Question:
i am about 500 lbs. i am wondering if anyone that's are/has been that size has though

about wheel chairs or electric wheel chairs. im very wobbly and in alot of pain and i use one at the stores and it helps sooo much. Yet i know i need to excerise. i do but all i can really do is walk but i try even though it's sooo painfull. i currently have medicaid that's public aid medical card. i am wondering if they will pay for it. thanks.    — alondralouise2 (posted on May 17, 2002)

May 17, 2002
Alondra, I was 530 pounds at my peak, 494 day of surgery. I did not use a wheelchair in public. I shopped at very small grocery stores. At home, I used a rolling desk chair to cook and do the dishes. I could not stand for more than 3-4 minutes without being in excruciating pain. My family and friends wondered how I was even able to move at all. You need to weigh the balance of stress done to your joints and pain versus hanging on for dear life to every bit of your mobility. My thought was the day I couldn't go shopping was the day I would stop eating until I could go shopping again. Likewise the day I couldn't get out of bed to prepare my own food would be the last day I would eat until I could do the same. I made my family members swear to never feed me in bed, even if I was sick...I had to be able to go get it from the kitchen. Those were desparate times. Thank God for my partial gastrectomy/duodenal switch surgery. Today is my two year anniversary. I stand, run, walk without thought to my comfort level (although I am working on running uphill-ugh!) I just had my first phase of reconstructive surgery, and have some post-op swelling, but I have lost 225 pounds as of day of surgery. I know the gradual loss of true life morbid obesity is as a disease as we are excluded more and more from simple things like restaurants, concerts, movies, art shows, and our world gets to be a triangle: kitchen, bathroom, bed/living room recliner. Pretty soon friends fall away and we are grateful so they don't have to see us like this, we stay indoors to avoid the stares of curiosity and disgust that others feel free to cast our way. Did I consider using a wheelchair? Often...did I...NEVER, as long as I could walk, I didn't care how long it took me or how many rests I had to take, I was going to function "under my own steam" as a point of pride. Good Luck to you.
   — merri B.

May 17, 2002
Hi- there's also a web site www.mygastricbypass.com that was written by someone who started out at 500lbs--good info, pics, etc--------GOOD LUCK!!
   — Elizabeth D.

May 17, 2002
Merri, you are a testiment to the surgery...I so wish that I had had your outcome. I applaud you for all of your hard work and your success.
   — Barbara H.

May 18, 2002
Hi Alondra! I started out at 493 - gained 7 pounds in the hospital so I left weighing more than when I went in. My family has said on several occasions that they wondered how I did all I could do. Prior to surgery I had been going to a gym for nearly 2 years. I only did water aerobics and it made a huge difference in how my body felt. I never really lost any weight with water aerobics, but my body felt better. I'm 5 months post-op tomorrow and I'm down 120 pounds. I have a website that starts with pics and my journal and my journey from decision time (including when my surgeon told me I had to lose 100 pounds before they would operate!) to now. www.themightyempress.com/wls. Hope this can help you. Please e-mail me if you need anything - encouragement, a shoulder to cry on - anything. Good Luck!!
   — Pamela P.

May 18, 2002
Alondra: I really don't know the answer to your question, but I know the frustration you must be feeling, since you are 500 lbs. and exercise is near impossible. I was 407 lbs. when I had my surgery last year. My surgeon told me to "get out and walk a few miles everyday" but this advice was impossible for me. I could barely walk around the block without excruciating pain. To be honest, I didn't exercise at all until I had lost my first 100 lbs. At 307 lbs. I could get around SO much better. Still, I couldn't "walk a few miles" like my surgeon had suggested, but I could at least swim for a while and also take the occasional walk through the mall. My working out heavy-duty didn't start until I hit 250 lbs. At that point, "walking a few miles" became a reality, and I could routinely accomplish 30-45 mins. of cardio without being in pain. Don't worry about exercise at first. It will become easier as you shed weight.
   — Terissa R.