Revconguy

Why I am in a bariatric gastric sleeve program....
 
...I got a phone call late one evening in early March of 2016 that my older brother and patriarch of the family had suddenly died from obesity-related heart failure.  His wife found him in bed too weak to get up.   He died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.  Other than being obese like me, he appeared to be in great shape 6 months ago.  He must have known something was wrong as he called me just the week before and begged me to try to improve my health and not go down the road he did.  He was just a few years older than me and our lives and health tracked each other precisely.  He was slightly chubby teen who got skinny in his 20's and then at 30 gained tremendous amounts of weight.  I did the exact same thing. At 25, I weighted 130lbs at 6'0" tall.  The pattern was the same for my father and grandfather also.  I was diagnosed with diabetes at the exact same age as my brother.  Everything was the same, it just happened to me a very few years after him.  Heck, we even looked almost like twins.  Many people thought we were twins although he was a few years older than me. 
 
I lost my obese grandfather, father, obese mother, and obese brother all due to heart-related disease.  Biologically family-wise, it's just my sister and I left.   After losing my brother,  I made a appointment with my doctor right away.  I demanded extensive heart tests, a referral to a bariatric surgeon, a referral to a gastroenterologist, the works...  I'm just starting my journey to changing the pattern.  (May, 2016).
 
I'm not ready to die yet.  I have too much to do...