My entire life I was always the chubby kid. I was always the 12-year-old in Weight Watchers and the kid with the 100 calorie snack packs at lunch. My weight defined who I was as a person both physically and emotionally. It caused me to put up barriers that made just the basic of relationships and activities difficult. Between 2019 and 2020 when my weight was at its highest, I found that walking up a flight of stairs was difficult. Being out of breath walking through Walt Disneyworld, a place that I lived and worked made every single day difficult. I started paying $75 a day to rent a motorized wheelchair so that I didn’t slow down my friends because I would be limping by the end of the day. I stopped going to Universal because I couldn’t fit on any of the attractions even though I had an annual pass. Shopping for clothes was nearly impossible and the clothes I did have were all oversized baggy shirts and leggings. Although I didn’t have any long-term medical effects there were definitely short-term side effects happening whether or not I was willing to admit it.
Weight loss surgery was always that taboo topic that I felt larger people talked about. My father had two weight loss surgeries and with the first one a few revisions. It was something I thought I would never have to do because I told myself I would never get that big. But realistically I started considering having weight loss surgery in 2015 or 2016. It wasn’t until 2019 that I knew that I was going to do it, I just didn’t know when. My major go for it moment was not wanting to be in crippling pain for days after walking just from my car to the grocery store.
Garden State Bariatrics has been the perfect team from start to finish. Everyone who I’ve ever worked with, whether that be a very quick hello/goodbye to an actual in person meeting or an over the phone discussion, has been so dedicated to what I need. I know that I can count on them with any questions that I may have. And I never once thought that they weren’t looking out for my best intentions.
The number one thing that I love being able to do nowadays is go for walks and runs and no longer have swelling ankles or limp or be in pain. I am now able to go on every single ride at Universal. And for the first time in probably a decade I can shop in the junior section and wear clothing that fits my personality and my age group.
Are You a Candidate for Weight Loss Surgery?
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