The Journey Thus Far

How it all began...
Out of the 27 years of my life, I have been overweight for 23 of them.  I am not just talking about being a few pounds overweight, I should say "morbidly obese".  Weight has been a struggle of mine since I was a little girl, it probably has something to do with the fact that I grew up in an Italian household, where food is what brought everyone together.  


Growing up overweight was hard.  I, like most other overweight people, had to deal with the teasing and bullying that came with my larger size.  Along with my size, I, of course, developed a "great personality".  I had lots of friends, and eventually I learned to tune people out.  There still are times when the staring and laughing hurts, but I get over it pretty quickly.


I have been on all sorts of diets, and tried many different types of drugs and supplements, to try and keep my weight down.  Some of them worked a little, but the weight never stayed off for more than a few years.  A few years back, I entertained the idea of weight loss surgery, but then I decided I would try and lose weight on my own, and I did.  I  lost 88lbs and kept it off for over 2 years.  I started to gain the weight back once I graduated college, probably because I was able to afford real food, and I didn't have the free 24hour gym to go to.  For the next few years, I gained weight, but I was really happy with who I was, so it didn't bother me.


Now...
The trouble came when I got married to my amazing husband in September of 2010.  My husband loved, and still loves, me regardless of my size.  After 2 months of being married, we decided to try to have a baby.  Well, that didn't work out too well.  When I went to the doctor, she said that since I am so overweight, its going to be extremely difficult for me to get pregnant.  She also informed me, that at my weight, she would not help me get pregnant since it would be very dangerous for me and my baby.  With this news, my husband and I decided to wait on having kids for a few years.  I then went on being completely happy with the life I had.


It wasn't until I went to my regular doctor for heartburn, that I found out I had a medical problem.  Through some blood work, and a CT scan, my doctor discovered that I have an enlarged fatty liver due to my extreme obesity.  It was at that point, that I decided, that I have hit rock bottom, and need to make a permanent change.  So, I went to an information session with my supportive husband, in Decemeber of 2010, and started the process of trying to get Gastric Bypass Surgery.


It has been a roller coaster ever since.  I met with the surgeon on December 31, 2010, and he told me that I am an excellent candidate for the surgery.  I had to do a bunch of things before my request would even be submitted to the insurance.  After I had everything done, it took over a month of calling and harassing the outsider providers, to finally get everything faxed in.  Once everything was faxed in, the surgeon then had to review them, which took another week and a half.  On April 18th, my request was finally submitted to the insurance company!  Now, it was just going to be a waiting game.


I was prepared to wait at least another 2 weeks to hear anything back.  To my surprise, on April 21, right after school let out for spring break, the front office paged and said that I had a call on line 1.  I walked to the phone dreading picking it up, because I didn't want to talk to any parents, I wanted to go home. To my surprise, it was the surgeons office telling me that I have been approved for surgery!!!!!!  I screamed, and cried, and screamed again.  It felt like I had just won the lottery.  Once I calmed down a little bit, I was given a surgery date of May 23, 2011.  I had actually thought it would be later since the typical wait time from approval to surgery is usually 2.5 months.


After I hung up the phone, I started running around school and told everyone that I passed, that I wouldn't be fat anymore in a month and 2 days.  Too bad I don't run like that everyday.  I ran to tell the front office lady, because she also had the bypass surgery, and she has been my sounding board for the last 4 months.  After informing my supportive principal that I will be out for 2 weeks starting May 23, I went back to my classroom, and started to cry.  I called my Mom and then my husband about the great news.  They were both very happy, as they have been supportive since day 1.


When I got home that night, my husband gave me a huge kiss, and reassured me that he would love me even if I was skinny.  I decided that I wanted to document my journey, to help others who are going through the same thing.  I plan on taking tons of photos throughout, to show my weight loss.  I may even create a scrapbook about it.  I am now going to start going to the gym, so when I start rapidly losing the weight, my muscles will be toned and my skin hopefully wont sag.  I am also going to start taking biotin, so that my beautiful hair won't thin.  I am looking so forward to this journey, and I am planning on sharing all of the ups and downs on here.  Stay tuned....   :)