I am 51 years old. I HAVE BEEN A AT GIRL ALL MY LIFE. I was 10 and 120 lbs. When I graduated high school I was 250 and not one guy in my class wanted to walk down the aisle with me. I tried to commit suicide 4 times during my lifetime. I met a wonderful man, whom I never thought was sincere, until years later, who changed my view point on life. I have probably lost 1000 pounds in my lifetime. I had gastric bypass in 1999. I was 391 when I signed up for the program. Over a year later when I finally got to have the surgery I weighed 411. I was one of those one in a million that had wound disruption and nearly died from the second surgery necessary 6 weeks later due to the wound disruption. One year later I was 250. It is now 2008 and I am still 250 - 265. I have what you call an apron belly. It hangs down and you literally ave to pick it up and tuck it in your pants. I have to use special creams under my belly as I am always getting a yeast infection. My legs are like tree trunks and I cannot remember ever in my lifetime having knee caps. One year ago I had a spinal column injury that left me paralyzed from the neck down for a couple of months. After extensive in-house therapy I can use my hands, however still numb inside palms and limited motor skill function and sensory problems. I am still numb from the waist down. I am on a schedule for urinary and bowel functions. So now with limited exercise, and the fact that I cannot feel my legs, the flab between my legs effects my walking function, sometimes causing me to not move one leg in front of the other causing me to stumble and lose my balance; sometimes causing me to fall. When I applied for the gastric bypass, my doctor supported me citing many ailments that would improve. Even with her suggestion that it would save my life, my insurance saw it as elective cosmetic surgery. So I applied for a grant and borrowed the rest. It took me 3 years to pay the cost of surgery off. And now again, even with all the added reasons why it would be beneficial in my recovery from spinal cord syndrome, my insurance
will not cover any type of surgery related to weight loss. My husband and I have cashed in our 401K's to make up for money lost while in recovery and until disability kicked in. But, thankful as I am, the disability isn't anywhere near what I was earning.
