help me understand why get a sleeve at 180?

[clk 3,519]

Heck, I WISH I'd have more seriously considered the sleeve as a lifelong tool to control my weight and help curb my appetite when I was "only" fifty pounds overweight!

Instead, I yo-yo dieted for years, developed diabetes and wound up at a high weight of 280ish on my 5'1" frame.

I can see your the question because the bigger you get, the larger your goal weight number gets! I have a friend that "only" needed to lose fifty pounds but her self esteem was just as shot as mine, her eating habits were crap and she was on her way to joining my pre-op self in the high 200s...along with the comorbidities that come with that type of excess weight.

Diets fail in most cases. The sleeve is not a diet. This is not an accompaniment to Atkins or Weight Watchers. This is a tool that can finally help people reach and remain at goal and it's far more successful at doing so than any of the hundreds of other diets out there, many of which even the lightweights here have tried and failed at.

And that same mindset is what kept my doctors from taking my weight seriously for years. The idea that a diet will magically work when you're 60 pounds overweight but that surgery is necessary once you're 100 pounds overweight is ridiculous. If more doctors would help us with this issue BEFORE we get seriously ill and live our lives unhappily, everyone would be better off. I got tired of waiting around for my doctors and self-paid and couldn't be happier!

~Cheri

[Newme327 6]

Guys, well said. You all have mentioned everything I was going to say.

I am 5'3", 191lbs and have the worst back pain you'd ever want to experience. Lost about 40 lbs a couple years ago on the Atkins diet only to gain it back with a vengeance shortly thereafter. Since then it's been a losing battle fighting my weight. I have not since been able to sustain any diet and I have tried them all.

My mom died in November 2011 from complications associated with kidney failure. Her high blood pressure and diabetes led to her kidney failure. She wasnt that much bigger than me at my current weight.

The weight I carry on my small frame makes it hard for me to exercise but I joined a gym anyway and my trainer just did an evaluation and told me my metabolism was shot. I had my annual check up last July and the doctor told me that not only were my blood lipids high but I am also pre-diabetic.

I am having the surgery next month and it isn't because I have a few vanity pounds I want to lose. I'm having the surgery to improve my quality of life and maybe increase my life expectantcy.

[SunnyCox 245]

The day of my surgery, I weight 279lbs. My husband looked at the two other women having surgery the same day as me, and each of them weighed around 200lbs. He had to remind himself that he did not know their story. At 180lbs, so many are still 50-60lbs overweight. Carrying around an extra 60lbs puts people at a great risk for diabetes and heart disease as well as knee and back pain. Those that weigh 180 are still struggling and are probably getting their weight under control before they ever reach 279lbs.

[Dianne38 81]

I am 5"2 and had the surgery at 171 lbs. My insurance approved it tge same day and paid 100%. Now 6 weeks later I habe only lost 17 lbs but those few lbs lost made it possible to stop taking blood pressure pills by the truck load.....before judging just remember some peoples body makeup was not meant to carry extra weight.

[Radwilk 4]

I weighed 185 on consult at 5'1". Barely meeting the 35 bmi guideline my insurance has. I had severe reflux, hiatal hernia, high blood pressure and sleep apnea. While under the supervision of the nutritionist I lost about 4-5 lbs then regained up to 199 day of surgery. One shocking realization was carrying my child up stairs. She weighs about 28 lbs and how unbelievably difficult that was on my whole body. That was a lightbulb moment where i realized how hard 75-80 lbs was on my short frame. How damaging! In addition to my family history of heart disease, diabetes and stroke I knew I HAD to get the weight off. Now I'm cooking some Bari friendly meals and my kids and hubby are eating them with me (sometimes). They are eating more healthy!!! That's a positive too. Also I discussed lower bmi with my primary care doctor and he said "obesity is obesity. It's sort of like being a little pregnant. You can't be. You either are or you aren't". So THAT'S why I wanted to have surgery at just over 180 lbs.

[circa 333]

I guess the best way to describe the reasoning for some people is as a preventative measure. That horrible struggle that you, I, and many others face with the morbid obesity isn't something I would wish on my worst enemy- so for someone who can stop that from happening - which, for many, it's inevitable, more power to them. Why wait for something to be so bad that its hardest and more dangerous!? If you have a toothache, you don't wait for the tooth to abscess before dealing with it. Or at least you shouldn't!

Sent from my iPhone using VST

[hm734 228]

The better question would be why wait till you are 220...230..250...300lbs?

Despite some peoples best efforts, the scale may go down, but always creeps much higher in the long run. An average of 10 lbs a year gain, for me, on what seemed like a lifelong diet - for what?

Pre-diabetes, heart disease, high chloresteral, high blood pressure, back problems, knee problems, PCOS and a miserable life in general? I WISH I would have considered this surgery at 180. I was too busy kidding myself that I could somehow lose 50+ pounds on my own and keep it off.

I finally decided to have my surgery somewhere between 213-218. Now, almost 6 months later I am 139 lbs, 5' 4" and for the first time ever I am HEALTHY, confident, happy and content.

