Alright here is my background. My name is Betsy. I have been overweight for my entire life. As long as I could remember. I was miserable for the majority of my life. Everyone knows that kids are cruel. The kids at my school were no different. Not a day went by that I didn’t get made fun of while walking to and from class or even when in class. It was awful. I was lucky I had some great friends. But in 10th grade my Mom moved us to a new town. The only good thing about the move was that I met my best friend and the woman who was to be my maid of honor when I got married. The rest of them for the most part ignored me or tormented me. I was such an unhappy person.
As I got older, I always had friends but I still was just miserable. I used food as a comfort and a friend. I see that now. I never did before. When I met the man that would become my husband, whom I met on line, I was terrified that he would hate me when we first me in person. But I was very happy when my weight did not seem to be an issue to him.
Right before our wedding in 2009 my boss at the time, had lap band. And I decided to check it out. I talked to a few people and then jumped right in. I, like everyone else thought it would be a quick fix. That the weight would fall off and it would be easy. Boy was I wrong.
I went into it with the wrong mindset. I thought the band would do the work for me. Surgery recovery was not too bad. I took the entire 4 weeks off of work because I had the time. Also because I needed a break from a stressful job. As I got better, the weight did fall off at first. But then it halted. I had my first fill and it got a little better. But because I was not working so hard, or as hard as I should have , I found ways to eat around my band. So of course my weight went up and down.
In 2010 my husband and I moved to SE Iowa . Back to his hometown. His job in NY transferred him. But for the first time since I was a teenager, I was unemployed. I had a very hard time finding a job. I was also so depressed. I missed my Dad, my sisters and most of all my 5 year old niece. When I did find a job it was only part time. I had a lot of time alone. I ate a lot and gained more weight.
When I started working fulltime I hated the job. The man I worked for was a jerk who treated us like idiots. But I got motivated to lose weight again when I got a wakeup call. I saw my primary doctor and my blood pressure was high. Since I had a hard time finding a lapband doctor that would take on a previously banded patient(yes I was told my 3 offices they would not take me because I already had a band) I joined Weight Watchers and the weight came off nicely. In February of 2011 I got my current job at a hospital 45 minutes away. I found Dr David Kermode. My current Lapband doctor. I saw him he gave me a fill. IT was WAY too tight. I could not even get water down! So the very next day he took a tiny bit out and I was great.
With my fill and a lot of hard work I have lost almost 40 pounds since February. I have now lost almost 90 pounds since my first appointment in Buffalo
Now recently I have been having a lot of problems. It started months ago with mild heartburn. That has gotten worse over the past months where the heartburn is now unbearable. I have tried every medicine over the counter and a few prescription ones. I went to the doctor last week and told him my symptoms. Persistent heartburn , waking up at night choking on acid, not being able to keep any food down, somedays not even water. My doctor told me it is one of 3 things GERD, but with that the medication should work. It could be a hiatal hernia or a slipped lapband. I am very nervous about any of them. Two would mean surgery. So in 2 days I will be going for a upper GI series of xrays. I just want to be better. I am exhausted!
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