Why Didn't You Do WLS Sooner?

This subject kinda came up in my other post today and I thought it would be interesting to see the reasoning, for many, on why they didn't do WLS sooner.

I'll start.

I had investigated and researched for close to 4 years prior to finally getting up the strength to actually do this.

My reason is easy. I was afraid.

I was afraid of not being able to eat what I wanted. I was afraid that people would make fun of me. I was afraid people would think I was weak. I was afraid that I would regret it and that there was no turning back. If I did it, I was going to be this way for the rest of my life. I was afraid that I would change and lose friends. I WAS AFRAID OF EVERYTHING.

My fear of changing outweighed my desire to change.

And then, my ability to choose got taken away from me. The physical stress on my body and the chronic conditions that began to plague me, made it so I had to do something.

My fear of not changing and fixing what I had done to myself outweighed my desire not to change. I then became afraid of what would happen to me if I didn't make changes. A complete flip flop. Talk about a warped, psychological mess. LOL

This was the absolute best thing that I ever did for myself. No regrets - only happiness. As for being afraid and fear ruling my life - not a chance anymore. :)

For me it was similar I'd always known about weight loss surgery but always figured I wasn't that overweight and when I got motivated I'd lose the weight, unfortunately that seemed to mean losing and re-gaining the same 40-50 pounds and never getting down to a reasonable weight.

The final straw that made me move forward was having to go on Insulin I knew that even if I managed to lose weight that wouldn't reverse the Diabetes progression, finally made the decision to apply and start the process, because of changes I now qualified for surgery even though my BMI was under 40 as I had all the co-morbidities, plus a few more besides.

I can already feel a difference I'm able to go up stairs much easier now (still can't do down well) and although I'm still on Insulin I've reduced the amount by 90%.

No regrets.

For me, I thought that it was out of my reach financially. Once I discovered it was covered I went into it full steam ahead and haven't looked back once.

Great post!

I was unwilling to make the changes needed to sustain the loss... plain and simple. I wasn't willing to stop drinking or eating junk food or large portions. I found lots of comfort in all of that. I was the life of the party... drinking and eating was a way of socializing big time for me.

But it got to the point where my weight was holding me back from doing what I truly wanted in life... and I no longer wanted to sit on the sidelines with a beer. I wanted to participate full on.

I haven't had a drink yet, and people keep asking me. I wasn't an alcoholic... I never needed to drink. I'm much more of a food addict; but alcohol I am surprisingly great without. My answer to the people who ask me about having a drink is always the same "I'm not ready yet... and still not sure if I'll ever be. I'll let you know!" And I smile and move on. :) I know it could be a slippery slope for me... so for now, I'm still avoiding it.

And SUPER thrilled I finally made the choice to have the surgery!!!

I was terrified for one. It's a big life change and I wanted to be sure that I was capable of holding up my end of the bargain afterwards.

The other reason was because I didn't really have the support of my extended family. my parents were really against it. I had the support of my husband in that he'd support me no matter what but it was at one time really important that I have the support of the entire support system.

it ends up, I didn't really get their support. and that's ok. My dad tries and he's constantly worried about me and whether i'm taking vitamins and if I'll be getting blood work. My mom just doesn't talk to me about it. Ignore it and it didn't happen seems to be her philosophy.

I'm very glad I did it. No regrets at this point, one month post op.

I know all about mothers and support. I knew mine would be totally against it and would research every bad thing that would happen, never leave it alone and totally stress herself and me out. So when she told me she would be out of the country for a month (happened to be around the time of my surgery) I just decided not to tell her what I was doing. She still doesn't know that I was looking into wLS surgery and that I have had it. Once she is back I will let her know. At this point it really doesn't matter what she thinks, it's done and I feel really good. I'm am very lucky that my husband and kids are totally on board.

I always believed I could lose the weight myself and that I wasn't big enough. Then a year ago my weight crept up to a place it had never been, my clothes were tight and I wasn't enjoying walking like I used to. When I found out that I could qualify with a BMI under 40 with a comorbidy I knew it was time. I am only 11 days out but feeling really good and already noticing a difference on how my clothes are fitting. No regrets!

I was really reluctant at first but my doctor kept asking me if I wanted to be referred for bariatic surgery. I had lost significant weight 3 or 4 times in my life (70-90 lbs) each time but I always regained it. I thought I was smart enough to do it on my own, just couldn't maintain the weight loss.

I finally thought well it can't hurt to go the orientation and listen and hear what it was all about. I was really skeptical at first and I was determined I wasn't going to do the surgery because of all the negative stuff I had hear about. I thought well I have at least a year to think about it until surgery - if not more, so as I got more information and educated myself about surgery, I finally decided to go for it

121 lbs later - best decison I ever made.

i'm a golden oldie.. and knew of stomach stapling (there you go .. now you know how old i am!)... naw i just turned 60... but i wasn't aware of gastric bypass.. RNY, VSG, DS etc. 7 years ago when i first started my journey. but it sure became very popular in the past few years!! just wish OHIP would cover the removal of the excess skin!!! but well worth every penny i had to spend!!! sure they'll cover for a panninculectomy (however that's spelled) but i went full force and got abdonminalplasty.. (tummy tuck) and my scar is like a happy face from side to side on my tummy and i love it!! now if i could only afford to get rid of my angel wings!!

For me it was about 12 years ago I saw Dr. Joffe who was in Scarborough. He put me on a 3 year waiting list but I had backed out because he says you have 50% chance of dying in the table. To high risk for me then