Just out of curiosity.. (parents of teenagers..?)

I remember my doc giving me 'tough love' lecture calling me a fat slob, basically.  I was so devastated!  Never once did anyone recommend surgery as an option.  I don't think my mom would have been supportive, just by the fear she felt when I had it at the age of 35.  Knowing now what I know, though, if it were my own child, I'd be supportive, and probably recommend the idea myself, as I did with a MO cousin, however her grandmother (my aunt) totally poo-pooed the idea.  Needless to say, she's continuing to grow, just as I did.

I had that whole lecture aswell.. My entire life. I've been to doctors for insulin resistance since i was four years old.. I got it multiple times a year. No one ever reccommended it.. I mean, i had known people that had it..  but they were all adults. and it was kind of looked down upon with most of the people i grew up with.. I came across it on accident online and i pushed for it.. my parents werent for it at first. but they came around,and so did my doctors, thankfully... they didnt support it untill they saw it was working.. haha.

That's what I hate.. people have to wait.. If  your cousin keeps growing and growing then she eventually decides to have surgery, she could have had it sooner and wouldnt have as much damage done to her body.. but i guess theres nothing anyone can do about it.

Knowledge is power. I probably wouldve thought someone was insane, if i didn't know better.

I would like to believe I would listen. That I would be open to what they wanted to research.

I have twins, they are almost 17 and if anything, are considered underweight. Well I think my daughter has moved into normal in the last year or so.

I believe there is no easy answer, and a lot of time would be spent understanding the life long implications of the choices.

I just had the surgery myself 12 days ago (at age 46). There were several people in my life who expressed a great deal of concern, thought I should keep trying to diet, etc. Alcoholism and substance abuse runs rampantly through my family and one of my uncles just died. My question to my family was this, if there was a surgical "cure" to substance abuse, would it be worth it for him to have had it? Of course, the answer was a resounding yes. My substance is food. Having the surgery has set me up for success in a way that no diet ever has. If I had a teenager who was morbidly obese and dealing with all the problems that overweight teenagers face and wanted surgery, I'd have to consider it. It wouldn't be a fast process. I'd make him go through counseling and make sure he was prepared for the life changes, but I would definitely have to consider anything that would make his life better.

Congratulations Ashley. You sound like a very intelligent girl who is willing to make the committment to a healthy lifestyle. As a woman who has always struggled with my weight (the only time I was underweight was when I was born- I was premature and was 4lbs 7 oz, 50 yrs ago) and the  parent of a slim 18 year old daughter, there are many factors to consider. When I was raised food WAS love. I ate to please  my mother, who wanted to be appreciated as a great cook and who, I suspect was afraid of me becoming sexually active at an early age, so she wanted me "protected" with a layer of fat.As a teenager, should I have had WL surgery? hell no- first the issues were emotional and second- WLS was more dangerous and not as common. At 50, I had the sleeve- so no malabsorption and no foreign object, but I needed to work out my emotional isses first. Would I have had this surgery ten years ago? YES, but the sleeve wasn't done then. I looked into RNY and honestly, I did not think i could comply with the post surgery requirements for nutritional supplementation and I found it difficult to trust any of the surgeons I went to to reroute my digestive system. Also, when my daughter was young, I was very afraid to get any surgery- I was afraid of complications and leaving a young child. To make any decision, especially a life changing one- all the stars must align- Do you have the time? resources? support? Do YOU really WANT to change?  Not everyone that is obese REALLY wants to change. So if someone feels pressured to change, by society, friends or family- they should not change, whether it be WLS or any other decision. I think you really understand what you were getting in to and alot of the emotional issues involved, but you may still struggle, so make sure you get as much support as you can. It's great you joined a gym-now, make SURE you go!  Good luck to you, keep up the good work