What is the reason that you had WLS? Is it all about being thin? Being what others consider "socially acceptable"? Is it about wearing certain clothes that you think or feel just don’t look good on you now? Perhaps it’s your own reflection in the mirror or a photograph??

What is it that motivates us to keep on going through all the trials and tribulations that WLS entails? From the moment we think about or hear about the possibility of this surgical solution to our “problem” or would I be remiss if I said ailment?

Are you ailing from obesity? Do you count yourself among those that feel that they have a disease? Or perhaps you fall along the lines of those that think they have other diseases because of their obesity? Perhaps you have diabetes and you think that maybe if you weren’t overweight you wouldn’t be diabetic? Or have heart disease or sleep apnea….?

Are you ailing from obesity or is it what ails you?

Go back to the beginning of our journey what motivated you to begin looking into and researching WLS as an option? Was it something your Dr. suggested? Why did they suggest it? Did they think that you would be cured and that all that ails you might diminish with the pounds and numbers on the scale?

Today, have you lost a significant amount of weight only to find yourself still ailing from obesity or to find that obesity is still what ails you?

Are you comfortable in your skin? Do you like your reflection or your photograph?

You’ve jumped through the hoops or you are in the process of defining the hoops and preparing to jump through them. You are putting in the work, have you ever worked so hard for anything else before?!

So…what does it mean to you??

How do you define your WLS or more importantly I think is: How has or does WLS define you?

I'll keep this brief because I'm headed into a support group meeting. I got WLS because I needed to take control of my unmanageable life. I had to get out of my food fog and make some huge changes. I did and I have. WLS saved my life in more ways than physical. Great post, Lisa.

I've haven't been thin since high school but I always had confidence. Somewhere along the way I crossed a fat threshold and lost my self esteem. I couldn't continue to live that way. Plus I had high blood pressure, pre diabetes, and felt like I was on my way to a heart attack. I wasn't living the life I felt I wanted and was meant to live. So I did something about it. It took me a long time of suffering to get to that point but I did and I hope I never look back.

What motivates me? That's pretty easy- I've got too much left that I want to do & too many people to annoy

Seriously, if I'd have answered these questions 20 years ago, my answers would have revolved around wanting to prance around in a bikini and step over all the fellas that were falling at my feet. Vanity is what initially drove my weight loss attempts, as I had no symptoms or ailments that impeded my life. As my half-hearted attempts never really worked out for me, I realized that maybe I really was ok the way I was. I was a big girl, get over it. You can't look past that? There's the door- heck, I'll even hold it open for you.

Forwarding ahead those 20 years... and my reasons have completely changed. Sure, I'll love the imminent weight loss I'll have from my RNY- I don't remember the last time I've bought clothes that didn't have an "X" in the size, but prancing around in a bikini at this point in my life wouldn't be a comfortable option for me regardless of my size. My motivation now is to resolve my diabetes. Period. Well, that and the annoying pain in my right hip that's developed over the last year or so. Anyhow, I still took my sweet time to make this decision- I talked, talked, talked and read, read, read the good, bad and the ugly about WLS before committing myself to a whole new life. And you know what? It's been pretty good so far. Sure, I'm looking forward to actually chewing some food in the future, but all those things I thought I couldn't live without (like soda, ice cream and anything bread-related) really hasn't bothered me so far. Why? Because my glucose readings have been around 100 since the day I came home from the hospital. No better motivation than that for me.

My weight never controlled my life. No one forced me to eat anything- that was my doing. And now it'll be my undoing.

Like many, My health was terrible. C-pap and oxygen. Type one diabetic out of control. Diabetic complications stage two kidney damage. I was a time bomb on 11 types of medication.

What motivated me. My mother and father in law. Both had stage 4 cancer last year. I provided hospice care for my father in law and traveled to see my mom for a weekend. They both passed 4 days of each other. They both handled knowing they were going to die with such grace. I figured the least I could do is get control of my life. Not only to extend my life but to live a life they were not able to. I do all in memory of them.

Today I am 5 months out and 100lbs down from my highest weight. I had medical treatment to deal with a disease. I put in the hard work. I am learning to be comfortable with the change. It's just happened so fast. I need time to catch up with my body. It does not define me. Would curing your type two diabetes define a person?

I'm loving and living life.

I'd slowly and progressively put on the pounds transitioning from being in pretty good shape with an active lifestyle, including an active career, to a sedentary job.

