Linda A.
7/20/07
I'm 60 years old. I'm a grandmother, a mother, a mother-in-law, a sister, a sister-in-law, and an aunt. I'm an artist - I returned to college in 1988, switched my major to Art, got BFA in 1991, did master's work until 1993. Within two years of that time, I became very ill. I weigh 304 pounds. I have been diagnosed with Lupus, AutoImmune Hepatitis, NAFLD (Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease), Psoriatic Arthritis, Degenerative Disc Disease, Sleep Apnea, High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, Depression, GERD, and Fibromyalgia, among other things. I have taken Prednisone every day for the past 6 years. (My medications also include two blood pressure medications, three cholesterol medications, one anti-depressant, a pill to treat GERD, etc.) I would be on more meds, but I have refused to take many that have been suggested to alleviate pain, etc., because of risk of further damage to my liver.
I have, within the past few months, realized that I need a drastic intervention to provide me with a real life. I have been so ill (and so heavy) for the past ten or so years that I have gradually given up nearly everything I enjoy in life. I have been on disability since 1999. I don't dance, or swim, or go for walks, or go places just for fun. I have begun to do some arts/crafts things in the past few months, after years of not even having the inclination or thought to do so. I won't go into detail on how I have felt...because anyone who is on this website is familiar with pain, suffering, loneliness, depression and despair.
It has taken a while for me to get past thinking gastric bypass surgery is an "easy way out." It has always seemed to me that the hardest way is the best way. It's starting to seem to me that the surgery and the resulting lifestyle changes are plenty difficult enough to qualify! NOTE TO SELF: Change that thinking...think smarter not harder!
I have just begun the process of moving toward surgery - I had my first of six monthly visits with my primary care physician yesterday, 7/19/07.
