Pissed at The View.....

I was flipping channels and stopped on The View. I don't think I will ever watch them again. They had 2 women who lost over 100 lbs "on their own". And Joy Behr had the gall to ask them why they didn't chose the "easy way out". She they mentioned the lapband and gastric bypass. I am so mad. I wish I was better at writing letters cuz I would blast The View for what Joy said. This is not easy. Anyone of us pre op and post op knows this is NOT EASY!!!!!!! Yes I am yelling now. Even my friends who have seen me through only 21 days of post op knows this is the hardest thing I have ever done. Damn!!! Now I am crying. It hurts to hear people say things like that. I am sorry for ranting like this. I am so thankful to have my OH friends and my friends here close to my home. If it wasn't for you guys I don't know how I would have been able to handle all this. Thanx for being there. Corinn 245/218/130

Oh Honey, You are so right....this is not an easy way at all. It is very hard and for those who consider it easy hasn't been there. Don't let it get to you....they are just ignorant to the true battle. Keep up the great work, Corinn, you are so brave for going the hard way. Love ya and hugs, Betsy

Thanx Betsy, this is what I wrote to The Veiw. I know it really doesn't say much, but I feel better. Joy, I am extremely upset at you comments on todays, Jan 9, 2007, show. When you and Rosie were interviewing the ladies that lost all that weight "on thier own". You asked them why they didn't choose the "easy way out". You then mentioned the lapband and such. As a gastric bypass patient, I am very offended. Do you not think that this is a hard decision to come to and do. It took me 2 years to finally get this help. That is what it is, help. My new tummy is a tool that I am using to help me lose weight. It is NOT easy. I am doing it with the help of my friends and family. I am doing this to be healthy and live a long life for my 2 kids and husband. You must not have talk to many people that have had gastric bypass, or you would know this is not the "easy way out". It is just as difficult as doing it on "your own". I don't think I will watch the show any more. And I will advise my friends and family to do the same. Corinn

Corinn, this is the 2nd time this week I've read posts about People Mag & The View with what they said. I'm over it myself and I think I will write a letter. I'm not the best writer, but it might just make me feel better so I can let it go. We know the truth and I guess that's all that matters. People just need education. Hope your day gets better, Amber

Amber, I did write an e mail to Joy. It doesn't say much but it made me feel better. Joy, I am extremely upset at you comments on todays, Jan 9, 2007, show. When you and Rosie were interviewing the ladies that lost all that weight "on thier own". You asked them why they didn't choose the "easy way out". You then mentioned the lapband and such. As a gastric bypass patient, I am very offended. Do you not think that this is a hard decision to come to and do. It took me 2 years to finally get this help. That is what it is, help. My new tummy is a tool that I am using to help me lose weight. It is NOT easy. I am doing it with the help of my friends and family. I am doing this to be healthy and live a long life for my 2 kids and husband. You must not have talk to many people that have had gastric bypass, or you would know this is not the "easy way out". It is just as difficult as doing it on "your own". I don't think I will watch the show any more. And I will advise my friends and family to do the same. Corinn

