Who Motivated You To Get Surgery?

Hi Scott,

I hear you.... I kept lying to myself I could do it, I could do it. But finally had to admit I couldn't and needed a tool to help me. Congratulations on your decision to be healthy

For me it was a Heart doctor that i had seen once because I was having a medical scare that I was just certain was my heart weakening because of my T2 diabetes that had been uncontrolled for 5 years. He was blunt and said that was not the reason for it..He was kind of a A-hole about it and asked me why i have not got WLS. He then gave me a lesson about the heart and diabetes and how there would be no way to even do the test to see if my arteries were clogged because I was to big for the tests. He said something about the table maxing out at a certain weight or some crap..and i was like 20lbs away from that weight limit...and i don't even remember what he said about the test to see if my arteries were clogged but i believe he said i was too fat for that as well. All i know is I was scared straight..and embarrassed..and was at the WLS seminar a week later.

I am so glad you ran straight to the seminar and not ice cream. Sometimes when someone comes at us like that we don't listen and keep doing what we do to hurt ourselves. Look at you NOW Thanks for sharing and congratulations!

My former PCP was the one who first broached the subject of WLS. I'd gone in to talk about the constant knee pain I was having. We talked about physical therapy and anti inflammatory meds and what would happen down the road, but then he said, very kindly and gently, "Audrey, have you ever considered having bariatric surgery?" I HAD thought of WLS years before, but had never done anything other than some minor research and lots of wishing. Lack of insurance, and money in general, had been my biggest obstacle.

We then talked about my health long term in general and how it wasn't looking so good, and I was only in my early 40's. I'd dodged some genetic bullets up to that point, but my luck was running out. My weight, BP, and blood sugar were climbing every year. My knee would barely support my body weight. My snoring was getting worse. Just existing was a strain. I was a mess. The way he explained things to me just made it click for me, and I told him I wanted to pursue it. I started the process for WLS and never looked back.

My surgery was 6 years ago yesterday, and it has been such an amazing, wonderful, easy yet difficult, life changing experience. It's the smartest move I ever made, other than marrying my husband; I think those two are tied for the top spot on Audrey's Best Decisions list ...haha.

Congratulations on taking control of your health and Look out world Audrey has arrived

I motivated myself after multiple health problems arising due to my weight over the past 5 years. I was a thin child and adolescent, however I started putting on weight in my mid twenties. At 55 I realized that all the yo-yo dieting had ruined my metabolism, my weight was out of control and my health was getting worse each year. At 50 I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea, then a year later high cholesterol and high blood pressure and last year during process of getting approved for WLS it was discovered my fasting blood sugar was 25 and A1C was 18. So getting diagnosed with diabetes just confirmed I made the right decision to pursue WLS. It took a few months with different meds to get the diabetes under control and I'm happy to say that one week after my WLS, my diabetes went into remission and I've stopped taking 2000mg metformin and 5mg Trajenta daily. In one month I'll have more bloodwork done to see if I still need meds for high cholesterol and high blood pressure. According to my surgeon, I'm a lightweight so my weight loss has been slow. I'm following my diet and slowly losing and I'm thrilled with that. Looking forward to continued weight loss and living the best life I can!

Not being a drama queen, this surgery saved your life

Yes I would agree with you. This surgery is truly a life saver for us all and I'm so grateful to have had it.