A Nickels' Worth: Happy New Year!

Outside of my closest friends and family, no one knows that I made a huge decision to regain control of my life at the end of 2013. For those that know me, I have struggled with my weight my whole life. I was at my heaviest when I got pregnant with Gibson. The weight I gained during pregnancy was carefully monitored. After Gibson was born and Danny left, I lost all the weight I had gained and then some. As I started to deal with the fact that my marriage was not salvageable and started being a full time working single mom to a newborn complete with an hour commute to and from work, the pounds started to come back. Over the next three years, I consistently gained weight. This past April, I really started having gastrointestinal issues, my body started swelling and nothing I did, no matter how much I tried to hydrate, nothing seemed to help. I quit smoking, took my thyroid medicine and an assortment of vitamins and would sometimes go days without being able to hold anything down. And yet, there was not anything really wrong with me. I ballooned in my weight and by the end of the summer, I was completely miserable. I had trouble moving. I was slow. I felt like I was in slow motion all the time. Gibson started t-ball this fall and at one of his practices, he ran from me. I physically could not run after him. My knees started to give with every step I took. I was terrified. I knew something had to change and fast.

October 6, 2013

This was when I started to seriously consider weight loss surgery. I was one of those people who thought it was a cop out. But the more research I did and people I talked to, I realized that it might be tool I was looking for. I made an appointment with Dr. Kim because I knew several people had used him. When I weighed in at his office, I was shocked. I weighed 295 pounds. I was 5 pounds away from 300 with this 5'3" frame. I was officially fat. My BMI was over 50. That is a scary fact. I saw another doctor three days later who said that my best chance of seeing my son enter kindergarten was to lose about 150 pounds. I started really watching what I ate. Because of insurance issues, I ended up going with a different surgeon. Dr. Marsden was amazing! So nice and helpful! I had an EGD the week of Thanksgiving that showed I had a hiatal hernia and a sleep study proved I had sleep apnea. I was not breathing for an avg of 12 seconds several times a night. On December 20, I had surgery to repair my hiatal hernia and to get a gastric sleeve. When I weighed in for surgery that morning, I weighed 265. I had lost 30 pounds on my own. Now 12 days post-op, I weigh 248. This is the first time in 6 years I have been under 250. Since October I have gone from a size 22 to a 16 pants. I feel great! I have so far to go, but I am so glad I made this decision. I want to live life not simply survive it. This surgery is not for everyone, but I feel like it was my second chance to live my life right. Gibson deserves the best mom and I am on my way to being the best I can be!