ClbsMm2000

Below was my story in 2014 when I went for Lap Band Surgery.  And it was successful.  I lost 100 lbs.  And then I started having major chest pains, to the point that I thought I was having a heart attack.  Diagnosis by my cardiologist after multiple tests.... something to do with my Lap Band.    So fluid removed, chest pains stopped, and weight put back on.  I am now back up 90 lbs of the 100 lbs lost.  And here we go again!  I will not let this whip me.  So I asked for revision to gastric bypass and insurance denied me, stating my Lap Band surgery was successful.  I sent an appeal letter, and finally was approved.  Surgery now scheduled for November 7, 2017.  Yay!  I'm excited scared.  But I know this is what I need to do for me, and for my family.  Prayers appreciated!
~Kelly
Life is complicated. And you don't have to be a certain age for it to get that way! I don't think I have enough hours in the day, or enough space here, to tell my story. So I guess I will give you the abridged version. I am 39 years old (at least for another month and a half), happily married, and mommy to a miracle. My husband and I started trying to have a child as soon as we got married. A couple of years later, we started getting tested to find out why it wasn't happening for us, but on year 3 we FINALLY found out I was pregnant. On my husband's 30th birthday, I had our son, Caleb, 1 month early. My pregnancy was filled with complications, and after he was born, the complications continued. His little lungs were not developed and he had to be put on a respirator for a while. 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, he was in the hospital for some type of respiratory problem. His little feet were turned in when he was born and he had to wear casts. And on and on, until he was 13 months old, when our world came crashing down and our son was diagnosed with MPS 1, a very rare genetic disease with no cure. Without treatment our son was supposed to die between the age of 5-10, after losing all of his cognitive function and his little organs shutting down. BUT, we were sent to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, where we were given hope. With a bone marrow transplant they were able to stop the progression of his disease in his brain, and slow the progression in his bones and organs. Today he is 13 years old, and though he has been through many many surgeries, he does not let life get him down.
I tell you all of this, because it is a large part of my story. I will not blame my son for my weight problems. But I have allowed myself to use my circumstances as an excuse. When life gets really really hard, food can be way too comforting. And that's just one of the many reasons that I am overweight. Added to the stress and long days of hospitals, a couple of years ago my gyno doc found a tumor growing in my ovaries. Thank God it was benign, but I ended up having endometreosis on top of that, and had a full hysterectomy. So at 37 years of age, I was in full blown menopause, and on meds that had "depression" and "weight gain" as side effects. Ha! That isn't the end of my long list of excuses though!
(1) Hospitals don't make good healthy food, but the steak and cheese sandwiches ROCK!
(2) We're Baptists... and Baptists love to eat.
(3) When Baptists hear someone in their church has problems, they make casseroles!
(4) I can't turn down a good casserole.
(5) I'm a stress eater, and no one has shown me a way to live life stress free.
(6) MENOPAUSE at age 37!
(7) Hot Flashes.
(8) Who wants to exercise when they have hot flashes?
(9) Stupid menopause and surgery threw out my thyroid, which took a long time to get straightened out w/ meds.
(10) I think I have become allergic to exercise. Okay, probably not, but if I could use that as an excuse, I would try!
And that is how I got to where I am now. Turning 40 in a month and a half and feeling like a beached whale. Time to get over the pity party and start making a change. I'm going to have to lock myself in a closet at the first sight of a casserole though!