Weight Loss Surgery - New person here!

hi everyone -- i'm new here.

my primary care physician's physican's assistant suggested to me that i consider the surgery. i was not happy with her at first. then i thought more about it and did some research. i went back to her a month later and asked her how we would begin the process. she did the referral and i'm nearly finished jumping through the hoops to have surgery very soon.

but boy did she upset me with that initial suggestion. i just was not ready to hear it.

Good morning, ruby!

as you can see, i made your post its own thread [using the magic moderator wand!]. I didn't want your note to be buried.

why were you so resistant at first? gotta tell you - it took me a couple of years from first discussion to actually doing it. i remember saying words like 'body mutilation' and 'all i have to do is get well enough to move again' and other stuff. but at some point, i realized that i was going to be dead soon, and surgery offered me the only hope.

believe me, i'm so impressed that there are others out there who have far more sense than i did [like making their decision BEFORE they were bedridden]. but i always wonder what makes them [and people like you] so smart and me so dense!

:welcome: :welcome: :welcome: :welcome:

Good luck with everything! come here often...ask questions...help others....its a very good support system!

Angela

Welcome! I know how hard it is to wrap your head around the idea of surgery at first. A few years ago-I thought it was a horrible solution to the problem. A little education, and more failure on my part to adhere to a diet and maintain any weight loss---my way of thinking turned completely around. It's certainly not for everyone-and I would never tell someone they SHOULD do this. But it's a lifesaver for others. Just wished I'd done it sooner.

i think it was because i didn't realize what was involved in the surgery that i didn't want to have it. by that i mean i was terrified of having surgery again. i nearly ran away from my life-saving hysterectomy six years ago (i am an ovarian and endometrial cancer survivor). i think i had a big case of the poor mes and why mes, too.

or maybe it was because i was so embarrased that i could survive cancer and i couldn't get myself together enough to lose the weight. i mean you hear stories about people with cancer who change their entire lives around and go on radically different diet and exercise routines and they inspire others and all that good stuff. and i am so happy for those who do. and i try to inspire others, too, but i just had to realize that i can't just do it like i keep trying to pump myself up to. over and over the diets and the crazy exercise and i lose maybe thirty pounds here and twenty there and gain back forty or thirty and do it all over again.

i realized i needed something more. that tool thing. the jumpstart to weight loss so i don't get discouraged as easily. the sort of biofeedback tool that is wls.

i like to say that i have had to give in to my fears and by so doing i am set free. i think that's the truth for me in all of this.

i think i would have reached the point where it was do or die and pretty soon. i have diabetes and am insulin dependent and on an insulin pump, despite being type 2 diabetic my pancreas no longer produces any insulin. i do not yet knock wood have any heart or blood pressure problems. i do have high blood lipids (the bad ones) or did until trilipix was given to me. i have sleep apnea and use a cpap machine. it is becoming difficult to climb stairs as my left knee grinds when i do so and it hurts after.

i'm sorry for the novellla. :) got me thinking here!

Hey there! novellas are what we're here for! deciding to have surgery - and then choosing one - take a lot of thought, self-awareness, and discussion. so, have at it!

Which surgery are you going for?

also, with the ovarian/endometrial cancer, would you be willing to consider the possibility that you were turned - overnight - into a post-menopausal woman at a very young age? because of that, you were immediately put into that 'age group' of women who've controlled their weight for their entire lives suddenly find their weight moving up and up?

i'm saying this because you mentioned that you knew of people who've completely turned their lives around - and managed to control their weight. I happen to know a man who survived testicular cancer, and DID turn his life around - with a gastric bypass!

no beating yourself up allowed around here!!!! we all have issues to deal with, and we're all doing the best we can [ok, so maybe not perfectly, but we ARE human!!!]

and from what you're describing with your medical care, it sounds like you have a great doc and PA - congratulations!

glad you found us!

Hey there! novellas are what we're here for! deciding to have surgery - and then choosing one - take a lot of thought, self-awareness, and discussion. so, have at it!

Which surgery are you going for?

also, with the ovarian/endometrial cancer, would you be willing to consider the possibility that you were turned - overnight - into a post-menopausal woman at a very young age? because of that, you were immediately put into that 'age group' of women who've controlled their weight for their entire lives suddenly find their weight moving up and up?

i'm saying this because you mentioned that you knew of people who've completely turned their lives around - and managed to control their weight. I happen to know a man who survived testicular cancer, and DID turn his life around - with a gastric bypass!

no beating yourself up allowed around here!!!! we all have issues to deal with, and we're all doing the best we can [ok, so maybe not perfectly, but we ARE human!!!]

and from what you're describing with your medical care, it sounds like you have a great doc and PA - congratulations!

glad you found us!

Welcome :)