txblondgrl

Hi! My name is Coleen. I'm 39 years old. I found BariatricPal from the Big Book for Gastric Sleeve, which I'm currently reading on my Kindle. I have not had surgery yet; I'm hoping to get it in October or November of 2014. I'm currently waiting to complete the insurance requirements to be able to get the surgery. I've been seriously considering the surgery for about 2 years now. My insurance denied me about 2 years ago because I didn't have a co-morbidity. Now, I do...so I'm enrolled in their program but I have some other obligations to complete.

I've been overweight my whole life. I was 12 when I went on my first diet. I weighed 190 then (at age 12, that's a lot). I lost 45 pounds and still wore a size 12/14, but I was much thinner. I gained the weight back in high school and remained big throughout high school and college. I would go on various diets here and there and lose some weight and gain it back, but I was always over 200 pounds (and under 300). In 2004, I joined Weight Watchers and something just "clicked". I weighed in at 276. Within about 2 years time, I lost 116 pounds. When I got married in 2006...I looked HOT! lol. I was still about a size 12/14, but I have come to terms with the fact that I will never been in single digit clothing.

So, now...fast forward to present day. I weigh over 400 pounds. I'm not even sure how that happened. Believe me, I've tried to figure it out. I quit smoking 6 years ago and I have a teenage son (if you have a teenager, you know that causes stress and can contribute to overeating....lol). I've had some stressful situations come up over the past 2 or so years, so maybe that's why. I even tried a liquid diet, diet pills, I tried to rejoin Weight Watchers about 2 or 3 times. But somehow I keep gaining weight rather than losing it. And somehow, I'm over 400 pounds now.

The past 2 years I've been having some health issues. I honestly don't know if they are caused by the weight or unrelated. I do know the weight is not helping. I just recently got diagnosed with hypertension (which was actually a "good" thing because that's the only way I qualified for my insurance to cover the surgery). I'm also having issues with my feet, which prevents me from standing or walking for long periods of time, swelling in my feet, legs, and hands, and knee pain. I've been going to the doctors constantly and they can't find anything wrong. I even broke out in hives about 5 times during the months of Sept - Nov last year...for no apparent reason. I'm in pain every single day. Sometimes I literally break down crying because of the pain. At this point, the surgery is necessary. I feel like I have no other options (or I have tired all the other options to no avail).

I'm very excited about the surgery...I wish I didn't have to wait so long to have it!!

Anyway, if you've read this far, thank you....

I'm a bit quiet and shy most of the time, so I may be a lurker for a while, but I do hope to find inspiration, support, and maybe even some friends here along the way.

Thanks!
Coleen aka txblondgrl