I’m a very nearly 40yo mom and wife who has been on the weight roller coaster since probably birth. Im self pay and booked in at Blossom in Vegas around president’s day. Most days I’m sure this is the right choice since I just cannot keep near a healthy weight, but other days I think that a starting weight between 225-230 (depends on time of day) is not enough to justify this drastic of a change. Any input?

29 minutes ago, Niabird said:

I’m a very nearly 40yo mom and wife who has been on the weight roller coaster since probably birth. Im self pay and booked in at Blossom in Vegas around president’s day. Most days I’m sure this is the right choice since I just cannot keep near a healthy weight, but other days I think that a starting weight between 225-230 (depends on time of day) is not enough to justify this drastic of a change. Any input?

Day of surgery I was 234 and 45 years old. It was enough to justify having surgery to get my health back. Second guessing, getting nervous, and questioning your decision is normal.

You have time to think this over.

When I began I knew it was right for me for medical reasons. I started the process but went on an extended vacation. While there I still I tried to lose weight on my own and honestly for the first time. I actively gained almost 5 lbs in 2months. I said screw it, set the rest of my appointments upon my return within a 2 week period and rushed it along.

I'm guessing you're taller than me, nearly everyone is, so our starting BMI is not the same or age but surgery day weight is/maybe similar. It was a great choice for me and I stand behind it.

I am 52. I weighed 231 the day of surgery. BMI was 36 at that time. Don;t be ruled by the numbers!

I had my sleeve done last Wednesday at Blossom, and they are as advertised. That practice is a well-oiled machine, and less than a week out I am feeling surprisingly good. I did not even have much in the way of gas pains. The worst of it was the side effects of the anesthesia and anti-nausea meds, which was gone within 2 days of surgery. I seriously debated flying out on day 5 or staying an extra day, but really wanted to get home to recover rather than stay in a motel room. I was able to fly as scheduled on Friday without any problems.

I am post-menopausal and had reached a point where after years of yo-yo dieting, I simply could not lose and keep off weight. Last summer I tried a diet clinic and ended up even worse off, gaining back 15 pounds I had lost earlier in the year. YouTube's Dr. Weiner says that weight loss surgery is basically a one-time offer--only redeem if you cannot lose and keep weight off any other way. I feel I had certainly reached that point, and I had the surgery with a BMI around 35. I am down 16 pounds since I started my pre-op diet December 1 (a few days early). In comparison, earlier in the year it took me about twice as long to lose the same amount, and I plateaued after losing 25. This was on a low fat, low carb, low calorie diet that was torture the entire time. I am glad that I did this after entering menopause, because I rapidly gained a lot of weight at that time and hope that the hormonal aspect of weight gain is behind me now, so that my redeeming this offer will result in a lifelong improvement in my health.

Edited December 24, 20187 yr by Yenli

I’m a very nearly 40yo mom and wife who has been on the weight roller coaster since probably birth. Im self pay and booked in at Blossom in Vegas around president’s day. Most days I’m sure this is the right choice since I just cannot keep near a healthy weight, but other days I think that a starting weight between 225-230 (depends on time of day) is not enough to justify this drastic of a change. Any input?

Some of this is also about prevention. Diets don't work for you or you wouldn't have gone this far with surgery. If you weigh 235 at 40 and chose not to get the surgery, how much will you weigh at 50? The surgery is most effective if done early in the obesity process and you will have less issues with excess skin etc. Don't chicken out. I am exactly one week post op and it's been an easy recovery. No big deal at all. Just do it.P.S.

I am a 5'10" man with a heighest weight of 256 and a surgery weight of 231 and a BMI at surgery of around 34. Statistically speaking my odds of reaching a BMI of 25 is around 85% and my odds of hitting a BMI of under 30 is 95%. Should I have waited to get up to 300 or 350 to do the surgery when my odds of success drop significantly--pushing me to consider more invasive procedures like RNY or SIPS? Of course not. I have T2DM and this was a no brainier for me.

