WHAT TO DO????

Well, Hello everyone!...I am Sadina, 17 yrs old, and about 335 pounds. Just to introduce myself to you all. I was considering gastric by-pass about four years ago. My doctor wanted me to go through it, but my dad did not feel right about it, so i did not go through with it. Now I am considering going through the lap band surgery. Now this is my SENIOR year of high school and I have alot of big decisions to make!. Like this one. I asked myself if I would rather be "big and healthy" or "skinny and sick" when i graduate. Also how would I feel when I am off to college?? I know i will not be "sick" but i can only think of the bad things that might happen and not the good things. If ya'll have any advice on whether or not to go through it i would appriciate it alot!!! Well untill next time I will let ya'll say what ya'll have to say to me!! Sorry so long but I did not want to put it in 3 or 4 posts..Have a good one everybody!!!! Wish You All Happiness, Sadina

HI SWEETIE, THIS IS A MAJOR AND LIFE CHANGING PROCEDURE, BUT ONLY YOU CAN ANSWER THE QUESTION NOT TO HAVE IT OR NOT. YOUR SENIOR YEAR IS SUPPOSED TO BE MEMORABLE. YOU MAY WANT TO WEIGH ALL THE PROS AND CONS OF THE WLS SURGERY. ONE BEING DO YOU HAVE ANY COMORBITIES. IS THERE FAMILY HISTORY OF COMORBITIES. ARE YOU WILLING TO MAKE A CHOICE TO BE HEALTHY AND REDUCE THE RISKS OF DEVELOPING COMORBITIES, OR IF YOU HAVE ANY, DEVELOPING MORE, OR COMPLICATIONS FROM THEM. THIS IS A CHOICE YOU HAVE TO MAKE. IT TOOK ME THREE YEARS TO MAKE THE DECISION TO HAVE THE SURGERY AND NOW I AM AWAITING THE APPROVAL FROM INSURANCE OR RECEIVE MY MEDICAID CARD. BUT THE WAY I LOOK AT IT IS.... I WANT TO BE HEALTHY AND DIETS JUST DON'T WORK FOR ME, THIS TOOL THAT I WILL BE GIVEN THROUGH WLS WILL HELP GET ME HEALTHY AGAIN. I WON'T HAVE THE COMPLICATIONS FROM BEING MORBILY OBESE ANYMORE. THE ONLY ADVICE I CAN GIVE YOU SWEETIE IS TO LOOK THROUGH ALL THE PROFILES YOU CAN, DO ALL THE RESEARCH YOU CAN, THEN AT THE END SIT DOWN AND ASK YOURSELF DO I WANT TO DO THIS, CAN I DO THIS. MAY GOD BLESS YOU, AND GUIDE YOU TO MAKE THE RIGHT DECISION HUN. GOD BLESS LORI

I am with Lori on the decision, only you can decide what is best for you. I recommend talking to your doctor and find out all the information you can. This is a big decision and it will change your life 4ever. We are here for you. I will be praying hard for you to come to the right decision for you. Denise

Hey Lori...In my family history there is weight problems and being big. No one in my family is a small person. It is heritary(not spelled right, I know). I do have comorbilites that coinside with how big i am. Thank You for the reply I really do appriciate it alot. I have talked to my mother and she said she would sign everything but she is giving me the choice to go through it or not. I am setting an appointment with my doctor today to talk to him about it. I will keep in touch with everyone on here and tell you all how everything is going on. Take care Everyone. BYE!!!!! Sadina

