Guest guest Posted December 16, 2001 Report Share Posted December 16, 2001 , Welcome and thanks for introducing yourself! I have to tell you that I have had 7 surgeries in my life, but the night before my WLS I sat up all night and cried and was sure that I was going to be the first to die on the operating table. I also knew how selfish I was to take this risk when I still have a teenager to raise. I wrote goodbye letters of love and apology to all those significant in my life and I just plain shook for a couple of hours! Then...the strangest thing happened. All the prayers and thoughts and good wishes that had been sent my way just washed over me. I knew for a fact that I would be just fine and that it was just that little voice in my head that tries to make me feel not worth at its old tricks again. The voice from my heart and soul knew that I was making an educated decision based on knowledge, health, and an investment for my future. Everyone hits that point at different stages in their journey, but everyone does hit it! Trust in yourself, trust in your higher power, live and let God. She will be there to carry you when you are weak! Grins Congrats on your journey, Theresa > Hello, > > I am in the very early stages of contemplating this WLS. I have > been reading this group avidly for over a week now and listening > to all of your experiences, both pre and post-op. There are so > many questions/thoughts floating around in my head about this. I > am definitely not even sure if I am going to have WLS, but I > know from the amount of research I have done so far that it > would be DS. > > I went to one of the million sites on BMI and calculated mine to > be 48. I am 5'11 " and weigh about 350. I have fought my weight > all my life, lost weight many times, but gained it all back, and > then some. I really do not have any serious co-morbidies that I > know of. I do know that the last couple of times I went to the > doctor my blood pressure was a bit high, but since I was a youth > I had tended to have my pressure sky rocket whenever I was > stressed or nervous, and who wouldn;t be nervous going to the > doctor. > > My biggest concern with any WLS is the actual surgery and the > aftermath - I tend to be one of the extremely paranoid people > that thinks that I will end up in a coma or something. I have > never had any major surgery done, so I guess my fear is > understandable. I do know that at least emotionally I don;t > think I can take being MO any longer. It is like a vicious > circle - sick of being fat, eat to make myself feel better, gain > weight, sick of myself, etc. > Anyway, I jsut wanted to introduce myself. I feel as if I know > some of you so weel from reading your posts. > > Thanks for letting my introduce myself so extensively. > > > > Good luck to those that have surgery in the next couple of > weeks. I will be praying for all of you. > > > > > ===== > " Work like you don't need the money, love like you've never been hurt, and dance like you do when nobody's watching. " > > __________________________________________________ > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 16, 2001 Report Share Posted December 16, 2001 Welcome ! Don't feel paranoid, I bet we all went through that. It's very normal to have fear before ANY surgery, much less WLS. We hope you make the best decision for you. (Of course, I think we are all biased for the surgery!) Anyway - nice to meet you. P post-op 05-30-01 Dr. Kim, Ocean Springs, MS stuck at 98 lbs down! > Hello, > > I am in the very early stages of contemplating this WLS. I have > been reading this group avidly for over a week now and listening > to all of your experiences, both pre and post-op. There are so > many questions/thoughts floating around in my head about this. I > am definitely not even sure if I am going to have WLS, but I > know from the amount of research I have done so far that it > would be DS. > > I went to one of the million sites on BMI and calculated mine to > be 48. I am 5'11 " and weigh about 350. I have fought my weight > all my life, lost weight many times, but gained it all back, and > then some. I really do not have any serious co-morbidies that I > know of. I do know that the last couple of times I went to the > doctor my blood pressure was a bit high, but since I was a youth > I had tended to have my pressure sky rocket whenever I was > stressed or nervous, and who wouldn;t be nervous going to the > doctor. > > My biggest concern with any WLS is the actual surgery and the > aftermath - I tend to be one of the extremely paranoid people > that thinks that I will end up in a coma or something. I have > never had any major surgery done, so I guess my fear is > understandable. I do know that at least emotionally I don;t > think I can take being MO any longer. It is like a vicious > circle - sick of being fat, eat to make myself feel better, gain > weight, sick of myself, etc. > Anyway, I jsut wanted to introduce myself. I feel as if I know > some of you so weel from reading your posts. > > Thanks for letting my introduce myself so extensively. > > > > Good luck to those that have surgery in the next couple of > weeks. I will be praying for all of you. > > > > > ===== > " Work like you don't need the money, love like you've never been hurt, and dance like you do when nobody's