To Wait Until Later or To Do Surgery Now?

[icyblufrz88 33]

I'm currently in the pre-op stages of getting weight loss surgery. I have done all the pre-op tests and have been cleared to get a date assigned.

The only thing now is that I haven't made the final decision to go through with this. The reason for this uncertainty is the following:

I started to work on changing my eating habits and to work on nutrition and getting more physical activity in since back in January 2016. I have successfully lost around 120 lbs up to this month of September. My doctor and others have mentioned that perhaps working on losing more weight on my own with the habit changes I have been making should be something I should continue, and to post-pone surgery for a few more months to see how much more weight I can lose on my own.

This is where I am stuck. I'm struggling with deciding whether to try to lose more weight on my own as I have been doing and wait several more months for the surgery, or to go ahead and proceed with setting a date and having the surgery done sooner.

Anyone have any thoughts or advice regarding this thought process I am having? Did anyone have similar second thoughts or decide to wait longer before having surgery?

Thank you all for your support

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Edited September 30, 2016 by icyblufrz88

[Bufflehead 6,358]

All I can tell you is that I had successfully lost 100+ lbs in the past before surgery, but I never managed to keep it off. It always came back and with a vengeance.

Roughly 5% of morbidly obese people will ever be able to maintain a significant (and by significant I do not mean get down to ideal body weight, I mean 20 -50 lbs of loss) loss without surgery. I came to the realization that I was not one of those special snowflake five-percenters and I needed medical assistance. I'm glad I woke up to that reality. I have lost over 200 lbs and have maintained that loss. I couldn't have done it without surgery. But I am not a special snowflake. I can't tell you whether you are a special snowflake -- you have to figure that out for yourself. Good luck!

Edited September 30, 2016 by Bufflehead

[jess9395 5,448]

Ditto. I lost the weight a number of times and always gained it back and more.

@@JamieLogical made a post somewhere here that was great--she said she looked at it as weight MAINTENANCE surgery not weight loss surgery and I couldn't have put it better myself!

I've kept it off this time.

[Icantbelieveit 955]

I say get on the losing train now. Nobody knows what can happen in the future.

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[Christinamo7 4,041]

I would need more information in order to have an informed opinion. You've lost 120! great! how much more do you need to loose, what is your BMI? what is your goal?

then there are the statistics. pesky little devils. the vast majority of everyone who looses weight gains it back. the surgery is a way of moving the odds more to your favor. for me that's a tipping point in favor of the surgery. wishing you all the best!

[JamieLogical 8,684]

Like @@jess9395 said, I have always thought of my sleeve as "weight maintenance surgery" because weight LOSS was never my problem. Keeping off the weight I lost was always the issue. I joke that if losing weight was an Olympic sport, I'd have several gold medals.

I obviously can't speak for you and what your experience will be. But I found myself in a vicious cycle of weight loss and regain over the course of many years. My largest loss in one go was 90 pounds (270 down to 180), but as I regained that weight, I would gain 30, lose 25, gain 50 lose 40, etc. all the way back up to 260 pounds when I finally decided to pursue WLS. I know I *could* lose the weight on my own yet again, but I also know that the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. I knew that in order to fix my weight problem for good, I needed to do something different!

For me, the challenge was my mindset. I have always been goal oriented. I have always been great at setting a goal and working toward it until I achieved it. The problem is, once I achieve that goal, I'm kind of like "meh, done with that now". So I would get to my goal and then just go back to exactly my old habits that got me obese in the first place and move onto my next life goal.

The real difference for me with the sleeve is that it is forever. I can never be "done" with it, the way I would be with my diets. I had to completely change the way I eat in order to live and that is a lifelong change, not just a means towards reaching a goal.

PS: I reached my goal weight right at my one year mark and I have been maintaining below goal for over a year now. WAY longer than I was ever able to maintain my weight loss in the past! And now the goals I set for myself are things like running a marathon (did that on September 18), instead of just seeing numbers go down on a scale!

[WLSResources/ClothingExch 3,443]

@@icyblufrz88 --

Big congratulations on your excellent work since the beginning of the year.

I think you're asking for help with a decision that you have to make for yourself. Surgery can and usually is an amazing aid to success. If I were you, the two things I'd give most consideration in making the decision are:

1. My history with losing weight. Have I done it at least a couple of times, only to regain? If I have the usual history of losing/regaining, do I understand why the latter? What do I think would make the difference?

