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've been overweight since I can remember. Being overweight as a child shaped me into being uncomfortable with myself and ultimately led to social anxiety. I grew up without having many friends (and none that were long lasting) and never having a boyfriend or any boy friends, for that matter. In 2014-15 I went through a deep depression as it was my first year of college and I had a lot of time to myself because I didn't have friends or anything to do. Around May of 2015 I decided to take my life into my own hands and told my parents I wanted the surgery. I am 20 years old and knew that if I wanted this, I was going to have to do it now. My mother was more supportive than my father (he is overweight and felt that I wasn't going to make the changes necessary) but they were both willing to do anything I needed. I began my six month period of diet and exercise in June and was exercising frequently but was not dieting. I gained 20 lbs during those 6 months and that scared me into thinking I wasn't going to be able to handle the strict diet after surgery. It's been a little over a month since my surgery and I have already lost 32 lbs. I am so grateful to say that I have been making progress I never expected and am beyond excited for what lies ahead!!!

It's been a little over a month since my surgery and I have already lost 32 lbs. I am so grateful to say that I have been making progress I never expected and am beyond excited for what lies ahead!!!

32 lbs?!?! That is fantastic!! Good for you!

I thought I was the only one who dreams of riding coasters! My niece and I are very close. Her birthday party is always at holiday world (southern Indiana). It is a very hilly park and I don't fit on the rides. I always made an excuse about having school finals, being "sick", or being too far to drive. I want to ride coasters and see my niece on her birthday!

I also want to run a marathon and never again have a stranger ask me if I'm expecting twins.

@@Josey Quinn Oh Josey, do I feel for you and totally understand -- I was touring a home with a real estate agent and missed a step and fell down - HARD. In addition to being scared from a very bad fall, I also had to tell the very slender, wispy real estate agent to "please don't try to help me up because I don't want you to hurt yourself trying to lift me". Which was completely true, if she could have even helped me, which I doubt - but if she could have, I would have felt horrible if I hurt her because she tried to help someone up who probably weighed three times what she did. She was very gracious, but it was not only super-painful physically, but way more painful emotionally and in terms of the humiliation. I managed to paste an okay look on my face and hobble out of there, but once in my car, started sobbing from the pain - and embarrassment and humiliation. My knee swelled to twice its size by the time I got home - yada yada yada - orthopedic doctor's first words were 'you need to lose weight' - as if I didn't know that --

Anyway, there is hope--I had bypass surgery nearly a year ago - and I'm down 120 lbs!! Hang in there! Life is SOOOOOO much better at a somewhat normal weight!!

@@onmywayup Congratulations on taking the first steps on your new journey. WLS is called a journey as you will come across some stumbling blocks and a lot of self evaluations as well as numerous celebrations along the way. I'm glad to know that you have seen a tremendous lost in weight and suggest that you continue with your NUT and surgeon and understand that this is a tool to your new life going forward. I look forward to seeing more celebratory messages from you. Keep up the good work

Edited January 25, 201610 yr by Applebootom9

I too am bipolar diagnosed almost 10 years ago. Working thru some of my issues including a way too touchy uncle almost 20 years ago. Remember that gaining and losing go hand and hand with the ups and downs of being bipolar. After you are sleeved, if taking meds/vitamins are difficult, take your bipolar meds 1st. My take is if you are not stable your attempts at wls may be compromised. Good luck.

My name is Tina Purdie, I am 49 years old and I am waiting for a gastric sleeve surgery date. I considered the surgery about 8 years ago but lost 20 lbs and thought I could do it myself...8 years later I am still struggling to find something that works.

In July 2015 I started having extreme leg and knee pain. I have had knee issues since I was 18 and in 2009 I was told I had arthritis in my right knee. In Oct 2015 after several Dr appts it was determined that I had sciatica and my arthritis had significantly progressed. One Oct morning I was unable to walk at all and that was IT! I had reached my limit and was not going to live this way!

I have Kaiser insurance and have completed all my requirements and am 6 lbs from my pre-surgery goal weight. My chart has gone to my doctor and I am waiting for a surgery date. I have been following the 1200 cal bariatric diet for 15 days now and I am not losing any weight. I am very discouraged because I need to be at the goal weight before my doctor reviews the chart or I won't get my date.

I have Kaiser insurance and have completed all my requirements and am 6 lbs from my pre-surgery goal weight. My chart has gone to my doctor and I am waiting for a surgery date. I have been following the 1200 cal bariatric diet for 15 days now and I am not losing any weight. I am very discouraged because I need to be at the goal weight before my doctor reviews the chart or I won't get my date.

Hang in there and keep working at it. If you do, you will get to that pre-op goal eventually, even if it's not as soon as you like. Don't give up just because it might take you a month or two longer than you'd hoped.

