Hi. I know that we all had our different reasons for having WLS. I did it because I was fed up with yo-yo dieting. I was on-off Keto diet for over two years. I've lost some weight and gained it all back in the end. The longest I've stayed on diet was 5 months and that paid off really well (lost 25 kg). But then Covid-19 hit.

I was about to go back to Keto diet in January 22 when my sister called to tell me she was going for the mini gastric bypass. That was the first time time I've heard of it. Fast forward three weeks and I'm on the plane flying to Egypt to have mine.

My "breaking point" was finally going back to work in the office and having to remove the arm rests of my office chair because it somehow "shrunk" and was squeezing my thighs.

How about you? What made you decide to have the surgery and what was the breaking point?

On 10/7/2022 at 7:48 AM, Starwarsandcupcakes said:

I was in high school (late 90’s) and saw some kind of dateline/news special about bariatric surgery. By that point I was already doing diets with my mom. It had been in my mind since. Fast forward 20 years to 2019 and I had my appendix removed. At my post op appointment my surgeon (who also happened to be a bariatric surgeon- I didn’t know that when the hospital asked me if I had a surgeon I preferred. I chose him because he had previously saved my dads life) asked me if I had thought about weight loss surgery. I said I had and he recommended that I sign up for the program his office offered, so I did.

Congratulations. I can see you have reached your goal weight.

On 10/7/2022 at 12:12 PM, HashiHope121 said:

Like some of you I was lower BMI. I was healthy but I had struggled for 10 years, my deciding point was when I realized that I didn’t want to suffer for another 10 years and then get the surgery. It was the best thing I have ever done for myself & recommend it to anyone struggling. Good luck!

I consider my decision to do the surgery to be my best decision in the last 20 years or so haha. I've talked to several friends who struggle with their weight about considering it as well.

8 hours ago, STLoser said:

I had considered wls for about 20 years, but when in was a new RN in the late 90s, it had a pretty high mortality rate. I didn't have any comorbidities then, at 207 pounds, so it just wasn't for me. Fast forward 20 something years later and I was 393 pounds with a bmi of 69.9 (I'm 5'3") and had also recently developed high BP. I had also been diagnosed with severe asthma that was hard to get under control, not to mention how uncomfortable I was and unable to do so many things because of my weight, although I did a surprising amount for someone as big as I was. Anyway, in January 2020 my liver enzymes were the highest they had been after being high for several years and I got an appt. With a liver specialist. Before that I had my gallbladder removed and mentioned that to the surgeon who said he'd biopsy my liver. At my follow up appt., he said my liver looked really bad and that he didn't think I'd make it to 60 years old if I didn't lose weight. I was 48 at the time. He recommended wls. And for the first time, I had a doctor speak to me with compassion, without blaming ME for my weight and he told me how much safee wls is these days and that it would reset my metabolism. It was because of him that I decided that day that I would do it and I ended up having my SADI-S in July of 2020.
200 pounds later I am feeling amazing and like I can do anything. My asthma is so much better that I don't need to see my pulmonologist anymore, I don't have high BP, no longer pre-diabetic, and my liver enzymes are normal. I could go on for days about all the benefits. It was by far the best thing I ever did!

I'm happy to hear that your are feeling better now! Congratulation on getting your life back

Hi,

New here! What has made me decide and move forward with a consultation for WLS is the realization that I have been putting things on hold for 3 years because I was trying to lose weight on my own. I decided is time to own up and accept that I can't do it and need all the help I can get.

1 minute ago, NP_WIP said:

Hi,

New here! What has made me decide and move forward with a consultation for WLS is the realization that I have been putting things on hold for 3 years because I was trying to lose weight on my own. I decided is time to own up and accept that I can't do it and need all the help I can get.

Good for you. I'm hopeful and wish you good health and success in your weight loss journey.

I was just tired of being fat. At 69, the weight does not leave as easily. It was creeping up, little by little. I started having issues with my blood pressure. NO family history, so I was pretty sure the weight was causing it. So I am off that med. The idea all started when I was looking through what Medicare would cover, and it covers that! Then I found that Tricare did too! It took about 6 months to satisfy all the requirements, but I am glad I did!

