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I want to offer Heather Orosz a
special thank you for sharing her story with us. Here is her
story:
Dear Barbara,
My name is Heather Orosz. I am 24 years old and had
gastric bypass surgery on February 17, 2010. Here is my
story:
My whole life I have been overweight.
Some can say it runs in my family, others may say life
happened. The first time I can remember being teased because
of my weight was in pre-school. I still remember his name.
It was Pablo. It was a very tragic time for me, and to this
day, 20 years later it still hurts.
The teasing continued whether it was on
the bus, in school, at the store, you name it, it happened.
At the age of about 10, I went on my first “diet” called
Herbalife. I remember the pills and shakes being disgusting,
and I couldn’t understand why I was the only kid having to
do something like this. I can’t remember a very big success
rate, but from then on I was always on a diet. Nothing
seemed to work, and the diets that did, only lasted a few
months. If I lost weight, I gained it all back, plus some.
I remember in middle school weighing
225 pounds, and having to weigh myself in front of my
classmates. It was very embarrassing. I wondered why I had
to be the big girl. Why did I have to feel so trapped in my
own skin?
I remember in high school my weight
started fitting my body a little better, but I still could
barely fit in the desks in school, and I was still teased
and laughed at. I started drinking at a very young age,
because I wanted to escape the thoughts racing through my
mind. I even tried drugs. Nothing seemed to take away the
pain I was feeling inside. During high school, I was
admitted into the psychiatric ward of our local hospital. I
began to cut and burn myself so that I would focus on the
pain I was feeling on the outside, rather than the pain on
the inside. I felt like dying would be the only way to rid
the pain. I could no longer endure the hurtful comments, the
laughing, and teasing I had been going through since I was
four years old.
It became normal to only be able to
shop at one store, Lane Bryant, because no other store had
clothes that would fit me. I had gotten up to a size 26/28
shirt and pants. Even those started to feel tight. I began
to think to myself that I was in the biggest size there
was, and what on earth was I going to do? I realized that
something had to be done.
In February 2009, I found out about
weight loss surgery which sounded like it might help me. I
called my insurance provider, and unfortunately they didn’t
want anything to do with the surgery. They even told me if I
did end up paying for the surgery out of pocket, and I were
to have any complications, they would not cover any of those
expenses either.
It was a big let down to me. I wondered
why God was making me struggle so much with this. Then I
realized that maybe it wasn’t the right time. Maybe I needed
to get something right in my life. I realized that if
anything were to happen, it needed to be on God’s time, not
my own.
A year went by, and my Mom discovered
that if I were to become a full-time student, I could then
be on her insurance. Her insurance covered the surgery. I
never thought about going back to school. I always hated
school, because of all the teasing I had gone through. I was
made fun of my whole life. I was therefore a little iffy at
the thought of having to deal with that again. However I
quickly enrolled, and in January of 2010 I got on my Mom’s
insurance.
One day as I was leaving work, I
noticed that my doctor’s office had called. I listened to
the message, and couldn’t believe it. They had me scheduled
for my gastric bypass procedure February 17, 2010. I was
shocked. Every emotion I could possibly have raced through
my head at the speed of lightening. I was so excited!
I had one month to prep for surgery. I
had to quit smoking, something I had been doing since the
age of 15. I started on Chantix, and a week later I had
quit. It’s amazing what you are capable of doing when you
put your mind to it. I had to go on a 2-week liquid diet. I
had to see the dietician and the psychotherapist. This was a
huge decision that I was making. I was 358 pounds, and
sickened with myself by what I had done to become that
weight. I was ready to start my life over.
February 17th came. My
surgery was scheduled for 7:30 AM. I had never had surgery
before, so I was very nervous. I knew I had to suck it up
and do this for me, and no one else.
I remember waking up after surgery, in
pain, and thirsty. I slept a lot. The next day I had to get
out of bed. Whoa, talk about owwy! I did it though, and took
each minute as it came. I slept more, and wasn’t in the best
of moods, but I think that’s expected. The next day, I
finally got to go home. My recovery was slow. I think it was
just a huge shock to my body. Also I wasn’t eating anything,
which made me very weak.
Six weeks later I finally made it back
to work. I was still a little sore, but on the road to a
wonderful life. The weight was falling off. Although I
couldn’t see it in the mirror, I was reassured by everyone I
came in contact with.
The months went by, and the weight just
kept falling off. The beginning of February 2011, I went to
bed and felt this really bad pain in my stomach and back. I
felt like I was having a heart attack. The next day, I went
to work, and the pain came back. I ended up leaving work and
going to the emergency room. I explained my symptoms, and
they took an ultrasound of my gall bladder which showed
multiple gall stones. I was scheduled to have my gall
bladder removed on February 16, 2011.
An unexpected emergency came up that my
doctor had to take care of. I was waiting in the hospital to
go in and prep for my surgery, when a nurse came out and
told me that my surgery was cancelled. I was worried,
scared, and in pain. I just wanted my gall bladder removed.
Luckily, my doctor was able to reschedule my surgery for the
next day, which was the one year anniversary of my surgery.
I had lost 150 pounds and was ready for my gall bladder to
be removed. Everything went well, and I healed nicely.
I am now doing things I never thought I
would ever do. I love shopping, and I used to hate it. I am
more active than I have ever been. I no longer go home and
go to bed after work. I am so thankful that God gave me a
second chance at life. And I am so happy that I was blessed
with such a great doctor and medical staff. I still have my
bad days, but doesn’t everyone?
I started at 358 pounds. I have lost
160 pounds in 14 months. I now weigh 198 pounds. I’ve gone
down 6 shirt sizes, and 8 pant sizes. I was in a 26/28
shirt, and now am in a large or medium size. I was in 28
pants, and now I’m in 14’s. Life is so much better.
Heather Orosz
heathero@1stcomm.org
I love good news. If you have good
news, a success story to share, or inspiration, please send
it to me at
Barbara@wlscenter.com so that I can include it in future
issues.
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Congratulations Heather |
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