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Surgeon: Dr. Baltasar (unless insurance changes), Alcoy, Spain
Pre-op BMI: 49

 
Above: Pre-op

by Carmelle:

My name is Carmelle. I am fat. Just saying those words is so painful. I have been overweight all my life. I remember my weight gain starting the summer between 1st and 2nd grade. We had to get weighed at the beginning of school. I had gained 20 lbs!! The teacher just couldn’t believe it. She kept going on and on about how much weight I had gained. I didn’t feel fatter. I had played all summer, taken swimming lessons and rode bikes every day. I honestly did not know how I gained the weight. It has been a constant battle since then. My mom would always tell me I was big boned and muscles weighed more than fat. Okay, that is nice but it didn’t keep the other kids from teasing me. I was miserable. My teenage years weren’t much better. I had lots of friends but I always felt like the outsider because of my weight. I went through high school weighing around 182lbs. There was a short period of time after high school that I did lose weight. It was so short that I don’t know if it even counts. I have been on so many kinds of diets that I have lost track. Diet pills, vegetables only, no carbs, no fat, high protein, cabbage soup diet, weight watchers, metabolife, diet center, nutralife, it goes on and on. I could count on losing about 10 lbs and gaining back 12 lbs. every time!!

I am now at the highest I have ever weighed. I am so sensitive about it I can’t even put it in writing. You can look at the pictures of me and make a good guess, and probably be right. Every time I look in the mirror I think that isn’t me. How did I get so huge? I have three very active young girls. They are getting to that age when their mother embarrasses them. One daughter told me one day that one of the kids in her class said that her mother was fat. She felt so bad. She said she didn’t want to tell me because she didn’t want to hurt my feelings. I told her that my feelings don’t get hurt anymore, but they do. I want to be a normal size mom. One who can ride bikes, play at the park, and just be active with my girls. They have said that they want to go to Disney Land. I don’t. I would be miserable. I don’t think I could do all the walking you have to do. I couldn’t ride any rides. I don’t want to be the mom that sits at the end of the line holding everyone’s bags, waiting for them to get off the ride. I want to be the mom that enjoys her family.

I have a very loving husband. He tells me he loves me and I have a pretty face every day. He also tells me that I need to loose weight so that I can be around to take care of all of them. They would be lost with out me. I feel so bad. I don’t want to leave my girls with out a mother, and my husband with out his sole-mate.

My sister Machelle had DS surgery May 8, 2001. I have watched her success during the past months. She can eat like a normal person and weighs what a normal person weighs. That seems impossible to me. I eat like a normal person and gain weight. I am so ready to be normal. I want to have the before and after pictures. I want the vacations with my husband and kids. I know that if I don’t get this surgery done I won’t have a very long life. I am so happy with other aspects of my life, spiritually and emotionally. I just want to feel good, physically.

I have tried to get insurance to pay for this. I have had three different insurance companies that all refuse to pay for any kind of weight loss efforts. I have also tried to get jobs that have the insurance that I need. I do have a job now, but they don’t offer any insurance. I have had many interviews with other companies that offer the insurance that I need, but I never get past the first interview. I know it has to do with my weight. One company called my several times wanting me to come in for an interview. He had read my resume and was interested in interviewing me for the position. The man that came to meet me for the interview gave me one of those looks. You know the one: the head to toe and back up, then gives you that sympathy smirk. He did interview me but said that I wasn’t what he was looking for. This is after he told me on the phone that my past job experience is exactly what he was looking for. I was so sure that I was getting that job, until I got the look. My heart just sank. People think if you are over weight that you aren’t intelligent, you are lazy and all you are going to do if they hire you is eat all day. After several months of the same results, dreading my next interview, I was relieved to get hired for the job that I have now.

I am now trying to get funds together to go to Dr. Baltasar. The extra money that I earn is going towards my surgery fund. I am so ready for my own weight loss success to begin.

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