My thoughts about WLS and who should have (WARNING: Big Opinions You Might Not Like)

I had a BMI of 49 and all I can do is speak for my experience.   I'm glad you liked being fat but I did not.  I was tired of not fitting in chairs or rides at amusement parks.  My knees and hips hurt and as my family history dictates I was almost definately  was going to have diabetes and joint replacements.

I don't think you should judge anyone else we all have our own decisions as to why we choose WLS.  I'm proud of all my OH friends for having the courage to venture into WLS instead of excepting their life sentence in their old bodies.

I love my DS!!!!!

Shelli

My BMI is over 50, I have many co-morbitities, I'm getting the DS.

That said, we all have a metabolic disorder not a disease from a magazine. This is shown by the amount of yo yo dieting we have done and end up heavier and heavier. Movement and healthy eating do not cure a metabolic disorder. I may help for a minute but then it's back to regain. The more regain the worse the metabolic disorder becomes. 

I wish now that when I was a "lightweight" I would have made this decision and maybe I would not have gotten to this point. I shout it out to the young lightweights to not be like me. Maybe I would not have gotten breast cancer and all my co-morbitities.  

One more thing, even as a lightweight, I would never want the RNY. It is barbaric what is done to the stomach. I think the DS should be an option for all BMI's.

I know you don't want to feel like a hypocrite, being a fat advocate and then getting WLS. I think by providing this opinion, your giving yourself permission to feel okay about your decision. You don't have to be a hypocrite, it's okay to change. Now you can be a DS advocate for everyone who wants and needs WLS.

ETA:
"Furthermore, things like diabetes can be managed with exercise, good eating and medicines"
There is no comparison to managing diabetes and curing diabetes. Diabeties is a devistating disease that needs to be cured...... not managed.

You have been pretty vocal about your feelings in a variety of posts previously and I have always been very offended by them but was very interested to seem them presented here so blatantly.

I fall entirely outside of your definition of who should be allowed to have WLS. I had a bmi of 43.6 and I was 31 when I had surgery. Thank God my doctor wasn't required to follow your guidelines.

I could justify my decision with several co-morbidities but those don't seem to matter to you because you assume they could have been "managed with exercise, good eating and medicines." It seems that instead YOU decided when WLS was acceptable to YOU, and thus should not be approved for others until they meet YOUR criteria. To me, that is the epitome of self centered thought. Just because YOU waited until you were so miserable you could no longer be active, your knees ached, etc.. THE REST OF US are supposed to wait until we meet YOUR age & size requirements? 

Obviously you did not consider that the level of pain and lack of mobility could affect others at different times in life? That the pain one experiences when they are less than 300# (gasp) or less than 35 y.o. can interfere in their life and instead ASSUME that  they are doing it because "they feel "gross" or "disgusting" because they are fat."

And how dare you approach lightweights and suggest they try diet and exercise. For every person I know who has undergone WLS it is their last resort. It is usually undertaken with fear, pain, and a sense of failure because of all the diets and exercise they have tried.

And one thought on living longer. If I had the choice to live 10 years at my current weight or 15-20 years at my prior weight I would pick 10 years at this weight no question about it. At my previous weight I could not LIVE my life. The things I loved were interfered with by my size, I couldn't do all the things I wanted to. That is not living, that is breathing with a heart beat. I have done more in the last 6 months that provides me joy and happiness than I have done in the last 2 years. Not because society says I could or couldn't but because my body has the energy and ability to do them now.

