If you have any doubt...

If you are new to the forum and have doubt about going through with surgery I just want to encourage you to keep focused on the positives that getting to a healthy weight can bring to your life. At my heaviest weight I was 376 pounds and even though I wasn't having major health issues at the time I still was very limited in my life. I watched life from the side lines and was not active with my kids. At one point I sat in the floor and got scared when I realized that I didn't think my legs were going to be strong enough to get me back up off the floor. I had worked and lost some weight before I went to the surgeon and on surgery day I think I was 319 or right around there.

We all hear about the fun NSV's and those are great but this month I have realized that above and beyond the fun NSV's I have the ability to do the things that I need to do now. On New Years Day my mom went into the hospital in Michigan and I live in TN. Over this month I have had to make 4 trips between TN and MI, clear out my mom's house to move her down here and clear out two rooms in my house to make room for my mom and her things. The fact that I have had the energy and strength to do the extreme physically demanding things that I have had to do over this month and still take care of my kids and make it to work is astounding to me. Prior to losing the weight I would not have been able to handle this.

Every day I am thankful. Hope you all have a blessed week.

1. Thank you for sharing. Im still pre op and I have for sure had my doubts. What worries me more though is what happens if I dont go through with it. I have a lot of health problems at a young age and I cant even do the things I want to do. Its not a way to live! I would rather risk complications than to live like this any longer.

I was scared and had my doubts all the way through them putting the mask over my face and me going under anesthesia in the operating room. I think almost everyone has the fears and doubts and goes through time of being scared that I'll be the one person this doesn't work for. For me I had to look beyond the fears and focus on the what ifs of the positive side, the what if I succeed and what if I get my life back. I am thankful I went through with it and I think you will be too. Best of luck to you!

Thanks for sharing this! Can I just ask - what's an NSV?

Non scale victory :)

Ah - thanks! I'm rather new here and still trying to figure out all of the short forms and lingo!

This will help a little: http://www.obesityhelp.com/message-board-lingo

This is so encouraging...it is definitely the things we miss that are the biggest victories of all...i.e. traveling (fitting in plane seats), riding rides with our kids at the fair, more fun in bed lol, all kinds of benefits. The biggest one was not being diabetic for the time I was at a lower weight. Thanks for posting this...it is helping me get motivated to lose my regain and get closer to goal.

Mary K.

I didn't have any comorbidities either. Just a high BMI. I had the surgery 8 weeks ago and have had several NSV already. I can cross my legs again, my shoes are too big, I bought jeans at old navy 2 weeks ago..and not the largest size they carried in store, I have rib and hip bones, my bathtub is bigger now, I can fit in the small stand up shower WITH my husband with out running into the cold sides of the walls..there are so many and I'm only down 40# since surgery. When I'm at goal I figure there will be SO many more NSV's also!

Oh and I actually weigh LESS than what my driver's license says.