Most people who really know me, know I have been diabetic for five years. I was also diagnosed with high blood pressure and high cholesterol during a visit to my gynecologist for a routine annual exam. It was always my fear to end up diabetic like my father. So here I was, 43 years old, diagnosed with three separate death sentences. My doctor gave me the usual drugs, but never explained any of the side effects. Add these to the drugs I was already on and now I was taking up to nine pills a day. A key side effect in three of these prescriptions was excess weight gain.
I have struggled with my weight every since my son, Bryan, was born. I started having hypoglycemic episodes during my pregnancy and was put in the hospital for toxemia and morning sickness. I should have pursued the blood sugar issues then, but the doctor said they were probably due to the pregnancy. When my next son, Christopher was born, the same issues popped up, but this time they stayed around after the pregnancy. In fact, it used to be a joke in my family, if I was grumpy or frustrated, someone would say, "Dad, get Mom something to eat." The doctor told me it was all food related and said if I would eat the right foods I wouldn't have sugar problems. I know now this wasn't true. Most type II diabetics have symptoms, hypoglycemia being one of them, years before they are ever diagnosed. So after 22 plus years of having my blood sugar go up and down, I was diagnosed with type II diabetes and had to start taking medicine with a side effect of weight gain. The doctor told me I needed to lose weight if I wanted this to go away.
So I did what every person does, I started dieting. I tried this diet and that diet, Weight Watchers, the Atkins diet, the low carb diet, the high carb diet, the low fat diet, the flat belly diet. I learned diets don't work. What I didn't realize is I had become metabolic resistant, another side effect of type II diabetes. In the course of seven years, I put on 65 pounds! And I felt it. I was tired and irritable all the time.
When 2009 started, I made a vow to do something about my weight. I joined a gym, did the Lean for Life program, even talked to the doctor about taking insulin (my biggest fear). In March, I bought a life insurance policy and for the first time I was hit head on with the fallout of diabetes. I have 1/2 the insurance my husband has for twice the price, all because I was a mortality risk. My dad died when he was 53, his mother at 47, his dad at 52, all of them from heart disease, diabetes, and the residual disease caused by both. My dad actually died from renal failure, his kidneys had shut down.
In April, my sister had LAP-BAND surgery and I thought she was very brave, but couldn't see myself doing this even though it could help people with problems like mine. First off, insurance wouldn't cover it and it isn't always successful to cure or reverse years of living with a disease like diabetes. Then in September 2009, I went with my aunt to the kidney doctor. He talked to her about the drugs she was taking and explained how these drugs eventually cause kidney problems. I did research and discovered he was right. They were not meant to be used for a lifetime, even five years. So I toyed with the idea of insulin and prayed about what to do. I didn't want to die prematurely, I don't even have grandchildren yet! So I talked to my endocrinologist about insulin and decided I didn't want this when I knew if I just buckled down, I could loose the weight. At about the same time, my friend and I went to a seminar for LAP-BAND. I went to support her and after talking to Dr. Wright, felt like it was something I could do. Especially when I saw people who lost weight were healthier than ever and most of them were off their meds and had actually reversed their diseases in most cases.
My weight in September was the heaviest I had ever been, even pregnant. So in November, I had surgery to repair a hiatel hernia and at the same time I had LAP-BAND surgery performed. I haven't really told a lot of people until now. I just wasn't ready to explain to them it wasn't for vanity or to be skinny, but it was to be healthy and for once in my life have a way to take control and manage my weight. Today, I am 75 pounds lighter than I was on September 22, 2009. I have been able to reduce four medications from my daily regimen and have more energy than I have had in a long time.
So here I am on this new journey and it is my prayer that this will be the cure or at least a deterrent for diabetes. Hopefully, I have been able to defeat the premature death my dad and his parents experienced. Could I have done this without the LAP-BAND? Probably. Would I have? Probably not. I want to be around a lot longer than my dad was and I have a lot of living left to do. Today, I am healthy, happy and no longer on medicine for diabetes. I believe the Band has changed my life forever and I couldn't have done it without the support from my family, friends and Dr. Wright.