watching. " > > __________________________________________________ > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 16, 2001 Report Share Posted December 16, 2001 , As someone who had never had surgery before the DS, I was paranoid that I was going to have some sort of complication! I worried about cancer, tumors, leaks, severe allergic reactions, etc! One of the great things is that my surgeon now has a blanket Rx for his patients, in that you can get an anti-anxiety shot before surgery without the doctor having to be called, etc. It's a 2 part shot..after the 1st one I was less nervous and when I got the second one just before I was rolled into surgery I was at the point where I was examining the decor of the surgical suite and checking out the machines, etc! *grins* Basically, I knew I wasn't going to back out, but hey, if I could be less nervous, why not ? I am 28 yrs old and weighed 320lbs on surgery day with a high weight of 327lbs beforehand. When I was 27 yrs old, I considered myself fat, but healthy. By the time I was 28yrs old, it was amazing how fast my health had rapidly deteriorated. Some days my ankles were so swollen, it hurt to get out of bed and walk to the bathroom, my back hurt most of the time, found out I had sleep apnea!, I got out of breath just walking 100 yards to get my mail, I had to get up to pee several times a night because my stomach was pressing against my bladder, not to mention that I leaked a little urine if I coughed too violently..that was supposed to be a problem for elderly people! I had got to the point where even though I went to work every day and came home and walked my dogs, etc..my quality of life had deteriorated. I stopped doing so many activities because I knew I would be exhausted because of my weight or knew I couldn't participate properly because of my weight or even just because I was embarrassed because I knew I would be exhausted and couldn't participate properly. It had gotten to the point where my weight was controlling my life instead of me. Being morbidly obese, I also knew that I was at a greater risk for certain cancers, let alone diabetes and heart disease. I realized if I didn't make the choice to improve my life and my health, then bit by bit my life would be taken away from me. Sure, I could try another diet again, but did I really think I would be in that 3% of MO people that can actually lose their excess weight and maintain that loss, at least for a few years ? Nope. Plus, I wanted a long term solution that would allow me to live a normal life. Yes, complications happen, but that's one of the reasons you research as much as you can and you pick an experienced surgeon. Surgery and recovery also hurts, but hey, that's the joy of pain medication. All the early post op whining you hear from the 'November Crappy Club'..that's just temporary. Talk to all of us again in January! I've lost 30 lbs since my surgery on 11/08/01 and I wouldn't have been able to do that pre-op and been able to keep it off. Not to mention, yesterday I actually ran and played with my dogs for a little while and while I was a little out of breath, I wasn't panting, wheezing and feeling like I just ran 20 miles like I would have pre-op. Good luck with your decision and feel free to ask us questions! Anita 11/08/01 Dr Keshishian 11/08/01 320lbs 12/16/01 290lbs > Hello, > > I am in the very early stages of contemplating this WLS. I have > been reading this group avidly for over a week now and listening > to all of your experiences, both pre and post-op. There are so > many questions/thoughts floating around in my head about this. I > am definitely not even sure if I am going to have WLS, but I > know from the amount of research I have done so far that it > would be DS. > > I went to one of the million sites on BMI and calculated mine to > be 48. I am 5'11 " and weigh about 350. I have fought my weight > all my life, lost weight many times, but gained it all back, and > then some. I really do not have any serious co-morbidies that I > know of. I do know that the last couple of times I went to the > doctor my blood pressure was a bit high, but since I was a youth > I had tended to have my pressure sky rocket whenever I was > stressed or nervous, and who wouldn;t be nervous going to the > doctor. > > My biggest concern with any WLS is the actual surgery and the > aftermath - I tend to be one of the extremely paranoid people > that thinks that I will end up in a coma or something. I have > never had any major surgery done, so I guess my fear is > understandable. I do know that at least emotionally I don;t > think I can take being MO any longer. It is like a vicious > circle - sick of being fat, eat to make myself feel better, gain > weight, sick of myself, etc. > Anyway, I jsut wanted to introduce myself. I feel as if I know > some of you so weel from reading your posts. > > Thanks for letting my introduce myself so extensively. > > > > Good luck to those that have surgery in the next couple of > weeks. I will be praying for all of you. > > > > > ===== > " Work like you don't need the money, love like you've never been hurt, and dance like you do when nobody's watching. " > > __________________________________________________ > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 16, 2001 Report Share Posted December 16, 2001 Glad to have