[linJber]

I have not had surgery. I understand the cautions against those of us who haven't had surgery about posting here. However, I have to agree with everyone who said it's a mental game as much as a physical one. You have doubts as to whether surgery is right for you. You have less than 100 pounds to lose. Why not give yourself 6 months of eating 100% on plan and see what happens? Be honest about what you're doing. You'll have to be on a restricted diet after surgery, so why not try a restricted diet for a while without surgery? You can always decide in 6 months if you change your mind.

Lin

[imp]

I'm three weeks post-op (MGB) and my weight the day of surgery was 232.6. I'm 5'4". My comorbidities were hypertension, asthma, and sleep apnea - all severe.

I agree with Lin in that if you're not sure, then diet again. See what happens. Then if it comes off, see if it will stay off.

If you're pretty sure you want surgery? GET IT. Not for the weight loss, even, but for your health. Bariatric surgery, especially the kind with a bypass, has an immediate effect on blood pressure and blood sugar. And for many of us, it has a very rapid effect on breathing disorders. I don't know why - I think it may have to do with the huge change in metabolism caused by the surgery. But I know it happens too often to be a coincidence.

I dieted down to 167 a few years ago and held it there for awhile. I was still severely hypertensive. I had chest pain that raised my sed rate enough to scare some ER docs (they couldn't tell if I was throwing a clot to the lung or having a heart attack). I ended up having an echo that showed an enlarged heart - at 167 pounds. Overweight, yeah. Not fat. But as my exercise tolerance decreased, my weight increased. I was always hungry. I was always angry at myself for failing and being hungry.

Three weeks post op I am mad at my scale because I've "only" lost 19 pounds since surgery. Did you get that? I'm pissed off because I wanted to lose 20 pounds in three weeks. Instead I lost 19. Ooohhh, sooo mad. Until I remembered that losing 20 pounds normally takes me three months of hard work. And now I get to do it with normal blood pressure, even at my 200+ weight. My chest doesn't hurt. I haven't needed my inhalers for two weeks now. My life is completely, utterly changed.

I'm not trying to sell you on a procedure or a life you don't want. Living after any WLS is still hard - but it's a whole different kind of hard. I haven't had bread or meat or milk in three weeks. I live on Gatorade G2, V8, beans and cheese, for the most part. I'm still tired a lot and haven't exercised a lot yet. But I'm not wheezing. I'm not snoring. I'm kind of freaking out about the number of vivid dreams I have every night - I think it's a reaction to not being on CPAP and getting my REM sleep for a change.

It's not an easy decision, WLS. Nobody can tell you whether it's right for you or what procedure is your best option. But I can tell you that it won't hurt to try the diet one more time before you decide. If it works, great. If not, WLS is a viable option.

Good luck and best wishes, whatever you decide

Julie

[jiffypop]

just wanted to point out that most insurance companies REQUIRE 6 months of supervised, strict dieting before they'll approve the surgery. so, this 'just one more try' advice is already part of the approval package.

and i'm on the fence about it. for many people, these 6 months really help them decide whether or not the surgery is a reasonable choice for them. but for some of us, who are/were critically ill before, it can be a death sentence.

[imp]

Jiffypop, I'm kinda with you on the six-month thing.

My surgeon's office looked at my co-morbidities and told me I couldn't wait six months. They first talked to me in April and my doc scheduled me for May 17. I really thought I wasn't going to have time to get all my preliminaries done, but my PCP agreed with my surgeon.

I was fortunate - both doctors (who are 120+ miles from each other and had never met) came to the same conclusion: I needed a huge change and I needed it quickly, even with my under-40 BMI. Waiting six months would have had me completely disabled - as it was, I was on two steroids plus a rescue inhaler I was having to refill every second WEEK. My pulmonary function tests were not pretty. My hypertension was bad - and as it happened I did have a hypertensive crisis in the hospital in the hours after surgery that required IV meds.

My surgeon told me that most people get to go off BP meds immediately post-op. He also told me it was unlikely that I would be one of those people. And yet here I am running 112/84, needing no blood pressure or asthma meds, less than a month later.

Before surgery, I truly believe I had less than ten years to live, and less than six months to total disability. I just kept getting sicker. I still have my inhalers should I need them - but I've been to two grocery stores and walked all over my parent's home construction site today. Now I have laundry running, and after lunch I will work on laundry and ironing and clean house and go swimming for exercise. Without meds!

If I had to wait six months? I'd have been frustrated at my inability to function, I doubt I'd have lost much weight due to exercise intolerance, I'd have been starving, and I'd have hated my life as much as I did preop. It was worth doing self-pay to get it done. I'm pretty sure I would not be med-free and 214 pounds today if I was on the "wait and see" diet. But that's just my experience. Everyone else's mileage may vary.