Hey girl! I just wrote the following: Dear Ladies of The View & Staff, I'm sure you've received a lot of letters about your comments on weight loss surgeries. I am writing on behalf of myself and plenty of other upset people in America who have had weight loss surgeries. While I applaud the efforts of these women who loss 100 pounds "on their own", I do not feel choosing surgery is "the easy way out". I'm not sure how much information you have on such surgeries but if you did you would know it's not easy by any means. Yo-yo dieting has become an epidemic in America. Over half of the people who try all these diets gain all the weight back and then some. I tried all of the fad diets. I would lose 60 pounds and gain back 80 pounds. Over the last decade, I became "morbidly obese" and the co-morbidities stacked up. High Blood Pressure, Sleep Apnea, and Diabetes are some of the things that morbidly obese people have to deal with. I was not one of those that had an eating disorder; I just could not keep weight off. I got tired of all the ups and downs and researched other options because I wanted to live. I was only 29 years old and had a very short life expectancy. The thought of dying and leaving my son behind scared me tremendously. I found ObesityHelp.com and it had tons of information on all types of surgeries and how to make lifestyle changes. I met and talked with plenty of people who were pre and post op patients. I decided to get a consultation with a bariatric surgeon in my area. I was put through a number of tests (labs and psychological), met with a nutritionist, got ultrasounds of my gallbladder and liver, required to go to support group meetings and was given a lot of options to what surgeries I would qualify for. Many others are given diet restrictions and have to lose a certain amount of weight before they are allowed to even have the surgery. They want to make sure you are truly committed to a new way of life. I had to make commitments to never smoke again and to come to all the aftercare that was available to me. I underwent RNY Gastric Bypass Surgery on July 19th, 2006 and dealt with the physical and mental issues that come with having any surgery. I had to change my life completely. We are restricted on how much and what we can eat and drink. We have to exercise everyday or we'll lose muscle tissue. We have a whole list of supplements and vitamins we have to take for the rest of our lives. We have a lot of rules that we have to follow. I am grateful for all these rules because they helped me change my life. They saved my life. I take them very seriously because I know that this isn't full proof and if I choose to stretch my stomach back out, I can gain it all back and then some. If I don't take my supplements there is a whole bunch of other ramifications I will suffer. We have to deal with sagging skin and body image issues because of the quick weight loss. If you really knew everything that we have to go through, you would not call it the easy way out. Not only did this affect me, but my family as well. My husband and son have started losing extra weight because of the food changes we have made and they are exercising with me. It has helped us all. My hats off to those that have lost all that weight "on their own", but check back with them in a year or two and see just how many of them are still at that weight or less. You really upset a lot of regular viewers and I do hope that there will be an apology in the near future because your show offers a lot of good information that we would hate to miss out on because they don't want to watch your show anymore. I hope that you guys will learn more about weight loss surgery and maybe utilize the information and do a show on it to educate the millions of Americans who are ignorant about it because they don't know any better. I am proud of my decision and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Sincerely, Amber Bennett

Aewsome Amber. You write beatutifully.

Hey Corinn...I seen that to on tv..I wanted to YELL OUT GIRL IF YOU ONLY KNEW LOL..I have my surgury on Dec 11, 2006 I had the gastrick bypass. And it's like this I had one of my friend come in there an was talking with another person in the hosp an told her what I had done. this was the day I was going home. and she said oh your real not that big to have had it done but I guess you wanted to take the easy way out. an let me tell you someone corinn I WENT OFF ON HER LOL. I told her for the rest of my life I need to watch what I eat. it's like being on a diet for the rest of your life. she just look at me an I said i need a pain killer after that lol..well don't let it get to you. if only they knew. an congratulations on the weight loss I loss already 32 lbs. take care Maria

Well I was pissed to so here is what I wrote: Joy oh Joy oh Joy, I am sure you have been blasted for your comments this morning about your ladies who took the "easy way out" instead of "dieting" to lose 100lbs. You just insulted every gastric bypass patient in America and there are THOUSANDS of us!! Gastric bypass is no easy way out! I have lost 100lbs since February through RNY bypass. Easy is not a word I would use to describe my experience. If I could have lost weight before surgery I certainly would have. I bet your ladies also struggled to lose their weight and hopefully they will keep it off. However, gastric bypass patients must take take vitamins and supplements for the rest of our lives or will die.... that can't be the easy way out.... maybe you need to have a show with Gastric Bypass patients featured so they can tell you the negatives and the positives - or has your former co-host, Star Jones, left a bad taste in your mouth that you can't get over? Jackie okay so I was sarcastic but it made me feel better too lol!!

You go ladies. Although I have not had the surgery yet, this is defintely not the easy way. Surgery is not now nor has it ever been easy.