mruff01

Well, were do i start??? I have been overweight all of my life that i can remember. On Feb. 26 1988 my mother brought into the world a set of twins! :) Well i am one of the "twins." My sister and i have been through a lot up.. We had a really good family the normal fussing and fighting with siblings and getting grown when i did something wrong. I don't really have much to complain about but my weight and my size. I never really let it bother me until i was in the middle school and when i got in to high school. I remember in kindergarten being the tallest and biggest girl in my class and i was always the tallest one in my class. Then i went to intermediate school and that was ok. I still remember to this day a boy on the play ground calling me horse or a cow i don't remember but i know that it really hurt. It must have hurt really bad for me to remember. Then in middle school i was ok but, the weight was still there. I can't remember the year of the first time that we went to weight watchers but i am thinking that it was in the middle school. Then in the 9th grade was High School time when my life kind of shifted. I got my first job as a waitress in a senior living facility serving older residents. Then my best friend at the time started to go to a different school.  I hated the first day of school because i didn't like going to class and picking my seat and i knew that i really didn't fit in the seats and it really made me depressed that i was not comfortable. I played softball for the first time that summer and i tore my ACL so i was out of school for a whole month  and that really set me back on getting into shape and going to have softball in my lift because the doctor recommended me not to play softball again or really do any kind of activity dealing with my knee. i know that my weight had a lot to do with that b/c of the pressure that was on my knee i could re injury myself. After that the next 3 years were really hard... i guess i gained more weight and it was even harder to feel comfortable in school. Then my Spanish teacher talked me in to going to Paris and Madrid with her and a group of students from my school. I was really excited to go. Well it was my first time flying in an airplane and i was really scared!! Then i got on the air plane and it was a small plane going from PA to Chicago. That is when my weight really affected me is when i was not comfortable in the seat let alone it was really hard for me to get the seat belt buckled. The 2 hours on the plane to the air port was ok but i was not looking forward to the 12 hour flight that was ahead of me going to Paris. While in Paris it was really fun and i was really happy but i didn't not know that we were going to do as much walking as we did but i pushed my self to be just as fast as the other people that was in my group. Then it really came to me at night time when i would wake up in the middle of the night from a leg cramps. Then a few days later we had a overnight train ride to Madrid, Spain and that was an experience in it self. Then in Spain it was a little of the same experiences. Then after that adventure it was back to reality with school and life. It didn't get much better after that. I never went to any of my homecoming dances or i didn't go to my Junior Prom. I have never had a boyfriend and i new that i was not going to get asked to go to the dances. Then it was my Senior year and i was really happy because i would not have to see any of these people any more. I did go to my Senior Prom but i was by myself. I did go with my two sisters and i kind of had a good time but i thought that there was something wrong with me. I am a nice person but is the outside the only thing that people see? i know that you dont need someone in your life to make you happy but i was lonely. Then i graduated high school and i was so happy that i was out of school. Then the summer after i graduated i got a promotion at work and i was really happy! I was promoted to a secretary position and that only made my weight loss go down :( Then i tried the Weight watchers plan again and it worked... i went to every meeting for 6 months and i lost a total of 25lbs.. That was a lot that i have done in a long time, but then i was board with it and it became to expensive to go every week and pay the weekly rate. Then, i signed up for Curves and i was committed to them for one year which really was not the whole year because it was kind of boring and it really didn't give me what i was looking for in weight loss. Now lets get into the lap band story of my life. I have heard a lot about the gastric bypass surgery and everything but i knew that i could not get that surgery because i was to young at the time and i didn't have the benefits to cover me. Then, i was at work and a girl had the lap band surgery. I had never heard of this procedure and i was curious. I went home and i was talking with my mom about it and she was interested in it to. Like me my family is all overweight, so she looked into the surgery and found out that her insurance company covered her surgery. About 2 years ago my mom had the lap band surgery. I was her support person. I was there for her and i was interested in what changes she was going through and everything. I wanted to know everything. I went with her to the gym and to her support meetings i wanted to know everything i could about the lap band because i knew one day that i was going to have this procedure too. She was really successful in losing 100lbs or more. i am so proud of her and i know that she is going to live that much longer. Having seen my mom go through this process is making it much easier for me b/c i kind of know what to expect. I  decided that i was going to have the lap band surgery this year because it is the right time in my life and i know that i want to prevent the problems before they happen. I have a clean bill of health besides the fact that i am overweight. I called the bariatric center in my area and set up for my seminar because i was not sure if my insurance company would cover the cost of the surgery. So in September 2009 i went to my seminar and after the doctor talked i knew this is what i needed done to change my life and to change my habits. After that we met with one of the office girls and she said that you insurance is going to cover your surgery 100% and all you have to pay for is your co-pays at the doctors office! I was soooo happy! Then, the only thing that i had to come up with is the program fee, (this is a fee that my insurance did not over and it is only at this specific doctors) and i was on my way.. I went to my first appointment in Nov 2009 and i was told that i have to wait 6 months that this is what my insurance requires and i have to go through a lot of test. I was really not happy but i have come to face it i have waited this long why not a few more months. I have had to see a pulmonologist, i have had blood work, Urine test, chest x ray, i have to got see the cardiovascular doctor all before the insurance company will cover my surgery. So here i am on Jan. 17 and my surgery should be scheduled for late March or early April and i can't wait for this journey to begin!
Mary