Big Couple of Days

The surgeon doing my surgery has a list of requirements that ALL bariatric surgery patients absolutely need to follow before having surgery. One of these requirements is to attend at least one support group meeting BEFORE having surgery. Within our hospital system, there are four meetings a month, each week is a different city. I attended one tonight and it was rather interesting. Not bad interesting, just really informative. I learned things I need to do, and things I shouldn't do. It made me even more excited about surgery.

Tomorrow I go in for an endoscopy. I am scared crapless. I have never been put under for any medical procedure and honestly the thought of it brings me to tears. It's another one of those required things though, and just another step closer to surgery, so I will just have to suck it up.

I am just glad I don't need the endo for the same reason as this guy. Seriously, how did he swallow that?!

My Head Is Spinning!

When I decided to start my journey to weight loss surgery, I knew there would be a ton of hoops I'd have to jump through and appointments I'd have to make. I didn't know quite how many though.

I have thought about surgery for a while, although I saw it as a last resort. Besides, even if I wanted to go ahead with surgery, it was still out of the question as there was no way we could ever afford it. Finally in the summer of 2011 I made my husband apply for a new job that I knew he'd be great at. He was hesitant but now he's so grateful that I pushed him. I'm grateful too as now we are finally in a position to afford health insurance!

I briefly discussed gastric bypass with my primary doctor at an appointment in November. I still didn't know where to go from there. I made some more calls to doctors, etc, and I officially began my journey. In our area, you need to attend a seminar on weight loss surgery options. It's a couple hours long, and it's pretty informative. I went to this right at the end of 2011 (and I'm so glad I did because my insurance has changed the requirements for people starting their journey in 2012). 

Immediately after the seminar, I was given some appointment dates and times. So much to take in at once! I have meetings with the surgeon, an EKG, an endoscopy, a psychiatric evaluation, support groups and nutrition classes to go to, and so much more before my surgery. And my tentative surgery date is one month from TODAY!! Eeeek! I'm so excited and nervous all at the same time! 

It really is a lot to take in and wrap my head around. Every time I talk to someone at the surgeon's office, it's like they give me another appointment date and time. Add that to kids' schedules, etc, and it makes for one busy Amanda! 

The Inspiration For the Blog Name

I needed a url for the blog, and I'm quite horrible at coming up these types of things. And then I happened to be listening to one of my all time favorite songs and there's a lyric in there that I just love.

"Fat bottomed girls, you make the rockin' world go round"

I LOVE that line! I am all for self esteem at any weight, and loving the body you have and self acceptance and all that. Even though I'll be losing weight and hopefully won't have a fat bottom for too much longer, I will always be a fat bottomed girl at heart.

Introductions

My name is Amanda and I'm fat. Not just fat, but obese. Technically morbidly obese. And I am sick of it.

I've always been overweight, as are some of my family members. It would be so easy to place blame on others for this but the truth is, this is my life and I have made unhealthy choices. As a child there's not much you can do. As an adult I should have known better. And now as a parent, I know this has got to stop. I see the cycle repeating itself.

I hate the negative connotations that come with being overweight. The looks I get from strangers. I know what they're thinking. I hate that I am stereotyped just because I am so overweight. I've wondered about alcoholics, drug users, etc. 'Why don't you just stop using?' Well, to you food may not be a drug, but to me, it is just as addicting. I’m what you would call an emotional eater and salty carbs are my weapon of choice. I have been better about it in recent years, but when you're nearly 30, it's hard to break old habits.

I hate that my clothes don't fit me the way I want them to fit. I find that it's difficult to find clothes and really dread clothes shopping. Being the plus size of the plus size section is not fun.

My weight never really seemed to bother me until my husband and I were trying to conceive (TTC) our children, especially our second. When our daughter was two, and we had been TTC for a year without luck, I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). There are a ton of symptoms of this medical condition, and everyone is different in their struggle with it. However one thing that most women with PCOS experience is weight gain and difficulty in losing weight. And here’s the ironic part. The only way to really beat PCOS is to lose weight. It’s totally screwed.

I have tried the usual diets and exercises in attempts to lose the weight, but nothing has worked. After a long emotional ride, I have decided to have weight loss surgery. I was hesitant to even consider surgery at first because I honestly felt it was ’the easy way out’. And then a good friend had gastric bypass surgery (GBS). Seeing what she went through, the good, the bad and the ugly, made me realize that it is so far from being easy. It is HARD work and you have to be dedicated to make this a success. And she has been. I have known others who have gone through the surgery and some have just as much success and some not so much. There is a chance that even if I go through surgery and make completely different lifestyle changes I will still not lose weight, but it's a risk I am willing to take. I have to at least try.

When I saw the surgeon for my consultation, I had to fill out this 13 page packet of questions. One of the short essay type questions was “Why do you want to lose weight?” I really had so much I wanted to say, but they didn’t provide me with that much space. I simply included a picture of my two gorgeous children. Their names are Zoey and Ford and they are my everything (as is my always amazing husband). They are the reason I wake up in the morning. The three of them are my inspiration and my biggest supporters.

My purpose of this blog is just simply that I need a place to collect my thoughts and write them down on this crazy journey that I am about to embark on. It’s such a huge life change, and I want to remember all of it. I am normally so bad about keeping up with my blog, but I really hope I can keep this up. And who knows, I may even inspire someone else to start a weight loss journey of their own. :)