Just took the first step towards WLS

Hello everyone. I have just FINALLY taken the first step towards WLS and attended the informational class. I am very excited and nervous and any tips you can offer would be greatly appreciated!

I am a mom to a very active toddler boy, a wife to a special forces husband, and a teacher of high school students with Autism... and I am morbidly obese with a BMI of 52.7. I am so ready to love myself again and feel like getting out and having fun and not worry about not fitting in something or hiding in the group pictures. Also I turn 30 this year... UGHHHH... Ohh well here's to a new lease on life!!

I look forward to getting to know people here!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Hi Tammy,

First of all, welcome to the forum. I look forward to getting to know you as you make this incredible, life changing journey. I honestly think that this journey has several signficant roads. The first is the one you are on now, when you are making the decision to have the surgery and going the process necessary to abtain insurance approval for the surgery. The second is the period whenyouare actively losing your excess weight and the final leg of the journey is learning to maintain the losses and associated gains. Each leg of the journey has it's own hills and valleys, but each one brings you closer to the person you want to be. 

I honestly think that my only real regret about this journey is that I wasn't able to do it when my own sons were toddlers. I know that it would have changed my life and I believe that it would have changed theirs as well. 

There is a forum on this site for people that have a BMI over 50 that you might want to check out. I have a large in-person support group in addition to the online one that I run and have found that those who start their journey with BMIs over 50 have some concerns and challenges that 'lightweights' don't necessarily encounter, so sometimes it's good to be able to talk with others that have walked a road similar to your own... that doesn't mean you shouldn't come here... please do and do so often.

Also know that the beginning of your post surgery journey will bear little resemblance to your life a few months out, much less once you start maintaining your excess weight loss. I wish that someone else had told me that because I remember thinking the first few months that I couldn't believe that I would have to eat/live like that... I don't. It changes a great deal... and for the better.

Please feel free to ask questions and share your experiences as you make this amazing journey.

All the best,

 

Congrats on taking the first step.  The most important thing you can do right now is tons and tons of research in order to decide the best procedure for you.  Make sure you research all 4 types of WLS (band, bypass, duodenal switch, and vertical sleeve).  Look at the amount of weight you can expect to lose with each, the statistcal odds you have of keeping that weight off, the post-op lifestyle you can expect with each, etc.  Unless your surgeon does all 4 types (and he doesn't unless you are seeing Dr. Sudan at Duke or Dr. Voellinger in Charlotte maybe?) s/he will not be the best source of informaiton on all 4 types.  Do some independent research.  Then you can choose a surgeon from there.

Good luck to you!

Thank you for the kind welcome! I know this is a life long journey to my personal health and I am so ready!!

Thank you for suggesting the group with BMI over 50.

Also Tessy, I have done a good bit of research. My first choice would be a gastric sleeve and second is RNY. However my insurance will only cover RNY, therefor I am pressing forward to have the RNY.  Thank you for your help! ;-)

I thought I was reading my post from a couple of months ago........... I went to the seminar the end of May at Duke and had my first appointment yesterday. I'm like you, real excited some times and real scared at other times. But I found the people on this post are real helpful. They answer anything and everything.  Good luck with journey!!  

Sherry