Nicole B.
I am a 31 year old single female living in Southwestern Ontario.
As far back as I can remember, I have always been a "bigger" girl but I was lucky enough never to have anyone make me feel as if that weren't ok. Of course its hard not to realize that you're a "fat chick" in the eyes of the media, but I have never had self esteem or self worth issues because of my weight. I've had great relationships with family, friends and men. I dated a lot, had a very social lifestyle and was quite comfortable and confident with my appearance.
I've always accepted and loved myself regardless of my size, so when I decided to have WLS it was not because of cosmetic reasons or because I wanted to be "happy" even though there were quite a few "skinny" people that assumed that was my reasoning behind the decision.
In September '08 my mother was hospitalized with an undiagnosed heart condition and it was the scariest moment of my life. She's dealt with diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol almost all of her life and for some odd reason we never really considered those ailments a problem. As I sat there watching her sleep, for the first time ever, I saw myself becoming my mother and inheriting all those conditions if I didn't change my life for the better.
I may have been happy being overweight but I sure wasn't healthy.
