Well, I am home sick today with a terrible cold/sinus infection and started thinking about my life and my new life. For those of you that have known me for a long time or those of you that have known me for a short time you will all know that I have struggled for years with my weight. As far back as I can remember I have always had to watch my weight. During high school I remained at a normal to slightly overweight level, but once I had children this struggle intensified greatly. Three years after my first child was born I had finally lost enough weight to feel and look normal again, but low and behold I was expecting again. With this pregnancy my weight gain was huge (85 lbs). I had gestational diabetes with this pregnancy and losing the weight after was difficult. Being almost 5'9" my height hides my weight a little but the last decade has flown by and I have tried several different diets, Weight watchers, Beresteins, Jenny Craig, South Beach, Atkins, Herbal Magic, etc and so on. I have probably lost over the past ten years at least 437 lbs and have probably gained 554 lbs. But these were all diets, having gastric bypass surgery is not a diet it is a life changing tool. My life changing tool is a definite risk, but to me the risk is worth it as is a means to an end for me. Several years ago now I broke my ankle but when the xrays came back the doctor was almost dumbfounded as he placed them on the screen, we, my husband and I could see the large black holes that appeared throughtout my ankle joint and lower leg. I was diagnosed with a condition called:
Osteochondritis dissecans (pronounced /ˌɒsti.oʊkɒnˈdraɪtɪs ˈdɪsɨkænz/, and often abbreviated to OCD or OD) is a joint disorder in which cracks form in the articular cartilage and the underlying subchondral bone.[1] OCD is caused by blood deprivation in the subchondral bone. This loss of blood flow causes the subchondral bone to die in a process called avascular necrosis. The bone is then reabsorbed by the body, leaving the articular cartilage it supported prone to damage. The result is fragmentation (dissection) of both cartilage and bone, and the free movement of these osteochondral fragments within the joint space, causing pain and further damage.[2][3][4]
In humans OCD is a rare disease, occurring in only 15 to 30 people per 100,000 in the general population each year. I have always remembered having pain in my leg and ankle even as a teenager but doctors always told me that is was growing pains and I should try to lose some weight, thus is where my weight struggles began.
Now saying all that, with years added and 5 surgeries to my ankle ....the weight I carry in definitely not a helpful thing. I am on a wait list to have my ankle completely replaced as it is not stable and works when it wants. With having pain daily and not being able to exercise as well as I should or could have it has been a bad catch 22. On Feb 18th 2011 I joined the gym, doing what I can to lose weight and show the surgeon that I am going to put the effort into my life change. I have been to the gym 5 days a week since......not counting today cause I don't think I can breathe right to exercise today.
So I guess the morale of this story is I am changing my life drastically in order to lose weight and maintain weight loss to have my ankle replaced to not live in pain everyday. I would like to continue to blog about my pending weight loss and daily journey to the surgery and afterwards as the weight begins to shed
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