Hey everyone! I'm Joanna and I'm a 37 year old mother of two boys (11 and 4), who constantly keep me on my toes. I work in the laboratory at a Level 2 trauma hospital, primarily a blood banker (I make sure you get blood that won't kill you if you need a transfusion).

I have a tumor on my pituitary and diagnosed with a rare disorder named Acromegaly. It causes an overproduction of growth hormone, and causes inflammation of all of my soft tissues. It causes weight gain, which in turn causes more joint pain. I've had brain surgery in 2016, which was successful for a year or so, but the tumor returned. I've underwent gamma knife radiation and we are still waiting to see if it was successful or not.

This brings me to my current situation, I'm at my heaviest and I'm tired of being this way. I'm working really hard on logging all of my foods, making my step goals, and trying new exercise programs. I'm not sure how successful I'll be due to my tumor, but I'm counting every loss as a positive.