I'm currently waiting to hear back from insurance. Sitting at work today, I began thinking about my final "Yes, I'm making an appointment to see a surgeon and moving forward with WLS" moment. It had always been something I knew was available, but it had never been a realistic thought.

My "Yep. This is happening moment": 6 months ago I was at the doctor, stepped on the scale and out of habit...or not thinking I said "230-ish" to the nurse. Confused, she looked at me and slowly moved the weight up...because obviously I weighed more. Then it clicked, my head dropped and I said "Sorry, I meant 330." I felt my blood rush to my face, my heart sink to my stomach and the reality of the number set in.

In that moment everything clicked. The fact that my food addiction had spiraled out of control and my inability to drop the weight. It also clicked how badly I wanted a happy and healthy lifestyle. I follow SO many healthy living blogs, instagram accounts and facebook pages. I knew what I wanted, but didn't know where to begin. I had to face the fact that my weight was the highest it's ever been and I needed to fix it.

Immediately after leaving the doctor, I made an appointment with my surgeon, a mental health therapist and a dietitian. Finding a tool to help me reach my goal and finding the WLS Online community has been amazing. Hopefully within weeks I'll know if I'm approved and if I'm not...I won't stop trying.

What was your "I'm doing this" moment?

A stroke at the age of 58.

Here, this thread will open your eyes:

http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/219831-what-was-your-final-straw-that-broke-the-camels-back/?hl=%20final%20%20straw

"You'll have diabetes within 5 years". Translation- you'll lose your job in 5 years.

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More important than the medical conditions, aches, pains, low self-esteem and self loathing, what would happen to my family if I could not be there to provide for them (mentally and financially).

The wake up call was I realized my father almost died at the same age I was due to a severe heart attack; he was obese too.

A few things hit at once - physical pains, difficulty moving, shortness of breath, no stamina, worsening blood tests - and the fact that the thing every specialist said was that I needed to lose weight. I started feeling like I would not be around for much longer until I did something about my weight. I did, and other than marrying my wife, it was the smartest and best thing I ever did!

Going back to work was the deciding factor for me.

Even though my weight was climbing I was still very active, and worked a desk job part time in the mornings monday-friday. I worked out all the time, I could elliptical with the best of them for 45 minutes, and was doing TRX suspension training right along with everyone else. Planks with your feet suspended in the air at 360 lbs is no easy feat! But I was doing it. I loved pushing myself, and would even stay for the next class after TRX doing circuit training with sledge hammers, tire flips, battle ropes, and all sorts of other punishment my trainer could think up! Even though I was big, I was the most fit I'd ever been in my adult life. Then cutbacks happened at work, and my desk position was dissolved.

I found my next job just down the road from me, working as a cashier in an established grocery store, and I was happy to be with a company that was tried and true where I could just put my feet down and stay for as long as I wanted, providing that I was a good worker. Now, I have arthritis in my left ankle from an injury 21 years ago (was hit by a car, ankle was broken in three places) and I discovered that a job on my feet leaves me laid up. I wear a brace on it when I go to work, but sometimes I can still barely walk after a shift, it can't hold my weight. The deciding factor was after an 8 hour shift where I had to text my husband from the driveway to come help me out of the car and into the house. I hate being laid up after working, it means I can't do much to take care of my family. I've stopped going to the gym because I need to rest the ankle before my next shift.

I am scheduled to be sleeved on May 9th, and I can't wait to get some of this pressure off my ankle. It is going to make work so much easier, and I can't wait to return to my gym!

Four years ago my best friend casually commented to me that I needed to lose weight and was too big to do it through diet and exercise. She suggested I get bariatric surgery. I was devastated and highly offended. I thought bariatric surgery was for losers who couldn't do it on their own. At my highest point I was at 388 lbs.

Then I developed heart problems which I was scared would end up killing me. I was a chain smoker and transitioned to e-cigs after my grandmother died from COPD complications.

In late 2014 it just dawned on me one day that my friend was right. I couldn't do it on my own. So I began to research bariatric surgery. I settled on gastric sleeve and began to look for places in my area. After exhausting my search as the expense was too great (I didn't have insurance) I decided on going to Tijuana. I joined Bariatric Pal and began researching everything with a passion. I also began saving up. About 8 months later I had enough money saved and finalized my plans. I was sleeved on May 12, 2015. Fast forward and I feel as if I've been reborn. I'm not the same person. This has completely changed my life. I've lost 176 lbs to date and should be at goal in maybe a couple of months.

I really am "the odd one out". I was probably the happiest fat woman on the planet. I knew no other way of life.

My great grandfather weighed 450#, my grandmother tipped the scales at 300# and my mother weighed 350#. I always believed that that was "normal" for some of us folks.

I can't think of too many things that I couldn't do if I really wanted to do it. (I never gave much thought to becoming a ballerina or a jockey so they don't count ). I played competitive baseball, played classical cornet, raised, groomed and showed, and judged standard poodles, skied, skated, traveled extensively to judge dog shows, and of course my beloved surf fishing. Really, if I wanted to do it, I did it.

