Channie
I am literally 2 weeks away from having my surgery and have begun drinking optifast 4 times a day, starting today. I am so excited and at the same time very nervous. It's not the surgery itself, but also fear of how I will feel afterwards. I've done so much research and talk with several people who have had the surgery, and they all agree they wouldn't go back if they could, which does reassure me, but you never really know until you go through it I think.
A little about me.... My name is Chantale, and I live in Ontario, Canada. I currently attend school full-time for business administration and I work for myself as a Hairstylist on the side. My struggle with obesity has been going on pretty much my entire life. As I grew into my teens, I steadily gained weight every year... about 20 lbs or so, and the doctors would tell me to be more active, watch my portion sizes, eat more veggies... thing is, I've played sports my entire life, and no, I can't say I had a perfect diet, but who does as a teenager? My parents always made good meals for us and I ate the same as my siblings, who never seemed to gain any weight! So frustrating :(
I am thankful though to have been blessed with amazing family and friends throughout my life. There will always be people who make fun or tease people who are bigger, but I never have felt judged or put down by my family or my friends, which has made my life that much better thus far.
A couple years ago, I was diagnosed with PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome), which explained the symptoms I was experiencing. Unfortunately, the only thing Doctors really tell you is to lose weight and take some birth control. I felt a little trapped in a way, I tried to lose weight, eat better, and be active, but the weight never seemed to stay off. That combined with the fear of being infertile in the future is what has made me reach the decision to have WLS today...
I am on my way to a newer healthier me, and am super excited to be embarking on this new adventure, filled with obstacles and bumps along the way... but I am confident that the people around will help me get through. I am very thankful to have found a place where I can talk about this and if I can be of any help to someone considering this surgery, feel free to post or send me a message :)
Talk to you soon!
Chantale
