Hi! I'm Kathryn and this is my story...

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Hi everyone, I'm Kathryn and I'm new around here so please forgive me if I'm not too familiar with how things go around here....so let me start at the beginning, I guess...

I've always been fat...even as a child. I weighed 8lbs when I was born and apparently that was unprecedented in the Philippines. And as I grew...oh did I grow...and it just did not stop. It took me a very long time to accept myself the way I am. At one point I was able to lose about 29lbs after my divorce by watching what I ate...not even exercising. But then a great big stress happened. My youngest brother was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in 2013. He recently passed away in July 2016. I was his caretaker. After he was diagnosed, I just let go of the healthy habits I had like watching what I ate and I was just not eating healthy. Of course this brought sadness to our family and at the same time the weight came back and more. Right around his funeral I just noticed I have not been able to do more physical things like getting on a treadmill, walking for long distances, kneeling on a church pew--something as simple as that. Thereafter I went to my doctor who referred me to an orthopedist. He told me my right knee needs replacement and that was the only thing that would improve my knee. Meanwhile I was only 39 years old. I did some physical therapy which made it better for a bit. I then realized that maybe it would help if I get weight loss surgery. Around the same time, a friend was also in the process of getting hers done. A doctor friend advised me to do it and said she would support me and even offered to medically clear me for surgery.

So here I am...since May 2017, I have been going back and forth with appointments with specialists and with dietician visits at Harlem Hospital. My appointment date with the surgeon is on November 9th. I believe thereafter, they will decide a surgery date or what have you. I guess I'll wait and see. In the meantime, thank you for the platform and support. I will be perusing the forums with things that may interest me.

Best of luck to all of us. And thank you for the opportunity.