As puttin said...I'm gonna "tell you my tale"...lol
I have decided to have gastric by-pass surgery. I decided back in August and I have been very busy taking care of all things necessary to have it. My insurance requires a 6 month wait and I'm almost 4 months through that. I've had to go to seminars, support groups, and meet with others who have had the surgery.
Part of me is scared to death and part of me is so excited. I have been overweight all my life and I simply want to experience a side of life that I have never known. I became obese (Man I hate that word) around age 7 and have never went back. Ironically, I am happy with how I look currently, its more about the physical side of it. A rough year has caused me to put on some extra pounds and I currently weigh more than I ever have in my life. I took my boys to the fair in September and found myself not being able to get on the rides. THAT was a wake up call. It was very embarrassing.
As my life of being a single mom begins, I am going for the full monty and starting over not only emotionally but also physically. My mother and father are not very accepting of the idea and haven't been much support but its because they are worried. The death rate for bariatric surgery is 1 in 200 which is a very high rate. For me though, its worth the risk. I need some change in my life.
I will be detailing my progress as time goes on. If all goes well and my insurance approves me, I should have the surgery in late January or early February.
If any of you know anyone who has had this, I'd love to hear about it.
Due to the amount of time the pre-op testing requires, and for the sake of saving money (I have to pay for some of the surgery out of pocket) I wont be re-doing the FurSpace page. I think I will just link this forum to the MySpace page and go from there. I'm sure you'll all understand. I just don't have the time or resources to be putting into a site right now.
I have started back to work part time and it has been making things easier. I needed to be away from the house. The boys are in school during the day so I go in for a few hours each day to kill time. I'm helping my mother and father run their little business. Thats what I did in my pre-college days and I've actually kind of missed it. Its only 3 miles down the road and I can pretty much set my own hours. I can't work professionally until I get the surgery done because it requires so much off time so I guess I'm stuck with ma and pa for a while...lol.
Anyway, so nice to see you all here. Things are improving on my end. It was HARD for a while, after JT left but each day is finally starting to turn around. He and I still talk, but I think we both are where we want to be right now. I have become accustomed to hogging my big bed by myself at night and laying anywhere I want to....and I just don't think I want to share that with anyone at this point. Life is what we make of it and I have to make a move on mine.
I'm glad to hear things are getting better on your end. Matt's mom had the gastric by-pass surgery a while before we got together and she was 300+ pounds and now she's like 160-170. She just has to eat decent to keep from putting the weight back on. It was a very big change for her, she can do so much more now. I wish you the best of luck! :)
I know three that have had it done. one of the ladies was the 1 in 200. They other two have had no problems, and are very happy. They did drop the weight fast, but have to be very carefull of what they eat, as two much oil, sugar, or fat will make them very sick.
I have been thinking about the lap band, I got big around puberty, and have not been able to lose it, no matter what I try. The reason I thing of the lap band is that I am still very young and would like to have kids, and with the lap band it can be opened to let the baby or babies get the nutrition they need and then it can be made smaller again.
I too have also thought of the lap band but the docs say that I'm not over weight enough....I weigh 180. And they said for how tall I am normal weight is 150. But 30 pounds is a lot to lose. So I have decided after I have another baby I am getting a tummy tuck. Its better than nothing.
But anyways I have known 5 people to get gastric and they have all had great results. And one of the ladies has had twins with no problems. Good luck with the insurance!!! Glad to see you back around.
I have seen people with that proceedure done to them. They cannot eat more than a few teaspoons of food, and others just eat as they wish, and puke it all up afterward. I find them an object of pity. Cheri.
