What was the final thing that you encountered that made you say this is enough? I have had numerous.

1. Leaving a wife and 2 sons, Husbandless and fatherless.

2. Not being able to get on amusement park rides with my sons.

3. Not being able to take my wife to a concert, because i could not fit in a seat.

4. Avoiding restuarant,movie theaters and sports complexes with tiny seats.

For me, walking through a a department store and some little child looking at me like im a alien had to be one the hardest things.

Respectfully,

Joe

My doctor flat out told me not to have a baby until I get better control of my diabetes. It's has been a struggle to control my sugar. Mom hoping this tool would help me a great deal.

Wow, that was brazen of your doc. But look at it this way (as I am): You have the ability to change the direction of your family. "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree"...and what kind of tree are you? What is your child going to be like. Right now, you get to decide. Will you be the mom who enourages her kid to play video games because you can't get out and run and play with them? Will you be the mom who drives by McDonald's for a happy meal, or gives your kid liquid sugar (aka Capri Sun, Cokes, Gatorade) which makes them suffer in school or develop conditions like ADHD?

Change your life now, get on a path of healthy eating now and movement now and change the kind of tree you are, so that baby you want is the shiniest, healthiest apple possible, and never has to go through what we are because they grew up with the best healthy roll model. A mom who ran around with them at the park, or road a bike beside them, or took them on hiking adventures at the local state park. A mom who introduced them to whole foods early in life so that they learned to love fruits and veggies instead of little debbie cakes and cokes.

You are doing a great thing for you, your current family, and that future baby. Good luck to you!!

I finally felt enough is enough about 5 months ago. Im childless, divorced and tired of being tired. I decided to do something about it. I began my journey in Dec however, I just started my diet plan a few days ago. I had already loss some weight and I was cleared to see the surgeon last week. I have 1 more class to attend. I see the NP and medical dietician on Friday. Hopefully I can see the surgeon on Monday May 6, 2013..Lets hope it works....

1. Tired of walking around at work and cant run in an emergency situation. (Getting SOB)

2. Tired of restless nights. (Insomnia)

3. Tired of feeling worthless

4. Tired of overeating til I gurgitate

5. Tired of low self esteem

6. NOW LEARNING TO (LOVINGMYSELF4ETERNITY)

Gasping for air climbing steps and my knees creaking under my highest wt

I have my inital consult Friday, June 7th. I finally decided to take that step because I have tried and failed every other option. I am tired of passing on things I'd love to do! I want to be able to go to a movie or see a play or symphony without having to first check around for a seat width. I want to run. I want to be able to keep up with my nieces and nephews. I want to have a life on the weekends that doesn't involve my husband and I in our matching recliners. I want to THROW AWAY OUR RECLINERS! I want to see places. I want to be of normal size to do all of these things. I want too much and all this fat is keeping me from it. And I am finally ready to make the change I have been putting off for way too long!

Realizing that I'm waiting and wishing for death. I want to live life, go out act like a normal person. I have 5 young children and don't want them to live in a "closed up waiting for death to be free " enviroment. I want to be there for them and be the fun mom they deserve and to finally get out of this jail cell that has become my life

I had a few different straws...The major one was that I was really over my life revolving around food. I would have just finished breakfast and I would already be thinking about what I have for lunch and only really thinking about that. It felt like the food just ran my life, and I was over it. There are so many more important things to worry about and to occupy my mind with than food.

Seeing pSeeseeinseeing pictures of myself at Easter, in the one dress, that I thought still looked pretty on me. I truly had no idea how big I was until I saw that picture. I don't know how I didn't see it in the mirror everyday. I have a 7 year old daughter who I can't run and play with and I want to see her graduate and get married but at this size, I won't live that long. I still have 6 months to wait, but the motivation now out weighs the fear.

I have been overweight mostly my whole life & it didnt effect me having my son's BUT it prevents me from being the best mom I can be to them. I limit my boys all the time when they ask me if they can do things and I say no because I am worried about where I have to park, or how far we have to walk, or what will the seats be like when we get in there, how many ppl will look and whisper, if I do take them what will they expect me to be doing while we there ? after ? when all they wanna do is go have fun with mom. Then 1 day the school called me and said my 10yr old was in a fight in class, when I got my baby home I asked him what happened and he said this boy kept calling u fat and I got mad and we started fighting, that killed me ont the inside because here he is defending me and Im supposed to be protecting him. I went to the hospt one time with shortness of breathe and they admitted me, the doctor came to my room and told me INFRONT of my mom, kids and granny that they were worried about me having blood clots in my lungs BUT they couldnt do a CAT scan on me because I was to big to fit in the machine. So totally embarrassed, I was thinking so I could die and they wouldnt even know why or even try to help me. My baby boy asked me moma are you going to die & I knew then that I had to do something. Ppl are always staring and children are always saying she is big and it kills me everytime on the inside. I was married for 7 yrs and for 7yrs he cheated with different women and that just killed my self esteem and I got bigger and bigger each yr. To this day if he gets mad at me about the kids ir something the 1st thing he says is something about me being fat! Look the camels back is broken and he has died a horrible death...so that is it, Im doing it JUNE 3 is my date.

