It’s such an American issue.
It impacts MILLIONS of people worldwide, but particularly in America.
“Fat American,” is more than just a cliche or stereotype, particularly at the Heart Attack Grill. It’s a way of life for many Americans.
With the “body positivity movement” some people refuse to accept the reality of the dangers of obesity, and use the whole “I’m perfect the way I am,” sentiment to justify binge eating, lack of medical care, and not changing destructive eating habits.
Many of these people are dying, regularly.
Fighting old age, contending with menopause and the typical weight gain that seems to typify the menopausal experience can be a challenge for women over 50, or 55-years-of-age.
It certainly was for me.
I’d been a kid of normal weight. When I was little, I’d never been overweight and some might even say skinny. When I was a teenager, I weighed an enviable 125 pounds, which lasted through my early 20s.
I studied ballet for many years and had been able to remain in good condition during most of those years. But as I got older, right around 19, the ballet classes stopped and I was no longer part of a daily exercise regimen. Despite walking a great deal, my years in ballet ended, which in many ways was a sad experience. I was really good. I could have gone professional. But that requires family support, and I didn’t have it.
Then as I hit 25, I slowly began to gain weight. It took decades to get to a point where I was extremely overweight, technically obese and realized I had to do something about it. After my doctor began talking with me about weight loss surgery, about 18 months ago, having previously trying medications like Phentermine hydrochloride, which is a mild stimulant but primarily described as an appetite suppressant, I decided I needed to seriously consider one of the three weight loss surgeries. I decided the safest one was what they call The Sleeve.
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT…
The cost of weight loss surgery varies. In Mexico, the surgery can be as low as $4,395 for the Sleeve surgery, which is the most common surgery performed for weight loss. Without insurance, the price can go from $9,000 up to $20, 930, with the average cost of weight loss surgery in the United States in ranges around $26,000 and in the state of Oregon, ranging from $25,000 to $30,000, or in my case, a bit over $30,000.
Because I had comorbidity, (three separate conditions related to excess weight) the surgery was covered by insurance and I didn’t have to pay a single DIME. I was lucky. I also had a doctor, my primary physician, who really seemed to care about me and advocated for me strongly. He told me, “If we have any issues with the insurance, I’ll push this myself. I’ll do whatever I have to, to make sure you get this surgery. It will change your life.”
And it did.
But my experience was unique and may still have long-lasting consequences, which I may have to address in the next year or so. Hopefully, those consequences won’t be detrimental, but we will see. I will cover the more complex results in the audio podcast above. Feel free to listen.
The doctors did not anticipate I would lose the weight so quickly. When I told them my goal is 125 pounds, they told me that it would be unlikely that I would get down to that weight.
We will see. We will see.
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