I felt that it would be irresponsible not to tell those closest to me about this journey. Because I'm a very emotional person and would probably cry if I tried to express myself verbally. I wrote a heartfelt letter explaining what I'm doing and why and emailed it to those in my family that are closest to me (mom, brother, sister, sister-in-law and niece). In the letter I invited each of them to talk to me individually if they had any questions. Surprisingly, without judgment, they each gave me 1,000% of their support. Basically, they have all seen me suffer over the years, and have seen my health take an extreme decline specifically over the past 3 years to the point now where I can barely walk (osteoarthritis, nerve damage of the spinal cord, high blood pressure, asthma, high cholesterol, etc.), so they are relieved that I've decided to take charge and do something about it. So my question is, how did you all handle telling people?

OMG...I'm in Camden County, Lindenwold (border of Voorhees and Stratford). My doctor is Dr. Christopher Boynton (Surgical Specialist of NJ), in Lumberton (Burlington County).

OMG...I'm in Camden County' date=' Lindenwold (border of Voorhees and Stratford). My doctor is Dr. Christopher Boynton (Surgical Specialist of NJ), in Lumberton (Burlington County).[/quote'] I

Oh wow!! Nice. I'm using Penn. They have an office of of Rt. 70 but my surgery will be in Philly.

Cool, let's definitely keep in touch!

Definitely =)

I vaguely mentioned it to my mom (a "nervous Nellie") that I'm thinking about it but I still haven't been fully approved by my insurance or even have a surgery date yet

I don't want my supervisors to know but I gather they will find out since I have to provide a doctors note requesting additional sick time off as I'm planning on taking 4.5-5 weeks off work

My BFF who is a registered nurse and who i hope will be able to be at the hospital with me on my surgery date knows the most .... She has weight struggles too but nothing compared to my history of morbid obesity. She's supportive and realistic about what this change will mean for me.

My ex husband knows and is supportive -- he works at the facility of the obesity center that my surgeon directs coincidentally

I have a colleague who has recently had the VSG but I'm not entirely sure if I will fully open up to her that I am going for it .... Gossip travels fast and many people at work negatively comment about her decision already

I live with my aunt and 2 younger male cousins and will eventually open up to them about it in very general terms once I get approved .... But my family gossips and I'm sure the word will get out to other folks soon thereafter

Not planning on telling my elderly father who lives out of state or my 2 sisters and closest cousins immediately but will consider as time passes. I would tell my niece if she were older but she's only 8 years old and I don't want her to reveal anything to her parents (:

I feel the VSG is the best decision for me and I'm approaching it with lots of prayer and hope. If people critically judge be so be it, I believe I'll be healthier and happier in the end. I've lost over 90 pounds on my own within 15 months only to regain 60+ .... It's been a long road of weightloss ups and downs for me (at 31 years of age) throughout my aduthood and I feel this surgery can be my hope for sustained weightloss