What Was Your Final "straw That Broke The Camels Back"

[beeteroo 166]

Great thread! I have many of the same reasons as everyone else. People really treat fat people differently. I notice when people greet my thin friends and can't even look at me. Not everyone is like this but I find myself staying at home more and more. I went to the movies today with my kids, sat down in the chair and realized how large I really am again. It's like I don't know the size of my body and I'm surprised by it often. I couldn't even put my drink in the cup holders on the seat because my body was in the way. I went to a Cub Scout meeting with my youngest child earlier this week and sat in a seat that wobbled and was only large enough for half my rear. I didn't move very much for fear I'd break the chair In front of 200 people. I'm the size of 2.5 adults. Bigger than a NFL player.....actually I weight about the same as a Linebacker that's 6'7" tall. I have so many reasons for having surgery. I've been obese my entire adult life. I was an obese child when children weren't obese. I lose weight and gain it all back plus more. So many diets and so much exercise. I'm hungry, that's all there is to it! I love food. I'm so scared to have surgery because I can't imagine myself being a thin person. I don't want to draw that much attention to myself. I read all the success stories and get excited and nervous because I might be one of those stories in a year. I'm scared it won't work. I'm scared that I will lose it all and gain it all right back. If I don't have surgery I will die....possibly before my kids are grown. I want to have sex with my husband. I can't do that right now. Im just too fat and uncomfortable. I'm an alien in my own body. I want to clip my own toenails and tie my shoes without having to do it super fast or in steps because I can't reach my feet and breathe at the same time. I want to be able to buy clothing in the 0-18 size people section! I want to wash myself without having to resort to extra "tools" to reach certain areas. I want to fit into an airplane seat and a toilet seat and a regular old chair! I want to be able to go down Water slides with my kids and go on rides at amusement parks. I want people to see me and not my body. I recently went for a job interview and was sure I'd be rejected because of my weight. Surprisingly I got the job! I want to walk without having to stop and catch my breath all the time. I want to take my dogs for a walk. There are so many reasons why I'm doing this. Too many to list I suppose. :-) I can't wait for my transformation!

[CrazyJaney 775]

I 100% relate to the statement about the NFL linebacker! I have said that was one of my reasons too.

[G33kg1rl 36]

Well, in my case it was news from my liver doctor. She said I'm likely to need a transplant 8-10 years from now, and if I'm this heavy they won't put me on a transplant list. I wasn't aware that if you're fat enough, they just give up on you and let you die. :/ She wants me to lose 100 pounds ASAP. Also she said she didn't know how long I'd remain healthy enough for WLS, so that I'd better be quick about it.

[onsummit 117]

My 5 year old grandson told me last year I walked too slow. I told him it was because I was old. Smart little kid said that you're not too old, you're too fat. That was it for me.

Of course, here we are at 9 months and 111 pounds and he tells me I'm skinny now but touches my arm and tells me I'm squishy. Tough audience!

[MissEM 4]

Hi everyone. This is my first post here. But I thought this was a very appropriate place to start.

My straw was getting on a plane for a business trip and having to ask the stewardess for an extension belt. As I sat there tugging at the belt trying to make it fit, I had to decide whether to ask for the extender or pretend that my seat belt fit. In the end I decided my safety was the most important thing. But that experience was mortifying.

When you add that to the fact that at 35, I have been on blood pressure medicine for the last three years and have chronic back problems and arthritis in both knees, I knew I had to do something. I have 10 nieces and nephews that I adore and want to see grow up. And if this was me at 35, I couldn't imagine what 40 and 50 looked like.

I decided to be selfish for the first time in my life and take care of me. I always take care of the people I care about, be it my family or friends. But in the process I neglect myself. Well guess what??? I realized if I didn't take care of me, I wouldn't be here to take care of the people I love. Once I found out my insurance covered bariatric surgery, I really didn't have any excuses left. So I started the process in October 2013 and had my surgery on March 20, 2014. I am down almost 32 pounds in a month (16.6 pounds since surgery). It is hard but so worth it. I have no doubt that as long as I stay the course I'll be chasing down the rugrats for many years to come.

