To Surgery or Not to Surgery!....

Hello Everybody .... How y'all doing? My Surgery was APPROVED Today!... Yeeeeha!.... ... This is 3 months from the day I first met my Surgeon. At my 3rd Dietician's visit... at 381 lbs, I started a low fat/low carb diet with less than 1000 calories a day (I cheated a few time but always stayed under 1500 calories a day... Those damn Godivas!!!! ) TODAY... I am 355 lbs (26 lbs down in just over a month!!!!... Damn!... I'm good!)... Also, TODAY, Insurance Approval received!... ... At my request, my surgery was scheduled for 3/16/2006. I will know for sure today!... CONFESSION TIME: OK... I have a serious CONFESSION to make! ... Since I have recently been... and STILL am... VERY VERY dedicated to my low fat/low carb diet, I am getting serious COLD FEET about the surgery . Let me explain: My record of over 25 years is one of shameful Yo-Yo diets followed by weight gain and one failure after the another... This time, however, I am so VERY VERY dedicated about losing ALL the extra weight with or WITHOUT surgery that there is no turning back! I know now so much about the ins and outs of healthy nutrition and that has made my VERY RAPID and VERY SUCCESSFUL weight loss "on my own" easy, healthy and fun (with some cheating once in a while to shut a craving here and there!)... I would sincerely appreciate any helpful comments or words of advice, encouragement or wisdom from everyone who would like to share but especially from those who had decided to go for surgery and then "saw the light" and started losing A LOT of weight "on their own" making them doubt whether the surgery is even necessary... or those who delayed the surgery and were either successful or not on their own... or those who just had similar thoughts before surgery, etc... I know, with your help, I will deal with this CRITICAL phase successfully... and I thank you ALL for just being there... love to all... Neil www.gastricbypasstips.com

Neil, I fully intended to have WLS. After meeting with the surgeon, I encountered delays because he left the hospital and it took months to get an appointment with a new surgeon. I had already started the preop diet, and by the time my appointment with the new surgeon arrived, I was below 300 pounds for the first time in years. So I cancelled and continued on my diet and exercise program. In general, I think putting off the surgery is a good idea. One can always have it later, in most cases. However, if your insurance changes so that WLS is no longer covered, you'd be SOL. One thing I will point out, Neil, if you really are committed to the nonop route. Your post talked a lot about diet, but did not mention exercise. I think everyone on the nonop board will agree -- weight loss won't happen for us without exercise, and a lot of it. Are you willing and able to exercise at least an hour most days? Best of luck. Kasey 365/210 (nonop)

Hi Neil, Congratulations on your success. I've lost 165 without surgery. I'm some below my goal. But the journey doesn't stop at goal, it is a lifetime commitment. I think for me the key to making it work this time was getting my thinking straight. It is ok to take time for myself to exercise and eat healthy. It's hard to explain what happens in the head that changes, but it sounds like you've experienced that too. Good luck. Lynette

Hi Neil and welcome to the board, You can read profiles to see all of our journies, I won't bore you with details now. Suffice to say that there are some pretty successful people here, and they have all done it without resorting to major surgery. The one thing that was glaringly obvious was that with or without the surgery I was going to have to change my lifestyle, that was not negotiable. I just couldn't imagine having to even risk dealing with the things that I have read on the boards. In the end the decision is yours. You sound like you have a lot of committment to your current plan. I am also following the low carb approach and it has worked wonders for me. 95 pounds since July of 2005 and a total of 105 since January of last year. Only you know, Neil, only you can make the decision. Good luck in whatever you choose. Donna

Hey Neil, I know exactly where you're coming from. I never did get my surgery approved, but I did have the consult with the surgeon and the denial from my insurance company and changed insurance companies and while all that was going on I started on I started seeing a "Weight Management Specialist" M.D..I was right around the same weight you are now. This wasn't very long ago.... Oct. 26, 2005. I started a very healthy eating plan, and I became very committed to it. While I was waiting for my new insurance to kick in, I started losing weight and feeling better and thinking in a more positive manner. I realized there was a very good chance that I could face my problem with food without the surgery. I have put the surgery on the back burner for now. (In fact it's on the back burner in somebody elses kitchen) I have lost 43 lbs. in 14 or so weeks. I'm totally into an exercise program, treadmill and indoor swimming. My doctor called me "athletic" the other day, I almost laughed in her face. I still have a real long road ahead of me, but I will say now that I'm glad that the first insurance company turned me down. By the way, I "cheat" a little bit every now and then too......but my "cheats" now are as much as I used to eat when I was deciding what to really eat. Good luck to you and congratulations on your success. Take care, Laurel