There wasn't a specific event that pushed me towards the decision to have surgery. Like many others have said, I was simply tired of being fat. Tired of being tired all of the time. Tired of feeling uncomfortable in my own skin. Tired of being invisible. I have been overweight most of my life, struggled with trying to lose weight since high school.

I have tried countless diets and fitness regimens, and have been somewhat if not very successful with all of them.

I did the Atkins diet for 2 years straight and lost upwards of 80 lbs. I hit a stall at around 205 lbs that lasted about 6 months at which point I stopped actively dieting and gained all but a couple lbs back within a year. My problem was that I never hit a "goal weight" where I could learn to moderate my eating and fitness to maintain my weight. Any time that I "cheated" and had a couple slices of bread for lunch, I felt like a complete failure and proceeded to binge eat carbs for the remainder of the day. I'm a firm believer in that when you completely restrict yourself from something, it makes it irresistible. I gradually stopped weighing myself and completely stopped restricting my carb intake as those days became more common.

I believe the sleeve will help me to obtain the "goal weight" that I have never been able to reach on my own.

For me it was very similar. My teenaged sons not having a mother

Not being able to sit comfortably or without funny looks on an airplane

Not being able to participate in many excursions during many cruise vacations with family and friends

When i was almost in to size 42 and could barely run the bases in softball

In 2011 - I weighed 330 pounds. Through stress and separating from my husband, I lost 147 pounds and looked like my avatar picture ( 183) This crept back to around 210 and I maintained that until mid 2015. I had immense stress from an injury claim I had against my ex employer and the weight piled on ! I went from 212 to 307 in 8 months ! Every week I felt fatter and fatter and so angry that I had put all the weight back on ! I was bumping into doorways or falling over as I couldn't judge my size. My knees were hurting, and no attention for me when I went out with my mates. I was essentially ignored as the " fat " one. I couldn't fit into a theme park ride ( soooo embarrassing ) and my blood pressure was going sky high.

Luckily I got a decent settlement for my claim and within 2 days I'd booked self pay to have the sleeve done three weeks later ! The surgeon could see I " could " lose weight if I wanted to so he agreed to operate I started the pre op diet on 1st Jan and operated on 16th Jan. I've lost 32 pounds thus far ! I still see myself as the girl in the avatar pic. That's the real me, not this fat lump at the moment. I've lost these " pounds " hundreds of times before yo yoing between obese and slimmish. I am determined this is the last time I lose these pounds yet again !!

Excellent job making decisions for your life. Enjoy your journey.

Like most people, it wasn't a single event that caused me to finally make the decision. I had been "thinking about it" for the last 10 years, and I'd lose some, and always gain it back. I started thinking seriously about it in January 2014 when I took my daughter to Disney World. I have severe arthritis in my left ankle from an old injury, and it almost ruined our trip. I was able to walk through the parks one day, but the next we'd have to stay in our hotel because the pain and swelling in the ankle was so severe that I could hardly make it from the bed to the bathroom. We spent 5 days in the parks, and I needed recovery time after each day. I also regret choosing not to ride certain things with her (like flying Dumbo) because I wasn't sure I'd fit. On our flights down and back I had to use the dreaded seat belt extender on our flights.

I have my first appointment with the surgeon on March 8th, and will be getting a date shortly after that. I am excited for how this is going to help change my life. My ultimate goal is to take my daughter back to Disney when she graduates high school (spring of 2020) and to be able to go on ALL the rides, and go back to back days to the parks! Maybe even take her to one of the Water parks as well. I'm done sitting on the sidelines of my life.

I'd considered it but always brushed off surgery as 'too drastic' and 'last resort'. Well, I'm at my last resort now.

You fill your mind with things like "I'll never reach 280" or "I'll never reach 300".. the last time I weighed was I was 280, then suddenly I weighed in at 293. I panicked seeing the scale so close to 300. Every time I attempted to lose weight, I was losing a few then regaining higher than I'd ever been before. I was afraid to try again.

I was suddenly isolating myself and afraid to meet new people. I avoided meeting my boyfriend's family (all Asian) because of perceived cultural judgment of overweight people. I didn't meet up with friends I hadn't seen in years when they came to down. I made excuses and started staying in. None of this is like me at all

I also travel frequently, flying every 3 weeks or so. Airplane seat belts kept getting tighter and tighter, and now I struggle to buckle them. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. I was afraid to ask for a seat belt extender because what if they didn't have any? How would I explain why I got kicked off the plane?

Between seeing myself get so closed to 300 lbs and not being able to buckle my seat belt, I knew something had to be done. Starting a family is somewhere in my near future, and I don't want to be a fat bride nor do I want to have problems conceiving due to my PCOS.

It's time.