Guess I'm going the "old-fashioned way" for now

Hello, all!

I am 55 and have a bmi of around 45.  I am a two-time cancer survivor (non-Hodgkins lymphoma and breast cancer - four years out of treatment) and am diabetic.  I also have high cholesterol and triglycerides, as well as osteoarthritis.  My blood sugars and blood lipids are currently controlled with medication and within the normal range.  However, my weight does cause joint pain, as well as limit my ability to exercise.

At my last check-up with my oncologist, she strongly encouraged me to look into WLS, which is one major reason that I signed up at OH.  I discussed WLS with my husband, and he really doesn't want me to have the surgery.  Myself . . . I waffle back and forth.  When I read success stories, I'm all for it.  But then I read about possible complications, and I scare myself.

I've had the diabetic education and had several sessions with a nutritionist to learn how to eat properly for optimum health.  I know what to do; I just haven't been doing it.  DH and I have been spending entirely too much money on junk food and eating out at fast food places.  We have no choice at this point, due to limited finances, but to budget every penny and stick strictly to that budget.  For the time being, this means no more new doctor bills for me. 

So . . . long story, short:  I am here with you guys.  I'm going to work on this the old-fashioned way.  Making healthy choices from what I am allowed to eat.  Watching my portions by weighing and measuring.  Eating only when I'm hungry.  Stopping when I'm satisfied.  Turning off the TV and focussing on the company I'm with.  Slowing down.  Chewing well.  Putting utensils down between bites.  Getting in my daily requirement of liquids.  Getting up off my ample butt and doing something, even if it's walking up and down our driveway a few times a day.  Keeping a food diary to record what I eat, etc.  And coming here for support.

I can do this.  I will do this.  Maybe at some point in the future, I might pursue WLS further.  But I'm here for now.  Maybe permanently.

Thanks for reading!

Mrs. B.

 Welcome and Congratulations on your new journey! as a Two time cancer survivor im sure you know the importance of taking care of your body and Food is the strongest medicine we can put into our bodies! I salute you on making the choice to do what is best for your health! Please come and post often, sometimes the n  board is just dead with activity and other times it is hopping! but we are all in this together and it helps to talk to people who have been there done that! good luck and best wishes as you begin this new and exciting journey!   

Welcome to the group Mrs.B
I'm in a similar situation to you. My doctors want me to have WLS, my husband is very against it and I go back and forth.
Due to health problems I often will just want to get fast food or processed food that is easier to cook. I have been trying to precook meals on ''good'' days so I won't do the fast food thing. I don't  always do good but we are eating out much less and it really saves money.

Hello and welcome to the forum.
CONGRATULATIONS on beating cancer!!!!! and on working on getting healthy by losing weight.

Best wishes on your journey.
Keep posting and let us know how you are doing.

I'm keeping this short today because I'm in recovery from surgery (plastics) but will look forward to chatting with you more in the future.
TTFN
Ruth

Hi MrsBaun, welcome to our little forum here. Boy you are a real surviver - two bouts with serious cancer it's amazing that you have done so well.

There is nothing wrong with doing it the old fashioned way - in fact it can be the best way because your digestive tract isn't altered - if you can lose the weight this is the healthiest. Surgery is truly the last resort. But to make weight loss successful you have to really make serious changes in your diet and make it a habit. You can do it and we'd love to help support you - and you can help support us too. You know what you have to do which is great. If you fall off the wagon, we'll help push you back on.

As inspiration -- you can see that Moosie (Ruth) lost a significant amount of weight the old fashioned way and she is hopefully having her last reconstructive surgery to get her body back to the way it should be without all that hanging skin. Myself I've lost 158.5 pounds as of today and I am so thankful that I decided to try diet on more time before WLS. I don't know how much more I have to lose because I have a lot of loose hanging skin but I guess about 30 pounds. If Ruth and I can do it so can you. We will help you.

Welcome!  And congratulation on beating cancer, not just once, but twice!  My Mom has just gone through the treatments and surgery for ovarian cancer, and it can take a real tole on someone.  So congratulation to you for beating it and now starting a lifestyle change!

I too am torn when I read the success stories for weight-loss surgery.  It is kind of discouraging when I look at the fact that I lost 8 pounds this month on my own, but someone who had surgery lost 30!!  Especially when I consider the fact that I have about 200 pounds to lose!  I just want a quick fix!  But, I have decided that I am going to give this one final try on my own.  I am starting to work-out and tracking what I eat.  It isn't always easy, and I mess up - LOTS!! :)  (I love Cadbury's Easter eggs, and I gave in to that craving this last weekend.)  I did beat myself up for it on the day, but today I am starting fresh, instead of giving up all together.

Anyway, sorry, I didn't mean to make this about me! :)  But, we are all here for you to offer support (everyone has been great), and understanding.    You can do this!

Heather.

Hi Heather and welcome. You are right, we can do this and it helps to have support of those going through it. We can learn from each other's success and hopefully avoid other's mistakes.

BTW,those Cadbury Easter eggs are dangerous and best left on the store shelf. LOL

Skylar

Even with Weight Loss Surgery, we post-ops still have to "do it the old fashioned way".  Because the moment you lose sight of who you are, you can become the person you were pre-op.  You must learn better eating habits and exercise for long-term success.  As our sugeries age and our stomachs stretch, and our intestines grow more efficient - of we haven't learned before and through the process we might well have not have had surgeries at all.

