I use to be very chubby back then that was for as long I could remember. Then I was the fattest kid in my classroom and of cause I was also overweight. And when I finally made it to college I could remember going on a weight loss diet plan but soon gained it back. Eventually at 26 I discovered myself sieze28 (tight).
I conclusively came to a conclusion I would want to go for a weight loss surgery thought over it a couple of times. I could remember vividly while I was watching the news coverage during the September 9/11 bombing. I was listening to Mr. Charles Gibson on Good Morning America reporting that people who worked in the towers were having to evacuate the building, that some had to walk down 86+ flights of stairs, trudging down floor after floor, in single file, having to squeeze past firefighters in full uniform carrying hoses and emergency equipment on their way up to help those on upper floors. He said with no cabs, subways, or buses running to the area the workers were walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. I remember thinking... I can't walk the length of the mall without needing several breaks, there is NO WAY I could do that at this weight. It took 5 more years till I had weight loss surgery but the horrific events of that day and that news report was definitely was a major factor in my decision to change my life.
I was insured through my workplace, had a BMI of 54 (super morbidly obese) with several co-morbidities - severe GERD Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease, severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea, High Blood Pressure, and a host of other issues related to obesity, all of which WERE being treated and costing my insurance company and myself thousands and thousands of dollars. I was repeatedly denied any weight loss related treatments: no weight loss or fitness programs, nutrition classes, pharmaceuticals, therapy, nothing related to the treatment of weight loss were covered. I was denied weight loss surgery even though I was told by my doctors that many of and life threatening conditions impacting my health would be potentially relieved and that having weight loss surgery was the best option.
As I got sicker and sicker, I worked through the hellacious insurance maze and also began to research the option of self-paying for weight loss surgery. My research led me to some medical tourism options and I ultimately decided to self-pay in Mexico for Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass. The 158 pound weight loss I achieved resolved all my co-morbidities, I am off all 8 medications I was on prior to surgery, I have not been to the doctor for anything more than routine check-ups in 5 years - all of which are a considerable savings to my insurance company. I hope to continue to live a healthy life and am happy with my decision to self-pay thankfully I was financially able to but I should never have had to go out of my country or decimate my savings in order to get treatment.
Having weight loss surgery was the best decision of my life. *It's not a solution for everyone* but it was the right one for me. It was the HEAD START I needed to change my life and I want to stress it goes hand in hand with HEALTHY EATING, DAILY EXERCISE and MOST IMPORTANTLY (and the hardest part IMHO) working on the head stuff... the why's of why I gained weight. This is a lifelong war versus obesity and having surgery was just one battle... every day I wake up and fight. “Just because you got the monkey off your back doesn't mean the circus has left town.” The FIGHT is FOREVER.
Was I afraid of having weight loss surgery? Sure but I chose a Surgeon I had faith in and I let the expert do his thing. I also made peace with the fact that I could die. I just figured I was a ticking time bomb that was eventually going to die from one of the many co-morbidities I had and frankly even when I was living fat I was "dead" because I wasn't making the most of my time on earth. I was trapped. So I made peace with the fact that if God wanted to take me he would and that was that. I'd rather die fighting for life then passively kill myself which is what I was doing... committing suicide by knife and fork. Don't be afraid that your life will end, be afraid that it will never begin.
When I was researching my weight loss surgery options I went on a few message boards and I didn't feel comfortable posting my before picture so Eggface was born. It stuck.
