cleach1972
I am a 39 year old single mother of a 13 year old son. I have been overweight my entire life. Growing up I was always the fat friend but I was always able to do everything my normal sized friends did. I was in the marching band from 6th grade through my senior year in high school, I went to Middle Tennessee State University where we walked to get everywhere. After leaving MTSU I worked as a Special Ed. teacher assistant and I would walk all over the school no problem. I had my son in 1998 and needed a higher paying job so I was hired to work the front counter at Comcast and that is where I noticed that my weight became a issue. It was a sedentary job and all me and my co worker did was snack and eat all day. Before I knew it I was weighing 480 lbs. I worked at Comcast for 6 years I left there and worked for another company where all I did was sit for 4 1/2 years and left there and got hired at Verizon Wireless. During the years I developed lyphedema ad noticed that I rattled when I breathed. I didn't go to the doctor because I was scared to hear what they would say. Working at VZW everything was spread out and it would take me at least 15 minutes to walk from one area to another. In April 2009 I went to the emergency room because I had retained so much fluid I could barely walk. My oxygen levels were in the low 60's and the rattle in my chest had gotten terrible. I was admitted and the put me on oxygen and gave me lasix. They weighed me and I almost died when the scale read a whooping 590 lbs. I was embarrassed and ashamed but in a sense relieved that I was going to get help. I was in the hospital for 9 days and I lost 65 lbs of fluid. I was sent home with oxygen and a prescription for lasix 60 mg twice daily and a low sodium diet. I was diagnosed with CHF, pulmonary hypertension/pickwickians syndrome and sever sleep apnea. I followed the heart healthy diet and did my exercises from PT and lost down to 517 lbs then the bottom fell out. I was approved for disability and with that I lost my insurance provided by the state and I wasn't covered by medicare until I had disability for a year. The entire year of 2010 I had no coverage and couldn't afford to pay out of pocket for my doctors visits and medicine and I gained every pound I had lost back. January 2011 I was eligible for medicare and I went back to my pulmonologist where he told me I really needed to start the process for the gastric bypass. I left his office and scheduled the seminar in Feb and met my surgeon in March. It seemed like I have been going to the doctor at least twice a week since March having a test one thing or another, meeting with my PCP and getting everything I needed to have my file complete. I finally got everything done in July and got my approval on Aug 25th. My date is set for December 5th. I'm super excited to start this new journey.
About Me
Before & After
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