JUST GETTING STARTED

Hello! I'm new here and I'm very glad I found this site.

After 18 month of pondering whether I wanted to go down this road or not, I called my Doctor and made an appointment for next Wednesday to get her to do a referral for me for Bariatric Surgery.

I am relieved but scared. I actually feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders and that I can actually see light at the end of the tunnel.

But I am scared and I know this is no cake walk. I know I have to put forth great effort and it will be very hard at times.

I'm afraid of how my relationship with my husband will change. He's not entirely on board. It's not that he doesn't want me to be healthy but he's actually worried about the surgery and not surprisingly, how it will affect him. Funny, yet not. I think we'll be able to sort ourselves out and he will realize that this is all for the good.

My journey is just beginning and I am so happy to know there is a place I can go to get help and read about others going through the same thing.

Congratulations on making a life style change. There are several folks here that have been down your road in terms of Hubby fears and personal daemons/fears about the surgery itself.

I'm sure you will read them shortly. Again, Congrats on making a life saving change for yourself.

Hi SweetRide 1,

If you've researched it, and thought about it for some time, then it definitely is a step in right direction. All the best to you on your journey. Will you be going through St. Joe's in Hamilton?

Barb

I'm not sure. St. Joe's is probably the closest but Guelph would work too. I don't have a problem going into Toronto either. Whichever gets me going the fastest is where I'll go I guess.

My hubby was not on board at first either but he came to the orientation, watched me go through the process and if you asked him now, he would say it was the best decision ever except for my foul smelling gas. Lol. Best of luck to you.

Good morning and welcome!

The wonderful thing about this process is that you learn and develop along the way. My doctor had suggested this to me as an option, then backed up his chair from me (lol). It must have been the look on my face. He told me to go to orientation and decide from there. I did, with my daughter (who as also not on board, but very supportive) and I learned some. I joined this site and learned some more. I went to the social work visit, the nurse practitioner, the dietician and finally the psych visit - and learned some more. Each visit told me this was the right path for me. My husband was still not on board, but more supportive.

I had my surgery on March 22nd and had two weeks of Opti before that (for me, not difficult at all and actually quite enjoyable - I'm a freak of nature). So far I am down 43 lbs. as of this morning, feel terrific, am off all medications except for my vitamins, and know that this lifetime commitment is what I need to do to improve my health. I'm getting back to the old Linda and she is a welcome site.

You don't have to make anymore decisions other than to commit to learning and going to your next scheduled appointment (if you want to continue in the process). The members of this site are full of information, support, encouragement and hugs. Worrying won't help; just look to that light at the end of the tunnel as it gets brighter and brighter.

Best of luck.