Lynnww666
I've been chubby and more all my life but when I hit puberty, well that's when all hell broke loose. My family had moved and I, shy and not someone to make friends easily, was daunted by a new school in a town where everyone had been together in class since kindergarten.
I would rush hope and read (always a favourite form of escape) and stuff myself with sandwiches or whatever I could find (my two favourite choices were PB&J or hotdogs ... still two big trigger foods for me).
I graduated at 200 lbs. in a homemade prom dress because the local store (... yes, that's singular) didn't sell much in my size and went on over the years to turn to food every time I was sad, lonely, bored, celebrating, pretty much anything. At my highest I weighed 360. For the past 20 years it's been running up and down the scale with 290 as my low point and generally 350 as a high point.
Three years ago (at 54) I went to my doctor and asked for a referral for bariatric surgery. It's been a trial and I wound up switching surgeons as the original one just kept adding to his waiting times and then basically forgetting about me. I first saw Dr. Nguyen in Dec. 2010 and, since I'd done a lot of the pre-testing stuff (it ain't easy getting this done up here in Canada) after a few more tests he gave the go-ahead for surgery on July 28. In a couple more days I start my pre-surgery full-liquid diet and then it's off to the OR.
Dr. Nguyen and and his team (Dr. Ali Zentner and the nutrition people at Garrett Wellness Centre) have been amazing, supportive, communicative and I'm feeling nervous but very excited to be where I am today.
