What Do You Mean I'm Fat? Part I

I weighed 235 pounds. It wasn't just my weight though, I also had had 3 hip surgeries, neck surgery, along with spinal stenosis, a crushed disc, a cracked disc that was leaking spinal fluid into the surrounding tissue, and I had fibromyalgia and to top it all off, I was also diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome. I was in an enormous amount of pain and it hurt to move. I used to dance, perform in a Christian drama troupe, and run around with my kids but as my physical condition worsened and the more pain I was in, the less I felt like moving, the more depressed I became, and I ate to comfort myself. It became a vicious cycle - pain, lack of activity, more pain, food, depression, food, food, food! My weight increased and so did my depression, so I ate more because I felt sorry for myself.
In August 2014 my blood pressure sky-rocketed to stroke level. The doctor told me if I didn't lose weight and lower my blood pressure, I'd have a lethal stroke before the year was out. That kind of news shocked me completely. I already knew that my weight was putting so much pressure on already destroyed joints, discs and bones that the pain was nearly unbearable and I was on some heavy-duty pain meds. I was also getting regualr steroid/lidocaine injections in my muscles, plus injections directly into my spine while I was under anesthesia. But to hear that my weight had caused my blood pressure to get out of control to the point it would kill me was a whole other matter.
That was when I saw a weight-loss doctor, and to my surprise, my insurance would pay for all but $600 of the surgery. So, on August 21, 2014 I was admitted to the hospital for a gastric sleeve surgery.

This is me Christmas 2013. And getting fatter!

Don't miss Part II!