Seen my surgeon. tomorrow is my last class for this program and stepping my way to my goal. Now I am going to challenge myself to 10k steps per day and see what the end results turn out to be! ttfn

My moment was in March when I was sitting in the Denver airport waiting to board a plane. I checked facebook on my phone, and one of my friends had just written a post that said something like "I'm sitting on an airplane getting ready for takeoff and I seen a fat guy walking down the isle. Of course his seet was right next to mine. Why do I always get stuck next to the fat ones?"

It was then that I realized I was that guy. The fat guy that everybody hoped wouldn't sit by them. that was just 2 months ago, and I'm already 3 weeks post op. Down 40 pounds, and loving it.

My doctor flat out told me not to have a baby until I get better control of my diabetes. It's has been a struggle to control my sugar. Mom hoping this tool would help me a great deal.

Lots of good reasons your doc told you that, though. Uncontrolled high blood sugar can cause many complications in a pregnancy. In particular, the baby will produce excess insulin, which is also a growth hormone, and make the baby get larger than average. My diabetic grandmother gave birth to a 14 pounder! At home!

Glad you're getting it all under control!

My moment of truth came when I was in the hospital for acetaminophen overdoes. When the nurses weighted me I was in shock. I realized that I've been in denial for the last few yrs. Too embarrassed I was passed overweight into obese. After that reality check I has to admit my weight issues went deeper than I was willing to look. I stopped hanging out with friends, avoided social gathers or interactions, and looking in the mirror. My life somehow revolved around an illusion and self-pity which destroyed any chance I had at being happy.

My sister had a friend who gotten Gastric Bypass. I started looking into it and discovered Gastric Sleeve. It had half the complications, no malabsorption issues and removed Ghrelin, the hormone related to hunger. Yes I know some may develop those problems with the sleeve but its less often. Now I only need to lose 7lb and I can setup a meeting with the surgeon at my VA Hospital.

Blood sugars getting more unmanageable going up to 9 mmol/l (178 mg/dl)

Ending Optifast after a year and immediately gaining back 20 pounds of the 40 I lost.

Oh and sorry this is backward because I got on Optifast because we couldn't conceive because I had PCOS. The doctor detected uterine cancer and I had to have a total hysterectomy at 32, so there goes that dream. But that woke me up and I committed to the medically supervised Optifast for a year and it was hard. It was the pre-op diet for a year. And I only lost 40 pounds. I needed to lose a lot more than that.

That's not to mention all the psychic damage from being a fat kid, never dating or having a boyfriend until I was 22, my daddy dying at age 45 of a heart attack when I was 18. The writing was on the wall that it was going to me, and sooner than 45. I felt like an old woman with my bad feet, bad ankles, bad knees, tummy apron, shortness of breath, yeast infections in my fat folds. I'm only 35. I missed my teens, 20s, and half my 30s because of this. Sure I have had some good experiences and I'm married to a lovely man. But it could have been so much richer. And the rest will be.

Someone said to me "How many morbidly obese senior citizens do you see?"

Wow I never thought about that. Very good point.

I used to play the "well, I'm fat, but I'll never get so fat that I can't...." game. But then I did. I got so fat that it became hard to find pants that fit at Lane Bryant. I got so fat that sitting in stadium seats or booths at restaurants became a problem. I got so fat that going to an amusement park would have meant sitting on the sidelines while everyone else had fun. I had a friend turn against me and post all manner of mean nasty things about me regarding my weight and I couldn't defend against any of them. I realized I didn't want to be the person sitting at 50 wishing I had had the courage to have the surgery before I had all the comorbidity issues that plagued my dad before his RNY. So now I'm 4 days post op, and I hate not eating food, and I despise my Protein shakes, and I'm depressed that my body forced me into something this major just to even the playing field, when i am surrounded by people who can eat what they please without gaining weight. BUT, I'm losing weight, and have the chance to be under 200lbs by the time I turn 30, when I haven't been under 200lbs since high school, and for me right now, that's reason enough to push through.

Looking back on this, I'm so happy I had this surgery. I'm 6 months out and find I can eat small amounts of everything I love(except chicken), I'm now at 216 when I started at 322. I've done two 5K's(walked, not ran), and I am no longer terrified of booths at restaurants or chairs with arms. It's not always been easy, but it's the best thing I could have ever done for myself.... plus, the other day a complete stranger told my guy friend that he thought I was hot!, I've never been hot! I've got a bit more to go, but I'm over halfway there and hopeful. I hope this might be a help to anyone who is on the fence about this surgery. If you have any questions about the surgery or recovery process, feel free to send me a message.