you as a part of the group, ...we all can relate to where you are right now. It's part of the reason why I want the surgery: I'd rather die on the table (heaven forbid!) than go through the rest of my life aching and hurting, both mentally and physically. I'm not suicidal by any means, but I don't like what the weight-related part of my life has become. Things will begin to change THURSDAY! ~alyssa, pre-op surgery date: 12/20 personal introduction > understandable. I do know that at least emotionally I don;t > think I can take being MO any longer. It is like a vicious > circle - sick of being fat, eat to make myself feel better, gain > weight, sick of myself, etc. > Anyway, I jsut wanted to introduce myself. I feel as if I know > some of you so weel from reading your posts. > > Thanks for letting my introduce myself so extensively. > > > > Good luck to those that have surgery in the next couple of > weeks. I will be praying for all of you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 17, 2001 Report Share Posted December 17, 2001 Hi Sonya, You've come to the right place for having alot of questions answered. I myself am only pre-op, I read these post daily and have learned alot from all the wonderful people on this list. I understand about the vicious circle of yo-yo dieting. It has been a losing battle for me all of my life. The past few months I have felt better about myself because I have finally freed myself of the guilt of not being able to succeed at whatever diet I put myself through at the time. I only have about 23 more days before my surgery and I am so ready. Well I still have to pack, get my teenage son figured out LOL and so on. My husband is taking 2 weeks off to be with me and is going to be a great help to me physically and emotionally. So I just want to say welcome to the list and Good Luck in whatever you decide. M. pre-op 01/09/02 BMI 41/ 240 lbs. AGE 39 DR. K. open __________________________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 17, 2001 Report Share Posted December 17, 2001 Dear , The only surgery that I ever had besides dental or in-grown toenail was a c-section (cut up and down) and a D & C. The c-section was painful...but hey, I lived through it. I was worried about having another surgery and such a major surgery until I talked to a nurse about it. She explained things to me like this: if you had to go in for an emergency gall bladder removal, they would do alittle blood work and a chest x-ray and do your surgery. With WLS, they test your heart, breathing, blood work , upper GI series, check for sleep apnea, check your mental state, and anything else that they can think of to make sure that you will make it through the surgery. That convinced me. It looks like my gall bladder has begun to " cut up " lately and that it will have to be removed whether I have WLS or not. But, with WLS my doctor removes the thing!!! So, why not go for it??!! In another year or two who knows how my health will be? Right now, I am healthy as a horse...my problem is that I am also as big as one!!LOL! Whatever you decide...good luck to you! This group will help you if you'll stick with us! Jerry, Southern Gal from Louisiana, 1/2 approved.... > >Reply-To: duodenalswitch >To: duodenalswitch >Subject: personal introduction >Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2001 11:11:46 -0800 (PST) > >Hello, > >I am in the very early stages of contemplating this WLS. I have >been reading this group avidly for over a week now and listening >to all of your experiences, both pre and post-op. There are so >many questions/thoughts floating around in my head about this. I >am definitely not even sure if I am going to have WLS, but I >know from the amount of research I have done so far that it >would be DS. > >I went to one of the million sites on BMI and calculated mine to >be 48. I am 5'11 " and weigh about 350. I have fought my weight >all my life, lost weight many times, but gained it all back, and >then some. I really do not have any serious co-morbidies that I >know of. I do know that the last couple of times I went to the >doctor my blood pressure was a bit high, but since I was a youth >I had tended to have my pressure sky rocket whenever I was >stressed or nervous, and who wouldn;t be nervous going to the >doctor. > >My biggest concern with any WLS is the actual surgery and the >aftermath - I tend to be one of the extremely paranoid people >that thinks that I will end up in a coma or something. I have >never had any major surgery done, so I guess my fear is >understandable. I do know that at least emotionally I don;t >think I can take being MO any longer. It is like a vicious >circle - sick of being fat, eat to make myself feel better, gain >weight, sick of myself, etc. >Anyway, I jsut wanted to introduce myself. I feel as if I know >some of you so weel from reading your posts. > >Thanks for letting my introduce myself so extensively. > > > >Good luck to those that have surgery in the next couple of >weeks. I will be praying for all of you. > > > > >===== > " Work like you don't need the money, love like you've never been hurt, and >dance like you do when nobody's watching. " > >__________________________________________________ > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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