[MissEM 4]

Hi everyone. This is my first post here. But I thought this was a very appropriate place to start.

My straw was getting on a plane for a business trip and having to ask the stewardess for an extension belt. As I sat there tugging at the belt trying to make it fit, I had to decide whether to ask for the extender or pretend that my seat belt fit. In the end I decided my safety was the most important thing. But that experience was mortifying.

When you add that to the fact that at 35, I have been on blood pressure medicine for the last three years and have chronic back problems and arthritis in both knees, I knew I had to do something. I have 10 nieces and nephews that I adore and want to see grow up. And if this was me at 35, I couldn't imagine what 40 and 50 looked like.

I decided to be selfish for the first time in my life and take care of me. I always take care of the people I care about, be it my family or friends. But in the process I neglect myself. Well guess what??? I realized if I didn't take care of me, I wouldn't be here to take care of the people I love. Once I found out my insurance covered bariatric surgery, I really didn't have any excuses left. So I started the process in October 2013 and had my surgery on March 20, 2014. I am down almost 32 pounds in a month (16.6 pounds since surgery). It is hard but so worth it. I have no doubt that as long as I stay the course I'll be chasing down the rugrats for many years to come.

[GoldnGirl6677 62]

@@Member beeteroo - it's like you wrote it all for me..... Not long now till we can cross some of those things off my list and really start living.

[CraveUrBrains 12]

I've always have been a big dude, but after I got diagnosed with diabetes, I couldn't take care of myself. I would do well with my injections and taking my medications for a little bit but then I would stop caring. Eventually my blood work came back that I had kidney damage and thats when that was it. I work in a field where i see alot of people who don't take care of themselves, and I would see people blind and missing limbs due to diabetes. I didn't want to end up like that. But other things always bothered me were, not being able to fit in rides, always being self conscious about eating in front of people, fitting in planes, movie theater seats etc.

[maxcimax 220]

Being put on a CPAP & being tied to an oxygen tank 24/7. I haven't been shopping in a mall for about 2 years because it's to difficult to walk around. I just turned 70 & I don't want to spend the rest of my life struggling to just walk. My cardiologist has other patients that have had the Sleeve & they have had good results.

[Allegra Cole 21]

The low point for me was being hoisted into some bariatric scale contraption that had to lift me into the air off the hospital bed to take my weight because the bed wouldn't register my weight. I had an incision from my sternum to my pelvic bone and it was extremely painful to be moved. On top of that I was already on a hard bed made for patients over 400 lbs. I was never comfortable since there was no padding. I weighed in at 402 lbs. It would be a year and a few months before I had my surgery but the feeling I had that day stays with me. I felt like I was being moved like cattle for a weigh-in. It was so humiliating.

[chriskre 5]

Wow, so many familiar stories.

I actually laughed at many of them cause I can totally relate.

Thank you everyone for sharing.

For me it's been lots of things.

I've struggled with weight since my 20's and I started working night shift.

But it really got bad when I fell and tore my knee up trying to run with the BF at 40.

After that it seemed like I ballooned because of immobility.

Eventually I got better and lost a few pounds but then they came back on even worse.

Well the BF is gone, moved onto a skinnier lady and here I am at 330.

He's not the straw that broke me, I broke myself.

I got sick and ended up in the hospital and found myself bedridden for months.

Then I couldn't recover no matter what I did.

That's when my pulmonary doctor looked me straight in the eyes and said if you don't

have the surgery you will be dying very soon.

It's been years of seatbelt extenders, not being able to do Disney anymore,

huffing and puffing with the stairs, knees completely shot at this point,

reflux, sleep apnea, judgmental remarks all the time and on and on.

I can't say it's just one straw, it's years of straws.

But the biggest thing is that I just cannot do what I could do.

I can't walk, breathe, sleep, travel, shop and the list goes on and on.

I'm 49 and feel like I'm 100.

This is definitely not what I signed up for.

Had to take early retirement because I just couldn't be a nurse anymore.

I guess that was the straw. Loss of my life, my career, my identity.