On 10/11/2022 at 10:36 AM, NP_WIP said:

Hi,

New here! What has made me decide and move forward with a consultation for WLS is the realization that I have been putting things on hold for 3 years because I was trying to lose weight on my own. I decided is time to own up and accept that I can't do it and need all the help I can get.

I am new here, too. I love this thread -- for motivation, it is even better than the success stories thread. So inspirational!

For me, it was reaching age 50 and realizing that I spent more than half of my life trying to lose weight. Despite this, I have hypertension, pre-diabetes, high cholesterol, and my joints are starting to hurt (like an old person! lol). I want to live long enough, and healthy enough, to play with my grandchildren. Another thing is during the pandemic, I lost a few people in my life and every single one of them was obese. That was a wake-up call.

I learned from home DIY projects with my husband that you need "the right tool" to get the job done correctly. So I resolved to get myself the right tool for this job. Fingers crossed!

On 10/12/2022 at 1:36 AM, NP_WIP said:

Hi,

New here! What has made me decide and move forward with a consultation for WLS is the realization that I have been putting things on hold for 3 years because I was trying to lose weight on my own. I decided is time to own up and accept that I can't do it and need all the help I can get.

You did the right thing! It didn't take me long to decide. My sister told about the surgery first week of January 2022, spoke to the doctor on Skype the week after and flew to Egypt and had it done end of the month. Best decision ever!

On 10/12/2022 at 3:12 AM, oldandtired said:

I was just tired of being fat. At 69, the weight does not leave as easily. It was creeping up, little by little. I started having issues with my blood pressure. NO family history, so I was pretty sure the weight was causing it. So I am off that med. The idea all started when I was looking through what Medicare would cover, and it covers that! Then I found that Tricare did too! It took about 6 months to satisfy all the requirements, but I am glad I did!

You are doing great I see. Almost there!

1 hour ago, kaylee50 said:

I am new here, too. I love this thread -- for motivation, it is even better than the success stories thread. So inspirational!

For me, it was reaching age 50 and realizing that I spent more than half of my life trying to lose weight. Despite this, I have hypertension, pre-diabetes, high cholesterol, and my joints are starting to hurt (like an old person! lol). I want to live long enough, and healthy enough, to play with my grandchildren. Another thing is during the pandemic, I lost a few people in my life and every single one of them was obese. That was a wake-up call.

I learned from home DIY projects with my husband that you need "the right tool" to get the job done correctly. So I resolved to get myself the right tool for this job. Fingers crossed!

I really like your analogy about picking the right tool for the job! I'm glad you did

Edited October 13, 20223 yr by omrhsn

My doctor recommended it! I have a couple of chronic illnesses & I've been on doctor monitored diets two times. My doctor noticed I dealt with a lot of stalls & my PCOS was not letting me workout & lose weight like normal. I managed to lose 40lbs during that time but with all of that effort I should have lost double. My doctor referred me to the Bariatric program, did a 10 week class & decided it was for me! I'm 2 weeks post-op, I'm hoping its the solution to my PCOS & that I finally get to slim down like I want to

23 hours ago, bbykitty said:

My doctor recommended it! I have a couple of chronic illnesses & I've been on doctor monitored diets two times. My doctor noticed I dealt with a lot of stalls & my PCOS was not letting me workout & lose weight like normal. I managed to lose 40lbs during that time but with all of that effort I should have lost double. My doctor referred me to the Bariatric program, did a 10 week class & decided it was for me! I'm 2 weeks post-op, I'm hoping its the solution to my PCOS & that I finally get to slim down like I want to

All the best to you and I hope you reach you goal and get better. I can see you have lost quite a lot already. Keep it up (or shall I say down).

I love this thread! LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!

Everyone's story is the same but yet SO different.

I have been obese my entire life, even a fat kid. I literally NEVER remember seeing "100 something" on the scale. I was 250+ lbs in middle school.

I did some extreme **** as a teenager, starved, salad with fresh veggies and no dressing and water only.. the list goes on. My mother basically threatened to have me admitted because of my extreme obsession with trying to loose weight in an unhealthy manor.

Gave up...again... got fatter.

Young adult into future adult: Lost over 100 lbs multiple times but could NEVER keep it off!

