No lap band for me - now or ever - I have to cancel the whole deal

I have my date of April 12th and everything. Well, my whole world came crashing down on me last Thursday. I was at work on Wed. night and at at 5:45 Thursday morning I began to get very ill - I was admitted to Christiana with same problem a month ago and was kept overnight and told I was constipated. I have since switched docs. I was in much pain, so the charge nurse (I work at the hospital) called one of the docs we know and he admitted me right from work. They took me up to the 6th floor and put me to bed. I just got out yesterday. I was in there for one solid week. They did find out what was wrong. I am pretty sure my problem will not allow me to have any surgery on my gut. Even if I could have it, at this point, I can't have it because I have missed too much work. My nurse manager is awesome, but she has her limits. Oddly enough, I feel okay about it. I see my friend who had the bypass a few weeks ago really struggling and I just dont want to go there. I am joining weigh****chers once again and am going to lose the weight the old fashioned way. I have too. My problems are caused from my diabetes being out of control. I am in agony right now with sore shoulders, back, hips, arms etc from spending a whole week in Boy, talk about feeling like the tin man! While in the hospital the appt. with Dr. Hundal came and went and that was for my final clearance. I may still pop in around here from time to time, but I no longer pursuing weight loss surgery. I weigh****chers anyway, so maybe this was a wake up call for me to get back to WW! I lost 84 pounds with them a couple of years ago and I know I can do it again! If I had kept my diabetes under better control I would not be in this predicament. I only have one way to go and that is up! Good luck everyone! Keep my in your prayers as I venture a different journey because life threw me a curve ball! Tracey

Tracey, I am sorry to hear about the curve ball and your spending the last week in the hospital. Sure hope your body gets to feeling better real soon. About losing weight on your own ... I truly believe you can do this Tracey!!! With what you have learned while researching WLS, and by putting those tools to work with weigh****chers, you will do what you have to do. My husband has some pretty serious comorbities and his weight would have easily qualified him for surgery, but he simply did not want to do it, and I completely understand. But he understood his need to lose, for his life's sake and has lost about 70 pounds now. My mom and a lifelong friend both wanted surgery, and to be truthful, I know it would not be good for them and have done all I can to dissuade them from having it. I am trying to help them lose using some of the information I have gained while on this journey. My girlfriend is doing pretty well, my mom, not so well, but she is dealing with a whole host of other things, and to be honest, I don't think she would have done well with the surgery either. She may have been able to lose initially, but I think she would have put her weight right back on. Her metabolism is totally fried, and she is not able to exercise, and to be 100% honest, I am not sure if she would have followed protocol. Anyway, enough of all that, I simply shared that to say, truly this is not for everyone. And even though it seems your hand is forced in this decision, you have an excellent attitude about it and that in itself will certainly be a big factor in determining your success with weigh****chers or any other life plan you choose to follow. About your friend, Tracey, truly some do struggle, some do not, some struggle sometimes. It is different for all of us. The main thing we all have to remember is to be compliant with the doctors orders. When we fall away from that is when we find that we get into trouble. And with this surgery, truly there is not real margin for error. We MUST get in our protein, we MUST take all our vitamins, and we MUST get in those fluids. We should learn to eat correctly while on the honeymoon stage, that stage is over before we know it and if we have not learned to eat right, that is when the real problems begin. Truly this surgery is mostly a forced period of time when we simply can not overeat. Far too many find that the dumping factor did not happen for them to count on that, the malabsorbtion factor - the body can overcome that by growing new villi and absorbing more ... so all in all, in the end it is still up to us to be able to be dedicated to our health to do this .... ya know? The main thing you have to remember right now ... you friend may not want to listen to a word you have to say ... and you can not make her. She is the only one responsible for her actions. If she has went through the same program you did, then you know she/he knows what is the right thing, and you have to allow yourself to not take responsibility for her/him. However, that does not change the fact that it can be real hard when we have a friend struggling. But remember, you are only responsible for you. Please don't allow the actions of your friend to bring you down. Love them enough to tell them the truth, then love them enough to allow them to live their own lives and make their own decisions. Please don't feel that just because you are not having surgery that you still can not hang out around here ... this place is called "Obesity" helps, not just WLS helps. As a matter of fact, I know several who are non ops who still hang out on the main boards, plus I believe there is a forum just for others who have found themselves in the same situation. You may find some real camaraderie there with others going through the same as you. At any rate Tracey, I sure do wish you the very best. Looking forward to hearing from you at least from time to time. Keep on keeping on ... Hugs, Tammy

It's a big decision and you know you have our support, no manner which way you decide. I love weigh****chers too. I wish you the best. Surgery should be considered only after you have tried EVERYTHING. I know you can do it. I don't regret having Gastric Bypass because I really feel that I have tried EVERYTHING else. I can tell you though, it is not the only way to lose weight. So many blessing to you. Towanda T. 4 wks post-op