Wendy A.
Hi everyone. I am a 45 year old divorced woman with no children of my own. I am blessed to have two step-daughters and two spoiled rotten cats in my life. I am a registered nurse and have been for 25 years. I currently take care of children (and adults) with congenital heart defects. It's an interesting and challenging job, and I love it.
I have always been bigger than the other girls around me. When I was in high school, I wasn't overweight. At 5'6", I weighed 135 lbs. I was a great weight. However, the other girls were shorter and smaller than me. I was a cheerleader, and since I was the biggest girl on the squad, I was always the bottom of the pyramid! I felt like I was overweight even though I wasn't. My mother was obsessed with her weight, so in turn she was obsessed with mine. Everything that went into my mouth went with an admonition or warning of the dire consequences of impending obesity. Unfortunately, that made me prone to sneaking out and overeating every chance I got. As I became an adult, I also found my way into relationships where my boyfriends repeated the admonitions about my eating.
In retrospect, I maintained a normal weight until I married the first time. He came from a large family (in numbers and in weight). We all loved to eat and every event centered around food. I gained 40 lbs in short order. And lost it, and gained it, and lost it....you know the story.
Over the years, I have gained and lost so much weight. Through two divorces, graduate school, moving to a new city, sadness, loneliness, happiness, boredom, etc, I now find myself at the heaviest I have ever been.
When I saw the first commercial for the Lap-Band, I began to investigate. I talked to many people who had the procedure and were happy with the results. I chose the Lap-Band because of many of the experiences I have had as an RN. I worked with premature infants for 20 years and took care of many infants who had "short bowel syndrome" as a result of surgical intervention. I was afraid of the longterm side effects of the gastric bypass procedure. I know that it is the right choice for so many people, but I believe that the Lap-Band is right for me.
Things I want to do....
1. Get through the surgery...done 11/16/07.
2. Walk at least 1 mile every day.
3. Begin to jog for exercise.
4. Join a gym.
5. Fit into a pair of large (size) scrubs at work.
6. Tie my shoes without having to sit up and take a breath.
7. Paint my own toenails without having to employ gymnastics to reach my toes.
8. No longer make "fat comments" about myself.
9. Take ballroom dancing lessons.
10. Get back into tennis lessons.
11. Sit on an airplane and not be wedged into my seat.