What weight loss surgery does is give you a chance like you've never had before. I myself have a Lap Band - I have no bypass, so every little thing I eat is accounted for calorie wise.  I can't get sloppy for long periods of time or I start right back regaining.  Here's the thing, I have a chance because I am not physically hungry all the time.  Yes eating for me was and is emotional, psychological, an addiction BUT, BUT, BUT I learned that even with my extreme addiction to food, I was abnormally hungry.  How can you not eat when you are always hungry?  How can you stay focused on a "diet" when you cry yourself to sleep because you are hungry.  For me (not everyone), the Lap Band quiets my hunger soooooooooo much, it's a blessing.  And then there is the portion control - YES, if I decided, I can graze all day and defeat my band's work, but I follow the rules that have been embedded  in me and all successful WLS folks - protein FIRST, Veggies & Fruits SECOND, and Complex Carbs Last - if there is room.  That is how we work it, it is old fashioned work on a leveled playing field.

Now excuse me for being so harsh for the following.  You need to know the truth.

"I am 55 and have a bmi of around 45.  I am a two-time cancer survivor (non-Hodgkins lymphoma and breast cancer - four years out of treatment) and am diabetic.  I also have high cholesterol and triglycerides, as well as osteoarthritis.  My blood sugars and blood lipids are currently controlled with medication and within the normal range.  However, my weight does cause joint pain, as well as limit my ability to exercise."


"I discussed WLS with my husband, and he really doesn't want me to have the surgery." Does he love you?  Does he love you knowing you are in such poor health, he leads you to grease pits all over town.  Why wouldn't he allow you to have a chance on truly getting healed?

 DH and I have been spending entirely too much money on junk food and eating out at fast food places.  We have no choice at this point, due to limited finances, but to budget every penny and stick strictly to that budget.

You have no choice but to eat out at fast food places and buy junk food????  This is insane.  You are going to kill yourself . . .  YOU already have 1 foot in the grave HELLO!!!  Why can't you take the time to look for sales at your supermarkets for good whole foods.  I myself look at several circulars and only buy sale - good whole foods on sale.  I cut coupons, I do whatever I have to to provide good nutrition for my body.  Diabetes killed my father - kidney failure, blindness, in the end amputation or death - he chose to die as he was dying anyway.  He had a very poor quality of life.  My mom too, diabetic, kidney failure - on dialysis, poor balance, poor eyesight - even with years of good consistant treatment.  My oldest sister DIABETIC and takes bad care of herself. 

Sorry, you too will have a very poor quality of life if you do not take care of yourself and lose the weight.  Diabetes is wicked!  Add the high cholesteral on top of that - you're a walking stroke when you continue to be defiant eating fast food, junk food - greasy, high sodium, sugar laden crap.

Please reconsider WLS.  People who lose weight with diet and exercising alone keep it off 2 to 5%  AND those people follow a rigorous exercise routine and watch their intake daily. You are 55 already - have you made lasting changes that will allow you to be one of the 2 to 5%?  You said you can't exercise so you'd have to be even more strict with your food.

I really do wish you the best

Zee, while I do appreciate where you're coming from, I have to ask you:  Why exactly are you on the non-surgical forum trying to convince me to have surgery when I have chosen not to?  I am not stupi as to the health risks of staying obese - my doctors have told me over and over again.  I am losing weight.

I do not want to have surgery right now.  So thank you but no, thank you. 

I actually did not come on this forum trying to convince someone to have WLS.  I don't do that at all.  I came across your post.  "the old fashioned" way is usually a good way to draw in someone who has had WLS.  It usually insults us because it implies that WLS patients have taken "the easy way out".  Weight loss and loss maintenance is hard any way you slice it.

Anyways when I read through this, I couldn't believe how naive we are to believe that we can lose without effort and consistency even after trying our entire lifetimes.  At 30, there was nothing that I had not done to lose the weight and keep it off.

The final straw was walking into an Overeaters Anonymous meeting after not being there for a couple of years.  This woman who I had seen in the years before raised her hand and declared X amount of days abstinence.  She was in her 60's, easily over 300lbs, and her stomach (panni) just hung over her chair missing the floor by inches.  Tears welled up inside me.  I didn't want her in 30 years.  I wanted a chance at life. 

Since childhood, I had an eating/weight problem.  I'd lose some weight, but was very active no matter what my weight.  Then I had a dance accident and blew out my knee.  I had it reconstructed and was afraid to overeat for fear that my weight would overwhelm my knee.  I wanted a 100% comeback.  2 years later, a physically huge actor charged into me during rehearsals  I fell and eventually required a 2nd surgery.  During surgery, my doc discovered that my reconstruction (ACL) had dissolved???  It wasn't repaired and my leg could slip forward and back.  I kept trying to get better doing PT, but I was in constant pain.  I couldn't stand long, working out 1 day would put me out for a week.  It was just pain.  I lost my dream of being a working actor.  I became depressed.  I continued to eat and couldn't move like I used to.  I gained 35lbs and settled at a new high for me.  I got in individual tx for binge eaters.  I kept doing the Atkins Induction phase.  God, I was ashamed and miserable. 

I was becoming insulin resistant. I was winded for the first time when I walked up stairs. I had this hump on the back of my neck and my face looked deformed by my obesity for the very first time.  I wanted a chance at life - I was too young to lose my life.  My family did not back me on WLS.  They insisted that I could do it "the old fashioned way".  After researching WLS for 2 years, I mustered up the courage to go for a hospital WLS meeting.  I started the ball and let it roll.  I was terrified up until the moment of surgery.

A couple of days after surgery, I woke up, stood on my feet and cried happy tears.  The weight had been lifted off of me.  A miracle had taken place, I jumped up and down - I had lost me debilitating feeling of hunger.  My stomach was no longer an insatiable pit. Yes, many things to work on but I had a chance now.

So, don't have surgery right now, you don't ever have to have surgery, but please keep junk food and fast food to a minimum.

Best,
Leila