Moment of Truth

What would you identify as your own personal "Moment of Truth" -- the turning point in your life when you made the decision to undergo WLS?

For me, it was when I turned 50 and it really hit home that I was only 2 years older than my father was when he died at age 52 from complications of diabetes (he had been obese all his life). 

I saw an aquaintence and He look AWSOME....I asked him how he did it and it was the band.....I was 41 310 lbs and the weight was dragging me down....So I did not have a "Moment of truth" ....I had decided on A change....I am so happy I did

Joanne...I am having the same problem you are with getting my Avatar to change....so it is not you it is them....LOL

Sean -- this is what finally worked for me.  Trying refreshing your page by clicking CRTL and F5 at the same time (this clears out the cache file). If that still doesn't work, you can e-mail [email protected] -- they are pretty quick to respond.

BTW, your new avatar is showing up you little devil, you.

For me I  have a few  different reasons I finally chose to go for WLS.

1) One day I was out shopping and a little boy looked at his mom and said.." Mommy, that lady is fat" . That hurt me so bad.

2) When I was diagnosed with borderline diabetes and high blood pressure.

3) When I knew I finally had the support of my family. That means more to me than anything!

4) when I couldn't walk or stand without my feet and back hurting me.

5) when I started to stay home alone instead of going out and having fun, because I was ashamed of my size.

I was laying in bed one night channel surfing, at my highest weight ever, 307lbs, and I ended up watching Big Medicine.  I had no idea that people could fix this problem surgically.  They happened to mention the lap band and so that's what I started looking at.  I ended up here and heard about the sleeve, decided to use my line of credit and before I knew it, I was in Mexico.  best decision I ever made!

There was never a Moment of Truth for me, just a slow, creeping realization that I wasn't gonna live to see my daughter grow up if I didn't lose the weight.

My moment of truth came when I realized I could no longer diet!  I had actually lost 70 lbs following a low carb diet before I decided to have WLS....From 360 down to 290 in 7 months. 

However as life deals us a bad hand now and then, my mother had become increasingly more sickly and frail and I was driving 50 miles each way at least 2 times a week for 4 years taking care of her.  Those days were usually fast food, pizza or chinese......so with bad food choices and physical exhaustion, some of what I had originally lost was regained.  I was at 313 at my consult and 286 the day of surgery.  

I just couldn't diet anymore!!!  I realized that if I didn't have a mechanism in place to stop me from eating, I probably would have been 400lbs or more by now.  I had just given up!!!!! 

When I regained ALL the 70 pounds I had busted my butt to lose because of being hypothyroid.  It took a year to stabilize me on meds.  It was awful and I decided I needed another tool.  I already had one metabolic problem (PCOS) and adding Hypothyroid to the mix was just more than I could handle on my own.

Well, I had arthritis in my back and knees so bad that I could hardly walk or move without pain. I was diabetic, and had high blood pressure that was barely controlled with meds. I knew I had to do something but I didn't know what since I was not ready to live on shakes or mushies for the rest of my life (what I thought you ate forever after WLS not just a few weeks.). I have a friend that had it and when she was asked what she ate I said nothing and she was like no I eat. I found out it wasn't a life sentence of shakes and mushies and was trying to find a doctor right after that. So I guess my "Moment of Truth" was when I found out that I could eat after surgery. Gee think I have food issues?