Gastric By Pass and Diabetes

Thanks for your reply Mark.  Yes, it is a tough decision to make.  Although I have heard nothing but positive feedback from those who have opted for WLS.  I still have more research and more thinking to do.  I am on insulin twice daily now.  And take metformin and was taking Byetta as well.  My A1c was in the 6 range, so meds were controlling it.  However, now I have seemed to slip on my diet and my BS levels have seemed to be increasing, not surprisingly.  I am just concerned about eating only a cup of food at each meal for the rest of my life.  Not sure how I would be able to manage this, but I guess there is no choice really...right...your stomach is full!  I have to lose about 80lbs in total.  I am also afraid of not being able to ever eat or drink a sweet thing again in my life.  I really don't have support of family or friends much for the idea of WLS.  But I am working on it still.  I guess I can't let them influence me if this is what I decide to do for myself.  I am mainly worried about my health ...being thin would just be a bonus for me.  It really sounds like you made the right decision for yourself.  I am happy for you.  Thanks for your well wishes, I will just keep searching for answers and plugging away. 

Time for some tough love here...

IT IS NOT WHAT YOU ARE GIVING UP, IT IS WHAT YOU ARE GAINING. 

It is all about gaining freedom from diabetes. But you have to remember it is not always a given that you will have resolution. 
It is about gaining years to your life.
It is about gaining more time with your loved ones
It is about gaining freedom to go places and do things without worrying about what there will be to eat and how high or low your blood sugars will go.  YES you can eat normal foods with WLS, you just have to make good choices.  I travel a lot and I can ALWAYS find something ok to eat.
Only a cup of food?  Who cares!  You won't feel like eating anyway.
No sweet stuff?  You should be eating and drinking SF stuff already, what is going to change?  The last time I checked there were a lot sweet SF things to eat & drink.
Being thin is a bonus but if you are having surgery for vanity, you are doing it for the wrong reason.
Do I  like being thinner?  YES

I had family members look at me like i was a freak when I told them my plans.  I had some try to talk me out of it.  You need some support but you have to make the decision.  I was 130 lbs over my ideal weight and people tried to tell me I was not a candidate.  Ever try to get life insurace?  They told me I was morbidly obese.  I never saw a fat guy in the mirror.  my size 44 waist should have been a clue.

Sorry for the rant but I see what it did for me and my life.   I hope you can make the right decision.

Don't apologize for the rant Mark...You are right...I needed that kick in the butt!  I know it is probably the right thing for me to do...to have the surgery.  I do worry about being around for my loved ones.  And I do have to keep reminding myself that you just won't be hungry, so how little food you eat really won't matter.  I guess it is time that I stop thinking about eating as one of life's pleasures, and think of it more as survival.  Not living to eat, but eating to live.  I asked someone else though who had the surgery if they still actually enjoy food...and I think they told me that they do.  I don't want to do the surgery for vanity sake.  I am genuinely concerned about my health.  I guess I just have to make my own decision like you said, whether or not I get the support I need from my family.  I am about 80 lbs overweight and I am considered morbidly obese as well.  I know you are right about the life insurance.  I got some life insurance several years back and had some health issues then, but I was able to only get the insurance, as I bought it through my brother's company...otherwise, I know I would have had trouble getting the insurance.  Thanks for all your insight and for sharing your experiences with me...It helps a lot.  Do you exercise at all?  Just curious.  I don't see the fat person I am either, until I see myself in a photo and think what happened to me and where did the old me go to?  I guess my absorption concerns will work themselves out with the other meds. I am taking now for hormone issues if I have the surgery.  Like suggested by others, I will need to consult the surgeon about these issues.  Thanks again for all your advice and support.
Angela

I do exercise about 3-4 times a week. either on a stationary bike or a rowing machine at home.  i go at a high intensity level and am still working on my stamina.  Even though i work hard i don't perspire like I did 60 lbs ago and I have to work to get my heart rate up, not winded like before.  I can't wait to get on my bike outside ( I am a fair weather biker)

I was not a believer or even considered surgery before my endo suggeated it, now that I have experienced what it can do I am so grateful he did.  I have not had a low sugar or any problems related to diabetes since surgery.. 

Do some soul searching, go to an informational seminar if you have not already done so, even go to a local support group before making a decision.  they are all good resources.  Take your husband or family along and let them see what it is all about.  Since my surgery and people seeing how well I am doing several people at work have admitted considering it for their problems.  Admitting you have a problem is the first step.

Keep the faith and get the non believers involved.  Research all the facts and make the decision that is best for you. 

Hi Mark,

Sorry it has taken me a while to reply.  I am glad you do better with the exercising.  I long for days where I can gain strength and stamina like you can now.  I always struggle with my exercise, no matter what I am doing.  I can't keep up like others can.  Maybe someday I will. 

I am the one who brought up surgery to my endo, but I brought up the lap band.  Only thing is, if you have seen some of my other posts, you will have known that the WLS's recommended gastric by pass for me instead of lap band.  They said I had too many endocrine problems and was on too many meds. for lap band to be able to benefit me properly.  I think I can see where they are coming from now, and they are probably right.

You are right, I do need to do some soul searching...I did go to one informational seminar, however, the one I went to had a speaker there who talked about NOT going through with the surgery after all.  She said she was doing well enough on the weight loss diet they put her on and that she didn't feel like she wanted her body invaded in that way by such a severe surgery...so, I guess I went to the wrong seminar...I did speak with one other man there after wards who did have the surgery and he looked at me and thought I didn't need surgery...to look at me, one would never know that I would need surgery....Even though I am 80 lbs. overweight, I am very deceiving to look at....but it is not what I look like that makes the difference or the decision for me....it is about my health...or lack of health really...that is why I would do the surgery...and that is why the doctors want me to have the surgery of course....I think I need to start going to some more support group meetings and get involved again to learn more...you are right....I do have a problem and it is hard sometimes to face it and admit it.

Thanks for telling me to keep the faith, I will try...I try to talk to my mom and my brother about surgery and they don't want to hear it, the even mention of the word surgery gets them all riled up.  I try to make them understand, but they fight me, they are not open to listening even.  My husband has been more supportive in ways...he tells me now that if I want to do it, that I should.  I still have to do some more research on my own though, I know.  And I know that the decision has to be for me alone and for what is in my best interest. 

It's a shame, but right now I feel like everything is crashing down on top of me...all at once...I am in the midst of trying to find a job after being unemployed for a while now, and my husband and I are starting the adoption process, as I wasn't able to have children due to another autoimmune disorder I have...and I am contemplating this surgery still.  I just feel like I have too many major things happening at once here and when that happens to me, I tend to not do anything or not everything.  So, I hate to use these other life changes as an excuse to not get the surgery, but I guess there will never really be a good time to do it cause life just happens.  I just worry if I get a job, will they give me the time off to recover after surgery first of all...and then I worry about how long it will take me to feel "myself" after surgery is over...I have a low tolerance for pain.  I worry that the adoption agency will call with a child and I won't be physically able to care for the child due to my surgery and/or recovery....so these are the things that I ponder through my head....sorry for going on like this...I guess I just had to vent. 

Thanks again for all your support and friendship.

Angela