not sure i agree with the 'lap is riskier than open' in heavier patients thing. the heavier we are, the riskier any surgery at all is. and the lap is so much less invasive than open.. which lowers the surgery risk.

so much depends on the skill of the surgeon and his/her experience.and that means YOUR surgeon. not mine. not carnie wilson's. keep on researching!

mom issues. <sigh> let's not go there. let's just put it under the heading of 'conquering our food demons before the surgery.' try to practice the 'thanks for your concern mom, but i'll never make the right decision unless i ask a lot of questions' attitude. and then DON'T GET INVOLVED IN THE EMOTION!!!!

it's HER emotion.. not yours. CHOOSE not to participate. yeah. it's easy to say, isn't it????

and you raised an excellent point about the presurgery diet. some surgeons insist on it for just the reasons you mentioned,.

seems to me that you really have your head on straight....

I saw the doctor today. There's no sign of heart disease, so we're only dealing with asthma. The doctor said weightloss may or may not help the asthma, but he is willing to pursue wls with me, at my next appointment in three weeks (to see if the lung issues are resolved). We discussed some of the risks and benefits, and the likely requirements of my insurance. He's had only two patients who have had the surgery one who has done fabulously with no complications, and one who has had many complications minor and severe. His main concern is that I realize the surgery isn't a "quick fix" (he said it's even become a trend amond people who are not morbidly obese to try to gain large amounts of weight to be able to get the surgery!).

well, colleen... so far so good... and aren't people BIZARRE????? trying to gain so much weight???? their insurance companies aren't likely to approve their surgery simply because they haven't actually tried to lose!!! at least, that's the way it looks from this computer terminal this morning!!

it's great that he's willing to talk about it. make sure you get a psych referral. not because you're crazy, but because there are some things you need to talk about before deciding whether you can handle the afterlife...

and he's so right about this not being a quick fix. it's a lifelong change. not that it's bad... just different.