5 lbs one year, 7 the next, and so on. Add to that my then-life-stuff: a draconian workplace, a tumultuous relationship with my ex just to pick up and drop off the kids, financially just struggling by, going to college full-time and doing side projects for my company that was put on hold for steady income & insurance, I gained more & more, the pounds packed onto me faster year after year. I got pretty large, my highest weight. I was miserable. I got winded going up and down the steps at work and wasn't exercising. Aches and pains from a sedentary lifestyle.

Fast forward to a Followup on an annual physical exam. The PA told me my cholesterol and triglycerides were so high & literally, off the chart, the machine couldn't calculate my exact numbers. I was told I could pop off at any moment from a heart attack or stroke. wow! That hit me hard.

I was also hobbling around & had to get a knee scope to clean up an old dash-board injury surgery from a car accident I had

I was embarrassed to run into people I hadn't seen in a long time. I felt fast & ugly. The shock in their faces said it all...

Also, My eldest daughter was expecting my 1st grandchild and I wanted to be around for a long time to enjoy my growing family.

Plus, my eating was out of control- trying to fill empty emotional spaces with food. Always hungry. Never full/ satisfied.

I was also buying a lot of stuff I didn't really need. Trying to fill those aching, empty spaces

I needed to get my life back under control, for myself and the ones I love.

That's when I began researching WLS options which were fewer back then. Pretty much bypass, RNY or band. I thoroughly researched and decided the band was right for me. Made the app't & off to pre-WLS program I went.

Yep. Did counseling. Mostly better- not eating or buying stuff to fill those empty spaces now. They're still there. I've just embraced them as a part of who I am, just like my band, and embraced myself for who I am too.

I am me either way I am just a better me and a healthier me and I can do more now and My legs can actually hold my weight up , I don't need assistance in walking.

My health was my main concern.

I have yo-yo dieted all my life, keeping my BMI in the 24 to 30 range up until my mid forties when things seemed to get out of control. I still managed to diet 'successfully' but the weight I regained and needed to lose went up as time went by until I needed to lose 140lb, lost it, then regained.

From my fifties I was diagnosed with underactive thyroid, then high blood pressure, then in my sixties type 2 diabetes, raised cholesterol. I had started to diet again, then had treatment for breast cancer during which I piled on over 40lb. My joints hurt, my sacro-iliac joint was extremely painful making standing difficult for any length of time.

Post cancer treatment I was depressed as I was the heaviest I had ever been, couldn't exercise due to painful joints and I knew from experience that diet alone didn't work for me. My doctor suggested bariatric surgery and referred me to the hospital.

Fortunately in recent years I had studied weight management and gained increasing self-knowledge about the causes of my 'head-hunger', but still experienced high levels of physical hunger.

I only had the surgery 2 months ago but already my back pain has pretty much gone and my knees are fine. I have started to take brisk walks again and will start some weights work once I feel I'm fully healed. I have not been able to reduce any medications yet, but feel a lot better. I am no longer physically hungry all the time and I'm happy with my weight loss so far.

What I look like/size of clothes is a bonus but health comes first. I do not come from a long-lived family and I'm very aware of the advancing years. I enjoy my life and don't want it to be cut short!

I have a long way to go but am optimistic that I will get to a more healthy weight (anything under BMI 30 would suit me fine as I look bony and gaunt at BMI 24). Really hope I can maintain it this time once the 'honeymoon period' of the surgery wears off.

I am me either way I am just a better me and a healthier me and I can do more now and My legs can actually hold my weight up , I don't need assistance in walking.

like my friend @@Debbie3sons this WLS i chose gave me my mobility back and the being able to wipe my ass again..when you lose that......and cant do something so simple, it IS a eye opener

I had 2 reasons I wanted WLS. Number #1 was to prevent health issues. I was borderline high blood pressure, sleep apnea and starting to experience joint pain. I have family members who are dealing with health issues which most definitely were caused by weight. It just seemed like a sad way to live and I got tired of it. I wanted to be able to be the best me I could be.

Number #2 was to feel normal. Being fat is terrible and it is not attractive. It breaks my heart to see so many fat children. I notice this more and more since I have been on this health journey. There was so much in life that I was missing because of my size. People can sugar-coat it and say that you should "embrace your size" and " love the big beautiful you" all of that is a bunch of bs. There was no joy in debating whether I can fit in a theater seat or if I could find something to wear at Lane Bryant. People should not starve themselves to be stick thin and obsess over looks but everyone should strive to maintain a healthy weight. I am a major people watcher and one thing I notice is how people seem to be getting larger.

My health issues were affecting my quality of life. Multiple allergies, chronic health issues and not being able to fit in a regular chair was holding me back from enjoying my fabulous life. I've always been outgoing and active.

So I did my research chose my doctor and the rest is history.

