There was a point when each one of us decided that we HAD to have the surgery. I think that there was a single "moment" for most of us when we decided that we had had enough, and that we WOULD have the surgery.

I'd like to hear about YOUR decision moment....here's mine:

It was at Knott's berry Farm in Orange County, California. I was there with my wife and young son. We had spent the day doing all the usual stuff (the log flume ride is great fun, went on it 15 times!). We went on most of the rides, but then we decided to go on the Ghostrider. This is a HUGE wooden rollercoaster. It is very well-regarded by Coaster Enthusiasts. I'm not a huge coaster fan, but it's my understanding that people that love wood coasters LOVE this one. So, we decided to go on it.

It was a long wait, as is normal for Knott's. When we got up to the point where we got into the car, and I stepped into it, I knew that there would be a problem. I was too big to fit into it comfortably. But, I sat down anyway, and tried to get the seat belt around me. It wouldn't go. One of the attendants came over and tried to assist me. She stood up on the side of the car and tugged and pulled the belt until she was able to Snap into the other end. this whole process took a few minutes, and EVERYONE was staring at me and snickering. It was holding the ride up, too. I cannot tell you HOW embarrassing that was; one of the most humiliating moments of my life.

Then the ride left the platform. I was in AGONY with that belt cutting into my gut. I couldn't breathe. And the motion of the ride was making me sick. I almost passed out several times. It was 3 of the most miserable minutes I have ever experienced.

When the ride returned to the platform, I could not wait to get out of there. I stumbled out of the car, and I fell to the ground. My wife helped me up, and we went downstairs to the exit. I found a tree planter with a bench around it, and I sat down...fell on it, actually.

I sat there for a while, and for the first time in my life, I thought I was going to die, right then and there. I wondered if I was having a heart attack. I was sick, my heart was racing, I was sweating....it was awful.

It was there, at THAT moment that I decided I would have to have the surgery. I had been discussing it with family and friends and clergy, but I had not made anything NEAR a decision. I was just THINKING about it. But there on that concrete planter, I decided I would have the surgery.

So, what was YOUR decision moment?

I didn't have a moment, it was a gradual process that took about 5 years of research and debate. Of really knowing this is what I should do, but having some opposition in place against it. And again, of gradually growing more tired of it, and of having it make less sense to procrastinate. "If I can't do this in a year, I will have surgery" -- saying that for years.

I too don't have time to research what you are up to if anything. Don't use my comments in anything you write if you are writing anything.

Edited April 21, 200818 yr by Milo
Do not use my comments in anything you write please

Deleted.....(just in case people are being used)

Edited April 20, 200818 yr by myturn0421

Mine was really simple and mildly vain, really. Well, in one aspect, that is.

I was standing in front on my mirror one day and decided I was tired of everyone who gave me crap for being overweight and not included in social activities because I was some embarrassment. It really pissed me off. I was done with the "being left out" stuff, so that was my vanity moment. About a week later, I decided to take my blood pressure, just out of curiosity. Well, it was too high for my comfortability range, which got my mind racing about everything. Would I find a wife? If I did, would I die not too long after my kids were born because of some co-morbidity? Among a few other questions, mind you, but still.

After that, the answer was crystal clear.

Really since my decision I have had mutliple moments. Some of them being breaking my moms toilet seat, an at least 400lb woman on tv and my 2 yo saying "look Mommy". The fact that I just found out I have severe sleep apnea. My worry if this will be the time I will have to get a seat belt extender on an airplane. My recent trip to Seaworld not wanting to go on the rollercoaster, just because I was afraid I would not fit and then trying to convince my 16 yo that I no longer like rollercoasters!! I really could go on and on but it is just very sad for me to think at 34 I have such worries!

I think my moment was a combonation of many moments over the last 25 years. I started packing on the weight at the age of 5 when my grandmother died, and some other misfortunate things happen to me personally. I didnt know how much those things would effect me emotionally, but for the last 25 years they have. So many of the moments were of the abuse from kids in school, not fitting in a roller coaster seat at Busch Gardens and crying as I walked off the ride, the fact that I have high blood pressure, sleep apnea, and I sound like Ive been running a marathon when I answer the phone because its so hard to breath with my asthma. I think all of those and many more make up my moment. Ive been looking at WLS for about 8 years now, and I finally decided in February of 2008 to get it done. I was banded 4/10/2008. This year I will celebrate my first birthday without cake and ice cream, and Im ok with that really. I am one week and one day post op, and today I got a pair of jeans on that I havent worn in years. I was pretty darn impressed with myself. So you asked when my moment came, I guess my moment has been my whole life.

For me, two things came together this year to make getting banding the absolute right answer. Ya see..I am a pediatrician and for years I have watched parents and patients battle weight just as I have. I also have seen the greatest long term successes with WLS ( bypass). I have a history of pulmonary emboli ( blood clots in my lungs) during my last pregnancy and the risk of gastric bypass just seemed to high for me... so I basically gave up on battling my weight any more.

