What was your "rock bottom" to make you want surgery???

I think I blogged about this on my blog--- www.worththeweightloss.blogspot.com
But don't think I ever brought this up here...

What was your "rock bottom", your "breaking point" that made you decide to go for surgery???

For me, it was my brother's 18th bday party at a pizza place. It was at a pizza place that we grew up loving and I was looking forward to going just for the food, more than the family company! lol
(duh I love food, obviously)...
Little bit of a long story short, when our pizzas were ready they called my stepmom's (I like to refer to her as STEPMONSTER) and I went to help her grab the pizzas. As I am carrying a giant combo pizza back to our table (there was my dad, stepmonster, family friend, aunt, 2 uncles, cousin, brother, brother in law, 3 sisters, 3 nieces (2-5 yrs), my husband, son, and myself there so kindof a big group), I was looking at my family. With the exception of my nieces, son, brother in law (he's naturally really thin and works out so fit too) and my husband (2 yrs out RNY and 105 lbs still gone) my family looked like a bunch of fat people waiting for feeding time. I was literally embarassed as a chubster to be carrying this gigantic pizza back to a bunch of fatties. I mean , really, embarassed. I couldn't stop myself from thinking that the other people in the restuarant were thinking "these people should be having salad and water." I was really judging myself and my family. We ALWAYS gather around meals, ALWAYS. We rarely do something that at some point doesn't involve food or cake or what not. If it's someone's bday, its a restaurant or a bbq or cake. If it's a holiday its food food food. On my dad's side of the family (that I am close too and see regularly) we are ALL heavyset. And pretty much have been for a long time. My Aunt (dad's only sister) works out regularly and takes phentermine now to keep her weight down. She used to be fit and fitness crazy except for the last 8 or so yrs. We tried doing weigh****chers together several times, but usually didn't last more than a month and a few times we even skipped meetings to go out to dinner (how ridiculous are we?? lol). My brother, my dad, stepmonster, my sisters....ALL HEAVY. My biological mother was heavy, she passed away at 39 yrs old, 10 yrs ago, from a blood pressure related stroke which caused a major brain hemorrhage and eventually brain death 2 days later...her weight and bp KILLED her and took her from us. Even that wasn't a real wake up call. I think because I've never had high blood pressure, I've never thought that I would die young like my mom. In reality, I think I was about to be a ticking time bomb. Like time was running out before I would be diagnosed with high bp, or high cholesterol, or diabetes. Seriously, how long can someone be heavy and unhealthy before something else erupts??
I hate that I thought of my family as a bunch of giant slobs. But looking at them, I really did and that included ME! I was dieting at the time, but of course was going to allow myself a cheat day (because that contributes to success...not!) and eat what I wanted...including a trip to my fav ice cream parlor across the street afterwards... OMG.
On the way home, I told my husband what I had been thinking. And I told him that I was seriously thinking about gastric bypass and was going to immediately make an appointment with my primary care doc to get a referral to Dr Coates (surgeon who did my husband's surgeon and very well known for bariatric surgery in our area).

My dad, stepmonster, sister and brother visited me about 6 days after surgery, at my home. They were all proud of my success and supportive (even though the stepmonster who has always struggled with her weight and yoyo'd DIDN'T want me to have RNY and was very vocal about it before I had it). NOW, my dad and stepmonster say they might want RNY... Stepmonster says her doc said she doesn't believe in surgery (what a crock) and refused to give her a referral (I told her that is bs and to switch docs...but she's not serious about it). A few family members have said to make sure "I don't get too skinny" and hope that I don't look unhealthy like "everyone else who has surgery" blah blah blah...I know that some of my family will be jealous when I reach my goal and look good and don't go out to binge eat with them. I know that I have to be my biggest supporter and I am... But I can't help but wish that the rest of my family would be healthy. One of my sister's is only 14 and she's chunky. I wasn't chunky at her age, but I know from being her age once that it can't be easy. I don't want her to have to have surgery some day to help her get healthy, I want her to stop it now. But of course, she's at a sensitive time in life and I am not mentioning it. She knows what she needs to do.
My main main main motivation for getting healthy is my son. I can't imagine dying at 39 and missing out on his life. I will turn 30 in october... I plan to live for a very long time and have a very fulfilling life. I needed to make this change to help make that happen...

Anyhow, just curious what made the rest of you say "this is it! I'm done being unhealthy and fat!"

I�had been looking into it for several years..because my dad died from his diabetes related problems, ie taking his legs then his kidneys...That is probably when the thought process started.� But I loved to eat, loved to party with my family and smoked...I was so unhealthy, but had a great time being unhealthy..then at one of our family functions..I saw a picture taken of us in my brothers backyard.� There are 7 of us children...all big.� My brother had posted the picture on his my space...I thought how HUGE�we all were..soon after that I�had an appoitment with my primary care doctor.� My blood pressure had reached 220/110 and my weight had hit 287.
It was time to get serious.� The blood pressure came under control with medication, but I�was still a smoker and ate what ever I wanted.� 3 years ago I decided it was time to quit smoking if I was to ever consider bypass surgery.� On Feb 2, 2007 I put out my last cigarette.� First 2 weeks were hard..but then it got easier...so the process of working on my weight took over.� I did the treadmill for 45 minutes daily at 4mph and level 7..but I was not loosing weight cuz I still ate whatever.� I took a weight management course; but I have taken 3 different dietary classes and knew what to do, but never applied what I learned.� I pretty much knew about 2 years ago, when I was way past wanted to smoke anymore it was time to really think of surgery...So onto the initial class I went..It was another year before I had researched enough to know this is what I want...

