Happy Birthday to Me

Today is my birthday, not really as it's actually in January, and since it's always cold, the one weekend of snow, and I typically am giving exams, I like to think that June 30th is my real birthday. It was my surgery date in June 2004. I think by now most friends and family know that I had gastric bypass surgery at Duke after a year long approval process. If you didn't know and you wondered what was up with me, the cat is out of the bag.

I told less than 5 people that I was going through the process including not telling my own family until months after the surgery. I have always been kinda private when it comes to my family and me personally but I know realize that I had such a good experience, why not share it if it helps others. My recovery took most of the next year and in a nutshell really sucked and was not fun. There are still lots of foods I can't eat and probably never will again (sorry Chinese food and most meats). But the trade-off was I was happy with the weight lost and the self- confidence gained.

As many folks know my major reason was that both my parents were diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes in their 40's. My dad died from complications and now my mom is in what is called "end stage renal disease" and requires dialysis. I want to be here as long as I can for my family, friends, and to enjoy life. So I didn't eat cake today, instead I celebrated with a 9 minute mile something that the old heather would have never believed possible.