NysiOklahoma

Hello, my name is Denise and I am 43 years old and this is my Vertical Sleeve story.
My story will glory to only one and that is my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. HE is the reason that I was able to have this journey and I can not give Him enough thanks and praise.
From a very young age I started putting on weight. I had a lot of "issues" emotionally that caused me to hide behind my fat. Food was a comfort, a friend and even at times a god. Food seemed to be the only thing that would bring me comfort, help suppress the "bad" things that I had gone through. That behavior continued until I hit adulthood. More weight came with each pregnancy, the divorces and then at 40 years old I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. That started the downward decent of my healt. My weight got higher and my health got worse, diabeties, high blood pressure, PMDD, muscle deteriation, chronic fatiguse, depression, and the list goes one. I was on 15 medications a day. I was deemed handicapped by my doctors. I couldn't walk more that 5 feet at a time with out having support. I was dying and the sad part is, I didn't care. I was so depressed. I had quit church, I had stopped seeing my family. I became a hermit, I would only go to work then come home and go straight to bed.
Things started to change when a precious friend of mine from my previous church sent me an email and invited me to Easter service 2012 at our mutual friends church he had started. My friend SB I will call her, had her own set of health problems so she could relate to me, my feeling, emotions, anger and ect. I accepted her invitation and that Easter Sunday changed my life. I realized what I had been missing stepping away from God at that point I really became only interested in just worshiping Him. HE was my peace and joy and in Him is where I found my rest and a knowing that everything was okay.
Fastforward a bit, I had a really bad flare with the RA and PMDD, I missed church, two very beautiful women, C and S came to visit me as soon as service was over, I shared with them my frustations of my health and how I needed to be healed, I had to get my weight down so I could start to live, I told them a conversation I had with my employeer, and they both looked at me and said TALK TO HIM. I mulled over it for a couple of weeks, then I bumped into my cousin who had lapband surgery, her, her husband and I sat for several hours talking about this. It was confirmation that I needed to step out and talk to my employeer, see, this surgery was not covered by my insurance. I wrote him and email explained in detail my health and the fact that my three doctors have all petiontioned our insurance to have this surgery, classifying it as life saving surgery. In the matter of 20 minutes, he replied and said "I will cover all cost, make the appointment" I sat and cried and kept praising God. My emotions were in over drive. I called the surgeon's office that my doctors had recommended and I went to the Seminar in 3 weeks later in Octorber, my first surgical appointment was November 14th, 2012 and my surgery was done December 11, 2012 less than one month of my initial appointment. GOD MOVED MOUNTAINS for me and it was evident from the appointments through all the testing.
I sit here today almost 50 lbs lighter in 4 weeks I am off 13 of the 15 medications and I am no longer type 2 diabetic. I am able to walk on my own, I have so much energy and I AM GOING TO LIVE A LONG LIFE!