Describe your behavioral and emotional battle with weight control before learning about bariatric surgery.
Before menopause I never really struggled with my weight. If I needed to lose weight, dieting with Atkins or just cutting back would work and I could usually drop the weight fairly quickly. However, upon entering pari-menopause at about age 45 everything changed. My fat distribution changed (I had back fat for the first time ever). Menopause was long and worse than puberty for me. Finally after seven years the docs got my hormones settled and I was able to lose a good deal of the 70 lbs. I had gained. I dieted and was truly conscientious about exercise and food for the next seven years. Then in 2007 I quit smoking and within 3 years all of the weight I had lost plus some came back. It was a dreadful three plus years.
My daughter had Bariatric surgery in 2010. She said it was a life saver and did very well with her weight loss after surgery. My health was beginning to be a real issue for me after I had regained all of my weight.....blood pressure was getting high for the the first time ever and my glucose numbers were bad. I've had arthritis in my back and knees for years and carrying the added weight was exacerbating those problems too. When my doc finally told me one more bad glucose test and I would be on meds for Diabetes 2 I thought no, no, no......no more medication. I talked to my husband and my daughter about the surgery and they were both very supportive so I made an appointment with my surgeon's office and began the process in June of this year.
What was (is) the worst thing about being overweight?
There are so many things that are a problem when you are overweight.....my self esteem took a beating. I hated the way I looked, I hated what I imagined people who hadn't seen me in awhile must be thinking about me, I hated how fatigued I felt, I hated how it impacted my health......in so many ways. I didn't want to attend social gatherings, I didn't want my husband to see me in any stage of undress (not great for romance and thank goodness he loved me through all of the ups and downs), I just seemed to be turning into a hermit.
If you have had weight loss surgery already, what things do you most enjoy doing now that you weren't able to do before?
I had surgery (RNY) 10/5/11. I am losing steadily.....not as fast as some have but I'm losing a little over 10 pounds a month right now and very happy with that. I'm a little ahead of my doctor's goal for me and that is great. I have started an exercise program and that is going well. I'm down two sizes in pants and also in shirts.
This is not a magic bullet but it has made the ability to control my food intake so much easier. I sometimes miss certain foods but not enough to say anything negative at all about the surgery. I feel very lucky that my insurance covered so much of the costs and so thankful that I have had such an amazing supportive family.
Patty129
