Woman writes own Obituary

Here is part of an obit written by an frustrated overweight Nova Scotia lady that she posted online to express her anger at the long wait for weight loss surgery. She is currently on a 10-year wait list for bariatric surgery which decreases the size of the stomach.

On Dr. Yoni Freedhoff's blog, weightymatters.ca, she wrote, "We are sad to inform you of the untimely passing of a young mother, sister, daughter and friend. She died at a young age due to complications with obesity that she fought for years to overcome. Lillian suffered many years with asthma, severe high blood pressure, pain due to stress on her joints from her weight and in the last while was diagnosed with sleep apnea and diabetes."

I don't know how heavy this gal is or how long she has tried to lose weight or what weight loss methods she's used, but I do wonder why the wait list is 10 years long? Why are there so many obese folks in a small province like Nova Scotia, that surgeons can't keep up?  What is going on with people? Why are we getting so overweight that we can't lose the extra baggage on our own?

If her weight is so life-threatening, why can't this Nova Scotia woman just quit eating so much and start exercising so she can live longer? Surely, she hasn't really tried very hard? After all, everyone knows fat people are just lazy. Right? Well...

There was a time I absolutely didn't believe obesity was a "real" disease or disorder. I figured the solution was easy and obvious; just quit stuffing your face so full of food! Viola! Problem solved! But then I saw how my own sister struggled to keep her weight under control and realized that there was more to this problem than my simplistic and insensitive viewpoint.

My sister's problem began in childhood when thoughtless parents ridiculed her for being pudgy. By pudgy, I mean a mere 10 or 15 pounds overweight. Suffering rude comments like; "Give her a shovel, the fork is too small" or "She's got a ass on her like a forty dollar steer" did nothing for my sister's self-esteem. These embarrassing comments were intended to cause her to eat less out of humiliation, but in fact, caused her to seek solace in food. The very thing that was causing her to gain weight became her best friend. Funny how our mind works...

To make a long story short, what was a small childhood problem that my sister would likely have outgrown, became a lifelong battle. The emotional scarring became permanent and so firmly entrenched that all the diets and exercise programs in the world didn't work.

She had great success at times with diet and exercise losing at one point a whopping 130 pounds! The problem was that she regained most of this weight as time passed. All her efforts and desperation drove her to try more and more crazy diets in hopes of winning the battle of the bulge. She tried diets that were potentially more harmful to her health than the extra weight.

Many people who have weight problems have greater emotional issues that need to be addressed in order to heal from the inside out. I don't know the history or story of the lady from Nova Scotia who has come to rely on an operation to lose weight. I do know she sees it has a last hope or she wouldn't have written the faux obit. Perhaps she's tried everything including psychological help, without success.

I do know that being obese isn't just life-threatening, it is also, life-altering. We need to begin viewing people with weight issues with more empathy and compassion. As with all addictions, food provides an escape from pain. Most of these people know their addiction is killing them, but like the heroin addict they are helpless to help themselves. Obesity is a complicated disease that involves the whole of us; mind, body, spirit. I don't believe diets, surgery, pills or exercise can end the brutal cycle of loss and gain until we start treating every aspect of the individual.

I pray God is able to show this lady from Nova Scotia an alternative way to overcome her weight issues. If she can heal the reasons that she overeats then she won't need the surgery.

" He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds." Psalms 147:3