My History

Change is the essence of life. 

Be willing to surrender what you are for what you 

could become...

I am a wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt and friend, but above all I am me....

Hello, my name is Lecia Gibson.  I am in my 40's with two young, energetic boys.   I was born in a small town in Oklahoma (Prague) and have lived in the state for the majority of my life.  I graduated from Maud High School in 1989 and attended East Central University in Ada, OK.  I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Health Information Management.  I sat for my registry test and received my  Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA) in October 1995.  I have worked in healthcare for 20 years.  I currently work as a Specialty Coder/Documentation Improvement Specialist with a concentration in cardiology and cardiovascular surgery.  I also own LKG Ventures, Inc and provide healthcare consulting in all aspects of Health Information Management.  This lead me to develop the website www.internationalmds.com.  As you follow my journey, the reason for this website will become apparent.

I have spent the biggest part of my life as an obese person.  I have (as most people) tried multiple fad diets, exercise, and have played the yo-yo weight loss game for many of those years.  I have never been what you would call an unhealthy person.  I have never had the multiple health issues that typically haunt obese people (such as high blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol issues, heart problems) but I do have an extensive family history of these issues and was headed down a path to those problems as long as my weight remained.  I finally had a mental break-through and realized that I had a skinny person inside me, dying to get out.  I was tired of being the fat girl that got the side-ward glances and whispers behind her back.  

In January of 2012, I attended a meeting to start the process for weight loss surgery.  I had researched the different procedures and I had already decided what I wanted to have done (gastric banding) and when I met with the physician of the weight loss program, that was the procedure that he recommended for me.  At that time I weighed a hefty 293 pounds and was wearing a women's size 28.  I am ashamed to say that I had gotten to that size but I will NEVER be there again.

Today, two years later, I am down to 183 pounds and am wearing size 12-14.  

My goal weight is 160 pounds and then the rest of my journey begins.  

This was me in January 2012 at 293 pounds.

This is me as a baby, in kindergarten and a senior in high school.