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So I am thinking about having surgery. I just was diagnosed with stage 1b endometrial cancer in February. Had a full hysterectomy in March and I am recovering. My doctor said 10 percent of these cancers come back. Also that the reason I had it was that I am overweight specifically in my stomach and those fats helped produce too much estrogen. That I needed to for once and for all take ownership of my weight and do something about it. I think of every activity and associate it with food. I worry about having the surgery and depression. I worry about my face aging with losing the weight because i know that is a issue and I worry about skin..... Please help. What are your experiences and thoughts?

a lot of people worry about loose skin after surgery - and I admittedly did as well. But I think I can speak on behalf of many of us "vets" that in the grand scheme of things, the loose skin is a small price to pay for the benefits you get from losing significant amounts of weight. I would take the loose skin any day of the week over weighing 373 lbs again. ANY FRICKIN DAY!! I could never have imagined how much better my life would be without being severely morbidly obese! Plus if the loose skin really bothers you, there's always plastic surgery.

Thank you so much for responding. Can you speak of your skin surgery?

I had WLS at age 59. After I lost most of the weight (about one year later), I had bags under my eyes, and a definite "wattle". But I was thrilled with how much better I felt -- and looked, overall. Definitely no regrets.

I assumed that was my new look, and I was satisfied. But after another six months, the bags under my eyes disappeared. The wattle is still there, but significantly diminished, and age-appropriate. And the sparkle in my eyes now is amazing! I lost all my excess weight and I have so much energy.

So overall, I would say that any ageing of the face is well worth the improvement in health, energy, and overall appearance. Also, some of the effects on your face may be only temporary.

Temporary depression after surgery (or illness) is common. I suggest you have a plan in place to deal with it. I have chronic depression, well-managed with medication, but I was concerned about it getting worse after surgery. My plan was to keep in regular touch with some close friends so I would have support if I needed it. As it turned out, I didn't have any post-surgery depression.

Glad to hear you are recovering well. For me, the surgery helped me greatly with the depression I was feeling because I became more self confident and was able to enjoy things in life I had not been able to for a very long time. It would be helpful to attend a support group for weight loss surgery and they have lots of them that are virtual now.

Your worries are nothing we all have not gone through. For me and I would say 99% of all successful WLS patients we would never change a thing. What I have gained in Health and mobility out weighs any food I ever put in my mouth. I still go to all the parties and actually still host many holidays. The only thing I just avoid overeating and drinking tons of alcohol. As for the skin there is always plastics and I been using different collagen creams that seem to be improving the wrinkles. I am definitely in a better place and would encourage anyone who has obesity related health issues to run, not walk to the surgeon and get it done. Good luck with whatever your choice ends up being.

My high was 305, my lowest has been 156 and I maintain around 160. I also had the surgery when I was 35, so yeah, I have some loose skin. It's not ideal, but I am in love with my body, as imperfect as it is. I feel sexier at 37 than I have ever felt, in fact I never once felt attractive my entire life until after I had the surgery. I do not miss being able to eat the way I used to either, other than a few social settings. I find it is a huge blessing that my body stops me before I can do too much damage. When I splurge on a fast food bacon double cheeseburger, I don't get sad that I can't fini**** I find it to be a huge blessing that I can eat 1/4 or 1/3 of it and feel full, then eat another 1/4 or 1/3 for another meal, and so on. To me, it almost feels like I get to eat my fill on something I love three or four times instead of just once (not that one fast food bacon double ever satisfied me or made me feel full), because I used to eat such huge amounts of food so mindlessly I wasn't really appreciating how rich and satisfying they truly are. This surgery doesn't mean you can't have the things you love most sometimes, that's an unrealistic mindset: we are all human.

The surgery will teach you to appreciate food in smaller amounts. My first bite of yogurt after the the pre-surgery phase without food (followed by the short time period post-surgery before food was introduced)? Those tiny little baby bites I was taking had so much more flavor than that entire cup of yogurt seemed to before. Protein shakes had so much flavor. I may not eat my food as slowly now as I am supposed to, but those first days and weeks after surgery where you're slowly reintroducing yourself to food and taking it slow out of necessity? They retrained my brain at least, and I've never looked at food the same way again. The same can be said about the transition from having to puree my foods to then going back on solids. Just the texture of food is something I will never take for granted again. This surgery retrains us, gives us a fresh start with food. What you do with that gift is up to you, you can absolutely get into bad habits again and forget the lessons this process teaches you. It's too early to call myself a long-term success story, but I suggest you check out my before and after story to see what it has done for me, especially regarding depression (as you mentioned that in your post). Before and After with Puggledad

Welcome to ObesityHelp! Your worries are understandable and shared by many considering surgery. It is good that you are on the path to take control of your weight. I can tell you that the trade off for having a healthier body (and soul!) is worth a few wrinkles and excess skin. And there are cosmetic procedures that can be done to help with all of that.