What was your breaking point?

[jiminy_cricket 14]

Hi everyone! So by breaking point, I mean what was the "thing" that made you say I'm doing this because I need to change my life. For me it was when I went to an amusement park and was kicked off a rollercoaster because I couldn't fit. It was really that most embarrassing moment of my life.

[Walter.Sobchak 978]

Lol, that happened to me too back in 2004.
It was humiliating.
I have since put on 100 pounds since then.
My turning point is that I don't want to die.

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[dj juice 1]

Hi everyone! So by breaking point, I mean what was the "thing" that made you say I'm doing this because I need to change my life. For me it was when I went to an amusement park and was kicked off a rollercoaster because I couldn't fit. It was really that most embarrassing moment of my life.

Not being able to walk..the pain and thought of having amputation from diabetes


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[PatientEleventyBillion 851]

Being diagnosed with Liver stage 3 fibrosis (non-alcoholic). While my hepatologist says that doesn't wake enough people up that things are getting serious with advancing liver disease, it sure woke me up. My initial diagnosis based on Fibroscan was cirrhosis, where a very cold feeling came over me when I heard it, but with a very distended midsection it was quite a bit inaccurate so they did a biopsy (with the biggest effing needle I ever saw, like the size of my forearm) only to reveal that I was stage 3 fibrosis with no cirrhosis. Last reasonable stage of irreversibility of liver damage with immediate changes. While my liver looked fantastic (had compliments about it from nurses, the surgeon, and anesthesiologists) when they took a photo of it on surgery day (thanks to 3 months pre-op and a ton of weight lost, plus obvious dramatic liver shrinking) I'm waiting for an official diagnosis that my liver is in fact better. Won't assume anything until I see my hepatologist soon. I see my case manager+dietitian and my surgeon for a follow up as well next week so might get some feedback about it then too.

Edited May 21, 2017 by PatientEleventyBillion

[blizair09 3,250]

One of my colleagues had to tie my shoes for me after we went through security at the Norfolk, VA airport. Also, seeing almost 400 pounds on the scale. (These happened at about the same time.)

[kimba21539 48]

Seeing the scale say 330 pounds and thinking it I don't do something now I will never be able to play or maybe not even be around for grandchildren. My surgery date is June 19. I can't wait. Getting so excited.

Also hoping to get rid of the pain I'm always in, I'm a diabetic on insulin for 11 years, BP meds for 21 years I'm really hoping with surgery I can get off all meds or at least not take so much of them.

[jiminy_cricket 14]

Seeing the scale say 330 pounds and thinking it I don't do something now I will never be able to play or maybe not even be around for grandchildren. My surgery date is June 19. I can't wait. Getting so excited.
Also hoping to get rid of the pain I'm always in, I'm a diabetic on insulin for 11 years, BP meds for 21 years I'm really hoping with surgery I can get off all meds or at least not take so much of them.

Yay! June 19th is right around the corner [emoji4]

[rachel_babe 15]

Seeing old pictures of myself and tired of myself having no energy and joint pain.

[Kris10n 9]

Mine was after taking a year long planned trip to Disney world for a week ( in which I was supposed to lose 2 pounds a week for the entire year before and failed) with my whole family and having to "sit out" walking around the lake at Epcot.

My doctor had suggested wls 4 years ago and I was completely against it, but after that trip although I did really well for as heavy as I am, I want to catch up with my niece who is going to be five this year. And I'm engaged and want to do a bucket list of things with my fiancé/soon-to-be husband.

Right now all I want to do is get off all my medications, and not have to use the seatbelt extender on the plane LOL, but that list is endless.

[jenalynn 1]

Hi everyone! So by breaking point, I mean what was the "thing" that made you say I'm doing this because I need to change my life. For me it was when I went to an amusement park and was kicked off a rollercoaster because I couldn't fit. It was really that most embarrassing moment of my life.

I just recently had my surgery approved by my insurance still waiting on a surgery date. However my breaking point was really embarrassing I fell off of the toilet while trying to wipe. As I was lying on the floor crying I thought to myself how did I let myself get to this point at my heaviest of 305 (now down to 290) I decided enough is enough and signed up for a seminar the next day.

