That’s me in the yellow, in the summer of 2020. I’m smiling, but various health concerns I’d been ignoring for years were starting to demand attention.

I’d been living with meralgia paresthetica since January of 2017. Every single day, after I’d stood in one spot for awhile, my left outer thigh would go numb. By the summer of 2020, a cascade of physical, mental and emotional issues prompted me to wake up one day and realize: If I’m lucky, I am middle aged. I cannot live this way for another 45 years. Something has to change.

So I saw a hip doctor, a knee doctor, and a spine doctor. I found a therapist for my mental health. I realized the numbness was more than my thigh - I felt disconnected from my body. I did physical therapy. I saw a doctor for an injection into my SI joint. It didn’t work, and after he blamed my weight for the failure of the injection to make a difference, I texted my friend to get the name of her chiropractor. After several chiropractors visits, I wanted to address the tightness in my muscles and found a massage therapist. When all of that still didn’t relieve my numbness, I knew I needed to take drastic action. Inspired by others who had success with weight loss through gastric surgery, I had a roux en Y gastric bypass on September 8, 2022. I did everything my bariatric team said to do - completely changing my diet, adding exercise, and continuing with the practices that were helping me to feel better: therapy, massage and regular chiropractor visits. Three weeks after my surgery, I could fully feel both my legs for the first time in years.