bnaumann2002
I'm a 54 year old housewife. I've been disabled since 2001 due to health complications. I have been overweight since 1962. I remember not being very popular with other kids in school. I thought the other kids liked me. They would always talk to me but when it came to being invited to anyones house or to a birthday party I was always excluded. I was always chosen last for everything. I had a birthday party one year and knowone showed up. I can't even explain what that made me feel like. I remember when I was in the 3rd grade I wore a size 36 in men's jeans, of course they had to be cut off to fit lengthwise. In the fifth grade I won the school competition for the spelling bee. I was so proud. I went to the city competition and was so embarrassed to be on the stage. I didn't win to go on to the state competition. The summer of 1966 in was in the Topeka tornado. I remember being so scared when the house blew off the foundation. I was in the neighbors basement with my grandma. I remember wondering how anyone could be able to lift me out of the basement since the house was caved in on the stairway. I was scared for years if a thunderstorm even came up. My favorite Aunt passed away in the fall of the same year. In the 6th grade I developed a friendship with a girl that I'd known since 1st grade. We became best friends and that lasted for years. I've since lost touch with her. My mom was always trying different things with me for weight loss. She also was overweight but not as much as I was. We tried diet pills that worked for awhile but we quit them. My mom and I went on a diet the summer between 6th and 7th grade. We joined an exercise program it was called Elaine Powers and exercised every evening. I lost 40 lbs. I managed to keep that weight off. I was still overweight to some extent but I was more comfortable with myself. But still all my friends were smaller than I was. I still had the best time in junior high. I made lots of friends and even had a boyfriend. I graduation from junior high when I was 15. During that summer my mom developed a brain tumor and it was cancer. She passed away the following January 1971. That six months was the worst six months in my life. It was just me and my dad at home. He was still working and drinking alcohol. He didn't handle moms death very well. I remember wondering how I would find him when I would come home. Many times he would be passed out in the chair. I was doing lousy in school. I ended up quitting school at the suggestion of the school counselor with the intent for me to return the next year after I had a chance to get used to my life without my mom. In May I turned 16. I got my drivers license. That is when I started to put back on weight. I when from 145 up to 160. When I was 17 I became pregnant and I gained 100 more lbs. Its been an up hill climb from there. Two years later I had another baby, I didn't gain weight with that pregnancy. But soon after I gave birth I began to gain again. Four years later I joined Weight Watchers at that time I weighed 398 lbs. In a year and a half I lost 150 lbs. I kept it off for about 2 years. I've done some many other diets and gimmicks over the years. I was hypnotised, had shots, Tops, Overeatters Anonymous, Nutrisystem twice, Atkins Diet I'm sure there were others that I just can't remember at this point. I ended up getting a divorce due to a cheating husband. In 1981 I had the mason shunt surgery for weight loss. I only lost 20 lbs with that surgery. There wasn't any prep or education at that time. I remained single for two years and then remarried. I was in that relationship for 10 years. After 10 years of abuse I escaped and remained single for 6 1/2 years. I am now married to a wonderful man for 11 years. I am topping the scales at 396. I am so ready to have this surgery and start my new life of being healthy. I have everything to live for. Two grown daughters, a wonderful husband, 5 fantastic grand kids who I adore and myself who I know isn't half bad. I have other goals as well. I want to return to college for social work. I want to return to the workforce to help my husband. Just to be able to play with the grandkids, do things for myself without help. I want to live again.
