I DID IT!
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Saturday I put an update on my profile and a few Veterans asked me to do a posting for all the newbies and those struggling with their journey to perhaps provide them with some encouragement.
"If I can do it You can do it." I would read that all the time from people who lost weigh but were not as big as I was. Yea right I would say, but you can walk, you can get out of bed. I can't walk because a stranger injured me so badly they caused my L5, L4, L3 and L2 disc to herniate. I was about 320 and very active at the time of the injury. Depression and the inability to do any of the things I loved doing like bowling, swimming, ballroom and belly dancing (to name just a few) caused me to gain even more weight until I reached 497 pounds. I had to use a ski rope attached to my window frame to pull me up out of bed. I rolled around on a chair to do the laundry, clean and prepare meals. I had to use an electric mobility scooter because of the sever pain I had in my back. I wished I would not wake up when I went to bed each night. But somehow each morning I did. No Dr would do any surgery on me of any kind. I ever tried to get the lap band surgery but my insurance denied it. When that happened I decided I had to lose weight on my own. I started with WW and NS and lost 140 pounds on my own before I saw a Weigh Loss Surgeon. After 6 months of a supervised diet and more testing than I could have ever imagined I was told the Dr would do the sleeve but he also had to repair my hernia and remove my gallbladder.
Finally in Jan 2016 I had the 3 procedure surgery. Shortly after the surgeries I decided, in Feb of 2017 I was going to do the Loop for Literacy bike challenge to raise money for literacy in our community. As a part time teacher, who teaches braille and keyboarding to the blind, literacy is very important to me. 24 days after surgery my surgeon gave me the go ahead to start training.
Figuring out how I was going to even get on a tricycle was a challenge as I couldn't lift my foot over the low threshold. I got on a 2 inch stepper platform and from that struggled to get my right leg over to the other side, but I did it. That first bike ride I went less than 0.64 miles in 10 minutes. But I was determined to lose weight and exercise.
Over the course of the year I went for a ride no matter how short it was or how windy, or cold it was. I live in Florida so I biked 5 days out of the week every month. People in my community were starting to notice me out there and they would encourage me as I went. Some would stop me and ask how much weight had I lost and how far I had biked that week. I was proud to answer their questions and why I was doing it. This past May I become the Social Director of my community, yet still was out there 5 days a week biking as I had a weight goal and a bike challenge. I am very happy to say This past Saturday I DID IT!
I went to the challenge, biked 6 miles for Literacy and raised $320.00. I got a cap and a medal. I feel like a child at Christmas, I am so proud of that cap and medal. When I went biking yesterday and today I wore them and showed them to everyone. I have lost a total of 279 pounds. I am able to walk for about 5 to 7 minutes with a cane and do things I could only dream of doing before. I still have a lot more work ahead of me, but now I look forward to waking up and am so grateful I do. When I lose the additional 38 pounds and get the excess skin removed the back surgeon will decide what to do for my back so I can walk again without a cane and all this pain.
I do have a few pictures on my profile so please feel free to look. No matter how afraid you are, or how much doubt you have I know you CAN do it. Get your head in the right frame of mind and you too can be thinner and happier. I am so glad I did. I hope you find encouragement from my story and pictures. Feel free to email me. I will be here to help if you need it. Have a great day and no matter what the road looks like now please look to the future, things will get better.