I Come From Alabama...

New Guy introduction; My Name is Johnnie, and I hail from North Alabama. I have just begun research into bariatric surgery, specifically Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy. First off I will say, that I have support from most family members, friends, some co-workers, and of course the many who have had the surgery. There are a few, my wife included, *****ally REALLY want me to seek alternatives to surgery, but they expressed they would support my decision either way.

Instead of giving a list of what ails me, we will start with recent events since July 2017; Late in July I was diagnosed with multiple pulmonary emboli (blood clots in the lungs). Save to say, I was staring death in the face. At the time, I weighed 298lbs. As a direct result, I made lots of new friends last year; a pulmonologist, and cardiologist, and a hematologist to name a few. All of the Dr's said to lose the weight to help elevate further issues, but until then I would remain on blood thinners for another year (Xeralto to be exact). In November I was cleared of the blood clots that I was hospitalized for back in July, a CT scan confirmed this. I had also gained 7lbs, now sitting at 305. In January of 2018, I met with my hematologist, and this found me at an astonishing weight of 320!! The hematologist told me that had I gained 10lbs in a year, he would be concerned, but in fact, I had gained 22lbs in 5 months. He also expressed concerns about the edema in my lower legs (swelling). We talked about how there is this little 165lb man deep inside of me who is screaming to get out, and no one can hear him... His next comment set me back, he said; "maybe I should consider weight loss surgery..."

So I study this over for a couple weeks, including attending a WLS seminar, and talking with friends and co-workers who have had the surgery(s). I decided I would take matters into my own hands, as I decided that surgery was not for me! To start things off on the right foot, I would set up a wellness visit with my family doctor. This past Monday, Feb 12, 2018 I met with my doctor, but not before I find that I am now tipping the scales at 325lbs!!! I am devastated to say the least, and to add to that, the doctor basically handed me a pamphlet to a weight loss center and said good luck!

All this to say, that I have an appointment with Alabama Bariatrics on the 23rd of this month (Feb 2018), to consult with a surgeon. The surgeon who has performed a gastric by-pass procedure on my mother (10-years ago) and lap band surgery on my sister (8-years ago). Incidentally, I come family line of heavy hitters.

I am scared to death of the surgery, as it is not reversible, but I am more afraid of dying... And worst of all, just writing this I am mourning foods that I may never ever get to eat again... my brain is my own worst enemy.

For what it is worth, I take ownership of everything, there is no one to blame but myself...

Yeah, the surgery is irreversible. But then, most of life is irreversible too. I had the same thought before I went through with it. I thought my life would change. I thought I would miss all the things I loved to eat but couldn't anymore.

Life did change. I no longer eat many of the things I used to. I do not miss them. There are many other things I can still eat, just in smaller quantities. That is fine with me. I am healthier, more active, and while I did not have huge health problems pre surgery, they were lurking on the horizon. I suffered from extreme lymphadema in my legs. I had just crossed the line into type 2 diabetes. Those are both gone, in remission, whatever.

I have found new foods to like, things I thought I'd never enjoy. I don't miss the old ones. I do enjoy running up a flight of stairs without becoming winded. I enjoy riding my bike at high speed for an hour or so. There are so many things out there to enjoy again that are not food centered. You can do it, and it will be worth it.

Nice to meet you. Ditto what Little Bill said.

And I will add...

I was also concerned that I was going to miss food. However, I found that there are things I can eat now that I couldn't before because when I would think about food, it was a matter of quantity rather than quality. So now I eat lobster, filet, ribeye steaks and other "luxury foods" on a regular basis. I didn't "give up" everything. I love udon and pho noodle soup, now I count the strands of noodles and account for it in my plan. I don't eat it every day and when I do, I make sure that the rest of the day is pretty much carb free. When I go out, I don't worry about which plate will give me the most food, I look at the dishes as which is going to be the most delicious. I had grilled pork chops and kale salad at Cracker Barrel a few days ago and they were to die for. And I took more than half home and I get to eat it again (possibly twice more).

I even picked out the noodles from a recent lasagna I had made and gave them to the dog. They were actually rather tasteless so why eat them? The fillings were much tastier and since the space in my sleeve is limited, I would rather enjoy each bite rather than eat "fillers". We now buy quality cheeses, gourmet chicken sausages and expensive seafood. And believe it or not, we spend less on food now and eat a tremendously better quality of food than we did before. It is an excellent trade off.

