Describe your behavioral and emotional battle with weight control before learning about bariatric surgery.
Eating as a form of self-medication was how I lived my life...eating was the conditioned response to stress, boredom, genuine hunger.
When others suggested that I lose weight, I resented the suggestion and disregarded it as I determined in my own mind that their motivation for making the suggestion was selfish.
Hated myself for being obese...hated myself for lacking the discipline and commitment to make other programs work: Seattle Sutton, NutriSystem, Jenny Craig, ally...hated myself for failing...
I first learned of bariatric surgery during an installment of Extension 720 on WGN. The guests were medical professionals from Northwestern Medical discussing data collected thus far on procedures and coming innovations...I also thought that it was the coward's way out...changed my mind when a fellow member of another online forum (completely unrelated) shared his story on an anniversary of his W.L.S...
During a quarterly checkup in early 2011 with my primary physician, the labs indicated that my body was no longer responding to the medication and I came to realize that I needed to lose weight quickly in order to give myself a fighting chance to enjoy life without being Type II.
I entered Northwestern Medical's program on 31 JUL 2011.
My surgery was performed on 4 APR 2012.
What was (is) the worst thing about being overweight?
Knowing that you are truly a dead man walking and that it doesn't have to be that way...Type II is a long-term, slow and painful death sentence...
Having to shop at B&T stores (really, only B...you never see T guys in there, shopping) for clothes that don't really fit...hiking up my pants every time I rise from sitting...
Low self-esteem...as a result, fear of pursuing a better job because of the fear of my size/girth negating whatever positive first impression that might have been made... that the screener or even the hiring authority ruling me out because I'm so fat...
All the societal prejudice and hostility toward those who are obese...fear of that hostility and prejudice being freely expressed if flying (it doesn't help that coach seats in airliners approaching being to narrow for skinny people)...we're easy targets. Those who are just plain mean/insensitive/hostile justify their behaviour because obesity is a preventable condition. No argument there, but so is AIDS, but no one is similarly mean/insensitive/hostile without some sort of adverse consequence.
If you have had weight loss surgery already, what things do you most enjoy doing now that you weren't able to do before?
Well, I'm now approximately two and one-half weeks post-op as of this writing, but thus far what I enjoy most is having control over what I eat instead of it having control over me and being able to sleep for a full 8 hours...before, my size would begin to cause pain in my lower back cutting sleep short....
lesserman
