dannoda
" I am born". No really. I was not an overweight child, at least I didn't thnk so. The only one who ever said anything was my dad, and then he really didn't say to much. He never said I was overeating because I wasn't, just that I was a little chubby, my doctor didn't seem to think so though. None of my friends ever thought so either. I was short, still am, only 5'2". I didn't start feeling fat until high school, about my sophmore year, then some guys used to say some things. I must tell you that in the summer between by 5th and 6th grade I developed breast and I don't mean little nibs, I mean right into a 36B!!!!!!! That's pretty rough for a young girl to handle. My one older sister was jealous and treated my really bad, but she still treats me bad. Anyway, I got alot of attention from boys but it was all negative, they only liked my for waht they thought they would get to touch and when they didn't they made up stories and called me bad names. I was about 10 to 15 lbs over in high school but I was only 4'10" so I guess it looked like more, my freinds never said anything just my dad and some other people. I started to experiment with drugs, (it was the 70's) . Mostly different kinds of speed, I had never smoked pot, just took speed for the adrenalin rush it gave me for hours, plus I lost the extra weight. That was nice, even my friends noticed and said I looked good. I think that's when I first started to feel bad about myself, like I wasn't good enough unlesss I was small. It's been downhill ever since. I got pregnant and had my first child when I was 19. After I had Jill, I stayed small, part of that was because I was going hungry so she. I could eat. My marriage was really bad. He was unfaithful to me and of course I thought it was ALL my fault. So I left. WIthin a month I met Ralph, he was my savior, though at the time I wasn't sure I knew that, I do now. We have been together ever since, married for 26yrs. I gained back 20lbs and he didn't seem tocare but I did and when I had other people telling me I was fat and only one saying I wasn't, well, who you gonna believe!!?? Then I got pregnant with my second child, Jake and I gained alot, and I mean ALOT!! 80lbs. I did end up losing most of it, all but 20 but it took a longtime. About 2years. I stayed that way for a lot of years, then I gained 10 more and stayed that way for a few more years. I din't really start packing on the weight until mymom got sick, with cancer. I ended up gaining 100lbs in less then a year. I developed really bad IBS and reflux too. Then after my mom passed I went into a very deep depression that myfamily just seemed to ignore, but that's the way myfamily is, they ignore problems, every one seemed to think that it was no big deal. I had no insurance so I couldn't afford therapy. Life went on for another year then Ralph got cancer and almost died, he was on life support for 2 days. I had to puch all my problems away to take care of him, I didn't even think about myself that whole time. My only goal was to get him better. He hasbeen in remission for 6 years now. I still suffered from depression but it isn't as bad. I finallydecided to do something about myself. Here I am 140lbs overweight and although I have no major medical problems I was afraid I was going to get them. My blood pressure which had always been really low was starting to get higher, I hadn't developed high pressure yet but was on my way, My knees and feet hurt all the time, my lower back was always in pain, I really hated myself so much. I just wanted to be a healthy weight and be me again. I felt like I had disappeared into my own body and couldn't get out. I tried many "diets". and would lose 35lbs. (the magic #) and then plateau for months then start gaining it back. This happened more then once. I was watching T.V. one night and saw an advertisement for the seminar on weight loss and told my husband that I wanted to go and just see what is was about. My husband went with me and we discussed it after and he told me that if I wanted to haveit done then we would. That was in Feb. I called Dr. Cohen's office the next day and got my first appt. My incurance co., United Healthcare, refused to pay, so my husband said we would do it anyway, we paid ourselves. I went though all the testing and finally had my surgery of 5-17-06. I think it was the best thing I have done for myself. My husband is extremely supportive and helps me alot. He is starting to lose some weight himself, which is good, he is only 50lbs over, well 40 now. We went on vacation at the end of July and did alot of hiking in the woods, which is my favorite thing to do, I want to live in the woods. I had no problems hiking and I didn't have to have a seatbelt extender on the plane. YAHOO!!!!!!! Of course there is more to my story but only limited space.
