserved to be a healthy weight again.

I contacted my former nurse manager who had become the bariatric coordinator for my surgeon. She gave me all of the information for my introduction meeting. I remember going to the meeting and realizing that I would be making a decision that would change my life forever. I completed my pre-op testing and discovered that I suffered from sleep apnea, not anxiety attacks at night. My date was set and I had my surgery. I didn't have many complication post op other than not being able to urinate on my own for over 24 hours, but the surgery went well.

Fast forward to today, I am now under 200 pounds for the first time since college and I feel great.