What was your moment?

[MeowAMR 219]

I never really had a moment just a lot of things that collided and me randomly thinking "bariatric surgery"! I don't know why it crossed my mind, but it did so I looked up if it was covered and it was so I started the process. I have been thin most of my life, but when I got pregnant with my son I gained 70lbs. With my first i had a military doctor and they did not listen to me at all. I knew something was wrong I was gaining like crazy, but not over eating I couldn't eat I was throwing up all the time. I had preeclampsia too and they made me go a week overdue because they wouldn't listen. Delivered a 10 1/2lb baby!

With my second child 5yrs later my new doc said she thinks I'm borderline with gestational diabetes thats why my son was so big and I was gaining. They monitor me with my daughter and I gained 35lbs and lost it. But my PCOS kicked in inbetween having my children and it caused me to have a metabolic disorder and through the years I have just been gaining. With PCOS comes a ton of symptoms which is the weight gain, acne, abnormal Hair growth on the neck and chin.

That is what I hate the most. I knew losing the weight would help with the symptoms, but PCOS weight is different and extremely hard to lose because of the metabolic disorder. So that's what made me think of bariatric surgery. I'm a size 18 and weight 255.... I don't take pictures with my kids and I feel so bad. I'm ashamed of my weight even though technically its not fault but my condition that I happen to be born with ughhh lucky me!

I was starting to back out of not wanting the surgery. Then some kid called me fat from the school bus passing our house. That hurt my feelings and pushed me more into pursuing the surgery. I don't want to embarrass my kids eventually when they get older and notice. My son is 10 and he tells me nothing it wrong with me and that I'm pretty lol bless his heart! I got a candid picture of me the other day and omg I am the same as you that I questioned is that me?!? I swear when I look in the mirror i dont see it... I see a thin person, but honey my eyes are deceiving me! Ill attach the pic... ugh so embarrassing!

Anyways my surgery is July 23rd and after seeing this picture I cant waittttttt for my surgery to come. 2 more wks!

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[TheJuice202 63]

Someone assuming I was very far along in pregnancy (never been pregnant (also have an IUD)) and my pcp saying the words 'pre-diabetic' and 'mild sleep apnea' to me last yr.

[mousecat88 2,279]

I think mine was a slow build. I was *almost* 300lbs when I had the surgery. I had wanted the surgery back in 2015, but after not losing the required weight for my insurance at the time I lost interest. I just continually hated how I looked in the mirror and was frustrated at the lack of clothing options and my inability to keep pace with my friends when out and about. I also was embarrassed that I could barely reach to wipe after using the bathroom! Little things kept nagging at me like how I had to turn down going to an amusement park because I knew I couldn't fit on the roller coaster seats, or how I couldn't fly anywhere comfortably anymore. So one day last year I called my new insurance company and the process was a lot simpler than my previous insurer so I was like what the heck. It was definitely years of compounding negative thoughts and the inability to do things like a "normal" person that finally snapped.

[MeowAMR 219]

(just putting this here so my embarrassing pic isn't the thumbnail of this thread lol)

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[TattooedSeaStar 139]

7 hours ago, MeowAMR said:

(just putting this here so my embarrassing pic isn't the thumbnail of this thread lol)

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Completely understand

[Macy6 356]

This is a great question. Mine was Hawaii. I was the heaviest I had ever been. I remember needing a seat belt extender on the plane. Not fitting in my clothes I bought special for the trip. Walking a 15 min walk to avoid waiting for a tram and feeling like I would die the whole walk. Now I look back on pics and just shake my head.

[KatieMc 55]

Last time I thought about it, you needed a BMI of 40 and I was "only" 38. Also, the lap band was all the rage and I didn't like the sound of that. Fast Forward about 10 years and I was struggling as a member of TOPS (Taking Off Pounds Sensibly - just accountability and support, you do your own diet), and one of the group members, who was 80lbs more than me, announced that she was getting the gastric bypass and I thought "good for her". My mother, also a member with just a 20-lb post-menopausal weight issue, asked if I'd ever considered it. I thought about my 28-year struggle, how I'd lose 15 and gain 20, lose 30 and gain 40, etc...and thought of those adages, "If you keep doing what you've always done, you'll keep getting what you always got" and "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result". Well I didn't see the point in waiting until I was 300+ lbs, and that's where I was heading...plus my 49th birthday was just 2 weeks away...I was very clear in my choice.

In the 10-week interim between the decision and the surgery, there were countless reinforcement moments that I was doing the right thing. My 5yo niece pointing at an old picture of me at 160 and saying she wanted me to look like that. A 9hr flight to London on British Airways, notorious for their narrow seats. Having a nasty drunk homelessman in England shout "Hey you, Fat C***!" to my face. Walking a whole mile out of necessity for the first time in years and wishing melodramatically for the sweet embrace of death (in my defense, the walk was very up-hilly). Getting my third round of cortisone injections in my knees and finding they weren't doing a great job anymore.