What a ‘trip’… and I haven’t even had weight loss surgery yet!
Thursday, February 14th, 2008Hi,
It’s been a while since I last posted, and I apologize for that. In the last few weeks, many issues that have been bubbling away in my life for a long time have demanded my attention (and, if you know what it’s like to have a BMI of 46, you can guess what they would be).
First, here’s how all of this got started
In recent months, you have been sending me emails saying things like “what’s your angle” and “who are you, really”…. Now seems to be the perfect time to tell you my story.
I have been obese since childhood and weighed 260 to 280 lbs for longer than I like to remember. About 2 years ago something happened in my family that got me thinking deeply about my own longevity - I mean, who doesn’t want to enjoy their grand children as the years go by….
And so I started out on this wild journey by researching WLS as a possible solution for me.
I discovered 2 versions of the truth
What I found was that there seems to be 2 different stories. One is that WLS is a fool proof easy way to permanently lose weight - a “no-brainer” for anyone who is eligible and suffering from a bunch of life threatening obesity co-morbidities.
The other story is that WLS is radical surgery that should not be undertaken lightly - that there are many other factors at play and having WLS is no guarantee of success. I stumbled upon some sites that were full of heart wrenching failure stories. One MO person reported that while she made the decision to not have surgery, over 40 of her friends who had WLS had died in the ensuing 10 or more years - hardly a ringing endorsement!
I found the fact that there were 2 diverse stories to be frustrating and alarming.
Helping others seemed the right thing to do
So I started doing more and more research and thought that I should do my bit to help others like me realize that, while WLS can be a solution, it’s not a magic bullet. So the emails began.
I was surprised how well those emails were received by you, and it wasn’t too long before I had 5000 people on my email list - WOW.
And here’s the really funny part - I am an intensely private person who has never made friends easily. It’s a miracle that my husband and I ever got together (LOL). And here I was sending emails to 5000 people…crazy.
Next thing you know, I was in the book business
That was the beginning, and then I had this idea that I should get a book written by an independent expert that once-and-for-all settled the debate - so I spent the last 8 months and 10 of $000’s of my own money to get Weight_Loss Surgery SECRETS together.
Well, I have to tell you, once the launch of the book was done, the sigh of relief that came from deep inside of me could be heard in Canada… (a scary thought, huh). What also happened was that lot of ‘issues’ that I had been ignoring caught up with me.
You know how they say ‘plumbers have leaky faucets’ - well, it’s time I took some of my own advice!
The team is growing
Luckily, a few months ago I was ‘chatting’ to an old friend of mine who lives in Australia. You see, as a child my family travelled around a lot for my father’s work, and we spent a few years ‘Down Under’. Surprisingly, I’ve kept in contact with my ‘Ozzie’ friend on and off for many, many years (I’m not telling you how ‘many’ - that’s a lady’s prerogative….). To be honest, I don’t have any other friends like that - maybe it’s the distance, but I feel I can tell her anything.
Anyway, I was recently chatting to her and, I have to admit, I was whining about how hard it all was and how I didn’t know how I was going to cope.
And then we got chatting about her ‘boys’, and she told me they had recently started working together on the internet.
Well, I call that Providence!
So now, Phoenix and Adam are part of the WLS Secrets family. When they heard of my dilemma, they dropped everything and came to my rescue - thanks boys!
The plain truth is, if it wasn’t for them, Weight_Loss Surgery SECRETS would still be sitting on my hard-drive, gathering dust (or at least the electronic equivalent of dust). They have overwhelmed me with their level of commitment and compassion, and so I am very relieved that they are ‘on-board’.
Now I can focus on what I love…and some other stuff
You know what I love doing - researching and writing and digging for answers. That’s how all this got started.
And my number one fear - having to stand up in front of anyone to say anything. I have always been ‘behind-the-scenes’ and that’s where I like it. If it wasn’t for the anonymity of the internet, I would never have been able to get this far.
But the book launch has lead to people asking for my ‘bio’, interviews and photos, and I’m not ready for that. Heck, my immediate family have photos of me only because they caught me off-guard!
So, Phoenix and Adam have agreed to manage that ‘public role’ for a bit, and I fully expect that Providence will come to the rescue to provide a longer term solution.
You can see, it’s all good news for me, and for you. I can now focus on what I love doing - more research and article writing - while also attending to some personal and health issues that I have been ignoring for too long.
So, that’s my story. Look out for more interesting articles from me soon.
Take care,
JK