WHAAAAT???? You have got to be ******g kiddin' me! You have officially PISSED me off ! I haven't had any surgery as of yet so I can say your post hits pretty close to home for me. So I'm 5' 1'' or so, weigh about 220-230 and I'm only 26 yrs old and I want to have WLS so that makes me wrong? And if that makes me vain SO ******G WHAT? I am not happy fat. I hate how I feel, I hate how people look at me, I hate shopping for things I dont look good in, and most of all I hate how I LOOK!!! Because YOU think you looked good and felt great, whoopty- ******doo. How dare you tell me and people like me that what I should or should not do. Or you know what, go ahead and push your fat acceptance speech and maybe just maybe when you get the rest of the world to look at fat people like you claim to then I might feel better about myself. Yes I do feel gross and disgusting being fat like this. Well if you're so high and mighty that all it takes is a little will power and to move around a bit to stay at a low BMI then what the **** happened to your hypocritical ass when you were a lower BMI like the people you so readily spew your warped opinion about??? And on top of all that why would you write a post about your opinion, directly point fingers at someone like me and say I'm wrong, and then say " oh, please don't flame me"?
You are an ignorant, OPINIONATED, arrogant hypocrite, so from me to you consider yourself flamed. 
Oh, and by the way this is just  **MY** opinion. 

Listen hon, by the time I was 26 I was on insulin and suffering all kinds of charming things due to PCOS. My BMI was probably in the high 40's. You're doing the right then. Do it NOW, BEFORE you have all those problems.

I am utterly speechless. Fat acceptance apparently means urging people to fatten up until they meet your personal standard of "too fat"? Get over yourself.

Whew! I was scared when I started to read your post. I was concerned that YOU would not think I was near death enough for weight loss surgery. I was 37 and had a BMI of 55. I was diabetic. and had  joint pain, sleep apnea and other health problems. Thank God I was almost dead. I can sleep easier now in my healthier body knowing that YOU approve of my choice!

I plan on staying tuned to see your standards on WHO should seek CANCER treatment. What stage should they be in for you to recommend chemo? How near death do they need to be for you to think it's okay to take medicine or get surgery? Make no mistake, obesity is a death sentence. It may take time, but obesity and its accompanying illnesses kill people. THAT is not an opinion. It's a FACT.

Those people at the meeting probably don't listen to you because you are full of crap. If you even bothered to ask them about their lives, you would understand their pain and keep your trap shut. Let people make their choice. Don't be so damn self-centered and selfish. You are NOT helping them by offering your uninformed opinion on what their quality of life should be. The next time you want to spew your unwanted opinion to these folks, think twice.

If you are experiencing cognitive dissonance (the former fat cheerleader/advocate who has WLS) then go talk to a therapist. Don't lash out at people on this board, people have helped you with your goddam whiny posts, when you are always *****ing about this or the other thing.

In fact, I try not to read your posts anymore, but saw that normally kind people like Lori B and Major Mom were passionately replying here, so I had to see what was going on.

And by the way, I guess I was an informal fat advocate, by example. There was not a single thing I didn't do or try because of my weight. I lived life then as I do today, with gusto and joy. I love who I am, no matter my size. I just didn't like being sick and was scared of having no future. And I must say, I LOVE looking the way I do now. A little perk, I say. I cannot easily relate to those who say their weight kept them housebound and shy, etc. But I try to understand their point of view and support them. You might want to try that.
 
Nicolle

Hi Julie...I respect your opinion, but I respectfully disagree with it as well.

I am a "lightweight." I started this WLS journey at 264. On my 6-month supervised diet program, I have exercised and dieted down to 249. Well, I've done that hundreds of times in the past. I just always regain it. So, I have no doubt that if I were NOT to get WLS, I would regain it all back (and then some).

Obesity runs in my family. I don't want to be morbidly obese the rest of my life. I don't want my knees, ankles, and back to hurt anymore. I don't want to be put on high blood pressure medicine (my BPs have been very elevated lately and I have been told to "exercise more and eat a healthier diet"--if only it were that easy). I WANT to start sleeping at night. I haven't had a full night's sleep in 10+ years--I'm exhausted. I want to enjoy sex again and not be self-conscious about my fat rolls. I want to not worry about possibly needing a seat belt extender on an airplane or fitting on an amusement park ride. I want to comfortably fit in a normal bathroom stall and not HAVE to use the handicap stall. And, I want to look pretty and sexy again. While that is vain, it is the truth. I don't think I'm ugly now, but I think I would look better in a size "10."

So, while I can imagine that it took a lot of courage for you to share your opinion, please try to understand our side as well.

Take care,

Felicia