A New Journey

Good morning all in my OD family. It’s been a long time since I have been on here. I tend to come back here a little more seeing I want to document my new journey in my life. If you didn’t read the chapter summary, then you don’t know what I am talking about. I have decided to take my life in my own hands and am going through with getting bariatric surgery. What I am about to share is a very personal thing. Judgments, leave them at the fucking door.

I have been struggling with my weight all of my life. The ironic thing is I was the smallest kid born of the four kids my mom had, now I am the heaviest. I’ve never paid attention to my weight because I knew it was bad. I picked food over health. Food is my crutch. By the time I graduated high school I was wearing a size 19 juniors STRETCHY jeans. I have never really worn a pair of jeans that didn’t have spandex in them. At that time I weighed 240lbs. My senior ball gown was a size 20. Crash diets were my best friends. They were a rapid fix, with rapid results, but with shitty feelings. As fast as the crash diets “worked”, the weight came back just as quickly.

When I was pregnant with the twins I gained a good 30lbs. I ended up with gestational diabetes and had to see a nutritionist. They gave me a strict diet which I tried. I tried so hard to stick to it, but I just couldn’t. I lied to my doctors. Yes, selfish. After giving birth, I lost the little weight of the kids being out of my body. When I left the hospital my weight was 270lbs. The “it’s baby weight” excuse is what I used. But guess what, they aren’t babies anymore.

Fast forward four years to today and I am the heaviest I have ever been in my life. When I went and had my yearly exam at the OB/GYN I weighed in at 315lbs. How could I get life this? It’s not like I don’t have the motivation to get healthy, but it just doesn’t seem to be enough. After watching that episode of “My 600-lb. Life” it was an eye opening revelation. I found Melissa on face book and sent her a message on what he episode meant to me. It was her episode that pushed me to do this. I think it has to do with seeing it for someone else’s point of view and not one that you see everyday. I made sure I thanked her for doing her episode.

I went to the informational seminar to get the information on the surgery. I have chosen to go forth with the gastric bypass. Not only will it help with the weight, but with my acid reflux and hopefully my depression. The less medication I have to take the happier my life will be. I am also scheduled for my medical visit (2/29), my nutrition seminar (3/1), and my one-on-one appointment with my nutritionist (4/3). If all goes well I am hoping surgery will happen around May.

With this chapter I tend to keep you all informed on what I am doing and how I am doing. Video’s will play a big part with this. I will show you what I go through.

Thank you all for your support. For now I am going to sign off. Until the next entry…

♥Amanda
I CAN do this!

PLEASE be careful and have your vitamin levels checked every month. I had GBS… I was 391 lbs at my heaviest. I had GBS and was taking my vitamins just as I was instructed. The point of GBS is that by cutting the stomach, they remove a part of the stomach that absorbs things. This allows you to lose weight, along with the smaller pouch stomach. When your stomach will not absorb properly,

taking all the vitamins in the world and eating the most nutritious foods won’t help–your body won’t absorb it anyway. I became deficient in B12 because my stomach wouldn’t absorb it… and it was not caught early enough. Now I am permanently disabled and live every day stuck in bed due to horrible nerve damage and three neurological problems. Some people are fine after GBS. My aunt had it,

and is very healthy today. But not everyone is so lucky–and it is totally by chance… I didn’t do ANYTHING wrong to cause this. So even if you think “I’ll take my vitamins and follow the surgeon’s instructions…”. I did, too. And now I will pay for it for the rest of my life. I am very against GBS due to my experience with it. Lapband is better, but slower. There are other options like the

gastric sleeve surgery that leaves in the part of your stomach that absorbs… any other option is better (in my eyes) than GBS. But it is your life, so I won’t tell you not to have it… but be forewarned that in a month, your whole life can be changed and you can wind up bedridden… vitamin levels don’t seem that serious… I never imagined that being low in a vitamin would permanently damage

my body. So PLEASE… be careful. Be very persistent when getting your levels checked–DEMAND it monthly at the very least… you may have to be pushy, but it could save you from living the rest of your life in bed. I hope it goes well for you… and that you are one of the lucky ones who doesn’t have permanent problems after surgery.

*love04*02*11*

February 21, 2012

I’m so happy that you are doing something to get to a healthy weight. I know you can do it. 🙂 keep us updated

Good luck!