_{*For more of the long, boring story, check the link in my signature.}

Hi. I was in denial with the woman in the mirror! My internist informed me earlier this year that I was officially a type 2 diabetic and for bonus I have HBP & hypercolestrol. I already had hyperthyroidism, severe GERD, and asthma.

I love me and am willing to use this tool of RNY to get healthy body and mind. So obesity is ailing me.

My Brother died at age 60, my sister died at age 63...both morbidly obese, with ALL the worst that can happen from obesity.

Between the both of them...

Heart condition, circulatory problems amputations, blindness, kidney failure - dialysis every 3 days, severe infections putting my sister into comas..

I can go on and on, but needless to say it was ugly!!!

So there I was, age 56, Dx'd with diabetes taking daily injections and oral meds, then the heart conditions started resulting in angioplasty and stents.

When they went in, they found scar tissue from a previous heart attack which I never knew....can happen to diabetics, "Silent Heart Attacks" because of the nerve damage.

I was seeing my PCP, Cardiologist, Endocrinologist, Dermatologist (from all the severe skin issues), and a Podiatrist (diabetes effects the feet) on a every 4 month schedule. (my teeth and gums suffered also)

My blood work was off the charts, all over the place. You name it, it was out of whack and I was taking more medications than I can count and could not get anything under control.

I could not sleep at night because of the pain in my legs.

I would have to sit, out of breath just from carrying groceries into the house.

My PCP sat me in his office, knee to knee, and said if I did not start loosing weight, I'll be dead very soon...following my siblings.

I told him, and he was also aware, that I have tried, and FAILED, at every diet plan under the sun.....EVERY ONE!!!

He said, as a Last Resort, that I should go see a Bariatric Surgeon, and WLS may be my only hope.

So he referred me.

I never thought I was a candidate, or that WLS could be an option for me. But the surgeon said I was EXACTLY the type of person needing something as drastic as surgery...to save my life.

Believe me, WLS is something I did not want to do, and I feel (felt) ashamed that that is what it led to.

But I can say that today, I do not have one single regret...has been the absolute best thing that ever happened to me...it gave me my life back, along with perfect health, and a life style free from ever dieting again, and no fear of ever gaining weight back as before.

Edited November 14, 201411 yr by B-52

My Brother died at age 60, my sister died at age 63...both morbidly obese, with ALL the worst that can happen from obesity.

Between the both of them...

Heart condition, circulatory problems amputations, blindness, kidney failure - dialysis every 3 days, severe infections putting my sister into comas..

I can go on and on, but needless to say it was ugly!!!

So there I was, age 56, Dx'd with diabetes taking daily injections and oral meds, then the heart conditions started resulting in angioplasty and stents.

When they went in, they found scar tissue from a previous heart attack which I never knew....can happen to diabetics, "Silent Heart Attacks" because of the nerve damage.

I was seeing my PCP, Cardiologist, Endocrinologist, Dermatologist (from all the severe skin issues), and a Podiatrist (diabetes effects the feet) on a every 4 month schedule. (my teeth and gums suffered also)

My blood work was off the charts, all over the place. You name it, it was out of whack and I was taking more medications than I can count and could not get anything under control.

I could not sleep at night because of the pain in my legs.

I would have to sit, out of breath just from carrying groceries into the house.

My PCP sat me in his office, knee to knee, and said if I did not start loosing weight, I'll be dead very soon...following my siblings.

I told him, and he was also aware, that I have tried, and FAILED, at every diet plan under the sun.....EVERY ONE!!!

He said, as a Last Resort, that I should go see a Bariatric Surgeon, and WLS may be my only hope.

So he referred me.

I never thought I was a candidate, or that WLS could be an option for me. But the surgeon said I was EXACTLY the type of person needing something as drastic as surgery...to save my life.

Believe me, WLS is something I did not want to do, and I feel (felt) ashamed that that is what it led to.

But I can say that today, I do not have one single regret...has been the absolute best thing that ever happened to me...it gave me my life back, along with perfect health, and a life style free from ever dieting again, and no fear of ever gaining weight back as before.

What powerful tale. Thank you for sharing. Other than a bladder condition none of my health issues were weight related. However my weight made them difficult to manage. Unsurprisingly they are much more manageable post op.

Do not be ashamed. You did something about your disease You took that very big step and had WLS. You should be very, very proud.

my health,

I am 21 years old and morbidly obese.... With in the last three years my weight started to spiral out of control. I lost 10 lbs in 6 months and then gained 40 in a year....I'm terrified of the effects this might have had on my health and what it could mean if I don't take care of this now. I want to live the life of a healthy (almost) 22 year old...I want to go on adventures and not have to worry that my weight will keep me from doing anything.