To Tell or Not To Tell

Hi Eve, I have been very selective in who knows I am having surgery. I didn't tell my parents until 5 days before the surgery. My partner and sister have walked the entire course with me so I feel better about that. Only two people know at work and the pastor at my church. I am not sure how I will handle it afterwards - still plowing through a ton of emotions this weekend. Kimberly

I've told my close co-workers, all of my in-laws, and only my parents and my brother on my side of the family... My father's side of the family has ALWAYS been down on me about my weight, and I don't want them to know until this Thanksgiving, when I walk in the door, and they don't recognize me... I can hardly wait to see the look on their faces... and I might not even tell them how then... it just depends... I only see them on Thanksgiving and Christmas everyyear, so I have serveral months of weight loss time before I see any of them and I'm thrilled by that fact... Baby Lori My Whitney & VA My angeletts ~~> Whitney & VA (I have the best s ever!) 2 days and a wake up

Well, I have no idea what I will tell them. I was thinking that after i have lost all my weight I will tell them but until then I may just say "Lots of hard work" Who can say it isn't? We have to refrain from the things we love the most (for the most part, of course we have the food we WANT every now and then) we went through pain AND scarring!! So I would say..this has been kind of hard. So many people have such a negative opinion on this surgery because they aren't educated and to be honest..I do not want to sit for an hour explaining it to everyone especially those who have never been a pound overweight in their lives!! lol Bethany AKA Da Offishal Riddler and Bertha 26 Days into NewPouch and feeling great! -28 lbs!!!! Yayyyy A riddle a day will keep the Marchers pounds AWAY!

Well, I'm 1000% open about this to whomever wants to know. A couple years ago I would have been mortified to share this, but a lot has changed since then and my attitude is one of them. I figured that once I started losing at such a fast rate people would be guessing at it anyway and why would I want people talking about it behind my back? There is one gal at work who was probably 500 lbs who had surgery last fall and was off for 8 weeks and suddenly started losing massive amounts of weight. I'm guessing she's lost 200 lbs by now or more, yet she contends she did not have the bypass. Not that anyone has asked her, but when she heard I was going in she acted very interested and said it was "in case this diet didn't work for her, she might consider something like that." I don't have a problem with her wanting it to be secret, but when you lose that much that fast, it's not a secret. People approach me all the time asking if I think she did this. Well, I do think she did, but she says she didn't. So I leave it at that and don't dwell on it for her sake, but it does make me realize I wouldn't be fooling anyone. And this way people won't be left to speculate. Dina

While I am usually honest to a fault, this time I only told a select few at work. And I do know that the secret has not been spread. I did that because I did not want to deal with anyone's negative attitude about the surgery before I had it done. Once I get back, I'll tell anyone who asks. If they don't like it - tough &%@#! And their comments won't be able to have the impact they might have had pre-op. I guess I'm sorta looking forward to seeing their faces when I come back with lots of weight off. I still have over 2 weeks left before I go back, and I'm already down 17 in the first 12 days post-op. mgm

I'm teling everyone who seems to want to know. Heck, its blatantly obvious at 370 pounds that I have a weight issue lol...and anyone who knows me knows the diet woes I've gone through. I feel the best way to deal with the neigh sayers is to educate them. For those that say its the "easy way out" I will simply reply with "what do you know about the surgery?". I made this choice for me, but I would love for others who think that they can't have it for some reason to perhaps give it a thought. There are some pretty public people who are vastly opposed to WLS - Dr. Phil and Oprah are key ones...I am more than willing to reeducate those who have had negative first impressions. God willing, one day I will look "normal"...that will be something I NEVER EVER had in my life. I am not ashamed nor embarassed about having to trick my body into losing weight. I love my new way of life and I even love how I eat now. I am no longer a victim to overwhelming hungry and obsessions. I feel free from food for the first time since I can remember!! Lissa 386/358/150