Dragonsmate

My journey...
I am 46 years old and I have been overweight to obese since my teens. I can never remember a time as a child, when I, my mother or my sister were NOT on diets. I was a pretty active kid, played soccer, basketball, volleyball and judo, but when I hit high school, that stopped. When I went to college, the "freshman 15" was actually the "freshmen 50" and I topped 200 pounds for the first time in my life. There have been periods where I have lost significant amounts of weight, losing over 100 pounds in 2004 and keeping it off for over a year by exercising 6 days a week and counting calories. I have found as I have gotten older, the weight is getting harder and harder to drop.
I considered bariatric surgery 2 years ago but put it on the back burner because I just was not ready for a major surgery. See, I had a brain tumor in 2005 I had removed and as a result of the surgery, I had facial paralysis and needed months for my opposite inner ear to learn how to control my balance and equilibrium. I have a tough time with anesthesia, and I just was not ready to take that step. Fast-forward 2 years and here I am, 30 pounds heavier and taking blood pressure medication and needing a CPAP to sleep. The madness must stop. Fortunately, our hospital insurance has an agreement with the local medical school that if we use one of the attending surgeons and pay the surgical fee up front, the hospitalization is free. The surgeons are board certified and was one of the first level I accredited bariatric surgery centers in my state. One of my colleagues recommended my surgeon and I started the ball rolling with one of the bariatric seminars.
I recognize bariatric surgery is a tool and not a "magic bullet." I am ready to get back to living and I am ready to tackle this challenge with all the tools I can have at my disposal. I am scared but I am also, for the first time in a long while, hopeful about my future. Thanks for reading and I hope this helps you get to know me a bit better.