Lyn, that is quite the story. I can't imagine the horror you must have felt. As I was reading your post, I was sitting here nodding my head in agreement. There were so many times I felt helpless as a mom and that I let my kids down and yes, even put their very lives in danger. I was so handicapped by the weight. What immediately comes to mind is a story I'm pretty sure I've mentioned here at 3FC before. That terrible day back in 2001, September 11, when the World Trade Center was bombed and so many innocent people lost their lives. Well, the following day, September 12, my 3 daughters were given the day off of school. We had a family function coming up in October and I used that day off as an opportunity to take them clothes shopping to get them something for the event. It felt kinda strange going, given what had occured the day previously, but nevertheless we hit the mall. Well, sure enough, we're in the middle of shopping, clothing in our hands and the alarms sounded everywhere. There was a bomb threat (turned out to be a prank, though we didn't know it at the time), and we were told to evacuate. So we had to find the nearest exit and STAIRCASE. Well me and my knees and stairs don't get along very well. The mall was quite crowded and I had to take those steps one at a time and let me tell you, people were not patient and kind. They were frightened and wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible and I stood in their way of doing so. I told my kids to go on ahead of me. They wouldn't. I begged them, absolutely begged them to go on without me. That look of terror on their faces were almost too much to bear. They were terrified about the bomb and now they were even more terrified about their mother being trampled to death. I will never, ever forget that day and the horror, shame and fright that I felt.
Anyway, yes, losing the weight is the very best thing you can do for your knees. Though your knees will not repair themselves completely, just having less weight on them will make an AMAZING diffrence. I am pulling for you Lynn, like you can not believe. Take heart and know, absolutely KNOW that you CAN do this. Losing weight is a DOABLE thing. Though it can be hard at times to stick to a certain calorie allotment, it is nowhere near as hard as being morbidly obese. That day back in September was one of the hardest days of my life, just like that day at your son's soccer game. It makes me sick to my stomach to even think about it. I will take the hard of sticking to my calorie allotment any and every day over the hard of ever having to repeat a day like that one back in 2001.