And the best part? I'm am not teetering on the brink of yet another hospital stay. I was in and out of the hospital at least 10 times over the last 3 years. I couldn't take a vacation as all of my leave was spent in the hospital. I look forward to that changing. And I look forward to being able to walk again someday. All those things keep me going.

I won't lie and say I no longer have dark moments. I do. And I struggle sometimes to make good decisions. As it is often said: the surgery is on your stomach, not your brain. But, I had dark moments and struggled prior to having the surgery. I would much rather struggle and be 200 pounds lighter.

Again, welcome and best of luck to you.

Thanks for the encouragement, I really appreciate it. Get this, my wife is so in-tune with me, she has been watching those scary reality shows; "My 600 Pound Life" and "Family by the Ton" She says; "see, these are the people who truly need intervention, not you..." She believes in me, because in 1990 I gave up smoking pot, in 2002 I gave up cigarettes, and in 2008 I gave up drinking. I have a history of giving up the hard stuff. She will be supportive no matter what comes about in the next 6 months, but she really wants me to save my body.

I have high blood pressure, edema of the lower legs, I have had surgery to fix the venal reflux in my legs, I have severe sleep apnea, and my heart doctor says that diabetes is in my future. I have lost my gal bladder, and have subsequently had a hernia pop up through the old gal bladder scar. have the usual joint pain, along with arthritis (probably psoriatic arthritis).

Currently 325 with a BMI of 45.3

I, too, thought that everyone who had weight loss surgery (WLS) was like the 600 lb Life people. Nope. I was the heaviest person in my cohort when I went through the pre-op classes (there were around 10 of us). I now speak to pre-op classes on a regular basis at my clinic. As in once a month. Class sizes range from about 8-30. So I've spoken in front of at least a couple hundred of them. There have been a few students who were bigger than I was once was, but not many. And NO ONE who approached the size of My 600 lb Life people. I'd say most appear to be about 100 lbs overweight (so maybe 250-ish for the women) . So the average WLS patient is not your average 600 lb Life person. Those people are the extreme - in fact, many bariatric surgeons would refuse to operate on anyone that large, so they'd need to go to someone like Dr. Now.

btw - I can eat anything and have been able to ever since I was a few months out from surgery (the first few months you're much more restricted, and things are sort of touch-and-go for awhile). I usually don't, though - bread products sit in my stomach like a rock and aren't all that nutritious - sugary items like cake give me an awful sugar buzz if I eat too much (plus, like bread, it's not very nutritious). I can only fit so much into my stomach at this point, so I try to only give it nutritious items. And that's fine with me! Some of the unhealthy stuff I don't even like anymore...

I would say that your wife is totally out of tune with you.

What is her motivation for wanting you to stay morbidly obese? Surely she has seen you try and fail repeatedly to maintain a weight loss?

are you eating buddies? Is she morbidly obese and doesn't want to lose her eating buddy and remain obese while you lose weight and save your life?

Surely she has been in your various doctors offices and heard their caution about what is going to happen to you if you don't lose weight.

Frankly, if I was in the shape you are in, there would be NOTHING that could keep me off that surgery table. It is/was a total no brainer for me.

It is a serious decision to make and you are smart to consider all options. For me, I still miss some foods that I won't let myself taste because I am afraid it will send me into a binge of poor food choices. Overall though, I can eat anything I want but control the portions. The more weight I lose the easier this becomes. I love how I feel now.

Thank you Kjnelson... once a food-a-holic, always a food-a-holic I suppose. I was told by a co-worker, that mourning food was just my brain playing tricks on me... much like the tricks that nicotine plays on the brain of someone trying to quit smoking. It is a mind game that we all must learn to win. I keep playing the game, and one of these days I gonna win.

Totally true, the mind/emotional connection is something I've had to work very hard on (am still working on). I'd like to add that I feel I am only able to overcome my compulsion to overeat with the combination of therapy and WLS.

I mourned food prior to surgery, and after! The preop liquid diet was the most difficult, but I had a short time after surgery where all I could do was think (obsess) about food. I was very very depressed and thought I'd made a huge mistake because I couldn't eat anything. Both of these are common to the WLS process and good mental exercise. Prior to surgery I couldn't find a way to control my eating. WLS gave me some power. Of course, I can't claim to having "won" because I'm only a year out from my surgery, I'm considering how to maintain for life now and it's a scary time because regain is common.

Good luck to you in your decision making and welcome!