Hi Grads. Pre op here.

Oh Gosh, Thank you willow for your words of inspiration. I'm post 2 1/2 and at the point were I struggling very hard with control. As of friday I've lost my Centurion card membership and have moved out of Onederland. Thank you for the plain and simple phrase." just like with every other thing in your life, you get out what you put in." I think I have lost that sence of striving and planning that I need to in order to be successful. If it was my job I know I would be better at planning. As a busy single mother sometimes I take the easy road which isn't alway the best for me mentally or physically. But I'm trying to gain control of the things that I can change in my life. Tommorrow is Monday and I feel like to can try to go back to the basics of life. Protein, Water and Excercise. Thanks again, Joanne

you CAN do it!!!!

My grandfather had 3/4 of his stomach removed when he was about 60 years old due to extreme ulcers. That type of surgery and some other gastro-intestinal surgeries was, as I understand, kind of predecessor to WLS and the effect it had on weight loss lead surgeon's to recognize it's value for the MO. Grandpa lived a very healthy 20 years longer and died of pneumonia, totally unrelated to his surgery. My inspiration for a long time has been a friend who had WLS 23 years ago. She's now about 65 and doing excellent and has all along. But be aware, for most of us, long term success is just as hard as it was for any successful weight loss attempt we'd had in the past. Keeping it off is plain hard work. Setting yourself up now by establishing and sticking to good habits will help, but there may come a time when life seems to get in the way of keeping those habits going. For me, it was having my TT! I could not exercise for several weeks, and I got busy with other things to fill that extra hour a day, and now getting back to it regularly is SOOOOOO HARD! And I feel like a lump of lard. I'm not has strong and toned. I'm doing more exercise now, but I'm not up to every day again quite yet. When I don't exercise, I find I also want to eat more and for some reason junk food is once again appealing to me. I've done well for the last several days in sticking to the food plan that kept me going for the first 22 months I was at goal. So, my dear, the psychological change, in my opinion, doesn't happen as a result of WLS. It happens as a result of our commitment to being healthy and not fat. Yes, getting to or close to a goal weight definitely helps as we can finally see the person we want to be, but that alone may not be enough. But never, ever give up. I haven't given up and I won't give up, and I will get all of these things back in control, because now I know how much better I feel when they are in control. Ann

Hi Karen, I asked my PCP if there would even BE any old ladies around that had had WLS. She said "Yes, you'll see old ladies that have had WLS, but you won't see any old ladies who are super morbidly obese." Hmmm... I would think there possibly could be problems when we're old due to the malabsorption issues, osteoporosis will be a big one too, but at least we'll be healthy enough to get there to worry about it!! I can only speak for myself about the long term, but yes, if I work hard at it every day, I can be successful. It's a first for me, and it does take work, but it's possible for the very first time ever. Linda