“You will be putting the control back in your hands to go build a life again and participate instead of letting it pass you by.”
Tammy’s ‘Take Control’ Moment
“My weight was always an issue, I was always the fat kid. From the time I was in kindergarten, I was the tallest and I was the fattest. I never dated and I even went to my prom by myself. All of the things you should be doing and should be learning as you grow up, I never learned and I never did.”
When my doctor said to me, “Tammy, you are 34 and if you don’t lose 100 pounds you’ll never live to see 64. I’m treating you what I treat 64 year olds for.” She scared me enough that I went from just looking at surgery to really investigating. A lot of doctors still have the belief that it’s a character flaw, that being overweight is the patient’s problem and that it’s not a medical issue, when a lot of it is a medical issue.
Benefits Beyond Weight Loss
I had my Lap-Band® Surgery and it took about 22 months to lose about 110 lbs. I previously had diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, and polycystic ovarian syndrome. I was on medications for everything, and almost all of these things will kill you. Now I don’t take medication for anything that will kill me. You’re not just looking for an easy way out, because anyone who tells you that about surgery does not know what they are talking about–come spend a day with me.
