Remind me why

About a year ago I decided to do the DS after seeing great success with my friend.  This year I went through all the formalities and red tape and had the DS scheduled for 5/30/13.  When my surgeon went in to complete the DS he found that the gall bladder basically was not functioning and lodged in my liver.  They found a few spots in my liver that they needed to investigate further to see if gall stones were stuck in liver and/or bile duct.  Therefore they did not complete the DS due to further investigation needed to be completed.  They did remove the gall bladder and appendix (he does this routinely with DS).  So I did to get it completed at that time.  The tests came clear on liver and bile duct so we were set to reschedule and my next surgery to complete is 8/22. 

Since then my Doctor wanted me to try and loose what weight I can to shrink my liver.  I have been doing good for the most part using myfitnesspal as a tool.  I am down 18lbs, whohoo.  Please remind me why I can't do this on my own.  Getting nervous about another surgery :(   I started this journey at 295 and this morning I weighed myself and I am at 278.

Thanks for the support.

Because if you could do it on your own, you would have done it by now. I lost 12 lbs on my 2 week pre-op diet by eating about 800-900 calories a day and almost no carbs. I couldn't eat like that the rest of my life, and even if I could, my body would go into starvation mode and the weight loss would stop. Try not to worry. I know it's a big deal, but it's worth it!

Remind you why you chose WLS over trying to do it yourself?  Is that what you are asking?  Only you know if you are ready for this, and if you are hesitant, I would wait a little longer.

My own personal experience.......I had struggled for 47 years with my weight and I was sick of it.  I tried all the diets, had all the knowledge to eat healthy, but did not have the self discipline.  In July 2011, I made a decision that I was just DONE with it.  No more.  No one could have talked me out of it.  I knew I did not have the self discipline to lose weight or heck, even maintain it!  I was going to gain more weight and contine to gain more weight or the rest of my life.  I knew it as well as I knew my own name.

I think the confidence that I had in my WLS decision, helped me for a very smooth surgery and post op process.  

Alot of people lose weight pre-op.  That's great!  Have you established a new sustainable pattern in our life?  A 17 pound weight loss is an achievement, but you have a long way to go.  And my guess is that it will continue to be a fight for the rest of your life.

I had no fight in me left. My weight was a heavy burden on my mind, every day.  Its gone now.  That burden was gone immediately after surgery.  Though the scale didn't show it right away, I had lost a great amount of "mental" weight before I ever left the hospital..

The disappearance of that mental burden of always thinking about losing weight and what I was supposed to be eating.....gone.  And that experience ranks high right up there with the birth of my children.

If you are like me the problem is not losing the weight (although that is hard enough) it is keeping it off after the diet.

Revisit the reasons you thought about surgery vs other programs in the first place. Short term success is great but long term
loss is the goal.

It is a hard decision. Good luck.

 

I have many of the same reasons as fullhousemom.

I've lost weight successfully in the past. The first time I tried Weigh****chers, I lost 90 pounds in 10 months and got down to a size 6. I stayed that weight for about a week. And then gained 70 pounds in one year.

Over the years, I've continued to be super successful at losing weight. I again lost 60 pounds on Weigh****chers. And then gained. The next time I tried Weigh****chers, I lost 40 pounds. And on and on. Each time was harder than the next. But I kept trying because I would always tell myself that it worked before, it should work again.

I am now at my highest weight: 231 and I'm only 4'10". I have been struggling for the last 20 years with this weight. I'm tired. My self esteem is in the crapper, my knees are killing me, and I've put off doing so many things because of this darn weight.

I'm ready to do something differently. If I could do it on my own, I would have by now.

Those are my reasons. Your reasons are yours and yours alone. Only you can decide what is right for you.

Whatever you decide to do, make sure you are doing it for the right reasons and that you are 100% ready to live with your choice.

Good luck!

I think the underlying theme here is, if we could do it ourselves, we would have....a long time ago.  That being said, pre op jitters, questioning, is also the norm.  Trust in yourself, that whatever decision you make, will be the right one.  But only you can make it.

Good luck!

Thanks everyone!  I am definitely doing this just pre-op jitters.  Deep down I know I can't do this on my own and maintain a healthy weight. 

I agree with everyone else. We can all lose the weight but we haven't been able to keep it off. I've lost 22 pounds since June 5th pre-op only 6 so far from the 2 week pre-op diet. I have no doubt that the motivation to get through surgery is why I have been able to make it happen.

I want so much bad food. I have to mute food commercials and close my eyes because if I see pizza on TV my stomach rumbles and I want it so bad!! If I was not having surgery and weight loss was reuired pre-op I would have been on my way to get that pizza.

Sure it will be hard post-op but it is the help I need to be successful. My new stomach is going to help me eat the right foods and experience the weight loss i've dreamed of since I was 12 years old. I can't wait to go to the gym and not be the morbidly obese person on the eliptical wondering what people are thinking of me. Its the thought of people judging me that makes me not go most of the time. Bring on the weight loss and confidence I need to change my life!

Sorry for going off on a tangent. I'm 3 days away from surgery and so much is going through my mind. I still can't imagine ever being "skinny". It still feels like a dream that will never happen.

I believe many of us struggle with this very same issue. We beat ourselves up wondering why we can't  be like other people and lose the weight on our own. My own sister weighed almost 500 lbs and has lost almost 300 without weight loss surgery and kept it off for several years. She still has about 60 more to go. I'm happy for her that she could do it on her own but it took her many years to come to that point. But I am not her. I am older and have different issues than her. My journey is my own and in the end I didn't want to die weighing 280,my knees and back always hurting so bad I couldn't enjoy playing with my grandchildren or enjoy a trip to the beach with my husband, gardening- all the things that make our quality of life enjoyable and worth living so I chose to have this surgery knowing it would be hard but not harder than the life I was already living. I have no regrets. I am grateful every day that I was able to have this surgery and a second chance at living. My sister still doesn't get it as she thinks I could have done it on my own. Thats ok- she doesn't have to get it because its my journey.

No matter what any one says when your on the pre-op side of surgery you will struggle with doubts and apprehension but on the other side it will be all good.

Sharon

Nobody was a better dieter than myself.  I lost (and regained) 100 pounds twice, and lost and regained in smaller increments all of my life.   When I told my family about my surgery, my brother said, "But Julie, you have always been the one who's been more successful than the rest of us family members - why resort to this?"  I wasn't successful if I regained.   My body felt it was constantly in starvation mode....that it was always fighting to regain the weight.    I am seven years out and have done so well, and truly, with only modest management, diet-wise.    If I do go hog crazy on the carbs and gain a few pounds, I cut back a bit, and it comes back off.   Just like NORMAL people.    The physical feeling that I have is completely different than it was pre-op.   I don't even know if I can articulate it adequately - my metabolism FEELS different.    

The DS was, without a doubt, the best gift I've ever received (well, aside from my kids!).