In high school is when WLS became known and my best friends dad was upwards of 800 lbs and he was the first person I knew to have it. I don't know what procedure he had, or if there was even options back then. Anyway, he had MAJOR complications and in about 2 years was wasted away to around 100 lbs and in a wheel chair. Almost died but pulled through and from there I don't know because I lost touch with this friend when she became a drug addict. Anytime anyone ever mentioned WLS that is all I could think about.. was him and how it just about killed him!

Now grown adult: It came up a few times, by myself or other people and I always convinced myself I don't need surgery I KNOW HOW TO LOOSE WEIGHT! I know how to eat healthy. I know what to do, I have done it, too many times actually.

Then 2 years ago, I broke my record breaking 400 lbs! I was depressed, hated myself, hated doing anything, hated seeing people I knew.. just hated everything really.

Thru those 2 year till I made my decision I was actually trying to convince myself to have it and always talked myself out with the same reasoning... "I know how to do it and have done it.. so just DO IT AGAIN and stick with it".. we all know how that ends!

About a year ago I was at my doctors office and during conversation he asked me if I had ever considered WLS. I told him everything I just told you. Plus, he has been my doctor for about 15 years, so he has seen it! My weight fluctuating from 250 to over 400 lbs... constant struggle.

He explained his side of things to me, never once said things like "you need it" or anything else like that. Just provided information. I left that appointment and couldn't stop thinking about it.

At this point in my life I knew a few other people who had WLS surgery, the problem now is that only 1 of them were successful! So then that gave me doubts, because that was really my only issue. Loosing the weight wasn't the problem, keeping it off was ALL the problem. But then, I started paying attention, to what they did, how they ate and I realized it is because they don't try.

I suddenly convinced myself! (KINDA) I researched WL surgeons in my area, found an amazing team and called them up. They said I just need to verify my insurance will cover WLS and that they will cover it at their hospital. They did, I had my first appointment. i still wasn't sure, but I decided "what do I have to loose to just do the classes" so I did... honestly most of it I already knew. But i did learn a lot more about the "surgery" itself and life after surgery.

But, what actually "convinced me" is health. My family history is the worse! Literally. Everything. My mom has EVERYTHING, half or more of my family is diabetic. High blood pressure, heart problems, liver problems...EVERYTHING! Even cancer runs ramped in my family. I was 400 lbs and had MINOR high blood pressure and GERD (which may or may not have been weight related) and that was it. No other problems, but I kept imagining waking up one day and BOOM! Diabetes.... or heart attack... My mother was 55 and looked 70 and in the worse health you could imagine. On more pills than I could count... I just always saw that being my future and HAD to STOP IT. Or, at least do what I COULD to try to stop it!

So.. I did it.. ashamed... and told VERY few people... (like 5 people) I think for me I didn't want people to know I had WLS and then fail at it.. then everyone knows... etc.

NO REGRETS! BEST DECISION I EVER MADE FOR MYSELF! I WISH I WOULD HAVE DONE IT 15 YEARS AGO!!!!

Within 3 months, off ALL meds GERD is gone... Blood pressure is actually TOO LOW at times! the NSV are off the charts, I can't even begin to list them all.

Sorry for my crazy long post, but I was excited about this tread and wanted to throw out all of the details of my reasoning and thoughts!

2 hours ago, kcuster83 said:

Thru those 2 year till I made my decision I was actually trying to convince myself to have it and always talked myself out with the same reasoning... "I know how to do it and have done it.. so just DO IT AGAIN and stick with it".. we all know how that ends!

This!! I had people suggest it to me, but I never saw myself needing it. I always thought I could do it on my own, I don't weight that much etc. Yet in those years the weight was creeping on me, every year 20-25lbs here and there.

My sister had it done earlier this year because of the comorbidities that run in our family, and then it hit me. If she was advised to get it and weighs 80lbs less than me, why wouldn't I need it, why after trying for years I still think I can do it on my own? Got all the details I could from her and a close friend who had bypass (she had vsg), and once I understood my why, everything just fell into place.

Now I'm getting ready to have surgery within a month.

I have had two knee replacements and one of them was a horrible mess from the start. I'd like to not have to have revisions as long as possible. I am so close to diabetic, but I have fought to not take any medications for 12 years after my messed up knee replacement. I am on medication for high blood pressure, my cholesterol is high, my hips are hurting and I just want to be able to move better without as much pain and live a very long happy life with my husband and our fur-kids. I have tried everything out there and loose weight, but it comes right back on when I try to eat real foods.