2. Could I possibly regain even after surgery? The answer is "Yes" with any of the procedures. People regain, sometimes most if not all of the weight lost. (This is a possibility, not an inevitable event.) Maintaining requires life-long awareness. Do I have the confidence level to follow through? (This is not to say that one must be super-human, but one must be able to pull back from the brink when getting too close.)

If there is an "easy" part, it's the losing process. The greater challenge is maintenance. This is a universal.

It occurs to me just now that, if you start a running list of the reasons you want to lose weight, you'll have a concrete measure for deciding. Keep the reasons narrow and specific and add to the list whenever something else comes to mind. Then, when the list is pretty lengthy (and it can go on for pages), consider the likelihood of success for the long term.

[icyblufrz88 33]

I would need more information in order to have an informed opinion. You've lost 120! great! how much more do you need to loose, what is your BMI? what is your goal?

then there are the statistics. pesky little devils. the vast majority of everyone who looses weight gains it back. the surgery is a way of moving the odds more to your favor. for me that's a tipping point in favor of the surgery. wishing you all the best!

I started off at HW recorded 545. And at the moment CW is 425. I am 28 years old and am 5'5 in height. My BMI at the moment is around 70.

So, I still need to lose a significant amount of weight in order to reach a healthy BMI.

Thanks for your help

Sent from my LG-H830 using the BariatricPal App

I say get on the losing train now. Nobody knows what can happen in the future.

Sent from my SM-G930P using the BariatricPal App

Very true. I keep thinking that I need to go ahead and do this now before my health gets any worse.

Sent from my LG-H830 using the BariatricPal App

[icyblufrz88 33]

All I can tell you is that I had successfully lost 100+ lbs in the past before surgery, but I never managed to keep it off. It always came back and with a vengeance.

Roughly 5% of morbidly obese people will ever be able to maintain a significant (and by significant I do not mean get down to ideal body weight, I mean 20 -50 lbs of loss) loss without surgery. I came to the realization that I was not one of those special snowflake five-percenters and I needed medical assistance. I'm glad I woke up to that reality. I have lost over 200 lbs and have maintained that loss. I couldn't have done it without surgery. But I am not a special snowflake. I can't tell you whether you are a special snowflake -- you have to figure that out for yourself. Good luck!

Thank you for that information. Yes, I agree that everyone is different in how they lose and maintain weight changes. Thanks for the advice

Sent from my LG-H830 using the BariatricPal App

Ditto. I lost the weight a number of times and always gained it back and more.

@@JamieLogical made a post somewhere here that was great--she said she looked at it as weight MAINTENANCE surgery not weight loss surgery and I couldn't have put it better myself!

I've kept it off this time.

I will check that post out. Than you for the info

Sent from my LG-H830 using the BariatricPal App

[icyblufrz88 33]

Like @@jess9395 said, I have always thought of my sleeve as "weight maintenance surgery" because weight LOSS was never my problem. Keeping off the weight I lost was always the issue. I joke that if losing weight was an Olympic sport, I'd have several gold medals.

I obviously can't speak for you and what your experience will be. But I found myself in a vicious cycle of weight loss and regain over the course of many years. My largest loss in one go was 90 pounds (270 down to 180), but as I regained that weight, I would gain 30, lose 25, gain 50 lose 40, etc. all the way back up to 260 pounds when I finally decided to pursue WLS. I know I *could* lose the weight on my own yet again, but I also know that the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. I knew that in order to fix my weight problem for good, I needed to do something different!

For me, the challenge was my mindset. I have always been goal oriented. I have always been great at setting a goal and working toward it until I achieved it. The problem is, once I achieve that goal, I'm kind of like "meh, done with that now". So I would get to my goal and then just go back to exactly my old habits that got me obese in the first place and move onto my next life goal.

The real difference for me with the sleeve is that it is forever. I can never be "done" with it, the was I would be with my diets. I had to completely change the way I eat in order to live and that is a lifelong change, not just a means towards reaching a goal.

PS: I reached my goal weight right at my one year mark and I have been maintaining below goal for over a year now. WAY longer than I was ever able to maintain my weight loss in the past! And now the goals I set for myself are things like running a marathon (did that on September 18), instead of just seeing numbers go down on a scale!