It wasn't until I was diagnosed with DJD, RA, DO and Fibromyalgia, had a knee replace and spinal surgery (all in the same year) that my body FINALLY convinced my mind that "something had to go---weight".

Do I regret my WLS? By no means! Having less weight on my bones is keeping me upright and moving. Can I still do half of the things I could do before? No. Has having WLS cost me more than I thought I would ever be willing to sacrifice? yep. However, given the choice of losing weight or ending up bedridden--well I guess that comes under the category of a "no brainer".

I feel wonderful physically. My grown daughters say I look "maavelous" ( Sweet girls ). I'm vertical and I'm moving.

But boy to I miss the "good ol' days", the love of my life, John-- ya know--way back when I was "fat and happy"

When I went to try on wedding dresses and they were limited in what was my size and I couldn't see any of my curves ????????????????????

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My brother passed away exactly this time last year after a long struggle with alcohol. He was only 47. I took it very hard and gained even more weight doing my version of "coping" and was feeling horrible. Then in August my health problems started. I was diagnosed with PCOS and put on metformin for my blood sugar and was taking 4-5 birth control pills per day. I knew the day I was prescribed all of those pills that it was time! I look at it like I am conquering the addiction that I have allowed to control me. My brother would be proud I think.

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My story is a bit different..... I accidentally fell into a the "offer of WLS". I was a normal weight child and young adult. Not skinny but within a normal BMI range. My first official diet was the summer after my freshman year. I gained a bit more than the freshman 15 and my mother wasn't having it. From that moment on maintaining normal weight was a struggle and I was dieting constantly and at the gym. If I wasn't at the gym 5 days a week and dieting I was overweight. After I got married I was overweight, after my first child I lingered in the obese ranged. But after my second child I was diagnosed PCOS and hypothyroidism. Never lost any of the baby weight and kept gaining and the diets that worked before.... None of them worked and I did try. Six years of constant dieting. None worked but I was willing to try the latest one. It was at a Bariatric Center that also had a non-surgical weightloss option. Doctor supervised and NUTs, access to the lasted and greatest WL drugs. At my first consultation my coordinator took my height and weight and said "please remind me are you here for the weightloss program or WLS?" My reply oh I wouldn't qualify for WLS I don't have co-morbidities. Well at BMI of 42 you would qualify with your insurance. We can do either. I couldn't believe it.... I was morbidly obese. And I also was being offered a real solution. I always saw WLS as a life saving miracle so I never thought as an easy way out. But I did see as a last resort. So the soul searching and research began. I made the choice, told my husband and began my journey. Best decision of my life.

Got surprised on my last day of community college with a huge prestigious scholarship for university and grad school. Video cameras recording the event, promoted in newspapers/websites, immortalized in youtube clips. And I was horrified. I've avoided cameras for years, but there I was, all over the place at 353 pounds, and there was nothing I could do about it. Everyone was happy for me, but I was mortified by what I looked like.

It also took away a lot of the excuses I had -- the next six years of my life are paid for, both in tuition and living expenses, and although I still work as a nurse, that's all extra gravy for me to enjoy my life. Money and time were no longer an issue. But most of all, the prospect of a great future -- what was the point in getting this opportunity if I was gonna be dead or immobile in ten years anyhow? Why bother with grad school, speaking engagements, conferences, all the prestige and honors if I was fifty pounds away from being stuck in a rascal scooter?

So the day after I received that award, I decided WLS needed to happen ASAP (and it did, two and a half months later).

I guess for me, there was no rock bottom moment. There was only an "oh crap, I could actually have an awesome life" moment.

@@BarrySue ... I think that's the best post I've seen ever on BP.

Wow!

Congratulations to you.

A few years earlier, my mom had passed due to heart failure due to a heart attack she'd had after struggling with high blood pressure. She, like me, had gone up and down with her weight her whole life.

It was when my blood pressure read 159/96 I'd decided I was not going to die at 69 like my mom had if I could help it.

The rest is history. I plan to be the one to break the cycle of relatively early death that runs in my family.

@@Valentina What can you not do that you did before? What did you sacrifice? Any of the activities you mentioned?

I'm curious!

In my own experience, I didn’t have that many stressful delays or barriers compared to some WLS patients. Maybe it was because this was over 10 years ago, or maybe it was because I was too young to get anxious or discouraged (I was in my mid-20s), or maybe it was because I got lucky. It was probably because I was lucky; nobody and nothing really stood in my way.

The way I remember it, I decided to get weight loss surgery after I found out that a formerly obese friend had gotten the lap-band and it worked for him. I made up my mind, found a great surgeon, and got my band. I didn’t have any real setbacks, so I guess as soon as I decided to get the band, that was my “Yep, I’m getting WLS!” moment.

It sure felt good to know I may not need to spend the rest of my life fighting food.