I'm starting this journey with my psych, nutritionist, etc. later this month. I am struggling with how to educate my almost 13 year old daughter about why I am doing this. She also is extremely overweight (approx. 210) so I feel a bit guilty that I'm taking on this without her. Any ideas on how I can best educate her about what I'm doing so that she's not scared? She doesn't feel that she has a weight issue, but she does (probably tanks to me!)

My son was 13 when I told him, 14 when I had surgery. I was very open and honest with him. I explained why I was doing it, what the surgery consisted of and what to expect after. His big concern was me stealing his clothes. He would periodically ask me other questions as I went along, like will you come home skinny.... I wish. He struggled when I was in the hospital but was happy to visit me and happier to have me home.

The Kaiser Fremont (my program) guidebook includes chapters on the surgery and the benefits of WLS in general. Read through the book for good discussion points (why it's important to have the surgery, what changes with the surgery, what you will do to get ready, what happens in the hospital, what recovery will look like). You might want to print some pages.

http://mydoctor.kaiserpermanente.org/ncal/facilities/region/gsaa/area_master/departments/Bariatrics/binder.jsp

Lynda

I simply told my girls (13 and 15), that as they knew, I had struggled with my weight and dieting for a long time and that I had decided to have surgery so that I could get to a healthy weight. I allowed them to watch the EMMI videos my doctor sent and gave them the link to the Youtube video (one did, one gagged at the thought) if they wanted to see it. I also told them they could come to the doctor and ask any questions they wanted (declined).

They were excited for me because they knew I was excited about it. Both of them are very healthy but very weight conscious which I know is totally my fault with all the diet kicks I've gone on.

Both are thrilled with our new menu and thrilled with all the time we've been spending together exercising lately. Today was a gorgeous day so we went to a middle school, jogged (I did 1/2 mile!!) and then walked, we did a p90x video together, and then took the pup up to the high school and ran the football field with her. It was fun and exhausting! We are all getting stronger and healthier together while spending quality time with each other.