That is awesome. Congrats on your weight loss maintenance and on having a better life I hope to work hard and be determined like you are. Thanks for sharing your story and for the advice

Sent from my LG-H830 using the BariatricPal App

[icyblufrz88 33]

@@icyblufrz88 --

Big congratulations on your excellent work since the beginning of the year.

I think you're asking for help with a decision that you have to make for yourself. Surgery can and usually is an amazing aid to success. If I were you, the two things I'd give most consideration in making the decision are:

1. My history with losing weight. Have I done it at least a couple of times, only to regain? If I have the usual history of losing/regaining, do I understand why the latter? What do I think would make the difference?

2. Could I possibly regain even after surgery? The answer is "Yes" with any of the procedures. People regain, sometimes most if not all of the weight lost. (This is a possibility, not an inevitable event.) Maintaining requires life-long awareness. Do I have the confidence level to follow through? (This is not to say that one must be super-human, but one must be able to pull back from the brink when getting too close.)

If there is an "easy" part, it's the losing process. The greater challenge is maintenance. This is a universal.

It occurs to me just now that, if you start a running list of the reasons you want to lose weight, you'll have a concrete measure for deciding. Keep the reasons narrow and specific and add to the list whenever something else comes to mind. Then, when the list is pretty lengthy (and it can go on for pages), consider the likelihood of success for the long term.

Thank you. You are right in what you say. I know this is something only I can decide in the end. And I am taking everything into consideration. I do have a list going for the reasons I want and need to lose weight and maintain that loss. It is something I have struggled with for a long time and I am ready for a big change in my life. Thank you so much for your advice on this. I will definitely put more thought into this before making my final decision.

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[Rosey posey 176]

icy blufrz I'm now Bmi 45 & my dream weight is 148-175lb, why such a big gap? At 70 either would thrill me, but I do dream of 148. ????????????

Sent from my S55 using the BariatricPal App

[Peggy D 123]

I dream of 150-155, even the 163 that I have as the goal on my ticker as that was my lowest adult weight. But at 67 (tomorrow) it seems my body has settled on 170-173. I can live with it. That's about 140 lbs down from my highest weight & all of my co-morbidities have resolved!

[trekker954 421]

When you say you were cleared for a date, does that mean you received your insurance approval? I ask, because I was originally approved by insurance and got a date for January, but I had an opportunity to go to China in February with work, and knew I was risking NOT ever getting the surgery if I walked, which I did. Actually went to china 3 times between February and May. But I was back to lying in bed at night, wondering about my health, my aches/pains, feeling lousy and started regretted that I didn't go through with it in January.

I called my doctor back and asked how long my insurance approval was good for. They said they'll call BCBS. She calls me back at a random time and said, they need to approve again, but it would depend on how I answered some questions and had to give my current weight (I did weigh less than I did in January). I must have answered correctly and I was approved again. That was June, but I had work commitments until early August. I scheduled my surgery August 10th. So happy now.

Don't put it off, you'll regret not going for it now, especially if insurance has approved it.

[icyblufrz88 33]

When you say you were cleared for a date, does that mean you received your insurance approval? I ask, because I was originally approved by insurance and got a date for January, but I had an opportunity to go to China in February with work, and knew I was risking NOT ever getting the surgery if I walked, which I did. Actually went to china 3 times between February and May. But I was back to lying in bed at night, wondering about my health, my aches/pains, feeling lousy and started regretted that I didn't go through with it in January.

I called my doctor back and asked how long my insurance approval was good for. They said they'll call BCBS. She calls me back at a random time and said, they need to approve again, but it would depend on how I answered some questions and had to give my current weight (I did weigh less than I did in January). I must have answered correctly and I was approved again. That was June, but I had work commitments until early August. I scheduled my surgery August 10th. So happy now.

Don't put it off, you'll regret not going for it now, especially if insurance has approved it.

Hi trekker. Yes, I have been approved by my insurance and I have already completed all my pre-op testing requirements. What I meant is I am cleared with all those reqs and have met with my surgeon to sign all the paperwork. Now I am just waiting to get the surgery date. I'm still contemplating whether to go for it and get that date soon or if I should wait a bit longer, but I can't seem to decide... :-/

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Edited September 30, 2016 by icyblufrz88