But then there was a friend at church who told me about Lap Band abd her success. It started the wheels turning, but I still wasn't ready ..

Then this spring, I decided to talk to a therapist to help get some balance back in my life. I have this tendency to put way to much on my committment plate and let taking care of my self fall to the bottom of the to-do list... I was able to let go of some of those un-needed stressors and get out of my rut. Time to get my emotional, spiritual and physical act together.. Time for the band!!!

My moment of decision came when I really looked at myself in the mirror for the first time in about a year. I stood there and though who is this person. In my clothes I do not look 100 lbs overweight, but when I take them off, oh my, oh my. This is the main reason I do not look at myself in the mirror.

my moment came after my infant grandson died and I spent 2 years helping everyone else in the family cope with all the stress. Everyone gained at least 20 pounds. I gained about 40. I have always been able to loose weight but as soon as I stopped the diet what I had lost and more came back. I was so tired I did not have another diet in me. I learned the hard way how short life really is and how you never know what tomorrow will bring. I didn't want to waste anymore todays. I was always going to start my next diet on Monday. Well many mondays came and went and I just got fatter, had less energy, I didn't want to socialize. My life was just passing me by. So I made the decision. It was the first thing I had done for myself in 2 years. I am self pay so I didn't have to jump through all the hoops the insurance companys make you do. Nobody takes this lightly and I did all my reasearch. It gave me great comfort to know I would not be fat my whole life. I have only been banded for 3 1/2 weeks but I will never look back. I am in control, food no longer has the power over me that it once did. Life is to short to be unhappy. I know this, you don't always have control over what happens to you in life but I will always have control over what I put in my mouth.

cleach

Deleted...so not to be part of somebody's book!

Edited April 21, 200818 yr by Lizalee
Don't want to be part of somebody's book!!

DELETED because......

Edited April 20, 200818 yr by notateechanow
Not interested in being used for a book..read later posts.

My moment was after I started fertility treatments for the 2nd time. The first thing the docs would tell me "well if you lost weight this might not be so hard and you would be able to do it without our help". I thought yes I know I need to lose weight but there are people bigger then me having babies. I was trying to lose weight but it was coming off soooooooo slow and I do mean slow...I have PCOS and that can be a side effect (slow weight loss). I am 29 years old so it is time to start thinking about starting a family. When I started thinking I don't want to be 289 and adding weight to that by having a baby. I need to lose this weight so I have a healthy baby and be able to do things with my future children. I have a great support system so I knew it was time to do something. I hope by having this surgery it will allow me to have a baby without the doctors help and I will feel better and be a healthier person. Good luck to all and please keep posting on your progress, it is very encourging for us that thinking about the band or already going through the process. I will be banded on May 12th and I can't wait!!!

My moment was like a slap in the face, it shook me up.

I was diagnosed with sleep apnea. In the educational class they kept saying a main cause was being overweight. After the class I was talking to a nurse and she looks me square in the eye and said.

"Just lose some weight"

I tell you, I wanted to scream at her that I have been trying to do just that for the last 20 years!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I also had a roller coaster moment at Knott's Berry Farm. I think it was the Batman Ride. The kind of coaster where your feet dangle under you. I struggled and Struggled to get the restraint buckled and had to have a ride attendant push on it while another tried to buckle it. They buckled it but I was convinced the strap was going to give and I was going to fall out of the ride and die right there!!! Well I didnt fall out but refused to ride another ride like that one until I lost weight.

Things I look foreward to:

Buying clothes that fit and not having to buy 2x.

Not feeling like everyone is staring at me. (being overweight I always feel like I am being stared at)

Running in marathons and races.

Being able to play sports with my kids.

mine wasn't so dramatic or quite as quick. I decided after trying to lose weight for a year to be able to start fertility treatments. I realized my clock was ticking and my weight wasn't moving down fast enough (barely at all).

I had been looking into this surgery for a bit. My mom suggested that I do it. My mom is one of the most superficial people in the world (I love my mom but this is the truth). I was born and raised thinking it is not okay to be fat. My mom was fat as a child and went practically anorexic the summer between middle and high school and lost a ton of weight. She was determined to never let me go through the suffering she went through before she lost the weight. Instead, without realizing it, she put me through a whole different kind of suffering ... and it attacked my self esteem.. and I became fat anyway.

One day I was at the bank... standing in line with one of my friends. We were laughing at something and went to talk to the teller. This older gentlemen came up to me and said "have you gotten a card yet?" -- and handed me one of the tellers business cards. He walked away and my friend and I were both very confused because this seemed so random. Why was this guy handing me a random bank tellers business card?

Then I saw writing on the back of the card. He had written:

"Check your weight before it's too late"

Edited April 18, 200818 yr by WhisperLightly