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I had two major fears: 1. I would have some sort of serious complication. For some reason, people delight in telling you horror stories once they know you are having bariatric surgery and all that gave me anxiety. 2. I was afraid it wouldn't work. I don't know why, I just wasn't confident that the surgery would be effective for me. As it turned out, both fears were unnecessary. I had no major issues with surgery and I'm happy with my results so far. 🙂 And now I get to be a counter-example for all those horror stories, LOL.

Hey guys, had surgery on 05/11.. so far I’m doing okay just wanted to check to see if anyone is struggling getting the protein in? Also I’m getting a lot of burping/gas even with the smallest of sips of liquid. Just wanted to see if anybody else was having the same issues!

Woooo Hooooo!!!!

I actually put off surgery at first because I was so afraid of complications. I ended up going ahead this time because I was insured for bariatric coverage and I knew at least that protected me financially. I remember looking at myself in the mirror after I had my surgery date scheduled and being like “what the heck are you doing”. But I went forward and I’m glad every day I did. For me it was reminding myself that risks aren’t only present with action, but also inaction. Sometimes we assume that we are safe if we stick with the status quo but there are medical risks with staying overweight as well. They may not be as obvious as surgical risks but they exist nonetheless.

I've been battling my weight since I was 6 years old. I've been big for as far back as I can remember. I did just about every diet there was and not a single one worked. Eventually I just gave up. I had looked briefly into WLS in my 20's but I didn't think I'd be able to change my eating habits so drastically. I didn't think I had that kind of willpower. Plus, potential complications scared me and the permanence scared me. So I stopped looking into it. When I was 21 in May of 2009 my eldest niece was born. I was still in pretty good health despite being over 300 pounds. So I didn't really have the determination to go through with WLS. However, when her sister was born in February 2019 my health was very bad. I was 389 pounds, I have two permanent back injuries (one caused by my osteoarthritis), high blood pressure, tachycardia, hypothyroidism, the aforementioned osteoarthritis, I was pre-diabetic, have EoE (an autoimmune disorder), and I'd had brain surgery in May 2017 for my trigeminal neuralgia. When I held my new niece I was hit with the realization that if something didn't change, if I didn't find a way to get myself healthier and lose weight, then I likely wouldn't be around to watch her grow up. I cried, because watching my eldest niece grow up has been my greatest joy. It broke my heart that I may not be around to watch her sister grow up. That made things more real for me, I suppose. It pushed me into making that change and taking it seriously. I was referred to a bariatric surgeon and had to do a 6 months of monitored weigh-in's per my insurance. I didn't actually have to LOSE weight. I was just told not to GAIN weight. But, I took the initiative to try and make myself as successful as possible by using that time to prepare myself for a new way of eating. I used the first month to cut out seconds and cut my portion sizes down. The second month I cut out soda. The third month I cut out rice. The fourth month I cut out pasta. The fifth month I cut out bread. The six month I cut out potatoes and beans. The last two months before my surgery (they were overscheduled and pushed me back) I just maintained that diet and on my surgery date I was 321 pounds, meaning I'd lost 68 pounds on my own. I'm still very proud of myself for that. For me, the final push was my family. My family is my strength. They are what pulled me through the absolute worst time in my life (August 2016-May2017 when I had a 10 month TN flare that led to my brain surgery) when I KNOW I would have given up without them. Since my weight loss surgery? I have a new niece (from my brother and his wife) and my first and only nephew (from my sister and her husband). Now that I've lost over 200 pounds I don't worry so much that I won't be there to watch them grow up. And when I see my 2 year old niece light up when she see's me I know I made the right choice, the best choice, to have this surgery because now I get to watch her and her brother grow up just like I've got to watch her 12 year old sister grow up and just as I'll get to see her cousins grow up. Everyone has a different reason for why they do this. Sometimes it's for family, like myself. And sometimes it's personal. Every person who goes through this has a different journey, different experiences, and a different story to tell. And I wish you the very best on your own journey.

This is sort of weird, but today I had an appointment with the surgeon who started me on this whole path. Years ago I went to him for an umbilical hernia, but it was small and not painful, so nothing needed to be done. Last year in January, I went back to him to have my gallbladder removed and mentioned that I had been having elevated liver enzymes for a while and would be seeing a specialist. He biopsied my liver when he took out the gallbladder. At my follow up, he said my liver was really bad (NASH, hepatic fibrosis), and recommended wls. He told me he couldn't see me living past 60 if I stayed that way, at 393 pounds. So I took his advice and had my Loop DS in July. Last week I had severe stomach pain and nausea and dry heaves, and would have vomited if my stomach wasn't empty at the time and I almost fainted, but was able to lay down in time to stop that. I've fainted before so I knew what was coming and was able to avoid it. The pain in my stomach was severe and then I noticed the hernia was big and sticking out and I couldn't push it back in and realized it might be the source of the pain. Anyway, I saw the surgeon today and he said the hernia was originally fat, but since I've lost so much weight,(148 so far), it is now intestine and the pain was because intestine got caught in the hole, and later when I laid down the intestines fell back through the hole and the pain got better. Anyway, sorry this is long, but now I have to get this hernia repaired, but I got to show off my weight loss to that surgeon that recommended it, and he was so happy for me. It was a great feeling! He is the trauma surgeon in the ER where my best friend works, and he saw her after my appointment and told her he didn't even recognize me! It's just a wonderful feeling! Sent from my Nokia 7.2 using BariatricPal mobile app

This... I'm so excited so I am telling people who don't need to know! I'm not ashamed; I feel like I'm doing something to take care of my health. But I see people here who've had very unsupportive family, friends, and partners, so I can certainly understand why people wouldn't feel the same way as I do. I'm single, I don't have kids, and my parents are really supportive - they're even coming up to stay with me for a few weeks during and after surgery (they will be staying at a hotel because my apartment is too small for three people, so it's not simple to do that). My brother was really concerned but it seemed to be about COVID and now that I'm vaccinated, I think he's probably okay (although when he had spinal surgery in college I was terrified, so maybe we're just really protective of each other).

Part of the reason that I tell everyone that I am having surgery is to lessen the stigma, but it's mostly because I'm an open book. However, not everyone has supportive people in their lives and they should not have to take the abuse that may be hurled their way just so the stigma may be lessened. It's just too hard on a journey that is already hard. I think it's great for those of us who feel we can be open about it, but it's not always easy, and we should be aware that it's not always going to be an option for everyone for a variety of reasons. And honestly, are you really going to run up to random people on the street and tell them? Every time you meet someone who met you when you were heavier you'll have to make a decision as to what to tell them. I the people I chat with who work in the airport club that I was planning to have surgery - after one of the women said I looked like I had lost weight, and I said I was preparing for surgery, and another one started asking questions. It was a nice conversation, but it was a little unnecessary.

Yes. It is. Don’t worry about it because even if you wanted you won’t be able to eat like before. It happened to me also. Not only that, I actually got depressed because all I wanted was to eat, eat, eat! That was the moment I discovered how much I used food out of emotions. I got bored, sad, angry but then... it all went away. Give it time. Your brain needs to learn, and it will. Congratulations!

11 months post op -90.