Hello Iowans!!!
Time to get some conversations going on this message board!
Here are some questions to get us started:
1) Where are you located?
2) Which WLS did you have OR do you plan to have?
3) What was/is your biggest motivation for having WLS?
4) What was/is your biggest reservation about WLS?
5) Do you have a 'life motto' that keeps you going?
1) I am located in Pleasant Hill, which is a suburb of Des Moines.
2) I had an open RNY on September 14, 2009. My surgeon is Todd Eibes and my surgery took place at Methodist Hospital in Des Moines.
3) I have been overweight since my teen years and considered obese since having my oldest son in 1990. I was miserable and desperate to make a change as my life just seemed so ... hmm ... BLAH. Sure, I had moments of joy and happiness, but they were becoming fewer and farther between and I found I was disengaging myself from so many things. I felt I was just going through the motions, rather than LIVING my life. I wanted to ENJOY my life now and after my children go out on their own, and I wanted to be able to ENJOY my (someday) grandchildren. I wanted to LIVE my life, not just live my life.
4) I was concerned about the potential complications of the surgery, but I felt assured that I would come through it.
5) "If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it."
Okay - now it's your turn!
2) Well, I have been working toward the band, but am now seriously considering VSG (more to come about that later if things work out)
3) I'm so tired of being tired and not being able to do things that I want to do. I want to live a long life and enjoy watching my grandchildren grow up.
4) Regardless of which WLS I have, I will be terrified of the surgery itself. I'm 58 years old and have never had surgery.
5) Not really. Laughter is the best medicine is probably the thing that would describe me the best.
Some people might not support my WLS decision.
Those people remind me of slinkys. Not good for much but it would would bring a smile to my face if someone pushed them down the stairs.
Ticker includes Pre-op weight loss 24 lb.
1.) I am in northeast Iowa in the tri-state area (where Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa meet).
2.) I had RNY on Feb. 11, 2009 at University of Iowa Hospital in Iowa City.
3.) My biggest motivator for having WLS was to live a longer, much healthier life. I am 54 years old (53 when I started the process to have my surgery because my initial consultation was on my birthday). I had been overweight/obese/fat since I was six years old and had tried for years to lose the weight on my own with different weight loss programs, diet drugs and diet attempts. While I lost weight with many of those attempts, nothing was permanent. I had researched WLS for about ten years and talked with several people who'd had the surgery and then began to pursue it for myself. With the support of my PCP, I decided to have the surgery for my health! I had several co-morbidities and was just disgusted with how I looked and felt.
4.) My biggest reservation about the WLS was that I would fail at that just as I have at all the other attempts I've made to lose the excess weight. The surgery itself did not frighten me because I had researched it thoroughly and knew the potential risks there might be. The bariatric team at UIHC is so awesome that I knew I was in good hands, plus it's the hospital in Iowa that first began doing RNY in the late 1970s so I knew they were well trained and skilled in the surgery.
5.) My "life motto" is: When you think you are the best you can be, improve!!
...............and now I'll be quiet so others can share.
Carol :-)
1) Where are you located? Altoona, Iowa
2) Which WLS did you have OR do you plan to have? I had lap band on 10/13. My Dr is also Dr Eibes
3) What was/is your biggest motivation for having WLS? There were several motivators. I was tired of being in pain every single day. I was tired of not being able to get down on the floor and play with my dogs and my grand kids. I was tired of watching life pass me by while I sat on the sidelines because of fear of not fitting in seats or not being physically able to do something. I was tired of failing at one weight loss program after another and that feeling of dispair that came along with it. Let's face it - I was just plain old tired of it all.
4) What was/is your biggest reservation about WLS? The fear of failure. I think that is my biggest motivator right now to follow all of the rules and really work my band.
5) Do you have a 'life motto' that keeps you going? Not one that stands out - there are several. Life's too short to not find some humor in it and enjoy every day. One that's been with me since high school is one that my pastor shared with me "if it is to be, it is up to me" Probably why I'm pretty darn independent!
1- I am located in NE iowa, Dubuque. Right along the Mississippi River - also what is considered the 'tri-state area'
2- I am going through the LONG process of jumping through hoops to satisfy my insurance company. It has been ongoing over the past 12 months. But the good news is...I have completed my hoop jumping and on Jan 2 the insurance company will review everything and decide on "yes" (I'm praying for
) or "no" 
. I plan on having the Laparoscopic RNY surgery in Cedar Falls. (Again, hoping for February.....)3- My biggest motivation is all of the co-morbidities that I suffer. My insurance "go-to-girl" said the only co-morbidity that I don't have is erectile dysfunction. So obviously, I figured that it had to be a male doctor who came up with the lists of co-morbidities....because, really people, who's going to die from not having an erection?! So, some of the co-morbidities include: Sleep apnea (in which, I now wear CPAP), high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, barrett's esophagus from reflux disease, PCOS (polycysitc ovarian syndrome); all of which I take prescription medications for (a total of 14, twice a day). Some not so co-morbidities include: hyperhidrosis (the state of constantly sweating, until my clothes are saturated from the waist up), having such painful joints, especially in my ankles, feet and back. I'm tired of going through each day sweaty with so much pain.
4- My biggist reservation is that I have tried every diet know to humans, and although I have initially had good weight loss it has come back with a vengence. I am now topping the scales at 275#. My fear is that I will go through this process and lose weight only to gain it back (as I have done 1000 times over my 43 years of existance). I do know of someone who had the gastric bypass surgery and initially lost 100+ pounds, but gained it back over the course of a couple of years. She actually has tried to talk me out of it, but I feel like it is my only option at this point.
5- I'd like to sound all philosophic and say I have some great 'life's mantra', but, I don't so, I'd have to say....."Enjoy life....because its the only one you have!"
Take care everyone! 
2) Which WLS did you have OR do you plan to have? VBG 1997 -> RNY 2001
3) What was/is your biggest motivation for having WLS? I had tried everything and was sick and tired of being fat.
4) What was/is your biggest reservation about WLS? I don't remember having any other than regaining the weight.
5) Do you have a 'life motto' that keeps you going? I like this quote - "Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending." -Maria Robinson
2) Which WLS did you have OR do you plan to have? I am looking at both the lap band and RNY
3) What was/is your biggest motivation for having WLS? I am tired of feeling like a failure on diets and how I feel physically - hurt all the time, asthma makes it hard to breathe etc.
4) What was/is your biggest reservation about WLS? The risks and complications possible with the surgery itself and lack of support from my spouse when it comes to eating out etc. after the surgery.
5) Do you have a 'life motto' that keeps you going? We can't change our past but it doesn't have to control our future.
1) Where are you located? Urbandale (suburb of Des Moines)
2) Which WLS did you have OR do you plan to have? I had a VSG on 12/10/2009 with Dr. LaMasters.
3) What was/is your biggest motivation for having WLS? I've battled my weight for as long as I can remember (and the weight kept winning) and finally recognized the impact it's had on my self-esteem, the activities I get involved in, and my overall health and happiness. I'd tried various diets with limited success, and finally decided it was time to get some better tools to make a life change.
4) What was/is your biggest reservation about WLS? The perceptions of friends and family that WLS is a "cheaters way out" and that I should be able to lose the weight without going to such lengths.
5) Do you have a 'life motto' that keeps you going? "Ask yourself, 'Where will I be 10 years from now if I keep doing what I am doing?'" --w. Clement Stone
Kathy S. · 0 replies · 6611 views
