Pam A.
I have been overweight for most of my adult life. I was not an overweight child or teen. My dieting began in my teens because I thought I was fat. My friends were size ones or threes and I felt huge bacause I was a size 5 or 7. If only I were that "fat" now!! My real weight challenges came during pregnancy. I gained 50 pounds with my daughter when I was 21. I lost all but 20 pounds when I got pregnant with my son almost two years later. I gained 54 pounds with him and only lost about half of that before I was pregnant again. With this daughter I only gained 40 pounds. Probably because she was a premie! I had now gotten over 200. I had a tubal then, so I was sure I would lose all the weight this time because there would not be any more babies.
I actually did lose down to 160 before and during Operation Desert Shield/Storm when my husband was deployed. I kept the weight off for about a year after he came home. I think maybe there is something about being "fat and happy" because I slowly started gaining after he was back. I didn't cook as much while he was gone, but always had a big meal on the table when he was home. He was more fun to cook for than just the kids. So for the last 20 years I have yo-yo'd with my weight. I have tried just about everything. I always lose only to gain back what I lost plus a little more.
Now I am having health issues and hope that is motivation to keep me going. I think the lap band is the tool I need to get the weight off and get my health back. My main problem is osteroarthritis in my knees. I've had surgery on both and gotten some relief, but I know the 150 extra pounds is a real problem.
I have thought about WLS before but was afraid of the malabsorption problems. I work at a clinic and have many patients with this who have had gastric bypass. I started hearing about the lap band from patients coming in for pre-op labwork. It sounded like a better option so I went to a seminar and was sold on the idea. My husband went with me and he agrees and is very supportive. My parents have offered to come and take care of me during recovery. I have also spent alot of time on this site learning alot from all of you. So I have a date of June 4. That is two weeks after a vacation to South Padre Island with my family to celebrate my father's birthday. I keep thinking this will be my last beach vacation that I will be this fat. I will start my 2 week liquid diet the last day there. I am so excited that I can hardly wait!!
