I was born 6 pounds, 14 ounces. Small by some standards. It would be the smallest I would ever be. I was always heavy and was always shopping in the plus size section even when I was really young. Most of the clothes were really hideous.

In the 5th grade, I was about 5 feet and weighed 177 pounds. When I got to the end of 6th grade, I was 230 pounds and 5'4. I left high school at a whopping 375 pounds, and was 5'6.

While in grade school and middle school, I tried Weight Watchers, limiting my diet, cutting out sweets.... you name it. When I first went to high school, I developed Anorexia and Bulimia, simply because I figured that if I just stopped eating or threw my food back up, that I would lose every ounce of fat.

After high school, I started college. I quit to take care of my dad, who was morbidly obese. His heaviest weight was 720 pounds, and he was 6'10. My dad passed away over 4 years ago from a massive heart attack caused in part by his weight. I get my morbid obesity gene from him.

I developed the same leg condition as my father which is Lower Extremity Venous Stasis Disease. This disease stops the blood flow into your legs, causing your skin to blister and bruise all over. Then finally, when the blisters pop, you are left with exposed muscle and tissue, and in really extreme cases, you could also have exposed bone. You have hardly any feeling in the feet, but the ulcers, as the open spots are called, are really painful. There is only two ways of getting this under control. One is to keep your legs elevated, and the other is to lose weight.

I told no one of this condition at first. I would continue my lifestyle I had before this came up, and it was only making things worse. I was draining at least a gallon of fluid out of my legs, and the areas where I had the sores were not healing.

I think my turning point was June of 2001, when we had the remnants of Tropical Storm Allison in my area. We had 10 inches of rain in a span of about 6 hours, everywhere was flooded, and we had 8 feet of water in our basement. My mother and I were driving home when we got caught in a three foot wall of water. I was told to undo my seatbelt, unlock my door and keep my hand on the door handle, in case we had to get out of the car in a hurry. I knew that with all that water, I would never be able to get the door open. And I knew that there was no way, because of my legs and my weight that I would be able to climb out of the hatchback of the car to safety. If we had to try to get out of the car, I know I could have died.

Soon after I was eligible for Medical Assistance and received care for my legs. By then I weighed 453 pounds. If I did not get my weight under control, in 2 years at the age of 29 I could be a double amputee. I was also in danger of a heart attack at any time. I had to act fast.

I made an appointment with my weight loss surgery surgeon.  The earliest appointment I could get was 7 months later.  But I used that time to research and research some more.  My surgery was scheduled for August 21, 2002.  I now weighed 480 pounds.

My surgery was done as an open incision rather than laparoscopically because my organs were not in the right spot.  Unfortunately I had an incision infection after surgery.  My weight loss was dramatic.  My first month, I lost 58 pounds, my second month only 4 pounds.  But the third month 14 pounds, and the fourth month I lost 27 pounds, for a total of 103 pounds in 4 months. I have since lost almost 200 pounds.

My legs are much better but are still a problem, but not like they were before.  

I told everyone that I was having weight loss surgery, because I wasn't going to lie. I didn't care what others thought of me for doing this. I still don't care what others think. I am up and actually doing things that weren't possible before surgery. I have a ceramic studio downstairs in my basement that I sunk money into that wasn't getting use. I am down there now when I can get down there, and I love it. I also love to walk my dogs now, and they see it as a treat, since they know that I wasn't doing this before surgery.

I also plan on going back to college. I'm not going back for the major I started out in, which was a major in elementary teaching and a minor in computers.  I've decided to take up nutrition, try to become a Registered Dietician, and deal with mainly those of us who have had surgery and/or also have medical conditions that limit their diet, like diabetes and hypertension. I know these three areas because of taking care of myself and my Dad.

I do wish my Dad were here to see my success, but I know he's out there somewhere, beaming at my success so far. And the best part of this?? I know it's going to get better.

Mags Loughlin, Willow Grove, PA

Mags at 480	Mags at 286