Reclaiming_Ginny

In 2004,my marriage of 23 years ended, there I was a 43 yr old woman having to live for herself. Being married to someone with an addiction for that length of time took alot of prayer & strength. I stayed for the sake of the 4 kids. All I knew was taking care of others .They are grown and have lives of their own. Having grown up in a large Italian family, food was always around. I have 7 sisters and 1 brother, we all struggle with weight issues, some choose to do something about it and some do not, despite health conditions the would improve with weight loss. Food became my comfort and I even lied to myself not thinking that I looked that bad... After the marriage dissolved, I lost the home and eventually had to claim bankruptcy just to make a fresh start.  Everything was new, except that familiar weight that I carried around, I lost 50lbs, in 10 months by almost living at the gym, but quickly gained it back when I had to work full time, I was no longer a priority..earning $ to pay bills was my cause. Gradually I got up to 265, on a small 5 ft frame, it was way too much. I hate waking up and feeling like a 80yr old woman, the aches and pains. In the summer of 2007, I began looking into weight loss surgery, attended a seminar and was excited of the new prospect. In the course of going through the pre-admission stress test, I failed. After an angiogram, the cardiologist discovered that my right coronary artery was 75% blocked! I was a walking heart attack, and I didn't even know it - needless to say I had 2 stents placed to hold the artery open, thank God that saved my life, if I had never begun on the road to weight loss surgery, I would have never known. Because of being placed on blood-thinners, I had to postpone the surgery for at least one year. I did and now, Monday  6/29 - I am scheduled for my band, I feel so hopeful, that now the new me has a fresh start. It will be life changing and  I have the courage to face the changes, because I feel they are only for the better. I have 4 beautiful adult daughters and 2 precious grand daughters who I have to live for. I want to be responsible for taking care of myself and with Gods help I can.