[GreenEyedGal 19]

Being diagnosed with Liver stage 3 fibrosis (non-alcoholic). While my hepatologist says that doesn't wake enough people up that things are getting serious with advancing liver disease, it sure woke me up. My initial diagnosis based on Fibroscan was cirrhosis, where a very cold feeling came over me when I heard it, but with a very distended midsection it was quite a bit inaccurate so they did a biopsy (with the biggest effing needle I ever saw, like the size of my forearm) only to reveal that I was stage 3 fibrosis with no cirrhosis. Last reasonable stage of irreversibility of liver damage with immediate changes. While my liver looked fantastic (had compliments about it from nurses, the surgeon, and anesthesiologists) when they took a photo of it on surgery day (thanks to 3 months pre-op and a ton of weight lost, plus obvious dramatic liver shrinking) I'm waiting for an official diagnosis that my liver is in fact better. Won't assume anything until I see my hepatologist soon. I see my case manager+dietitian and my surgeon for a follow up as well next week so might get some feedback about it then too.

My father just passed away from liver and kidney failure (non-alcoholic). Congratulations on making life changes. He felt he was too old and set in his ways to make significant changes. His passing away was my a-ha since we share the same rare blood type.

[Sosewsue61 3,185]

It wasn't any single moment, but I did have 'break through' of sorts in February where I realized I am worth more than these layers of fat and deserve to get rid of them. I am tired of waiting to be better and I have limited years left, as I am 62.

[Arthur Dent 20]

My experience is like @Sosewsue61's.

For me, there was no one event that broke the camel's back. I've had to deal with so many issues over the past 15 years or so, including needing seat belt extenders, not being able to buy T-shirts, getting winded on walks, hating seeing myself in the mirror, and so on. But then, in January or so, I had an epiphany. I realized that all of the things I've done simply have not worked, regardless of whether or not I stuck with them or bailed out quickly. This included private trainers, nutritionists, and four attempts at Weight Watchers.

So, there was no single thing that pushed me over the edge. I just had an a-ha moment when I knew I needed the surgery.

[PatientEleventyBillion 851]

11 hours ago, GreenEyedGal said:

My father just passed away from liver and kidney failure (non-alcoholic). Congratulations on making life changes. He felt he was too old and set in his ways to make significant changes. His passing away was my a-ha since we share the same rare blood type.

Thank you.

It was early last year when I was diagnosed with this. I was starting to pick up a lot of symptoms due to obesity and multiple comorbidities. My blood pressure was at peak in 2016 175/115, heart rate was 100-110, liver function tests were in the red and indicating severe inflammation and irritation. hba1c indicated newly diagnosed and quickly progressing diabetes (peak 7.9).

A few notable side effects that should worry anyone..

- Severe edema on the legs. I'd push into the middle of my legs with my thumb and it would leave a pit indentation that would last like a full minute and the skin would return to normal. This is one indication of progressing liver dysfunction, along with other things.

- Darkening of skin pigmentation (acanthosis nigricans) on my neck and armpits with a velvety texture (to the touch) as a result of extremely quickly progressing diabetes and insulin in the blood (plus insulin resistance).

- Extreme accumulation of fat deposits in abdominal region resulting in distention (this is far more common with males -- females tend to distribute it around other areas, but they can accumulate it the same way as men generally indicating far worsening condition) -- my stomach was 61 inches at peak last year, pant sizes were too small at 50+

- sleep apnea. This one's pretty obvious. On the sleep study I had roughly 55 apneas per hour, normal people have 5 or less.

While I started to understand these conditions, I noticed I wasn't losing weight enough. It wasn't until my extensive pre-op diet that i learned anything significant. Normally I notice people in our WM program get 2-4 week pre-op diets like people here. Because of my weight, abdominal distention, and because I'm a male and male adipose tissue tends to be a lot more solid than females, they gave me a 3 month pre-op diet.

I was given Glucerna as my pre-op diet drink that went from Feb 1st to April 20th. I tried for the first week to tolerate the stuff, changing flavors, adding cinnamon, trying to dilute the taste by having broth with drinks of it. None of it worked, I couldn't have more than 2 a day. My RD (dietitian) demanded 6 a day. I told her a few days into it that I had trouble consuming these, I was regurgitating them because the taste was so terrible and no attempts to mask the taste worked for me. She freaked out to holy hell. I saw her a few days later at my surgery prep class, she was teaching it along side a bariatric RN. I told her in person that she cannot freak out like that, and if she does, I will just lie to her.. that it isn't conducive to our relationship for her to go nuts. She apologized and it seemed she understood. Fast forward a week after that, she does a follow up call, I'm still having troubles getting up to 6 Glucerna a day, but because I'm suspicious of her now I say I'm up to 4 out of 6. She freaks out again, but this time she threatens to talk to my surgeon and halt my surgery. She wants to do a follow-up call with a new case manager the following week.. I make sure to lie to this person, and to the RD when she follows up a few weeks later. But not even a week after that last convo where she threatened my surgery I immediately started researching on these forums as well as other bariatric programs what pre-op diets they use, and why. They all pretty much turn out to be a modified Keto diet, so I start this a few weeks into February and continue it all the way to surgery day, losing nearly 80 pounds from the pre-op alone.

