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Surgeon: Dr. Booth and Dr. Kim, Ocean Springs, MS
by Judi: I used to love hearing the story how my aunt and uncle took me to the country the summer I was one year old -- and when they brought me home my mother did not even recognize me! They had loved the way I enjoyed eating, I was a happy baby and loved the attention food time gave me. So they fed me and fed me and fed me! I was such a cute chubby baby! Hah! Then I was the one who (my mother would say jokingly - another Hah!) would love clearing the table at night because I would pick the left over food off of my sisters' plates, and eat all the way to the kitchen! Not to worry though, my mother would say -- it is baby fat and she will lose it. I was the tomboy of four sisters and no brothers, and I rode my bike, ruled the neighborhood, played hide and seek, house, grocery store and all the silly other games we played until we met boys! By Junior High, I was still chunky... but not obese yet... and yet my family continued to label me fat, and I learned to be the fat person they created. After high school I married and had a child -- then divorced and returned to college. I earned degrees in Communication, all the while growing just slightly larger and larger each year. I never lacked for self-esteem though, and was an assertive woman all my life. My mother by now had spent thousands of dollars sending me to every weight loss program she had ever heard of. Like it was now her mission in life to get me thin, even though my maternal grandmother and that side of the family were all quite large Italian women (Heaven forbid I took after "that" side of the family -- ~sigh~ but at least I got mom's brains!). Then she found out about HCG and those wonderful amphetamine shots I got every day! Eat 500 calories a day and believe me you need those amphetamine shots! LOL! I lost over 100 pounds and met my 2nd (and last!) husband. I was gorgeous -- he loved my olive skin and sultry looks! (I used to think I looked like Gina Lolabridgada - but nowadays no one even knows who she is!) We married and moved to New Hampshire where I taught at the University of New Hampshire, got a law degree, started the New Hampshire National Organization for Women, and in general raised hell and peoples awareness of the mostly second-class status of women! Never burned my bra though, since by now I had gained back all my weight and more, and without the bra I would have been a hysterical sight marching (read that bouncing!) down the streets of DC, Chicago or New York! Eventually I burned out on the politics of first in the nation New Hampshire, and we moved back to California (where I had grown up) and I went to work for the government. This was a place I could really make a mark for myself, and with my education I rose to positions and challenges that taught me just how unfair life really is (read that "federal life")! One thing I will say for my weight though, there were plenty of men intimidated by a large woman with a mouth to match! I never let men get the best of me, always had my ducks in a row -- never made a claim I could not support. And meanwhile I was flourishing in a wonderfully supportive marriage with my husband Jim, together we raised our daughter Tracey, who today teaches elementary school in northern California, just received her Masters in Psychology and will become a therapist in the future. Jim and were eventually caught up in the base closure problems from a few years back, and we transferred to Mississippi where there would never be a closure... He was able to retire from the government and now works in private industry. We have a beautiful home on a golf course, with a swimming pool inside our house! Something we never could have afforded living in California! We are learning to love it here, and even though cajun food is not one of my favorites... lobster in drawn butter is... and I still make my famous spaghetti sauce on Sunday. My weight rarely held me back... was never a serious health issue... until a couple of years ago. Diagnosed with Type II diabetes, I quickly learned to keep it under control with medication and exercise... slipping now and again... and growing slooooooooowly ever larger. Last year I turned 55 and I fell... and that is when my troubles began. I had torn both medial meniscus, had arthroscopic surgery, and returned to work -- but could no longer get upstairs to my job very well. Ended up using a wheelchair and then a rascal to get to the elevators. This year, while leaving work one day... I REALLY FELL -- and really hurt myself badly. I have been out of work since August of last year with infected legs, venus insufficiency, subcutaneous thromboflebitis, as well as rheumatoid arthritis. My primary care doctor told me about WLS and sent me off to Dr. Booth. I am about to get my life back, and my ability to remain alive into my retirement years. I have had to fight the insurance company for the last five months, and even now I am not sure they will pay, and I will probably have to pay some part of the cost. But for the first time in almost three years, I may regain the self esteem I know I had... that helped me conquer the world I lived in once... and I pray will do so again.
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