Good Morning. The last straw

 My mother died of ovarian cancer.  By the time she found it, she was stage 4.  She was morbidly obese and because of that, didn't want to go to the doctor.  She died at 59.  I knew I would become her if I didn't do something.  

I had struggled with my weight since the age of 5.  I was in Weigh****chers back when they made us eat liver once a week.  I went to Overeaters Ananymous as a 20 something.  

I joined OH in November of 2003 I think (were they around then or was it another blog I joined?).  I began researching the band.  I had a ticket booked, and a cashiers check in hand to fly to Monterey, MX for lap band surgery in January of 2004.  Thank God I chickened out the morning of the surgery and never went.  

I went back to my yoyo dieting.  

I  came back to OH in Nov of 2010 and fell in love with the idea of the sleeve.  After months of research I decided on a Doctor and made the appt for surgery in Feb 2011.  I knew insurance would never pay so off I went to Mexicali.  

So many straws to break this back over and over again.  However, In hindsight, so glad I waited to find the sleeve.  It's been a miracle for me.

I can remember asking my surgeon after surgery if my stomach, the one that he removed, was XXXL?  I was convinced that I was different, that I had some physical condition that made me so much hungrier then most.  He answered, "No darling, it was like all the rest."  Humbling.  :)

I had lost 70 pounds between 2002-2004, and kept it off for a year.  I looked pretty good, and walked (fast - about 14 minute miles) for 7 miles per day, with another 3 minimum at a slower pace.

Then I trashed my knee dog sitting my neighbor's labs.  Well, actually the dogs trashed my knee.  Either way, by the time I had it repaired, I'd gained 40 pounds back because I couldn't move.  And then my osteo-arthritis caused more movement problems, and then (just to pile it on) I developed popliteal cysts in the back of my left knee that made movement even worse.

After multiple surgeries to fix the knee and deal with the cysts, I'd gained another 40-50 pounds, and was having trouble keeping it off.  My PCP offered me "help" to lose the weight, but I wanted to do it my way again. 

So, school let out, and I began my old routine.  Didn't work.  I still had trouble moving, my knees HURT, and I craved so much food that I shouldn't have.  By the end of summer, I'd gained another 10 pounds. 

Went to the PCP, who sent me to my surgeon to get a lapband.  However, I researched before I saw the surgeon, and knew that I was NOT going to get a band.  I wasn't quite clear on whether I wanted sleeve or RNY.  I talked it over with the surgeon, called several people I knew who had had the RNY (2 of whom had problems), and then told the surgeon I wanted RNY.  He told me that that was his preferred surgery for me as well, based on my history and eating habits.

I was determined and persistent - this was late August 2009, and I had completed all my requirements (my insurance required info about 5 years of obesity with no effective loss after documented attempts, and my PCP had that) by late September.  I could have scheduled for mid-October, but chose to have it in mid-December so that I could recuperate over winter break from school.  However, I started the pre-op shakes for one meal a day in October, and then moved to 2 meals most days in November just to get the idea for how I could change them up and make them palatable.  As a result, I lost 25 pounds pre-op and had no problems de-toxing for the 2 week pre-op liquid diet.

I'm still thrilled, and sometimes find it hard not to approach people I know who could benefit from this, whap them upside the head, and drag them to my surgeon!