Hi mariec99,

Welcome to this forum.  I see you are a patient of Dr. Snyder.  I am also a patient of his.  By far the last thing I could say with having him as my surgeon is feeling alone.  But of course you have to take the steps available to you.  There are numerous support groups that meet one or twice a month all around the Denver area.  Check out his website and look up support to find one in your area.  You do not have to have had the surgery to attend.  Heck I believe you don't even have to be a patient of Dr. Snyder's to attend.  They seem to be open to the public.

The fear and doubts are natural.  It is a major change in your life.  I am lucky that all my family is 100% behind me.  Even though I have faced my fears about this and have shed my doubt, there is still a lingering of them in the background to remind me I am human and its not a weakness to seek help.  I went to my first meeting at the beginning of this month when I learned I had reach my pre-op diet goal and was scheduled for the surgery (12/17). I thoroughly enjoyed the 90 minutes of talking about the issues and concerns others were having.  I came away feeling like I was NOT alone in my feelings and had other people (besides just family and doctor/nurses) who could help me if there ever came a time I needed someone's help and/or advice.

We all know that it takes a lot of hard work even after the surgery to make it work for us, but having the strength should become easier as time goes on and you start seeing progress.  You are most certainly not weak because you choose to take the route of surgery to help you regain your health and well-being.  Many people elect to have surgeries that solve problems that are less of a risk to their health than the risk being obese is to us.  No one ever seems to call them weak.  It is survival that drove me to this choice.  I want to live and live long into my grey haired days and not having this surgery would have sentenced me to a shorter miserable life.

I seem to be babbling, so I just want to close with, you are on the right course by coming here to seek advice.  This is sort of like a support group, just one that people can communicate from all over.  But do take advantage of the opportunity and supplement this forum with going to support meetings. I can almost assure you that you will walk away feeling welcomed and definitely not alone.

Best of luck to you.