I can tell you an answer, at 70 you will weigh 320, and you looking will start looking for help, you will try to find a program, nearly complete the only one you think will accept you , for many have a 55, 60, 65 year old age cutoff, then for reasons not yours your job and insurance terminate and you resign yourself to trying to lose weight on yourown, and you start trying multiple diets, and it doesn't work, you might lose 5-10 pounds only to regain it all and then some. You drag your fat self to your Primary Care doctor, humble yourself. and ask for some chemical help. You are put on a medication other patients have used with success, you keep a perfect diet journal, and you really are trying hard. At the end of the month you go back to be weighed and re-evaluated. And you have LOST no weight, instead you have GAINED 30 more pounds which you can ill- afford. PCP looks from you to your journal and back again. He does not say so, but you can see disbelief in his eyes. Finally he throwshis hands up, says " I have done what I could, go back to the Bariatric Surgeon." So once again you go back , at 365 pounds, more than you weighed for the first attempt. Since it is now 18 months later, you have to re-fulfill all the previous requirements plus now they add 2 more specialists. But still you go do them in good faith, and the time is approaching to be scheduled a surgery date. And you wait and wait, finally you start calling the office, and each time you are given a new excuse, flimsy as they be. Finally the end of February, when they bled all the monies out of your insurances, they announce they will not perform your surgery. I will not dignify them by stating their reasoning but it was an attack upon my very psychological/ emotional being. The only thing keeping me from binging on good at this point for solace was the fact I was too nauseous and somewhere deep inside remained the one shred of self- respect they had not stomped to death. I cried, I puked, considering suicide but they had convinced me I was such a screw-up I couldn't do THAT right either.
A week passed, I looked at my swollen eyes in the mirror, Said " Old Girl, you are better than this- are they going to kill all your hopes?" There were 2 other facilities in this city, all rated Bariatric Centers of Excellence, what would it hurt to explore their programs? So I booked at their seminars, looked up bios on all the surgeons at both places, did the research I should have done before attempting facility #1 where I was assigned someone. This time I would do the picking, I would secure someone wh9 be as close to perfection as I could find. After #1 had told me No One Would Want Me, this new facility welcomed me with open arms, asked how they could Help me to achieve My Dreams instead of being "takers" that regarded me as little more than a meal ticket, these were giving loving individuals who seemed to have my interest at❤and I had the feeling of being home. So I was accepted into their programs and it will be soon time to chose a surgeon , after some minor loose ends of requirements were tied up.
And I looked , I prayed, I thought about both of them, and I knew which one I was hoping for but when Jessica one of the pre-coordinators called I was nice and. said " Whichever has the first opening" finally I stated the one I REALLY WANTED, Dr Bradley J Needleman, the chief of Bariatric Medicine and Metabolic Weight Loss at the Ohio State University in Columbus Ohio, who performed my RnY on September 5th 2018, at 72 the oldest patient he had ever had, but in many ways healthier than the run-of-the -mill 72 year old and I will be forever in his debt. In my ❤of❤ he is a miracle worker. And even though facets of my recovery have been and remain difficult, He and his Partner Dr Sabrena Noria have worked to make things better and like me, we will see things through to their conclusion. I wish I had found them sooner, wish I had not had Dr Evil Mc Nasty and his band of misfits in my past, wish I could have had my surgery at a much younger age, you simply heal much slower in your 7th or 8th decade of life, but at least they have given me a chance to live healthier, longer and Praise God thinner than I once was. Don't wait until your BMI surpasses 50 to seek yours, I have lost 110 pounds since High weight but I STILL have about 80 to go, I was carrying around an NFL linebacker on my body, my body was breaking under the weight, I have sacrificed both my knees to science, and replacements,nice as they are, only 85% as good, there are activities my body cannot do again, I was a power forward/basketball center, a baseball/softball catcher, I was so good my boy cousins stopped challenging me to "Horse" their tender egos couldn't stand being trolled. And I was the only person in my neighborhood with a strong enough arm to throw to bases, didn't pitch because I DIDN'T want to, and the windup in Girls Softball was asinine in the first place.
So have I given you enough reasons to seek surgery at this Golden Time? Don't let Obesity side-line You like it ended up for me, Go and enjoy fitness in Your Life! Frustr8 out for I have spoke my piece.????and Happy Christmas!

I am 57, 5’9, 231 on day of surgery with a BMI if 34 or so . High weight of 243. Very similar story , years of managing weight in my 20’s and 30’s and 40’s through starvation and extreme exercise. Post menopause the wheels came off and I just couldn’t lose and kept gaining . This was only and best option - was sleeved Thursday the 20th and feel great . Have lost 12lbs since the start of my Pre op 2 week diet . Walking a lot and hope to spin next week - go for it !

I'd say go for it IF you are truly committed. It's a tool, like they say, and it isn't the "easy way out" as some say--you still have to monitor nutrients and calories, probably for the rest of your life. But the tool will really help.

Just had my last appointment with my pcp and she green lighted me so that’s my last hurdle I’m good to go on 2/21?