Special Needs Weight Loss Journey

For Marissa’s Message to the World tomorrow night LIVE from TIMES SQUARE, we have changed it to viewing LIVE FROM TIKTOK!!!
Thankfully I have enough followers to make it work!

https://www.tiktok.com/?_t=8mRBLEOsQSk&_r=1

I need yall again.

Marissa cannot stop crying. Can y’all please send her some peace, joy and love?

We just got to NYC and we are stuck sitting in a bathroom while she cries. 😞

I am holding her as a MOTHER the best way I can.
But I could use some OUTSIDE COLLECTIVE SUPPORT for my little Butterfly. 🦋

My Marissa could use some prayers. I’m not asking for advice. When I am asking for is for you to send your prayers to my sweet little butterfly girl. Or light, good vibes, etc.

Most people don’t know this, but about the last four months she cries daily typically two hours a day and it can be as small as 10 minutes a day. But it’s pretty intense. We have used multiple methods to try to help her. 

She needs people to send her love & support.

Thank you friends.
🦋✨💕🌎💎🌊

I am so happy for Marissa. Years ago, we had to get handicap tags because of how painful the fair was for her to walk back to the car. We never chose to do a wheelchair and she always just walked. But this was her first year since she can remember that it was not painful for her today. She kept up with us and had no issues. So happy for her. I am so proud of her hard work. No one really knows, but the journey from about two weeks before surgery to about six months after were some of the hardest months of our life. We are on the other side of that now and we are super thankful.

 It was definitely hard work for someone with special needs to go through everything that she went through. Surgery was her choice but two weeks before surgery, She had to change her eating, and it did not go well. So it was quite the journey, but I’m so proud of her and if you see her now, she cannot stop talking and she’s the happiest she’s ever been in her life. She’s come off several medication‘s and she is really thriving. 

Marissa feels great! And that was the entire goal with weight loss surgery.

So thankful for Dr. Pilati and his team.

81 lbs down

The really amazing thing is getting to see how perked up she is and how much more energy she has. Last year at this time was so hard. Definitely one of the hardest things she has ever done, and we have done as a team. But we made it!!! And Marissa feels fantastic.

A year ago today I took Marissa to a Maren Morris concert with some amazing tickets that were gifted to us.

Y’all my child was ANGRY that night trying to walk. She was in pain and breathless. We feared she would lose her mobility and be wheelchair bound sooner rather than later. I mean Marissa and I feared it. I have always been straightforward with her, being totally honest. She knew she was beautiful…she just didn’t feel good at only 19 years old.

She struggled walking 1/2 a block in Raleigh.
We talked that night and agreed to pursue weight loss surgery so she could feel better.
We started the process the next day and she had surgery by September 30th.

The difference now is she can enjoy life better. It’s been a tough, hard road. No one that we could find with special needs had paved the way before us. The 2 weeks before surgery and months after were so difficult on her and me. We still have issues we work through.

She is thriving now. This has got to be the hardest thing she has ever done. Change is especially hard for her and when you change someone’s food completely, it can be like pure hell. It was pure hell, with her crying and screaming and fighting major depression.

But she survived. My strong young woman. I am super proud of her.

This was truly a journey. A hard one. And she still has to do a lot for it be successful. But she is crushing it.

About 70 lbs gone
Proud of Marissa

This girl has lost 53 lbs! Way to go Marissa!