Coming out of the "food" closet......

Food. The mere mention of it makes us salavate. Or, most of us, that is. It's the reason for celebration. When we graduate, let's go out to eat. When we go on a date, let's go out to eat. When we get a promotion at work, let's go out to eat. When we're young and go out with friends, let's go out to eat.....AND DRINK! It's the one thing we know we CANNOT survive without....for very long....on this earth. Yet, why do so many of us abuse it? We eat at the drop of a hat now a days. Don't really need a reason. Heck, I've never needed a reason. I LOVE TO EAT! I'm from the south. I'm not trying to fool anyone. Not even gonna pretend I don't love to eat. Nor am I gonna pretend I'm not obese. I have been overweight all my life. I've never been skinny.
The following post may be new to you guys. I guess you can say....It's Me....Coming outta the closet. Some of you, my closest friends, already know about my weight loss surgery. The rest of you are getting ready to embark on a new lifestyle journey/change with me. I had gastric bypass on 3/26/07 in Richmond, VA. Dr. Gregory Schroder was my surgeon. I am home and am healing slowly but surely. Each day is better. I'm not gonna pretend this surgery wasn't hard or painful. IT WAS VERY. You have to be ready mentally and physically for this. This is a permanent lifestyle change.
The following is a post I posted on my profile on OH.com. I wanted to share it with myspace friends in case anyone else out there is going thru what I have just started on. For those of you who agree with what I've done, great. For those who don't, please keep negative comments to yourself. Thanks and have a wonderful day!

Tanya


My story....let's see. Aren't we all pretty much similar in our story? I have been overweight all my life. I remember my mom saying the doctor told her when I was 10 years old that I was 10 pounds overweight. When she told my grandparents, they laughed. They said "let that baby eat all she wants!" I am from the south so my family knows how to cook and eat! I remember going to my grandmother's house every Sunday after church for homecooked meals. To put it plainly: I LOVE TO EAT! I'm addicted to carbs, chocolate, and CHINESE! Those will be the 3 things I will miss the most after I have this surgery. I have been on diets pretty much my whole life. Trust me when I say I've tried pretty much everything out there. Only to gain it back, plus some.
I am a nurse and have worked in the ER since 1992. I have debated having gastric bypass for at least 6 years now. When I first started thinking about it, I was 100 pounds lighter. Being an ER nurse, I saw really sick patients come in that had had the GB. I got to take care of them and hear them say "I'm so sorry I had this done. This was a mistake!" And I would think to myself "Uh....I'll never go through this!" The other part of me also said "There's no way I could give up sweets and the foods I love to eat!" So, here I am, 6 years later and 100 pounds heavier.
Until this last April, I have been pretty healthy despite my weight. In April, I had a sleep study done due to bad morning headaches and it showed I had severe sleep apnea. I have snored since I was 12. I was put on C-pap the end of April and put on 2 low dose blood pressure meds for my "morning headaches". My blood pressure was 130/90 at that MD visit. My cholesterol at that time was also borderline high. If I'm on my feet alot during the day, I have pitting edema in my ankles and feet. (Hence, the 2nd blood pressure pill is for the edema!) I have arthritis in both knees and hips now. I have been on Celebrex for 6 years now for the arthritis in my knees. I stopped having periods when I went off the pill last year. I am having to take meds to make me have periods every 3 months. I found lumps in my breast this past Feb. and was SCARED to death it was cancer. I had an ultrasound and mammogram only to be told it was "fatty tissue changes". Probably from the weight gain. THANK GOD! What a horrible feeling waiting to hear those results.
I was married April 2005 and since then, I have gained 70 pounds. The only thing I have done differently was go off BCP's. I still eat pretty much the same things but I have taken a job in Public Health nursing and went limbo in the ER. I'm not walking as much as before at work. I have 3 stepchildren and have always considered myself pretty active. I am not able to do the things with them that I would like to do.
So you may wonder what changed my mind this year. I have 3 friends, 2 of whom I graduated high school with and one I work with in the ER who had this surgery done and they all look GREAT!!!! Actually the one I work with in the ER was my inspiration to seek out Dr Schroder and reconsider this surgery. I saw her at work and thought "Man, she looks great and hasn't had any problems after her sugery. Maybe I can do this too and do okay." I emailed her and my other friends asking about the surgery and she immediately emailed me back saying "I'm so glad you asked me about this. I have wanted to talk to you about this. Call me tonight." And, I did. We talked for 1 1/2 hrs and she told me everything about her journey from beginning to end and she is the reason I decided to go through with this lifestyle change.

If you're interested in reading the rest of this journey, feel free to check my page out at OH.com:
http://obesityhelp.com/member/coronarn/