Question:
Did you feel that this too would fail?

I have tried so many ways to loose weight and failed that now that I have a date, I'm having thoughts that this too will fail. It's as thought I was pre-destined to be fat and maybe nothing can help. Did anyone else feel this way? I notice everyone's shape and wonder where I will be in the realm....I've never been thin so I have no clue about my "normal" body shape.    — Gina D. (posted on October 17, 2000)

October 17, 2000
I HAVE NEVER BEEN CONSIDERED THIN, EVEN AS A CHILD. IT WAS ALWAYS SIZE CHUBBY OR PRETTY PLUS, THEN WOMENS' CLOTHES. I FOR ONE HAD THAT THOUGHT ONLY A COUPLE OF TIMES. THAT'S WHEN I SAID TO MYSELF "I REALLY THINK IT WILL WORK, IF IT DON'T THAT'S LIFE". I'M DESTINED TO BE MORBIDLY OBESE ALL FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE. AFTER THAT IT WAS SHEER DETERMINATION AND THIS SITE THAT LEAD ME TO MY DECISION. I WILL NEVER REGRET IT AND WOULD DO IT AGAIN IN HEARTBEAT. I AM ONLY 8 WKS POST OP, DOWN 50 LBS. GOOD LUCK THERE WILL BE MANY PRAYERS FOR YOU. THIS IS A GREAT PLACE TO BE.
   — smul3

October 17, 2000
You are not destined to fail. Last year as yet another last resort I consulted a charlatan (little did I know) chiropractor. He threw a medicine ball (exerciser) and a bottle of chromium at me. It was humiliating and I felt defeated, very defeated. When I got this surgery in January my life changed. Finally the light bulb went on because something started to be a tool instead of the usual waste of time. This surgery works! I just spoke to my surgeon the other day and I asked him if the majority keep the weight off that they lose post-op. He said 85% keep the weight off for life! Very encouraging wouldn't you say? I've come to realize anything worth anything involves risk.. You will see, you'll lose your excess weight. I was fat for so many years that just this morning when the scale read 172# down from 315# I like started to cry because I didn't imagine reality could be so fun and fulfilling. I still have 22# left to lose but all in all I did it and I plan to stay this way. I felt EXACTLY like you. I thought that the surgery would fail me, I'd never eat 3 ounces at a meal, it would be null and void and by a freak of nature it just wouldn't work out for me and I'd have a bitter, miserable and fat existence till the day I died. But I was wrong. What I was instructed to eat from the doctor was exactly what I desired to eat and no more. I am never suffering through this weight loss. I get hungry and 200 calories later I'm full, I swear! You have got to have faith and put forth a little effort and I promise this surgery will let you get thin. There is no magic.. Nobody is better than you or more determined. Just get it done and work with it. You'll be the thin person who has been waiting inside of you to get out for so long.
   — [Deactivated Member]

October 17, 2000
I know how you feel. I finally realized that I was going to be fat forever and gave away all my wish I was smaller clothes. Wish I had them back now. I have been overweight my whole life and now I am smaller than I was in high school. Getting smaller everyday. What a feeling! I always considered myself big boned and whould say even if I lost weight I'd still be big. Wrong. Try and put beautiful images in your head of yourself and your inner beauty and you will be amazed at your aura. Think positive and forget preconceived "normal". This time you will have a tool that works. Best Wishes.
   — Suzanne R.

October 17, 2000
One year ago I had the same thoughts. Could this surgery really possibly work. A year later I now weight 127lbs buck naked (started out at 5'3" 235lbs). I always considered myself a large girl. Well come to find out I am really just a little thing. I wear a size 6-8 (first time in my entire life). This surgery worked where nothing else had worked before. I am almost 45 years old and found a diet a physician had put me on when I was 10 (dieting for 34 years didn't work). You will get there too. Just follow your program and next year you will be the one answering these questions. Best of luck to you with your upcoming surgery.
   — Jilda H.

October 17, 2000
Gina, I am also pre-op and I have thought the same things. I keep thinking, "I'll be the one statistic that it doesn't work for". I hate thinking like this, but I can't seem to help it. I just keep reading the posts from post-ops to regain my confidence. They wouldn't be so positive if it didn't work...and if it works for them, then it's safe to assume it will work for me. (I hope)
   — Keri A.

October 17, 2000
Gina ... welcome to the "real" experience of WLS! By the time we get to surgery, most of us are so conditioned to fail (after all, we've done every diet under the sun -- at least once -- and we're still the size of a house) we're expecting that this, too, shall disappoint. But, as someone else pointed out, this ain't the Miracle Department -- it's the Tool Department -- and WLS is the tool that will allow us to overcome our morbid obesity. As our friends in AA say, "It works if you work it" -- and that goes for WLS too. If you eat and drink the wrong things and don't exercise and don't do what your doctor says and keep being a jerk about it, the surgery won't work. But if you honestly apply yourself, follow your food plan, do your exercises, drink your water, and keep your focus, you'll be fine -- I'm 6 months post-op yesterday, 105 pounds gone forever, and I've never felt better in my life! As for not knowing our "normal" body shape, I don't think I'd know mine if it jumped up and bit me on the ankle, but I'm liking what I see so far -- except for that apron thing around my middle (thank you, three decades of obesity, two pregnancies, gravity, and 43 years of living) but there's surgery for that, too, praise God. Just relax, you'll do great ... enjoy!
   — Cheryl Denomy

October 18, 2000
I too thought this surgery would fail. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words ... <a href="http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/profile.phtml?N=Carr961846747">Mavis' before and after photos</a>
   — Mavis C.