Hi! I'm Kathryn and this is my story...

Hi everyone, I'm Kathryn and I'm new around here so please forgive me if I'm not too familiar with how things go around here....so let me start at the beginning, I guess...

I've always been fat...even as a child. I weighed 8lbs when I was born and apparently that was unprecedented in the Philippines. And as I grew...oh did I grow...and it just did not stop. It took me a very long time to accept myself the way I am. At one point I was able to lose about 29lbs after my divorce by watching what I ate...not even exercising. But then a great big stress happened. My youngest brother was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in 2013. He recently passed away in July 2016. I was his caretaker. After he was diagnosed, I just let go of the healthy habits I had like watching what I ate and I was just not eating healthy. Of course this brought sadness to our family and at the same time the weight came back and more. Right around his funeral I just noticed I have not been able to do more physical things like getting on a treadmill, walking for long distances, kneeling on a church pew--something as simple as that. Thereafter I went to my doctor who referred me to an orthopedist. He told me my right knee needs replacement and that was the only thing that would improve my knee. Meanwhile I was only 39 years old. I did some physical therapy which made it better for a bit. I then realized that maybe it would help if I get weight loss surgery. Around the same time, a friend was also in the process of getting hers done. A doctor friend advised me to do it and said she would support me and even offered to medically clear me for surgery.

So here I am...since May 2017, I have been going back and forth with appointments with specialists and with dietician visits at Harlem Hospital. My appointment date with the surgeon is on November 9th. I believe thereafter, they will decide a surgery date or what have you. I guess I'll wait and see. In the meantime, thank you for the platform and support. I will be perusing the forums with things that may interest me.

Best of luck to all of us. And thank you for the opportunity.