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ObesityVote.com
is a grassroots effort.
Last Updated
11/21/05
©Copyright 2005
Tammy W. Rigney DBA Bird's Eye Graphics.
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Points to Include in your Letters
Most of you had to write a letter to your insurance
company prior to your weight-loss surgery asking for approval. In writing this
letter, you had to come up with some specific examples of how obesity had
affected your life. These were well-thought-out personal health and social
issues you had to endure because of morbid obesity. These letters will be
helpful for you to draw on when writing your letter to your legislator.
If you have already had weight-loss surgery, take these
points you mentioned in your letter to your insurance company and compare them
to how losing the weight has changed your health as well as your personal life.
Below are some great examples compiled by ObesityVote.com
An
unhealthy existence...
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I get winded when I take the stairs or walk
more than 100 yards. |
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I have bursitis in my shoulders from using my
arms to help me out of the car. |
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I have so many health issues because of my
weight that it’s difficult to pay all my medical expenses. |
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I was so big that I couldn’t exercise. |
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My back was in bad shape with all that extra
weight; I couldn’t walk without a cane or stand up straight. |
Humiliation...
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People used to treat me like I
was invisible, something awful to look at, as they cast their eyes downward;
now people look me in the eye and respect me! |
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I never went to the movie
theater because I couldn’t fit in the seats. |
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I fear taking an airplane
because I know I will have to buy two seats! |
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I wouldn’t fit into a hospital
gown while having an x-ray; I had to sit in the waiting room with this
skin-tight, uncomfortable garment that showed all my bulges! |
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I couldn’t fit through those
turnstiles at airports and theaters. |
What
do you take for granted?
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I can finally bathe myself properly. |
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Now I can feel my ribs and knees; I can finally
see a collarbone! |
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I
am so big that I can’t get in the floor to play with my grandkids. |
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I
don’t have a lap for my children to sit in. |
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Now
I do everything I always knew I could do, if only I wasn’t morbidly obese. |
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I
could hardly get off the couch because I was so huge; my husband and kids
had to take care of me and do all the housework and go to school and work. |
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It’s
so hard to lose the weight. I have tried every diet in the book. I will lose
ten pounds then stop. I give up and then regain the ten pounds plus 20 more!
Years of this has lead to my morbid obesity. |
The
gift of life...
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I
am thankful I had the surgery when I did. At 30 years old, the thought of
being disabled for the rest of my life put me into a deep depression. |
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Thank
God I had this surgery! My life has changed so much for the better—I am
preparing to run a marathon! |
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This
surgery is the best tool for treating obesity. It has given me back control
so that I can actually follow a diet and exercise program now! |
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