Juliec70

I am sure this is not a new story. I have been overweight pretty much my entire life. I joined Weight Watchers for the first time when I was 12 years old. I lost weight, but gained it back. I didn't do too bad in high school because I was active in sports. I wasn't "thin" but I was in shape. I broke my elbow playing volleyball my Junior year of high school so that put a curb on my athletic activities. I gained a lot of weight my senior year in high school. I joined Weight Watchers for the second time the year after I graduated from high school. I lost weight and found a new athletic activity which didn't require my elbow, running! I couldn't believe that I actually enjoyed running! I even ran in a short marathon. I didn't even come close to winning but I finished! I met my future husband about this time. I kept the weight off for a little over a year this time because I was really enjoying running. I got pregnant and gained a lot of weight but took a lot of it off. When my son was two, we moved about 1,000 miles away from family and I started going back to my old eating habits. I quickly gained over 80 pounds. In 2001 my husband severly broke his wrist which required surgery. He had a hard time with the anesthesia because he is severly overwight also. That scared us into losing weight. So, for the 3rd time in my life I joined Weight Watchers. Same story, we both lost weight but eventually gained it back. About four years ago I decided enough is enough, so I turned to bulimia. I would only eat two meals a day and then throw up if I ate anything else. I ended up losing weight pretty fast but ended up having to get my gall bladder out. I told my husband at that time that I was bulimic. He got really angry at me and made me swear I would stop. I tried to stop but I felt in control of my eating for the first time in years so I didn't stop. I finally stopped throwing up because I just couldn't keep up the secret any longer. Again, I gained all my weight back. In March 2009 my husband and I met with Dr. Monte Schwartz with Tucson Bariatric Center. We were good candidates for lap band, now we just had to get out insurance company to agree. We met all of the insurance company requirements except for following a 6 month physician supervised weight loss plan. We met with our family physician who put us on a low carb diet. I was disappointed because I knew that was something I could not stick to for the rest of my life. I lost a little bit of weight over the 6 months but was still considered morbidly obese. I sent another appeal to my insurance company and was approved! I met with the Psychologist and Nutritionist and then waited for the doctor's office to let me know what to do next. I now have my pre-op education on December 17th. Not sure how much longer I will wait until the actual surgery, but I am definately in the home stretch!