shantelle31
My story is probably no different than most of you. I have been overweight for the most part of my life. For as long as I can remember, I had to shop in the husky section of the store or in the special big girl stores. I have never been able to go into the $7 store and buy me an outfit because they didn't carry the clothes in my size. I got accustom to my weight and never let it stop me from doing any of the things that I wanted to do. The first day that I knew that I needed to lose the weight was when I took my children to an amusement park and I went to get on a roller coaster and guess what, I couldn't ride because the overhead restraints would not lock because I was too big. I was so embarrased and ashamed. I got off the ride and pushed the incident to the back of my mind. Since then I have stayed away from amusement parks or if I take my children, I just let them ride and I usually carry the bags, towels, etc. This is a horrible feeling especially for me because I love to ride the roller coasters. Another thing that happened to me was on an airplane. I was traveling to NY for a family reunion by plane. We all got on the plane, got into our seats and then the pilot told everyone to buckle up. Well, my buckle would not close. I tried to sit up, sit back, let the seat back, suck my stomach in but nothing worked. I needed an extension for my belt. I couldn't believe it. I had flown most of my life and never needed an extension for my seatbelt. I was disgusted. I have tried diet after diet, I joined gyms, I gave up carbs, I walked, I did everything that I thought that I could do to help me lose the weight and it would come off a little but come back triple. I thought about WLS for years and finally made the decision in January 08 when I went to the doctor and she told me that I was a borderline diabetic. My grandmother had diabetes and died from the complications of the disease. I was determined that I would not go down that same road. I have 2 children and I HAVE to be here to see them grow up, go to college, have careers, get married, start a family, all the monumental things in their lives. I want to be here with them to enjoy those first steps. So thanks to Dr. Scott Steinberg and his staff, I took my journey on 9/23/08, three days after my 36th birthday. I will keep you all updated on this journey.