That is why. I see you started at 340 pounds. I would have been dead by the time I reached that weight. I make no mistake about it. My weight was slowly killing me. Let me ask you something. Are you happy you started this journey at 340, or would you have preferred to start at 180? Because you were 180 at some point. You just kept going and going and going, as we "low BMI'rs (read still Morbidy OBESE) decided to fix the problem before it got even more out of control, we should somehow feel guilty? Yeah...no.

[steelergirl 135]

I agree and understand..so much more now..I wish I wouldn't have waited..good luck to all of you and good for you fir doing something before it got out if hand..and realizing it sooner than I did.

[rdoactv 218]

My mother is 4'10. At 180# she was diabetic, had sleep apnea, high bp and shortness of breath, no energy, and due to an injury earlier in life to her leg, had become disabled and was headed for a wheelchair in just a few short years..if she was lucky. She had surgery in Sept. Diabetes is gone, shes about to come off bp meds, her cholesterol is normal, shes walking without a limp, energy is up ALOT. She's never home now, before she never went out. The sleep apnea is expected to go away soon too. Im 5'0. Im 206 lbs, yoyoed my whole life. Im 38 now. I have high bp (already suffered a mini stroke due to bp), have sleep apnea, high cholesterol, and pre diabetes, can't breath. My legs, knees and back kill me everyday. My quality of life is nill. Self exclusion, physical inability, self esteem..blah, blah..so yes, height and other factors make a difference. Its worth the money, the work, the pain, everything if I can someday hike with my son..or just look back one day and say I atleast enjoyed some of my life.

[Fair2bslimLady 72]

I wish I would have gotten this at 180 instead of 245, at 180 I thought I was cute when in reality I was out of control and down a bad path. The sleeve now is about living a better healthy life and if you cant get rid of 40-50 pounds on your own then I would say the sleeve is the way to go. I look back now and wonder what was I thinking letting myself get this Big and unhappy. Dr's should allow people to get the sleeve once they start having issues trying to get rid of unhealthy weight because no one should reach a large amount of unhealthy weight in order to receive help.

[CowgirlJane 14,261]

Well, here is my perspective... obesity is a metabolic disease. It is more advanced in those of us that were/are high bmi, less advanced in low BMI people. I do think the "calculation" of risk versus benefit is different for a 30 BMI then a 50 BMI, but there is still a benefit for many of the low BMI people too.

I am only 5'5" but i have a big strong frame and a good bit of muscle, so even now in the 160s, I look pretty close to normal size. I am smaller then many women my age even though i bet I outweight them. I work out hard and am getting pretty fit. There are petite built women who look quite fat weighing in the 160s and i am going to make the leap that their health is poorer too.

I guess the point is that this is an individual journey.

Even so, I do think that low BMI people should really think hard about the risks and make sure they really have tried everything. That way if they do have complications, they still know they made the right decision and can keep their spirits going. I luckily did not have complications, but i felt like I was DYING from obesity so I was pretty willing to risk those complications given that I had 100% certainty of early death after a trip through disability....

[iggychic 1,405]

I agree and understand..so much more now..I wish I wouldn't have waited..good luck to all of you and good for you fir doing something before it got out if hand..and realizing it sooner than I did.

As you know, I regret this surgery, and I'm probably a good example of someone who shouldn't have had it. If the surgery is cosmetic for anyone (from 180 too 280 LOL) than it's probably not the best choice. If there is a need (comorbidities etc) than it makes more sense (ie the risks are worth it).

If your friend is a healthy 180 with no comorbidities and no family history of comorbidities with weight, I'd personally say it's a poor choice. But if that's not her story, than it's...well a different story

[sandygo 30]

The better question would be why wait till you are 220...230..250...300lbs?

Despite some peoples best efforts' date=' the scale may go down, but always creeps much higher in the long run. An average of 10 lbs a year gain, for me, on what seemed like a lifelong diet - for what?

Pre-diabetes, heart disease, high chloresteral, high blood pressure, back problems, knee problems, PCOS and a miserable life in general? I WISH I would have considered this surgery at 180. I was too busy kidding myself that I could somehow lose 50+ pounds on my own and keep it off.

I finally decided to have my surgery somewhere between 213-218. Now, almost 6 months later I am 139 lbs, 5' 4" and for the first time ever I am HEALTHY, confident, happy and content.

That is why. I see you started at 340 pounds. I would have been dead by the time I reached that weight. I make no mistake about it. My weight was slowly killing me. Let me ask you something. Are you happy you started this journey at 340, or would you have preferred to start at 180? Because you were 180 at some point. You just kept going and going and going, as we "low BMI'rs (read still Morbidy OBESE) decided to fix the problem before it got even more out of control, we should somehow feel guilty? Yeah...no.[/quote']

Right on well said!!! Your post totally made my day!!! 5'0 and at 199 I was sleeved!!

[hm734 228]

I just re-read this and see that it could be taken as kind of harsh. That was not my intention at all. I just firmly believe this.

[steelergirl 135]

I just re-read this and see that it could be taken as kind of harsh. That was not my intention at all. I just firmly believe this.

Yeah..I wasn't judging you.