eaglegreen17
Hope that this is inspirational to someone...
Dec 09, 2010
My journey began many years ago as a child. I was always the fat kid growing up and of course was picked on incessantly because of it. Food seemed to be my only friend at times and so it was easy to turn to. It gave instant gratification and like many others, a crutch for me to lean on.
As I grew older, I participated in sports, but usually only did well in ones where size mattered. The idea of playing wide receiver was lost on me because even my grandmother in her walker could cover me. Most of the time I would play the line but could convince my teammates to let me be a running back if we were playing tackle. Unfortunately, most of the time it was two-hand touch, so I was relegated to just blocking.
I also played a lot of hockey (both ice and street) and usually played in net. Actually, it was a great experience because it gave me the playing time I wanted and allowed me to use my natural talents to play well. Even though I was a bigger guy, I could still move quickly and became the best goalie in my league. I was actually voted as an all-star even though at the time I was the backup. The started was friends with the coach and so I had to deal with those politics until I was on a new team. I set the record for that league by having a .923 GAA and .995 SV%.
Dating was usually not in my plans as I had the distinction of being every girl's friend but no girl's boyfriend. I had a lot of female friends that loved to hang out with me, would unload all their problems on and basically treat me as an "emotional tampon". I finally came to the conclusion that it is their loss and most of them were treated like dirt or worse. You had your chance girls! I am married now to the most wonderful woman in the world; someone that makes each day a blessing to live.
As I got older, additional issues presented themselves. I was diagnosed with diabetes, sleep apnea, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Because of this, I was put on many different types of medications, especially for the diabetes, and had hard times trying to be compliant. I kept convincing myself that as long as I was on the medications, I could still eat what I wanted. Big mistake!
I had been thinking and researching WLS for about 10 years. I spoke to many people about it and received some positive, but mostly negative feedback. "Just eat less and exercise" was all I would hear. Wow, what a foreign concept! I wish I would have thought of that! You just gave me the missing piece of the puzzle! Some people just don't get it.
After battling with all of the co-morbidities for about 8 years, I started to take it really seriously. The straw that broke the camels back was two fold.
The first was that I heard a story from a co-worker whose mother was a diabetic. She was not compliant with it and as a result, ended up having both legs amputated. When the second one was being done, she was still aware enough to actually feel the weight coming off of her body. That was enough to make me think that it could happen to me.
The second was a couple of summers ago when I kept feeling this pressure on my chest. It was not uncomfortable, but was enough to take notice and would not go away. I promised my both my wife and her sister that if it continued, I would get it checked out. While driving home from work one day, the feeling got really bad and so I checked myself into the ER. Now my wife and her sister and the two most important people in my life. We are like the Three Musketeers. The latter is a cardiac nurse and she had told me that heart attacks can happen without all of the classic symptoms of shortness of breath, pain in the arm, etc. When they came and saw me in the ER, I saw the fear in both of their eyes that this was something really bad and they would never see me again. Prior to this, I had never seen either of them even flinch where stuff like this was concerned. It made me think long and hard about my health and I realized that I could not check out early and leave them.
The next year I continued my research and entered a program through the Cleveland Clinic. My brother's wife had a great experience with them for WLS and so I went forward with it about 4 months ago. Since my WLS, I have been on little to no diabetic medication, my blood pressure has returned to normal as well as my cholesterol. I no longer suffer of sleep apnea either. I eat much more healthy and keep myself in check based on my experiences from before. I don't just eat anything and make sure that I am compliant with my protein, fluids, etc. with little to no changes in my daily routine.
Since I entered into the program, I have lost 85+ lbs, 60+ since surgery. I feel so much better each day, have more energy than before, get compliments all the time from those I know, and feel a lot better about myself. As many others have stated, the only regret that I have is that I did not do this sooner.
I hope that this has been inspirational to you. If you are thinking about having surgery or struggling after surgery, look no further for support. I truly believe that I have been given a second chance on life and will share my story with anyone. I will be happy to help however I can. Take care and God bless!
0 comments
As I grew older, I participated in sports, but usually only did well in ones where size mattered. The idea of playing wide receiver was lost on me because even my grandmother in her walker could cover me. Most of the time I would play the line but could convince my teammates to let me be a running back if we were playing tackle. Unfortunately, most of the time it was two-hand touch, so I was relegated to just blocking.
I also played a lot of hockey (both ice and street) and usually played in net. Actually, it was a great experience because it gave me the playing time I wanted and allowed me to use my natural talents to play well. Even though I was a bigger guy, I could still move quickly and became the best goalie in my league. I was actually voted as an all-star even though at the time I was the backup. The started was friends with the coach and so I had to deal with those politics until I was on a new team. I set the record for that league by having a .923 GAA and .995 SV%.
Dating was usually not in my plans as I had the distinction of being every girl's friend but no girl's boyfriend. I had a lot of female friends that loved to hang out with me, would unload all their problems on and basically treat me as an "emotional tampon". I finally came to the conclusion that it is their loss and most of them were treated like dirt or worse. You had your chance girls! I am married now to the most wonderful woman in the world; someone that makes each day a blessing to live.
As I got older, additional issues presented themselves. I was diagnosed with diabetes, sleep apnea, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Because of this, I was put on many different types of medications, especially for the diabetes, and had hard times trying to be compliant. I kept convincing myself that as long as I was on the medications, I could still eat what I wanted. Big mistake!
I had been thinking and researching WLS for about 10 years. I spoke to many people about it and received some positive, but mostly negative feedback. "Just eat less and exercise" was all I would hear. Wow, what a foreign concept! I wish I would have thought of that! You just gave me the missing piece of the puzzle! Some people just don't get it.
After battling with all of the co-morbidities for about 8 years, I started to take it really seriously. The straw that broke the camels back was two fold.
The first was that I heard a story from a co-worker whose mother was a diabetic. She was not compliant with it and as a result, ended up having both legs amputated. When the second one was being done, she was still aware enough to actually feel the weight coming off of her body. That was enough to make me think that it could happen to me.
The second was a couple of summers ago when I kept feeling this pressure on my chest. It was not uncomfortable, but was enough to take notice and would not go away. I promised my both my wife and her sister that if it continued, I would get it checked out. While driving home from work one day, the feeling got really bad and so I checked myself into the ER. Now my wife and her sister and the two most important people in my life. We are like the Three Musketeers. The latter is a cardiac nurse and she had told me that heart attacks can happen without all of the classic symptoms of shortness of breath, pain in the arm, etc. When they came and saw me in the ER, I saw the fear in both of their eyes that this was something really bad and they would never see me again. Prior to this, I had never seen either of them even flinch where stuff like this was concerned. It made me think long and hard about my health and I realized that I could not check out early and leave them.
The next year I continued my research and entered a program through the Cleveland Clinic. My brother's wife had a great experience with them for WLS and so I went forward with it about 4 months ago. Since my WLS, I have been on little to no diabetic medication, my blood pressure has returned to normal as well as my cholesterol. I no longer suffer of sleep apnea either. I eat much more healthy and keep myself in check based on my experiences from before. I don't just eat anything and make sure that I am compliant with my protein, fluids, etc. with little to no changes in my daily routine.
Since I entered into the program, I have lost 85+ lbs, 60+ since surgery. I feel so much better each day, have more energy than before, get compliments all the time from those I know, and feel a lot better about myself. As many others have stated, the only regret that I have is that I did not do this sooner.
I hope that this has been inspirational to you. If you are thinking about having surgery or struggling after surgery, look no further for support. I truly believe that I have been given a second chance on life and will share my story with anyone. I will be happy to help however I can. Take care and God bless!
