ktkaz
I have struggled with my weight for almost my entire life. When I was younger the excess pounds weren't as many as today, but I think that I've always known myself to be a little heavier than those around me....
I was diagnosed with a thyroid disease as a teenager and ended up getting radiation to try to correct the problem... which burned out the majority of my thyroid and left me taking synthroid for the remainder of my life. Of course, as a teenager, the last thing that I wanted was to be "different" than everyone else & didn't regularly take my medication, because I didn't want to have to... As those of you out there who know anything about this med knows, if you don't take it your metabolism slows down and you gain weight, amongst other problems.
As my twenties progressed I gained more weight. Then at 29 I started having kids, which only added to my weight.... The first one (my baby girl) I gained 35lbs with and then lost the majority of it - only to gain it back as time went on.... then with the next child (another girl) I gained a very small amount in the beginning (oh boy was I sick) and then it began to pick up & quickly. Unfortunately, my body experienced something called a "missed miscarriage" where she died but my body didn't miscarry the pregnancy. I was more than traumatized & the weight I had gained I was determined to lose since my OB told me that the loss was due to my thyroid & I might have another hard episode of trying to get pregnant again because of my weight. I lost it, only to gain it back again.
Then I found out I was pregnant again. My boy was born perfectly healthy (thank god) and the weight I gained with his pregnancy (almost 30 pounds) I never lost.... I barely even tried, it was so hard to do everything & keep at a diet and exercise when I barely saw results (and the results I did see took SOOOO long).
I first thought about WLS when my mother (yes obesity runs in the family - another reason NOT to pass this along to my kids) jumped the border and went to Mexico for a lap-band. I was shocked that she would feel so desperate that she wouldn't tell anyone ... and that got me thinking...how desperate am I? but it was too expensive for me. I just couldn't justify that type of expense when there are tons of other (more conservative & practical) things that I could do with that money. Well, it turned out that my mother ended up not being able to find someone to fill her band since she got it in Mexico.... and she gained and gained and gained.... nothing like throwing $ out the window!
Then I went to see my PCP this past February and was complaining about my constant fatigue... my thyroid was ruled out already with blood tests & she simply said "it's your weight" (well thank you for stating the obvious) but then she floored me by saying "did you know that we do gastric banding here?" (meaning at the Military Treatment Facility - MTF - that I use for health care) & the thought of being able to do WLS was suddenly an option....
From that point right up until the day of surgery (and yes, you're reading it right - two months to the day later was my surgery) I was thrilled with the thought that I would finally conquer this struggle. I have for so many years realized that I have the same daily battle as do drug/alcohol addicts - it's just another substance. So here begins my "new life" with all of the ups & downs, all of the pending NSV's & finally the freedom to feel like I'm not longer going to be a prisoner in my own body.
