I had been over and over in my mind weight loss surgery for a decade now! I always thought I could lose it naturally.

What the final straw for me was today when my Primary Care went over my MRI of my stomach with me and lectured me for an hour on how I am close to have a cirrhosis of the liver! Plus I am hypertension and high cholesterol and metabolic syndrome. I mean I'm a walking time bomb for my life to end.

I am only 33!

I will not die!

This has become health to me more then anything!

So what was your guys's final straw?

Lisa

For me I have battled weight all my life. Like many here I lost and gained over and over. The tipping point for me is when we had out first son. I want to be the best Dad I can be. To me that means running around and being active with him. I had the surgery almost 5mo ago and between that and working out I feel like a new person. My son will be 2 next month and he is for sure getting a benefit from dada being able to run, play, and not get tired so easy.

Now we are expecting another boy, so I will have my hands full. I'm glad for me and my family I did this.

Edited August 14, 201511 yr by OneDollarBill

The final straw was discovering that my risk of having a heart attack was higher than my risk of dieing during surgery. Fear of the actual surgery itself kept me on the fence for a really long time.

For me there no "final straw ", I had barely even registered in my mind that there were ads in womens magazine s for Lapband. But when a couple of relatives had it done, and did well, I started looking into it. Surprise ! I 've done very well too and couldn't be happier or healthier. The rest of this is hard for me to say, but something in your post kind of hit me hard. You are 33 years old. My dad died of cancer when he was 33 , I was just shy of my 5th birthday. 52 years later, im still dealing with that loss. Yes, this was in the 1960's when there were less treatment s for cancer, but he didn't have the chances that you have to live a healthy life. So if you are unhealthy, and with WLS have a better chance to live a long, healthy life , please consider it.

I'm happy to read your responses! Sounds like it worked out for you all. My Grandfather died at 38 when my dad was ten. I keep picturing him as I reach my mid thirties. I don't want to end up like him granted he was opposite of me. He smoked and drank and I don't smoke or drink however he was obese.

When I first started on this journey after putting on seventy pounds in one summer ten years ago; I thought it was all about vanity. My Now Ex his mother was very into aesthetics. She would compare me to Victoria Secret models and make snide remarks about my weight. So for me I wanted to 'impress'.

I always thought to myself "I'll show her."

Then it branched into me wanting to lose weight just to look good. That is not what it's about I learned over the years. I just googled my liver disorder and obesity and it's sickeningly scary how morbid it is and how people don't live long because of the health risks.

I just ended that Ten year relationship with my ex even-though we both really weren't doing well for the past three years and hardly spoke or saw each-other. So during that time I had to re-evaluate my life and what I wanted.Now it's all about health. I'm doing this surgery to save myself!

Because for the first time in 33 years I alone love myself and think I'm worthy enough!

This is a big step to take but small in hindsight to what a bleak outlook I could face if I don't.

Thank you again for all of the responses!

Lisa

Mother's really can do damage.Mine had a look on her face when I put on weight.Little remarks hurt.They have no filter.As for partners that ain't pulling it off"Bye Bye".You are definitely making a great decision to " love you!Fantastic!

It's always been something that was in the back of my mind but I always ignored it thinking it wasn't something for me.

My wake up call was when I discovered I had hypertension and at 26 I knew I was way too young to be on blood pressure medication. I hope that within a few months of surgery and eating well and exercising I'll be off my medication.

Oh and the daily battle with lower back pain helped with decision too.

I had been over and over in my mind weight loss surgery for a decade now! I always thought I could lose it naturally.

What the final straw for me was today when my Primary Care went over my MRI of my stomach with me and lectured me for an hour on how I am close to have a cirrhosis of the liver! Plus I am hypertension and high cholesterol and metabolic syndrome. I mean I'm a walking time bomb for my life to end.

I am only 33!

I will not die!

This has become health to me more then anything!

So what was your guys's final straw?

Lisa

Hi Lisa! I was heading towards life in a wheelchair. I had horrific joint disease and my hips needed to be replaced. I could barely walk a block, I used a cane, and I couldn't manage stairs. That was 2 1/2 years ago. Check out the picture I attached below. This was taken about a month ago. Yes..we really can get second chances.

