Getting started...

Jul 10, 2011

Well.......I have been mulling over thoughts of having weight loss surgery for a couple of months now.  I have just now brought some of these thoughts out in the open to my husband and mother in law.  They would be the only 2 family members that I could count on for support day in and day out......or not.....the jury is still out.  

I said in the past that I would never consider having wls.  I could do it all on my own.  Weight Watchers here I com...until I get bored with going to meetings and spending that money every week....down 40 pounds........up 50.  My highest recorded weight is 310, probably about 15 years ago now.  Right now I am at 265, and I've been up to 300 and back down several times.  I seem to get to 250 and stop.  

So, why have I started considering WLS now?  What has spurred me to really research it, talk to people who've had it done, spend hours scouring the web for before and after pictures and life changing stories?   

Type 2 Diabetes and it's complications.  I was diagnosed in 1999, took my medications, but never really watched what I ate, and I don't really like to exercise.  I quit taking all my diabetes medications (insulin, metformin, what ever else I was on, can't even remember) about 2 years ago.  Guess what happened?  I lost almost 50 pounds.  I  *hate* insulin, and I need alot of it to get past my insulin resistance.  As soon as I start taking it again the weight comes back on.  "Just put down the donut, don't eat those french fries, stay out of the fast food joints".......I can't.  I've tried.  I work full time, have a 5 year old son, and a husband who is an extremely picky eater.  I get tired.  I get lazy.  Every effort I make is met with resistance.  I GIVE UP.

Until I started feeling this tingling in my shins....down the right side of my right leg..down the top of my foot.....Diabeit Neuropathy.  An eye exam revealed minor bleeding in one eye.....lower the blood sugar....reduce the bleeding and tingling....yay.....insulin......more weight....

A never ending viscious cycle.

My co-worker had lapband surgery 2 years ago, about 6 months before I started working there.  My boss came in one day telling of a guy they knew of who had WLS and was off his insulin within a month.  And that's when I started thinking about it.  It may be my only hope to control both my problems....

My MIL likes to play the devil's advocate.  "Did you see that you can't drink pop?"  Yes, I saw it.  "Do you think you can do the diet restrictions?"  Yes, I saw them.  "There's ways to get around them"  Not if I don't want to be sick.   So now I am thinking.....If I think I can handle all the restrictions and stuff for before and after surgery, WHY CAN'T I JUST DO IT AND LOSE WEIGHT AND LOWER MY BLOOD SUGAR ON MY OWN??????

I can't do it on my own, what makes me think that WLS is the way to go?  I don't know, but I do know that I don't want to lose a foot or leg, I don't want to go blind, I don't want to have a heart attack or stroke at an early age.  I have a young son and and older son with a baby on the way.  I want to SEE them grow up.  I am SO excited about this grandbaby I can hardly stand it.  My 5 year old is SO smart and funny, I can't wait to see him grow and learn and become a wonderful man.  And if I let this weight and diabetes takes that away from me....I will be SO.............fill in the blank.

What do I do, where do I start??  Guess with my pcp, and attend a seminar.  I think I'll go to the same surgeon that my co-worker went to.  I like his website most of all.

Wish me luck!!

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