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

I originally intended to have weight loss surgery 10 years ago, when I was 22. I was in my last year of university and had gained back the 50lbs I had lost while living abroad in Sweden the previous year and then some (that was the year my parents got divorced; not good for the waistline). I was hearing more and more thing about this band surgery thing, so I called up my bank for a loan (which I got immediately, unsecured. This was back before the financial crisis when they were throwing money at anyone who wanted it). I ended up chickening out and returning the money within the 7 day cooling off period because I had gotten a place to work in America for a year that September and I was worried (given that it wasn't as well known back then) that I'd have trouble finding places to get fills, and was scared of what would happen if I flew with it and something went wrong while I was away.

I told myself I was only 22. If when I was 30 I still hadn't managed to get my weight under control I would look at my options again.

I'm 32 now. I didn't have time between my last contract in China and my current one in Indonesia to get the surgery done at home, and when I planned to get the band done here it fell through when the doc (the only one here at the time!) left the area. There isn't really enough time in any school holiday to go through recovery properly (the summer holiday here is only 3 weeks) and I don;t like the idea of being caught by myself in a foreign place if something goes wrong.

In the end it's better the surgery didn't happen, as I have no plans to stop traveling and I don't want to lose work opportunities because I'm tied to a location close to a clinic that can do adjustments. The sleeve would be a better choice for me long term I believe. After I'm done here I'm going to go home for six months, see family (it's been a long time) and sort out appointments to get the ball rolling about getting the sleeve done in Belgium (it's cheaper there than the UK). I hope by the time I recover and get a new job, possibly beginning of 2017, that I'll have lost enough weight that I won't have to worry about things like seat size on the aeroplane, or my knees/feet hurting when exploring a new place. I think for me that it's those things that gave me the biggest push, I need to be able to travel if I want to work ad those seats are getting tighter and tighter on me. I hope I'm in a place with my weight when I arrive at my job after this where the first reactions of my primary kids isn't 'Ms, you're so fat!'.

Edited November 2, 201510 yr by perforce

Best of luck.

What made me break... many things..... all things! I watched myself lose and gain then gain and gain. The more I gained the harder the loss. I played soccer for 26 yrs. If it wasnt for playing that long... I would have been the heavy girl. Through the years, my metabolism finally caught up to me. I tried so many diets and the most Ive lost is 36 lbs and that was under the supervision of a doctor. Time went on and female things occured. My heredity was still against me. I finally said Ive had enough. My back hurts, my knees crutch, my clothes are tight and going up in size. My OBGYN told me she shes how much weight Ive put on. Mind you... I dont go crazy with eating everything and anything but Im always feeling as if Im starving. I can over eat portion wise if I love something and Im a sucker for baked goods... so... with that being said, I knew.... for a fact that I needed long term help. Surgery... Weightloss surgery it is. I cant control why Im always starving and dont want to starve on diets anymore. The sleeve surgery removes that sensory in the stomach that makes us feel hungry. This is what I need! Three people in my family on my dad's side have done the other weightloss surgeries and I will be the first to have the sleeve. My consult is scheduled Nov. 12... then booking my surgery date. Ive fought the battle of my buldge for 23 years. My only thing... is I wish I did this surgery years ago!

My last straw was when I seen professional pictures of myself.

When you take selfies or even full body pics you can contour your body to look better than it is,

But wedding photographers don't lie. It wasn't my wedding but when the picture came through I knew that was it.

I already had my surgery scheduled when I saw the picture, because I had been pondering it and decided to give it a shot, but the photo made my full decision to give it my all.

When I admitted to myself that the mirror stopped reflecting the person inside. Why did I let myself go? I had to take charge once and for all.

Hi everyone! My name is Lisa and I am just starting the process. I'm 35 and I have struggled with my weight my entire adult life, the last time I was a healthy weight was probably when j graduate high school. Last night I went with my best friend to the seminar for our hospital that we will use and they already made our initial appointment for November 13th.

I'm am currently around 305pounds.

I have been "dieting" for 2 years.. I got down to 274 from my highest of 315 on and off on an off.. Up and down up and down.. I honestly just don't know what to do anymore. Without getting the sleeve done, I honestly don't ever think I will lose the weight I should to take back control of my life. I'm scared to death of surgery and hope I don't die getting it done. That's about all for now.. Lol

Anyone please feel free to comment! I'd love to talk to anyone who's been sleeved or thinking about it ????

I'm a diabetic and my mom was too. After her last amputation she died soon after like her dad. That's not going to be me.

