Dottie5

[font='comic sans ms']My journey to obesity began with the birth of my second child, 35 years ago. During that pregnancy,I gained 20+ pounds over what my OB-GYN recommended and it never came off. As my children grew, so did my weight. Over the years, I found comfort and friendship in food. It never told me, "you shouldn't eat that," "don't you think that you have had enough,"your gonna be so big you won't be able to walk.
". As time passed, I made multiple attempts to loose weight. I would loose 30-40 pounds and then when I quit going to the meetings or to that particular doctor, those pounds plus a few more would find their way back to me. I started avoiding social functions, because I was embarrassed at how I looked. My life revolved completely around my immediate family and work. This really started a major downward spiral. I am not the type of person to shrink back into the shadows; my comfort companion (food) was always sitting right there within arms reach and the pounds really started to pile on. [/font]

[font='comic sans ms']April 2013 threw me a curve that I couldn't hide from anymore. I was diagnosed with AVN (bone disease in which the affected bone is actually dying). I was immediately put on medical leave with limited weight bearing, no prolonged standing, etc. In other words, my days were spent on the sofa or in bed. The pain was horrible, my bones could literally not support my weight any longer. Depression came for a visit, but my good ole comforting friend was still right there beside me, adding on another 15 pounds. My orthopedic doc had advised me in the beginning that I needed to loose weight, I was facing a hip replacement and at 332 pounds, I was a big bundle of risk factors that the medical field didn't want to deal with. I bought me a recumbent bicycle and would ride it as long as I could, but the pain wouldn't allow more than 15-20 minutes at the time. My eye opener was the day my ortho told me that my latest MRI showed impending bone collapse and that he was not going to do surgery on me (unless the hip actually broke) until I lost at least 60 pounds. I left his office that day in tears. I was embarrassed, in pain and depressed. I felt like I couldn't go any lower. A couple of weeks later, I had another MRI and it showed that the bone marrow edema was beginning to resolve (in other words, my hip was getting better.) Thank you dear God for answered prayers. I left the office that day with a renewed spirit and a determination that I was going to start taking care of myself. No one would ever tell me again that I was to high a risk because of my size. [/font]

[font='comic sans ms']When I got home that afternoon and turned on the tv, there was a commercial for LAP BAND surgery. With some investigation, I found that they were holding a seminar the following weekend. I knew that my insurance would not cover bariatric surgery, so I made a call to find out what the self pay price was. Finances was a big issue because I had been terminated from my employment at the end of my FMLA. I came to the decision that for the first time in 38 years that I was going to do something for myself! I have been the best wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, sibling, and friend that I knew how to be. Everyone always came before me, now it is MY turn. At 56 years of age. I have decided to [color=#ff0000]take control of my life.[/color][/font]

[font='comic sans ms']1) Seminar was on a Saturday 2) started Sugar Busters Diet on Monday 3) surgical consultation Thursday 4) EGD the following Monday 5) follow up with surgeon on Thursday and pre ops 6) heart cath the following Thursday (perfect vessels! praise be to God!!) .Three weeks after seeing that commercial on television, I had my Lap Band placed on 11-4-13.[b] [color=#ff0000]My journey to a new me has officially began![/color][/b][/font]