My Story As I Lived It.......
I remember being a kid and being teased consistantly for being overweight. Kids can be cruel ya know?!?!

In 3rd grade I discovered that I wanted to be popular. The clique was headed by this girl named Becky, and her best friends Sara and Kristy (*first names have NOT been changed to protect anyone, but the last names aren't up here....LOL*). Becky would tease me endlessly, making the boys throw things at me for sport. I strived so hard to make her and her friends like me. Not only was I fat, but I also was a welfare kid, and she also never let me forget that as well. One day for some reason Becky and Kristy stopped talking and somehow I became friends with Kristy (I think I sat next to her in class and helped her with some classwork). She introduced me to all of her friends and I began to hang out with them. Kristy, Sara, and I used to ride our bikes home from school together, but Kristy never invited me over to her house after school. One day I decided to show up at her house, but she yelled at me for doing so and told me that she would get in trouble for being friends with "someone like me". Soon after one day at school she started to tease me in front of everyone and I discovered that they befriended me only to find out about my home life and tease me about it. Come to find out, Becky and Kristy never stopped being friends. I ran to the bathroom that recess and cried the whole recess break. I felt shame and hopelessness, at the tender age of 8 years old. I discovered that for the rest of my school days, and thereafter, there will always be people to put you in your place in this world.
I've been overweight my whole life. By the time I was 4 years old I was already 64 pounds. I was over 100 pounds by the time I was 7 years old, and over 200 pounds by the time I was 13 years old. I hit the grand finale mark of 300 pounds by the time I was 22 years old. Something had to give.......

Around 19 years old my OGB/YN told me about this weight loss surgery. I was way too scared at that point to even think about it, but I think somewhere in my mind it stuck. Fast forward to me being 22 years old.......and getting sick. I'm now 306 pounds and starting to get sick. I miss a month of work, and I can't take care of myself. My 23rd birthday is right around the corner and I decide i'm done with this. I went to my PCP and asked for help (again) and went on my last diet. After an amazing 5 pound loss, I went back to a different PCP and she referred me to the Kaiser bariatric surgery team, no questions asked. I sat there stunned.......surgery? Me? Isn't that a little drastic? But isn't being 23 years old, 308 pounds, and sick drastic enough?? Part of me wanted to back out, but figured I could later and let her fax over the paperwork. I went back to work that day and felt hysterically numb. I went home that night and mourned myself. Deep down I knew I wouldn't back down, but nevertheless I was scared s!*tless. I talked to my roommate who totally supported me and helped me make the decision to do what was best for my health, gastric bypass surgery. It was a long process and I had to wait a year for my surgery, but in that most valuable year I learned so many things about myself that were unknown to me. I learned I have an eating disorder, that when I do eat i'm a volume eater, and most of all I have the self esteem of a lightbulb. With the help of Kaiser's amazing program, I started the foundation to start building the "new me". Still bitter and jaded mind you, but contemplating hope for the first time in 24 years. My surgery date was January 17th, 2002. That is the date that has changed my life forever...........with all the bad and good that comes with change.
3rd Grade's Harsh Lesson
Gastric Bypass Surgery, My Personal Decision
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