New to this Forum

Hello Everyone,

Thought I would finally introduce myself. My name is Barbara and I have been reading the posts at this site for several months.  Have struggled with the decision to have weight loss surgery but finally decided it doesn't hurt to find out what is involved.

Part of my fear is that I will have something go wrong and experience miserable symptoms for the rest of my life and my other fear is that I won't be able to control my eating anymore than I did before surgery and gain back any weight I lose.

I will be attending the information session at TWH on February 26th. I am glad this forum exists to share experiences and ask questions about surgery.

This forum seems very supportive.

Take care and thanks for reading.

Barbara 

Hi, Barbara. Welcome. We are in the same boat, so we will hold your hand through it all :)

Welcome Barbara. Thanks for introducing yourself. Glad you have discovered a supportive environment here. I found that the more I knew what to expect the less afraid I became. When my surgery date finally came I was not nervous at all. The waiting can be hard but I would it helpful to get myself in the right mindset to be ready for this journey. 

Keep reading and preparing. It will be worth it.

Karen

Hi Barbara 

welcome to obesityhelp's ontario forum.   There's lots of information to be found here - much more than you'll learn through the centre. It's an excellent resource in your journey :-). I'm one of the minority who has stayed on here for years past my journey.  

You've brought up two real concerns.  Here's my two cents

Surgery is a definite gamble in some repercussions. You don't know if you'll be like most and have a fairly easy recovery and complication free life.  You could also be the one who has every freaky  issue imaginable.  Hard to know.   I just said to myself that I would deal with whatever came my way. I expected issues - most of us will have something whether a deficiency or whatever.  

I DO know that the stuff that I was headed toward was just as nasty - diabetes, heart attacks, joint and tissue damage, mobility issues, etc.  you just have to trust that you've "explored all the avenues" and you're ready to commit to a full change. 

And yea, you could gain back all your weight and get back to where you were.  It all depends on your true level of commitment, the choice to replace old habits and to make changes.  Listen to the long timers who hve lived this for years.  You have one to two years or great loss, use them wisely.  Don't let the junkfood (cookies, cake, processed foods, 100 calorie foods etc) get you off track too early.  Don't make excuses for bad food choices early out.   Seriously give it all you can early out and stay on track. I've seen so many people with regrets that they didn't make the most of the surgery.  The choices you make often are the difference between success and failure.  Attend support groups and find mentors.  

This will be the best decision in your life. It WILL get hard and later on, yes it will be back to the way it was in terms of cravings, willpower etc. but the amount you can lose quickly is worth it by far!!

learn as much as you can.  Be your own advocate and go far towards your own success!!

all the best in yourjourney 

dawn

Thanks so much for your input.  One thing I have learned from reading posts on this forum is that WLS is a tool, not a magical cure.  I am going to have to make the changes needed to max out the benefit of this tool.

Thanks to everyone for their support.

Barbara

Dawn has given you some great advise. I would just add to get help for any eating issues you have. If you are an emotional eater find ways to deal with it the same if it is boredom or any other reason to eat. This will come back eventually. TWH has a lot of resources. Take advantage of them. They have a good support group that meets twice a month

Thanks for the tips.  I will keep my eye open for the TWH resources and the support group meetings.

Welcome Barbara! 

Congratulations on making the first step towards WLS! The info session will be very helpful for you.. and if you have any questions at all we are all on this forum to help one another so don't be shy :) 

-Michelle

Thanks - I really appreciate it.

barbara