So who is Connie Jackson you ask? Connie is a lady that lives in Tennessee and at her heaviest she weighed some 630lbs, that's around 285kgs. Connie decided that she had to change and had radical bariatric surgery where they removed around 80% of her stomach and bypassed two thirds of her large intestine. The stomach is obviously to not allow her to eat very much and the bypass was to stop her body absorbing fat (apparently that happens in the large intestine).
In 3 years she dropped 410lbs or about 185kgs. This left her with masses of loose skin. She decided to have it surgically removed. The first operation saw about 25lbs (11kgs) of skin and fat removed from her waist. The piece of flesh was around 5' (which is as tall as my eldest daughter, Julia!). They then pulled the skin up and stitched her back together. The scar goes all the way around her body and she was in physical pain for months.
Then she had her legs done. Cuts from her groin to her knee and about 10lbs (4kgs) per leg taken away. And this is where it gets bad. Apprently people who have been morbidly obese have difficulty with blood flow to their skin due to the distance, area and fat involved. These opeations often have complications due to the lack of blood flow. Sure enough poor Connie ended up with gangrene and had months of therepy along with skin grafts. She now has massive scarring and is less than happy with her result.
She then flew to London to have her arms and breasts done. The surgeon there refused to operate, much to Connie's disappointment and disgust. The surgeon felt that her body couldn't take more surgery and that due to the stomach and bowel surgery she was now very malnourished and that would make recovery too difficult for her. The programme was called 'The Shrinking Woman' and I watched it on the Bio channel on Foxtel.
Thank you Connie for showing the world your story - you have had a big impact on me. Firstly I am inspired to keep at the weight loss thing. I DO NOT want to end up weighing that much. Secondly, I will keep at the exercise in order to avoid as much loose skin as I can because there is no way I would contemplate those surgeries. The risk is just to high and for what? What the world considers aesthetically pleasing? I'd rather be ugly and alive thanks.
One of the saddest parts of the show for me was when she spoke about food. She used to love food, eating and the social aspect to food. Now she can't eat more than 2 tbls of food at one time and often that is too much. She views eating as chore and is often nauseous. I don't want that for me. I had contemplated having gastric banding done, which is no where near as radical as Connie's surgery but is still pretty drastic. I don't want to end up hating food. It is an important part of our social being and I love the taste, texture, smell and emotions food brings. I just have to learn moderation.
I also have to learn some self control and self discipline. I need to exercise more and be more strict with my eating. I'm not quite sure how to do that. Food and laziness have been a part of my life for so long. Food is my comfort, my love. I eat to feel full. I feed my friends and family to show that I love them. How do I change that without feeling like a part of me has been ripped away? How do I understand that I have love and can feel emotionally fulfilled without having to feel physically full?
Interestingly it's not just my stomach that has to be full for me to feel happy and fulfilled. I overfill my fridge and pantry. I get agitated when food begins to run out. I hate it when the egg shelf in the fridge isn't full. I get annoyed when the containers of food run low or out. I feel good after going shopping and filling everything back up. There is obviously an issue here. Wish I knew why I feel this and behave this way.
I'm not sure how to find the answers to these questions but perhaps having the questions verbalised is a start. I will now begin the search for my answers.....
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