sailorChristy

Hi, all - I'm looking forward to seeing you all again this month. I am in need of inspiration. I'm such a flunky that I'm struggling with the first month of my 3-month supervised diet (through Fresh Start Bariatrics at Riverside.) See you tomorrow! Fondly, Christy

Your post is so inspiring. PTL indeed! Keep up the good work, kiddo. :-)

The idea of getting banded just occurred to me ‘out of the blue’ a couple weeks ago, and I attended the Fresh Start seminar at Riverside Methodist Hospital just two days later! I am 38 and an e-commerce Product Design Manager and sailor in Ohio. When I was younger and thought I knew everything, I thought that people used ‘thyroid problems’ as a convenient excuse for their size. Well, then I was diagnosed with the Graves Disease (overactive thyroid) 5.5 years ago, and I had a total thyroidectomy 2 years ago. I have gained 50 pounds since I was diagnosed, and having a screwed-up thyroid (aka ‘metabolism’ and now having *no* thyroid has definitely proven to be a serious strike against me in the weight management department. I have been having sleeping issues over the past several months and am starting to suspect that I have or am developing sleep apnea, and I have a family history of all the horrible obesity-related diseases. I don’t want all of that to be the only future I have ahead of me… and to be honest, I’d really love to have a tight little body again (like I did when I did, yep - you guessed it, the Atkins Diet) and the ability to run 5ks every weekend (and okay, I’d really love to snag me a husband, too, before these ovaries of mine wear out completely. ) I’m hoping that my insurance company will approve my surgery (assuming that I decide to proceed after attending the seminar), but if they won’t - or if I’m not willing to wait for them - I can’t think of a better reason to take advantage of my 401(k)’s loan feature! My all-day evaluation appointment is next week, so things are moving along on schedule so far. Fondly, Christy