Hopefully I can find it again and find the person I want to be but have never

been able to find.

[bunnieru 1]

Wow, reading all these posts really made me think of what was “the straw that broke the camel’s back”.....it was a whole lot of the same reasons as what I was reading! But some of the main reasons are…..the pain in my knees from arthritis and that the Dr said knee replacements would have to be considered soon cause they are really bad......Being diabetic and reaching the point of having to be on insulin, the one think I never wanted to do....Getting out of breath just walking a short distance while sweating profusely and my face all shiny and red.....embarrassing!!!.....Going to my granddaughters concerts at the school auditorium and having to wait in the hall for good seats and being in so much pain from standing and then it being a very tight squeeze in the chairs so I limited myself to at least 1 concert for each of my granddaughters. It broke my heart not going but they said “it’s ok grandma” but maybe they were embarrassed of me and so it didn’t matter to them but to me it meant the world to me…..I want to be around to see all of them grow up and start families of their own….of course after graduating high school and collage! That is when I made the decision to do something about my weight and started researching the web about the procedure. I met with the Dr. on April 1, 2014 and he was wonderful, I felt comfortable with him and his staff…..so I started my 6 month diet (insurance policy) which is going good and hopefully have the surgery in October 2014…..

[Myopiawmn 2]

Before, I never let my weight stop me from doing things like traveling or dining out. Now I avoid travel because I can't guarantee that the seatbelt will fit on the plane or whether people will judge me wherever I go. But the main reason that pushed me to have this done is later this year it will be five years cancer free. And it made me think "Except for the no cancer, am I really any healthier than I was then? Did I go through the hell of cancer treatments only to not live my life to the fullest?". So I started researching and decided the sleeve was the way to go. I hope to have the surgery by my 5 year cancerversery in October so I can at least feel like I have accomplished something.

[Avryv 26]

Oh the list could go on and on...

I'm tired of hiding behind my kids in our family Christmas cards, tired of headaches, and feeling tired! I want energy and to be able to move without it being hard or hurting. I am tired of wearing old lady clothing and huge baggy sweaters/shirts I want to be able to wear the cute trendy stuff! I want to be able to go to the pool with my kids and not want to cover up the whole time. I want to be able to control my portions and not over eat! I want to run my half marathons with my sister and not be 45 minutes behind her at the finish line! I want to be able to ride my bike all over the neighborhood with my daughter and not have to extend the seatbelt when I travel on an airplane. I want to work out in my yard and not get tired after 30 minutes. I want to feel sexy for my husband

[mchaviano 5]

I've always been the "fat girl with a pretty face." I was the funny one that made the fat jokes before someone else could... I'm sure you know the type. I was diagnosed with PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) in 2004 and told then that I most likely would never be able to conceive. The thought KILLED me but my husband and I dealt with it and went on with life. I had my first anxiety attack that year and for months it felt like I was literally going to die.

Over the years I developed hypothyroidism, sleep apnea, heart palputations (which actually ended when I stopped drinking coffee), an undiagnosed "abdominal pain" which eventually sent me to the mayo Clinic just to be told that weight loss could improve my symptoms. During an ultrasound, they discovered I had a fatty liver, so we added that to my list of ailments to boot. Hip pain, knee pain, back pain, pain pain.... at 37, years of abusing my body had taken a toll and I was D.O.N.E. Not to mention that my new gynecologist put me on birth control because, guess what...it turns out I CAN still get pregnant! I was mortified at the idea of trying to carry a child safely at this weight. My best friend is large and went through two pregnancies, both resulting in pre-mature births and complications to both mother and child. No way was I going to put myself or unborn child at such a risk.

It took me seeing pictures of us during our May 2013 Smoky Mountain vacation for me to see just how big I had become. I remember walking into our bathroom, taking a deep breath and stepping on our scale. It maxed out. MAXED OUT! I was 356 pounds and miserable. My husband has loved and supported me throughout this entire journey. I started my physician followed WLS plan in October 2013 and was sleeved just this week, Monday, 4/21/14. (That's another post all together.) I know this was the right decision for us and hope to add one more to our little family, the last straw.