Are you scared to have weight loss surgery?

They really need like buttons on OH!!!

Hi Jackie,

Very well said.  I said it is no more than calories in and calories out to maintain your weight loss too.  You have to make it be a lifestyle change--NOT be on a diet.  You have to make the choice to eat healthy foods and to exercise.  It does not just melt off of you. Your WLS gave you the tool to achieve your goal, not you have to participate in this too.  You have to participate in this lifestyle change, by make healthy food choices like you said--Protein, fresh veggies a little fruit.  And YES exercise even when you don't want to.  It is something you can do, but you have to want it more than anything you have ever wanted in your life.

Thanks for saying ALL the RIGHT things,

Hugs,

Susan, Thank you for your post!  I was submitted for surgery 2 days ago, I am waiting on pins and needles for an answer.  Y ou look wonderful, happy and healthy.  What more could any of us want?  I finally decided to do something after I saw some pictures of myself last summer.  I have been working on this  since October of 2010.  You are an inspiration.  I was also excited to see u live in Eugene.  I am just outside of Junction City so we are neighbors.  I am not really scared yet but when the surgery becomes real I will be.  But I will do it... no problem.  Thankyou for the inspiration!

Hey Neighbor,

Jackie, this is a very doable thing---WLS.  We all educated ourselves when it came to making this choice. We all know as an adult there are always a risk when you have surgery.  I wish you luck with the insurance company.  I never had any luck, so I decided I was 63 at the time, and if I was ever going to get to have WLS I was going to have to pay for it myself. So that is just what I did and then I set out to find the best doctor to do this and I found him and the rest is history.

I would be happy to meet with you any time or talk on the phone and answer any questions that you might have. I have walked the walk, so I do know a lot about it.

Thanks for you sweet and nice words.  You are dong this for ALL the right reason.  You are doing it for you!  This is ALL about you and NO one else.

I am here for you if you need me for anything.
Hugs and I will keep good thought coming your way for the insurance answer.

I love the optimism in your post!  Thank you for sharing.

I had dismissed the idea of WLS for years.  I kept telling myself that I could do this on my own.  Or...better yet...I kept waiting for the silver bullet, the pill or the program that would magically transform me into being thin without effort on my part.  Yeah, that just never happened.  Well...actually it kind of did...

After a trip to Mexico in 2008, I had had enough.  I had a fun time with family and friends, but I was also miserable.  I was hot and nothing fit and my legs hurt, I looked like crap and I was just in NEED of a change in my weight situation.  So I started my research.  I was nervous and frightened.  I was "kind of" healthy before, or so I told myself.  I was afraid of a surgery that would me me sick.  I was nervous when I thought my only option was RNY (Lapband just was a bad option for me from the moment I read about it, I never seriously considered it).  I had coworkers that had had RNY and each of them had only lost a portion of their weight and had regained all of thier weight, and more.  Not knowing anything else existed, I uncomfortably started the process of getting RNY.

Then, I found out about the Duodenal Switch (DS).  I suddenly wasn't frightened, nervous, uncomfortable, or afraid.  Which is huge for me.  I felt (and still feel) I found the correct surgery option for me.  I had a blissful peace about the process and the surgery.  I went into it with great hope and am very happy with my choice, my progress and especially my improved health and confidence. 

Hi,

Well, I read your entire reply and I thought to myself this is me exactly--it sounds just like something I could have written--we had the same feelings and thoughts.  The only difference was I had a sleeve WLS.  I believe that different things work for people when it comes to WLS.  I was also highly against the lapband for all the same reasons.  So in the end we both had the WLS that worked for us.

Aren't we the lucky ones!  I just had someone tear into me because of my optimism on my posts.  She called me "GOD".  Well you can go back and read what I told her.  I believe we do have freedom of speech here in the US still.  I want people to see that it is OK to have WLS and that it is rare that anyone has serious complications.  I want them to know that if they do  their own research and find the best doctor match for them, they should be OK. We all need to educate ourselves before we make this choice.

I am thrilled that you have had great success.  I enjoy your attitude and honest way you write about how you made your choice.  People read these and it helps them make a choice for themselves too.

Hugs

of course you are scared.  but i am scared not to have the surgery, i am diabetic and i have tried so many times to lose weight. Now i am just desperate.

Hi,

We all do this for different reasons.  We all should end up being healthy, off of a lot of our medications, and made a lifestyle change. It takes a lot of time and effort and work on your part to become successful.  You have to be willing to do what it takes, like eating healthy and some kind of exercise.  WLS give your the TOOL, the weight doe not just melt off of you.  You have made a good choices when it come to eating and exercise.  It takes time to wrap your brain around this.  If you have any questions or want some answers, I am more than happy to help you in any way I can.  NEVER give up on your dreams.  WLS gives you the tool to achieve your goal. 

Hugs,

 Terrified. Esp. because I was traveling to Mexico to do it. I just stayed on auto-pilot and trusted that my long search and financial sacrifices for the surgery was worth it.  It was now or never kind of thinking.  If I skipped the opportunity, I knew I would never get it again. So, I just closed my eyes and "jumped".

Hi,

And you did it for all the right reasons.  This was your opportunity. It is a large leap of faith to do this and then to go to Mexico.  I did the same thing, and have NO regrets.  I would have died faster from being fat than I would have for any surgery.  So I knew I had done my research, educated myself and now it was time to go for it.  I did have WLS in Mexico and 105 pounds later I have NO regrets.  There are always risks involved, but for me the out weighted and fear I might have had.

Hugs,