Hi, everyone. I'm 55 and have been heavy all my adult life. I look back now and kick myself for not doing this sooner. There are so many things I missed out on. Two things got me started. First, I started thinking about my father, dead at 67. Now here was a man--a carpenter--who was not heavy and was (I thought) in great shape, yet dropped dead from a heart attack. I'm packing 130 extra pounds for years, have high blood pressure, am pre-diabetic, have joint pains--the usual. If he had problems, what did that mean for me? I want to be around for my husband and daughter and grandkids (if I ever get any).

The second was simple. Years ago I did think about it. Our insurance didn't cover it (under "cosmetic" surgery) so I thought that was true for all insurances. Twenty-five years later I read about someone's surgery that was covered and the light dawned. My husband has a lot of worries about the surgery. It helped a little to tell him part of it would be covered.

I have enjoyed reading everyone's responses even as heartbreaking as some might be. Similar to others, I've had lots of little straws over time...

When I was ? 5 or 6 out shopping with my mother, her saying "Broad shoulders are good on football players, just not on little girls" I wasn't fat then, but I was/ still have a large frame.

A former supervisor of mine told me (thanks....) someone else we knew asked, so is she (referring to me) just gonna get bigger and bigger?

The last ? 10 years some of the most difficult. I was escorted from a swing ride at the fair because neither me or the guy working the ride could strap me into the seat.

I haven't been able to fasten a seat belt on a plane - ever.

And finally a doctor telling me last year, you are not going to live at this weight. You will never make it to use your retirement. You'll get cancer or have a stroke. ( she went on and I on about it). While she was a bitch to tell me that (didn't know me, had never met me before, for all she knew I could have flipped out with that news), she was right. After trying one more year at dieting, I had my initial appt last week and broke the new stormy husband this weekend.

I have been toying with the idea of WLS for a few years now but it always seemed so drastic. I thought for sure I could do this on my own. Of course up until recently, it was more for cosmetic/quick fix reasons and not so much about my health. I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia a year ago and for the last 2 months I have been in a hyper flare that made me go to the doctors. When I saw my weight, my highest ever, it sealed the deal. No wonder I am hurting so much. I like who I am inside. Now it's time to make that match to my outside. I am ready...scared, but looking forward to my next journey.

I've been trying to lose this weight for quite sometime and always lose and gain it back plus more, but what finally got me was I fell the beginning of the summer twisted my ankle and haven't been the same since. Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE wearing heels and I can't now because of my bad ankle ???? this weight has got to go body aches ALL the time.

I've been up and down the scale most of my adult life. I held my weight well for almost 3 years. But once I quit smoking the pounds came back. I eventually crested the 300 pound mark. With that brought high blood pressure, sleep apnea, and pretty much every joint and my back hurting with any physical activity. But it was this photo that did it for me. That was my oldest son graduating at Parris Island. With that picture, in that single moment, I decided enough is enough.

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I was fat most of my life. My being overweight caused me to shy away from going out playing because I wasn't good at sports and didn't want to be made fun of. Throughout my life I lost and gained. It seemed that I always packed on more weight after loosing. Now that Ian about to turn 40 I was having back pains and joint pains daily. I was always out of breathe and tired. My energy level was low. I just had enough. I had the surgery on October 26 and weighed in at 288. Today I'm down 30. Wow. I just hope to recover and be able to eat again. Now I'm in the mush stage. I still hate protein shakes.

I echo everything everyone has said.

My PCP has been recommending VSG for a couple of years and had it done himself. For me, even at 275ish and 5' 8", I never really felt fat, just lacked energy and enthusiasm for doing anything. I thought I knew I was a touch overweight but with the gradual increase over the years, I never had myself pegged as being the fat guy.

There's this guy at my work who is really big, so big that I thought, he's probably the fattest person I know and much fatter than me. He's on all kinds of meds also for diabetes, hbp, etc and is about 12 years younger than me. I thought for sure with his weight, health issues and meds that he would surely not have a good outcome unless he changed his ways.

Well, we had to go into the lab at work and had to put on a lab coat, hoodies, booties etc. We both put the same size on and his fit, mine didn't. I couldn't button up the lab coat.

Finally what my doc had told me about climbing a1c, cholesterol, being morbidly obese-- I HEARD the ding ding ding bell moment in my head and realized that the fat guy was me and my on and off dieting or skipping lunch was not the solution for a long healthy life. I owe it to my family to try my best at being around for them.