Part One of my journey to undergo weight-loss surgery
-Beth-Ellen Keyes, BettyConfidential.com
Much media attention of late has been devoted
to Oprah Winfrey's decades-long battle with her weight. Oprah,
honey, I feel your pain: Just three years ago, I was in
the same place as you are now--minus, of course, the eyes and ears
of the nation. And while your A-ha moment came via Tina Turner and
Cher and mine was at a modest birthday celebration with friends and
family, it was an A-ha moment all the same.
The message on the birthday coffee mug read "I'm not
fat, I'm fluffy." I received it graciously, in the spirit
I am sure it was given - full of humor - my usual self-deprecating
self. But, the reality was much more painful. I was no longer
"fluffy"; I had passed "fluffy" about fifty
pounds back. The truth was, I was fat, slowed down and
looking at a world of trouble down the road: aches, pains,
shortness of breath and worse--what are called
"co-morbidities" by the medical weight loss community -
high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease.
To read more
about Keyes, click here.
