Current Events > I'm very proud of my brother (feel-good topic)

(+) Yeah! (+)

My brother has had a very hard time. Mental illness runs rampant in my family, and each of us 3 siblings have different issues we have worked through.

At age 19, he was 550 pounds. Im not going to have conversations about blame placed on my parents - its there, sure, but they tried their best and at a certain point there is so much they can do when a teenaged child simply ignores/actively goes against all the help they try to extend. That topic has been discussed and dealt with by us plenty.

He dropped out of high school, got a GED, started college/training programs however many times and always dropped out. Never held to any jobs. Tried losing weight at least 15 times, always giving up a few weeks in. No friends, never left the house. He was deep in a depression and resistant to any and all efforts to get him out of it. We all thought he would be dead in a matter of years either from weight or from suicide.

Now, at 22, he has an Associates degree, is on his way to his Bachelors. He has a great job with a salary and benefits (and in the video games industry no less - something he always wanted but we never thought would actually come to fruition). Over the last year and a half hes been working with a bariatric doctor/professional trainer and is down to 430 pounds, and is scheduled to get a gastric bypass this summer that will help him get over the rest of the weight hump. Its not just a quick fix either - his doctor has been seeing him every month to make sure his diet-exercise changes are built in to his lifestyle so that he could prove he was serious about it and not just looking for an easy out.

Just feels good to talk about how proud I am of him - and hopefully, if any CEfolk feel theyre in a situation that is inescapable, I can vouch that it is possible, even if you start and fail as he did for 4 years before finally getting on top of it.

Please share any other feel-good things you are proud of in yourself or in a family member/friend!

Bananana posted...

He dropped out of high school, got a GED, started college/training programs however many times and always dropped out. Never held to any jobs.

He has a great job with a salary and benefits (and in the video games industry no less - something he always wanted but we never thought would actually come to fruition)

This alone is practically a miracle, even for people with no mental/physical health struggles.

550lbs what the fuck

I dont have any I can share, but I do want to congratulate your and your brother. That takes a lot of good work and dedication, and Im sure he couldnt have done it without a support system such as you to help get him to where hes at today. Heres hoping he can keep that momentum rolling.

Fair play to the lad, that's an impressive turnaround.

Good on your Bananana-bro.

How did your brother get into the video game industry?

CRON posted...

This alone is practically a miracle, even for people with no mental/physical health struggles.

Certainly. He started as an entry-level contractor doing basic QA and whatnot. To his credit, he is extremely intelligent and once he was there they noticed, and started putting him in different certification programs and moving him up. Hes not rich by any means, but at a comfortable level where hell be able to move out of our parents once his surgery is done and hes recovered. A good mix of luck and his own efforts.
Turtlebread posted...

550lbs what the fuck

It was pretty hard to watch. My whole family aside from me is overweight, but once his depression got real deep and he dropped out of high school, he did pretty much nothing but sit on a computer and eat fast food all day. It starts to add up pretty quick. He did football and tennis when he was actually in school but ceased all physical activity once he left.

BuIIyMaguire posted...

I dont have any I can share, but I do want to congratulate your and your brother. That takes a lot of good work and dedication, and Im sure he couldnt have done it without a support system such as you to help get him to where hes at today. Heres hoping he can keep that momentum rolling.

Thank you very much! Weve always been extremely cautious to not get our hopes up given how often hes started these things and then dropped them. But now, a year later, he seems as motivated as ever and is getting promotions at work and doing well in his classes. Seems like hes really on a path now.
Tom Clark posted...

Fair play to the lad, that's an impressive turnaround.

Ivynn posted...

Good on your Bananana-bro.

Agreed!

CRON posted...

How did your brother get into the video game industry?

He had some brief work doing call-center stuff for a software company (Intuit), and then got a little bit into QA. He left that company and got a gig as a contractor for Epic Games, who I guess contracts a lot of their entry-level positions. They liked him enough to bring him into a full-time position once his contract expired, actually employed by the company now.