kporter18
My journey is just beginning but I feel as if I have been destined for this my entire life. I have been overweight practically since I graduated from high school. The only time since then that I have been under 200 lbs was the day I came home from the hospital after giving birth to my daughter, in 1987. I weighed myself that day and I 'only' weighed 199 lbs. LOL Since that time I keep going up and up and up. There seems to be no end in sight. I keep telling myself that I will lose the weight 'someday' but now I am realizing that it's never going to happen without help.
Several people in my area have had WLS and look great! All are glad they did it and would do it again in a heartbeat. I was leery of doing it, because I was still telling myself that I could do it on my own if I really wanted to. The final straw came a couple of months ago when my PCP told me that if I didn't get my sugar under control, I would need insulin shots. Again, I was telling myself that this is the time when I actually had to take care of my weight problem (but in my mind I knew I probably wouldn't). My sister, who works as a resident care nurse's aide, then asked me a question that totally changed my perspective on WLS. She asked me why I was so dead set against weight loss surgery and then pointed out that my health, in 10 years or so, would be so much worse if I didn't do this. And she's right. She's seen me all these years try to lose weight, try to get healthier, and fail EVERY TIME. And she's terribly worried about me. So I decided right then and there that I would pursue WLS. A few weeks after that, one of my younger brothers passed away unexpectedly and his death has thrown the whole family into shock. I am even more determined now to help myself become healthier so I will be around for a long time.
I also have several co-morbidities that I am praying will disappear once I have lost the weight. I have been dealing with anxiety/depression since my early 20's. I have sleep apnea. I have diabetes. I have high cholesterol. Thankfully my blood pressure is ok so far!! I also have experienced urinary incontinence in the last 18 months or so and I'm only 42!! I have heel spurs, and bone spurs on the balls of my feet which make walking too much very difficult. As of last winter, I am starting to have back pain... not sure whats up with that but it seems that I'm falling apart more and more everyday. My BMI is 43 and I feel I am about 120 lbs overweight. According to the guidelines, I should weigh 143 lbs. Instead, I weigh about 265 or so. To me, this surgery is going to give me my life back.
I attended an information session on September 25th and was completely impressed with the doctors who were there. They seem sincere and I immediately felt that I could trust them. After the session, I made an 'initial' appointment with them. That appointment is on Nov 8th and I am sooo excited to get this process moving. My PCP is scheduling another Sleep Study for me since mine was 6-7 years ago and doesn't apply anymore. As a requirement and/or deciding factor for WLS, the sleep study needs to be less than 2 years old.
Anyway, things are moving along, slowly, but they are moving. I am reading everything I can on WLS and trying to prepare myself for all of the changes I will be experiencing.
I purchased a book at the suggestion of the doctors at the information session and would like to recommend it to anyone out there who may be thinking about WLS but isn't sure. It's called "Weight Loss Surgery: Finding the Thin Person Hiding Inside You!" by Barbara Thompson. It is excellent as a learning tool and as support for WLS. I found my copy on Amazon for $6.00 (used) but I'm sure the regular price of $22.95 is well worth the money!!! Check it out!
I'll write more as time goes on and things start happening. Any support that anyone could give me would be greatly appreciated.
Kathy