In the meantime, only a month into the pre-op and a lot has drastically changed with my body. My March 1st bloodwork shows for the first time in over a year perfectly normal liver function. My hepatologist smiles for the first time ever in an appointment, she sees those results, does a Fibroscan, which reveals at least 50% improvement in my liver stiffness (stiffness is associated with advancing liver disease, normal livers are soft), sees I've lost tons of weight already, and is thrilled with my progress.

Likewise, my blood workups from early March (I have a revolving 3 month diagnostic/panel) show significantly improving blood sugar (hba1c) from 7.9 to 6.3 to 5.7 (right at the stage between diabetes and pre-diabetes, except I'm taking Metformin and Forxiga at the time). Repeated fasting glucose shows perfectly normal levels at 4.4-4.6 but because of the hba1c (which is a 3 month average given the period your red blood cells carry around the sugar) being 5.7 they elect to keep me on both them.

Before surgery all my medications were as follows:

- 1000mg metformin (fast acting) 2 times a day (2 tablets, each one 500mg, they're huge), for diabetes

- 10mg Forxiga, fast acting, also for diabetes

- 10mg hydrochlorathiazide (HCTZ), first-line treatment for blood pressure, is a Water pill

- 75mg metoprolol 2 times a day (beta blocker, reduces HR and blood pressure)

- Prevacid and generic lansoprazole, 30mg once per day, although I preferred it every other day or every third day, PPI for reducing stomach acid

- Cipralex/Escitalopram, latter being the generic and Cipralex being brand name, treatment of extreme night time anxiety caused by sleep apnea

...

Post-surgery the changes to my medications were:

- 1000mg metformin (fast acting) 2 times a day (2 tablets, each one 500mg, they're huge), for diabetes

- 10mg Forxiga, fast acting, also for diabetes (off this completely)

- 10mg hydrochlorathiazide (HCTZ), first-line treatment for blood pressure, is a water pill (off this completely)

- 75mg metoprolol 2 times a day (beta blocker, reduces HR and blood pressure)

- Prevacid and generic lansoprazole, 30mg once per day, although I preferred it every other day or every third day, PPI for reducing stomach acid Prescribed Pantoloc (pantoprazole) 40mg for 6 months due to surgery and prior EGD/barium pre-op showing moderate reflux

- Cipralex/Escitalopram, latter being the generic and Cipralex being brand name, treatment of extreme night time anxiety caused by sleep apnea

Down to 4 medications as of April 20th.

Regarding the symptoms:

- Edema in my legs have completely disappeared. I used to not be able to see my ankles either before pre-op, now they're back to their normal bony self, and my legs are clearly defined now by my muscles again. Pushing a thumb into my leg reveals no pits.

- The darkening pigmentation on armpits and neck have receded significantly and are almost completely gone, nobody but me notices them anymore.

- Sleep apnea has significantly improved. This leads to promise in terms of getting off Cipralex, but the doctors asked me if I wanted off it and I said not until my apnea is 100% gone.

- My first visit to a doctor post-op last week and without hydro had a RHR (resting heart rate) of 50-60, and a normal pulse of 77 (from 100-110), blood pressure was 103/81, which is an enormous improvement.

I have a blood workup (ie blood sugar/liver panel) in a little over a week from now, and I think that might decide if I stay on Metformin or if I'm off it (I expect another great improvement).. likewise with metoprolol, but because my weight is still high as of today (back and forth between 265 and 266, about 100 pounds down from my weight early this year), and second number of blood pressure still being moderately high, I might still be on it for a while, will likely be off it by the end of the year.

I kind of thought against this but here is a picture of my liver on surgery day (April 20th) following my pre-op diet that I already showed another member in PM when I was discharged:

The white spots I want to follow up with my hepatologist on to see if thats fatty (very good news if so, means liver is very much on its way to being completely healed) or fibrosis (not terrible but would mean I've still got improvement just not as much/fast). Nonetheless all the nurses and my surgeon on surgery day who saw my liver mentioned the livers form looks great, the color is nearly normal. What matters to me now is what my hepatologist thinks. I'll prob make an appt with her tomorrow to see her sometime shortly after my blood workup.

[Newme17 3,444]

My mother's obesity and all the problems exacerbated because of it. Uterine cancer to lung cancer (5 years now) stage 4; chemo three times, diabetes, just watching her try to move, etc. She told me, "Never end up like me" So, that's where I'm at. There are like a million other reasons, but that's the biggest one for me.

Edited May 22, 2017 by Newme17