Sadina, everyone is right about finding out what is best for YOU. The way you go about it is to read, read, read. Get on the internet and research every last thing you can about obesity. There is a long list of questions you want to ask yourself, and many of those questions will bring up more questions. Bear in mind that your #1 question having to do with what life could be like when you graduate may be moot, as sometimes the process for getting the surgery takes many months. Before anything else, realistically recognize that early death is a possibility with whatever you choose - or whatever choices you don't make. That is to say, being morbidly obese will DEFINITELY shorten your life span - and before it kills you, it will reduce your quality of life even more than what you have suffered up to now. I was always big, too, so I understand what it does to the quality of life of a high school girl. However, there have been people who died related to their WLS, too, and it would be in your best interest to take a clear-eyed look at this. There are those who say that this decision should not be undertaken until you have spent some time on the wls "gone-wrong" boards at Yahoo. I don't know if I fully agree with that, but I do understand what they are trying to say. Ultimately, the answer to this is that the death rate associated with WLS is highly dependent on two factors: pre-existing co-morbidities and the skill of the surgeon who does your procedure. These two are things that are under your control to a fairly high degree, and will weigh heavily in your choices. Bear in mind that the longer a person is morbidly obese, and the worse their health becomes because of it, has a bearing on the surgery's outcome. Take this knowledge and apply it to your own unique situation. Don't make automatic assumptions that the best or the worst will happen, because we sure don't get any guarantees in life. We all must acknowledge *AND* be comfortable with the risks as well as the rewards. Later on, I'll make a recommendation that you join each of the various procedure forums and read them for a while. When you do this, you'll see that the overwhelming majority, given the chance to do it all over again, would never even consider not having the surgery - even the ones who have had some pretty tough complications. It's been that much benefit to them. If you are giving wls some serious consideration, very early on you should go see a doctor and get on a supervised diet program. Might as well get started now, because so many third-party payers (if you have insurance or any other coverage) require a fairly long time (6 mos up to 2 years) of a supervised weight loss program. It takes two things to get this head start- first, check out the possibilities as far as insurance coverage goes, and if you are covered, find out if there are supervised diet requirements and if they are, exactly what the requirements are. Then get going on that. If you are covered under a state uninsured-children's program (in Ark it's called AR-KidsFirst) then you are getting close to the deadline of eligibility, so it's important to get going on something ASAP - perhaps even before you have made a final decision to get the WLS or not. You can always drop everything if you decide against it. Here are the questions that you start with: What are the weight loss options? (wls, diet/exercise; what kinds of programs within these two categories) If diet/exercise are tried, are there realistic considerations, particularly if your weight or co-morbs make it hard to exercise or if you have other conditions with special diet requirements. How sucessful have I ever been at getting AND KEEPING weight off with anything else I've tried? Based on this and my own gut feelings, what are my chances of success with any given one of these options? Can I make *permanent* lifestyle changes (required to live life at a healthy weight, no matter what option you choose); and if so, what kinds of changes am I willing to make? If you come to think that WLS might be the answer for you, then carefully look at all of the various options in WLS. There are quite a few procedures. Among them are roux-en-y gastric bypass, biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch, vertical gastroplasty, lap band, and vertical banded gastronomy. http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/information/wlsjourney/surgery+types.php You want to know: What are the various wls procedures, and what changes to my anatomy/digestive system will each make? What are the comparisons between the procedures? Here is a link with a comparison between 4 procedures. It does not include the "mini" versions of either RNY or DS, but neither is very widely available. http://www.gr-ds.com/generalinformation/comparison.html In your research, look at: Complication rates - both early on and long-term. Success rates - expected % of excess weight loss with each procedure AND how well people do long-term at keeping the weight off once they have lost it. How each of these procedures works in consideration of your co-morbidities; for example, my husband has Crohn's disease and the only wls that isn't contraindicated for Crohn's is vertical gastroplasty. Some people are more comfortable with the thought a less invasive procedure; if you are, this is a consideration. All wls procedures are invasive, but bypass procedures are more invasive than the restriction-only procedures. What kinds of lifestyle changes are indicated for each of the procedures? What are the long-term dietary restrictions? Can you imagine sticking them out? For example, some of the *permanent* restrictions for RNY are no carbonated beverages and a low-fat diet. All procedures do not have all of the same restrictions, so be sure you know them AND CAN LIVE WITH THEM PERMANENTLY. How many times do I hear of needed revisions in the long term - either because there wasn't enough weight loss to start with, or because of regain 2-5 years out? If people are getting revisions, what procedure did they start with, and which procedure are they getting for their second go-round with WLS? Finally, get on the boards at OH for each and every one of the procedures. Access each from here: http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/ The main board tends to be mostly RNY patients, and there are other boards for each of the procedures. Read these boards religiously for at least a couple of months. You will begin to notice trends in what people have to say about what it's like to live with their procedures, which and how often they report complications, and how they are doing health-wise. There are a lot of places on the internet to research your decisions, but this is where I have found the most helpful information compiled together. Start here, but don't stop here. Once you have done all of this research, you will have the tools to know and understand each and every one of your options. It's very true that only you can make this decision, but you need to know what criteria to use for it. Denise in Ark

I totally agree with the other posters. I would like to point out that I wasn't "big and healthy" and now I'm "skinny and sick." I WAS "big, tired, and very sick" and now I'm "skinny, mobile with energy, and according to my doctor, "the picture of perfect health.""

Hi, I do not get sick often. I'm "sick" because of my weight. I never had had to go to the hospital for anything except springing something or some sort of problem like that. Yes, I have went to the doctor because of my weight; been going since I can remember. When I was a baby, my mom asked the doctor if i was ever going to loose the weight and he told my mom that "it is just baby fat, it will go away as she gets older" ....um...sorry but it did not go away. I have went on numerous diets and I lost about 40-50 pounds but gained it right back. Well, Best Wishes to everyone, Sadina