After my husband suffered a terrible injury that left him bed ridden for 6 months, I was his sole caregiver. My weight made caring for him very difficult. I also realized that because he was in much better health than I was, that if it had been me that was injured, I would not have the same recovery as he has. Thank he has recovered and learned to walk again and I am now waiting for my insurance approval. We are both blessed and have a new outlook on our days to come. Good luck on your journey.

Being prescribed meds for hypertension. That did it for me!

Edited August 8, 201511 yr by muzical1

So many things but mostly not being able to do a lot of activities without getting out of breath. Feeling tired and sad. Also sleeping with a cpap machine every night.

I want to live!

Wow all your comments sound so familiar to my reasoning's! I want my life back as well! I haven't had a good quality of life since being obese.

Lisa

I needed the confidence to leave my emotionally and financially abusive marriage.

Ironically, I can thank the NSETBEx (not soon enough to be ex) for WLS as the solution. He is obese, and knew three men who had recently had three different surgeries. His boss (RNY), his cousin (sleeve) and a coworker (LapBand). He would come home and ridicule them to me, and make fun of their trials and tribulations. Oh, it was so funny that J with RNY crapped his pants at work. Oh, sure, M lost a hundred pounds with his band, but now he's not losing anymore and eats a full Subway sandwich every day and sometimes fries. D doesn't walk with a cane anymore after his sleeve surgery, but he still looks like an old man with all his hanging skin. Those fools. Ha ha ha.

Little did he know that this was all causing me to look into surgery, since his excellent union insurance covered these surgeries, and I was oh so ready to make a permanent change.

I was over 300 pounds and miserable and having trouble breathing at night. I didn't ask anybody's permission. I checked into the surgery in September, had the LapBand in March, and left him in July. A year later the divorce is still creeping forward.

Creeping. Ha. My divorce is creeping forward and my LapBand fills are creeping toward the green. All thanks to the creep.

Anyway, I never looked back. Best series of decisions I ever made in my life.

@@limichelle34

There was definately a last straw for me. I was very sick for about a year and a half. All of my comorbitities were clearly effecting my health. I have psoriatic arthritis, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, degenerative disc disease and osteoarthritis of my spine.

My kidney function had been going downhill for about two years although I did not really know this at the time.

One day I went to the doctor because I was feeling crappy, I thought my hypothyroid was off and I possibly needed a new prescription.

They did blood work and urine samples and my doctor told me my kidneys were getting worse and I needed to see a nephrologist right away. Honestly I was shocked.

The next day I got in to see the nephrologist and he pulled all my records. He says these simple words: "dear, you have kidney disease and it has progressed to stage 3" it has been progressing rapidly for the past 3 years.

After the shock and him showing me when and where this began to happen in my labs. He asks me about my diet. I was not a quantity eater but I had all the bad stuff. He asks me if I ever considered weight loss surgery. Of course I thought about it but did nothing to pursue it.

He told me if I did not start to lose weight I was looking at dialysis and ultimately a kidney transplant.

That afternoon I went home with a website and the name of a Bariatric center of excellence and began the process. When I found out it was going to take a minimum of 6 months, I was devastated because I was pretty sick at that point. I started changing my habits and eating better immediately following.

That doctor is my hero! And yes, I told him so when I saw him last. My stage 3 kidney disease has improved significantly to where I now have to say I have a history of stage 3 kidney disease when asked. Most of my comorbitities are in remission.

I am extremely grateful this surgery was even available to me, I thought since a year on Weight Watchers did nothing for me, ( a whole 12 lbs, and yes, I had my thyroid checked twice ) I thought I would be overweight for the rest of my life. I did have some mild co morbiditys ( high bp and sleep apnea), but nothing big. One thing I did see was my late MIL, a overweight person who refused to manage her diabetes properly. Each year she got progressively worse, more medications, more Dr.s appts, going from walking to a wheelchair eventually. Even though I didn't have diabetes, I could see myself going down the same road. Ummm, no thanks !! I took control of my health with the Lapband, and except for a still mild case of high BP, and a bum foot, im looking forward to my later years still healthy and happy ! My only regret is I didn't do WLS sooner ! I hope you make a good decision to help youve happy and healthy too !! Good luck !!

I've considered wls for about six years now, however I got to my highest weight, developed hypertension and then the joint pain came. I've been on and off diets most of my adult life plus my family has a history of HBP, heart disease and diabetes... I'm 37, my mother died at 55 and I don't want to follow the same path. So I've decided WLS and a permanent change to a healthier lifestyle is just what I need to live a full life.