And so it begins...

All through  grammer school I was relatively a thin active child.  When I got to junior high I started to put on weight.  I still remained active, I was even a cheerleader my senior year in high school.  As the years went by my weight slowly increased. 

On November 4th 2000 I married my husband and it was the best day of my life.  At that time I weighed a little over 300 lbs.  My weight fluctuated up and down for the next 3 years.   I saw the weight doctor during that time period and had decided to have the Lap Band placed to help in my weight loss.

In October of 2003 I had Lap Band surgery and while under anesthesia they performed a liver biopsy which I will get to the results later.  Prior to surgery I had lost a little over 30 lbs.  Upon leaving the hospital I weighed 270.  I thought that the band was one of the best things that had happened to me.  It was working well at the time I was losing weight and getting healthy.  It then came time to have the band adjusted.  I had it filled and was doing fine.  Everytime I went for an adjustment it really seemed to help me... Until one time it was filled way too tight and I started to have terrible symptoms of acid reflux and dyphasia (trouble swallowing).  I was only able to keep down liquids, when I tried to eat anything other than liquids they would come back up.  They began to remove the saline slowly but the symptoms continued.  In January of 2005 they removed all of the saline and the band was just in there however even with all the saline removed I still had trouble eating.  They began doing all kinds of tests like Endoscopys and I even had to eat a radioactive sandwich...  Finally the end of August 2006 it was decided that I would have the band removed and we had sent a letter to my insurance company to allow me to have the Lap Band converted to the Gastric Bypass.  My insurance denied my claim because my doctor didn't explain the whole situation.  So it was decided that the band would just be removed and in October of 2006 it was taken out.  I no longer have the feelings that I'm going to throw up everything I eat, but I have gained 100 lbs since then... that's right 100 lbs in 8 months....

Now to get back to the liver biopsy.  They had discovered that I had NASH.  Which is Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis also known as fatty liver.  And one step away of Cirrohsis of the liver.  And with my added weight gain the symptoms of this disease are getting worse.  My ankles and feet swell up almost everyday and sometimes I can even tell where my ankles end and my feet begin.  I am also short of breath with just a little bit of exertion.

I also have Degenerative Joint Disease and Osteoarthritis in my knees which also makes it difficult to walk sometimes, but with the help of shots of cortizone I'm doing the best that I can.

I started my weight loss journey this past Monday the 18th with a healthier way of eating, don't want to say that "D" word... DIET.... but it is that also... I have also began to walk even though it's a little less than a half a mile a day, everyone has to start somewhere.  I can actually tell a small difference in my breathing, just wish my legs would stop swelling up... I hope to post something at least once a week and would appreciate anyone that wants to post messages of inspiration as we are all in this together or we wouldn't have come to this wonderful website.... 

Let's take this journey together and one day at a time...