Any here I am today on the other side of surgery..Not regreting any of it...I might find complications along the way, but I surely would have major ones continuing the life I was living..

After my third child, my weight settled at 323, I was told if I stayed that weight I would have a stroke before I was 40 and get diabetes in my 30s.. I dieted and exercised down to 260 within a 1.5 years. Then gained 30 lbs last summer. I knew then I couldn't keep doing this all my childrens life if I wanted to be around. Jan 10 with only 1 year left before my 30s, I decided to do anything I had to to get surgery including going to Mexico and borrowing the money from a relative. I'm so happy with my ds so far. I can't wait to see the weight come off and be with my children for many years to come.

My breaking point was two birthdays... my 49th and my daughters 29th...  I realized that I had been fighting this yo you dieting battle for 30 years as an adult, since before my daughter was born.  I thought "doing it the same way and expecting different results is idiotic !! Do something different"

So, I talked to my husband and he said he would go to one of the WLS seminars with me. We did a few weeks later and it started my journey, which brings me to 1 week post op.

I'll turn 50 in September and WILL NOT be in the same place as last year.  No way, no how...

The rock bottom to me was in September of 2009 I lost my brother of 50 years old to a stroke and I had decided to do it before he died and he was against me at first untill he started researching on the out comes of it and decided if that was what I wanted to do and I definately want to live longer have only been married to the most loving husband ever for 1 year I want many more with him...I have surgery this Thursday...So ready

I was pregnant with my second daughter.  I was borderline gestational diabetic, being treated for hypertension, and was SO unbelievably uncomfortable (both my girls were 10lbs at birth, and my first daughter felt nothing like this).  I went for my last check up at the OB and the scale read 400.  Oh my god.  It was right then that I decided I needed to do something.  I had been denying and hiding from it for far too long.  Why 397 was any different from 400, who knows.  But I was so disgusted with myself.  Not for letting myself get so heavy, but for putting my life, and my children, at risk... and all for what?  Food??  C'mon.  Right?  After I had my baby, once I was finished nursing, I hopped on the Weigh****chers train once again.  (I had lost 90lbs in 6mos a few years prior... though, obviously when I stopped the program it came back with a vengeance.)  I had the support of my sisters and I was doing great on the Core program through Weigh****chers.... I lost 80lbs in 4 months.  Then my sisters quit.  And I felt like I was alone in my journey.  I felt I had no support, no one to talk to.  Very slowly, I began eating crappy again. When I went to family doctor for a check up, my blood pressure was up again.  And it hit me that I was no longer battling a body image, I was truly battling my health.  And that's when I scheduled myself for an information session at the bariatric clinic. I did it for my health.  But  I did it for my girls, ultimately.  They need a happy, healthy mother who can be there for them...   I was terrified all the way up to my surgery.  But now it's over.  And I'm so glad I took the plunge.  

The horror of what I had done to myself happened in December of 09,  On thanksgiving I thought I had hemmoroids but it was so bad that I could hardly walk, sit or do anything but sleep. I talked to my PCP and he said that I might have deep vein thrombosis and to come in and he would do a procedure to relieve the pressure and pain.  When I got there and was on the table he took one look and called a surgeon and sent me to her office,  I got to the surgeons office and she examined me and told me that she would have to do emergency because I had an abcess.  I was in surgery for about 2 hours, the surgeon told my family that if I had waited a few days longer I would have died.  She told me that she had never in her career had she seen such a bad abcess, she said that the amount of puss she got out of my butt and inner thighs was enough to fill a soda can.  What caused this? Diabetes, what caused the diabetes, my severe obesity.  I didn't want to die and i was already in the process of the 6 month diet for the surgery but I was thinking about backing out.  So glad I didn't:)

Thanks everyone for sharing!!! Good luck in your journey to good health! We CAN do it!

My rock bottom was last fall.  My father had to have an emergency 5x coronary bypass, and 5 weeks later my Daughter's father (my ex) died suddenly of a massive heart attack, both of which were in better condition and less weight than I am... It scared me to think I might die and leave my child an orphan.  It was after I had started the insurance process, but it totally clinched my decision.  I had doubts and second thoughts before that.

My partner and I had been thinking about WLS for a couple of years now. For myself the total rock bottom was going home to visit my family. I walked in and there sat Mom on her bed in her gown with a storage container full of meds and needles and Dad was in his motorized chair in a depends and nothing else. His scars from his heart surgery just staring me in the face, At this point I actualy weighed more than my dad even though he had a 62" waist, I was at a 52" waist.

I decided that day that we were going to do whatever it took to make this happen! 
So far my partner has lost over 60 #'s since his surgery on 4/14 ad I have lost 18#'s since 4/21!!!!