Golden

Oh I sooo know how you feel. I have 2 weeks until I have to start my liquid pre-op diet, and am trying to eat very healthy in preparation as well. Because of that, I have started having these little "goodbye" moments where I think about how this is really the last time I'll be able to eat this or that, in a certain amount or a certain way. And it's hard, really really hard. I think you're right about how making this decision suddenly has you feeling every feeling about being overweight that you may have been pushing down for a very long time. I also think food has been a better friend to a lot of us than maybe some of our actual friends have been. I know that food has been more of a constant and comfort in my life than any people I know, and how would that not be hard to say goodbye to? How will we feel and cope when that's not there anymore? It's truly like letting go of a relationship you've had for a very long time, even if it is a toxic one! All we can do is wait it out I think...there are better things than we can imagine coming down the pike. In the meantime, never doubt that we all completely understand the nameless feeling you're describing.

Thanks for the perspective guys. I'm trying to keep the big picture in mind - I'm 24 and will not have this job or be in this situation forever, so it doesn't make any sense to worry about it or base decisions about what a particular group of people think. All your advice helps tons.

I have a date set for May 27th and am really getting stressed out about the telling/not telling aspect of this, and then the WHO to tell/not tell. I work in a small office of only four other people, one of which is my roommate, and I have never mentioned that I'm thinking of doing this! I'm going to Mexico for surgery, so have already told them that I'm going on "vacation" there (which will hopefully be true! I am determined not to be too sick to enjoy a little bit of relaxed beach time, and am staying 2 extra days) but don't know how much else to say. Has anyone else been in a situation where you are stuck with a few people that you eat lunch with every day, etc.? If I had my way, no one would know, but I don't see how I can do a two week liquid pre-op diet without it raising a lot of questions. I already know I'll have to come clean with my roommate sooner than later because she will obviously see what I'm doing at home. I could live with her knowing, I'm just stressed out thinking about three other people in a tiny office, watching my every move. A lot of time I can get past this stuff by just thinking positive or resigning myself to it, but today I feel down, like it's going to make my social life really uncomfortable...I've considered everything from claiming I caught a parasite in Mexico, that I got the flu, that I needed an emergency appendectomy or something! I just want to do this in private and feel like I can't, any thoughts would be welcome...

Ha, yeah, there are a few I like to follow around on the board in particular. However I think I'm probably more intrigued by your mom than anything going on here at the moment, wooohooo

Yeah, that's a good point. Sometimes I console myself with the thought that if they'd found a medical way to extract the addict gene or something, no one would be judging any of the alcoholics or junkies lining up to have it done! No one would tell them they just hadn't *tried* hard enough. Whatevs. And ugh, Marie, Whoopi, Kirstie. I'm very hopeful that one of the greatest triumphs at the end of this whole mess will be the ability to change the damn channel when one of them gets on, instead of guiltily wondering if I should get my credit card out.

As mostly a lurk-only board member, for some reason I just had to reply to this, because it makes me want to cry. (Except the end bit, that smoothie thing sounds awesome.) Throughout my years of epic yo-yo battling, one thing I've commonly heard when preparing to start over again with dieting after I've lost X-however many pounds and gained them back, is that because there's 100 excess pounds to lose and that's abnormal, that it should really just "fall off" with minimal effort. BITCH, PLEASE. There is just no way to make people understand the way your body can adjust, and CLING to, that extra weight. In the last 12 months, I have lost and gained back 70 pounds (+10, of course). I was so, so sure it was going to be the last time. I still had about 50 pounds to lose, but I was swimming and doing a bunch of yoga and feeling great. And then - back it came, like a frickin' freight train. And I felt the same way you're describing now...like the road is just so long to finish this thing - to really be DONE with it, that I just can't bear it anymore. I was majorly depressed with no idea what to do until I started researching wls (which I'd previously refused to consider) and started learning about all the benefits and success people have had. My date is now set for May 27th. Sometimes it just helps to see someone say that it IS legitimately something that requires medical intervention, that you really can't just do it all on your own. It's funny how you can tell yourself something a million times, but it's someone else stating it that makes you stop beating yourself up. Looking forward to further updates.

Hi all, I have chosen Dr. Joya as my first choice for a surgeon - I haven't been able to find anything negative about him on the web, no horror stories or complaints, lots of good testimonials/credentials, and the idea of recovering on the beach in beautiful PV really appealed to me. I guess I just wanted to throw out a line and see if anyone else has heard of someone having a bad experience with him...I see how popular Dr. Aceves is here and wonder why so many more people use him, as I can't find negative things about either Joya or Alvarez. Just a curiosity, want to make sure I'm not missing anything... Similarly, has anyone had ANY negatives with going the Mexico route? Anything at all that you regret or can tell me to prepare for... I am just nervous, I think. I am going to put a deposit down tomorrow, to hold my scheduled date as well as passenger airfare for my mother to accompany me. It's a lot of money and a big step...No backing out after this! I feel confident in the research I've done, but at the last minute I just have that instinct to give a shout out and make sure no one knows something terrible that I don't! Crosswind recently wrote something about panicking that she would get to Mexico and find a lot of shady types and a tin shack, I guess those are the fears I'm having! Anyway, thanks in advance, cheers!