Phillips.4:13

I am a Type 1 Diabetic diagnosed at the age of 12.  When I was diagnosed I was a little chubby but not considered overweight.  After diagnosis and going on insulin I lost my baby fat and was normal (never skinny) until my later 20's.  During some emotionally difficult and stressful times during my 20's I gain some weight up to a size 22 by eating too much and reducing my activity level.  After a breakup I decided to lose the weight, I did this by reducing my food intake quite a bit and doing a lot more physical activity.  Things I enjoyed like dancing with my friends, taking walks with friends, bicycling, etc...  The weight came off pretty easily and I saw size 14 once again.  The next phase of my life I found my husband and got pregnant right away.  My pregnancy was rough being a Type 1 diabetic but I made it through.  I gained some weight during the pregnancy and was on bed rest for the later period.  After delivering my wonderful daughter, I experienced a mild case of the baby blues.  My husband and I were living with his parents and I stopped caring what I put into my mouth, I thought for once I could be normal and eat whatever I wanted.  Big mistake!  Once I started it was hard to stop.  I gained weight reaching my heaviest weigh in at 295 lbs at a size 28/30.  I started researching lap band 3 years ago and blew it off with excuses that I did not want to deal with another foreign object to take care of in my body.  I have an insulin pump that I maintain already, that is enough to deal with, I thought.  My next reason was that "I heard" that people with GERD could not have the surgery, so I excused myself from consideration.  One night while checking my email, I saw an email from lapband.com about upcoming seminars in the area.  I clicked and found that Dr. Dietrick was conducting a seminar on an evening I could make it after work.  I told myself that I had nothing to lose, why not find out first hand and once and for all make a decision.  I was feeling desperate at the time, as I was dieting with Nutrisystem and had only lost 20 lbs. in 6 months of trying.  With the heavy amount of insulin it takes to regulate my blood sugar losing weight is quite a struggle.  I went to the seminar and had a long list of questions to ask.  Dr. Dietrick was very impressive with his sharing and answered all of my questions.  To my suprise I was an easy qualifier for the surgery being obese and having diabetes.  Also come to find out others with my type of insurance had the surgery with Dr. Dietrick so they were familar with my insurance.  Dr. Dietrick's office and myself verified my medical benefits and sure enough they were willing to pay!  The myth of having GERD and not qualifying was put to rest so I was on my way.  I quickly got the ball rolling by making all my necessary appointments with the doctor and following my homework by getting my tests complete.  After cardiac clearance, chest xray, upper GI, bloodwork, diabetes doctor clearance, practice diet, proving 5 years of obesity; I finally have my surgery date set.  I find myself praying all the time for strength and guidance.  I want so bad to be healthy.  I want to prolong my life to be with my family.  With having type 1 diabetes they tell me that I am at high risk for most health problems, with eliminating the obesity I hope that one factor will help with further prevention.  I have had diabetes for 24 years now with no major complications, and I hope to keep that going.  I want to be able to do activities that I enjoy doing without pain and without embarassment of how I look.  I want to feel better about myself and show my daughter that you can overcome any problem that you put your mind to.  I pray every day that I will have the will power to follow such a restricted diet but I already have mostly been doing that with my diabetic diet.  Mind over matter!  I picked my username as an inspiration to me, it is my favorite bible verse that I tell myself all the time, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."  I will need his strength to get through this and to reach my goal and to maintain my goal for the rest of my life.  Gods speed to us all!