Looking for Mormon WLS

Looking for on ideas about what to tell friends? How long will I be down and out? When will I be able to come back and teach again? I am second counselor/music director for Primary in a very tiny branch. Are mormons more or less open minded? Anyone have any experiences with this stuff? Thank you and God bless. Beth

Elizabeth, My ward was FABULOUS!!! I was very fortunate to have my best friend living with me at the time of my surgery, cuz I was down and out for 3-4 weeks... She got my boys off to school, cleaned my house and made dinner! My RS pres. offered help, but with Hazel living with me I did okay... Do tell your visiting teachers... They can be vey helpful... It's funny, every week all of the older sisters need to know EXACTLY how much weight I've lost, (64 lbs since surgery, feb 3rd) and they are not shy about telling me how good I look... Being a stay-at-home mom, it is good to get validation from them!

Elizabeth, There have been two people in my ward that have had WLS surgery. One brother lost 179 lbs in one year! He had the surgery about a year and a half ago and looks alot better. He started at about 420 lbs. There is a sister in our ward that has lost about 22 lbs. since her surgery a week and a half ago. She had Lap Roux-en-Y surgery on 6/4/03 and was at church four days later. She said that she probably should not have come to church because it made her really tired. I hope to have the surgery next year when I change my insurance. I haven't told many people at church about it, just a few good friends. I am the Elder's Quorum President and my biggest issue is that I wonder if I should ask to be released when I get the surgery done. I'm not sure if that is being selfish or not. It will be about 2 years in this position when I get the WLS. Decisions, decisions. Tell your friends, they will support you, if they don't, their loss. Good luck.

Hi there Elizabeth! I too am struggling with this whole - do I tell anyone at church thing. I am worried they will look at me like I am taking the "easy way out". I have a few friends, as most of us do at church, that are overweight. I am in the YW presidency, and am trying to figure out how to tell them, without telling all the girls etc. The previous postings are great - but seems they have the great support from their ward members. My VT is one of my best friends, I just am not sure how she is going to react to all of this, considering she is also a nurse! I was looking for other LDS members that had also had this experience. Please don't hesitate to share, or email me Thanks so much - Kristi

I have an initial consult for WLS on NOv 18. MY Relief society president is trying to talk me out of it, but I feel like its the right thing. I think things will be fine for Mormon WLSers who do what they feel is the right thing, and pray.

hi from las vegas. home of 19 stakes! i didnt want to tell anyone at church either at first. went to slc for the surgery. when i came back 10 days later i felt so great i was shouting it from the rooftops. i didnt need any help at all but i had lap with no complications at all. it was so great to go to church every week and have people tell me how good i looked. now at 20 months post op and at a stable wt, i still have people tell me how good i look. what an ego booster. anyone that wants to email me about wls ... feel free . patsyn in las vegas

Hi! I am two week out from having my WLS. I have found that in my ward there is support for this. I am the second to have the surgery in 10 months. The reasons for having it are important to the amount of support I have. When it was just to lose weight, there didn't seem to be much support, but that is not the reason I had the surgery. I had it because of the health benefits. I don't have any callings at the moment, because I just couldn't handle any. Hopefully, things will change in a few months. Good luck. I hope I have been of some assistance to you. Love the music director calling, but it has been some years. Gail

I think it all depends on you. I had my surgery on the 12th of March and I'm feeling pretty good. I could have gone to church yesterday but I wasn't feeling up to it emotionally and I was pretty tired because I went to a hockey game with my family. I've heard of people who've been out for several weeks but I think that's mostly people who are VERY obese and have a lot of co-morbidities. My experience with telling people at church has been great. My friends were super supportive and I actually had an LDS friend as my anethasist (sp?) in the O.R. Remember to get a blessing before the surgery. I think it makes such a difference! Good luck with the process, the surgery, and the recovery!!!

Funny, I post this so long ago, and am getting responses now! I had my surgery July 22, 2003. I only missed one week of church. I had lap-RNY and have had no complications. I am about 8 months out now, and down about 98# and in a size ten. Thanks to everyone who had responded.

Elizabeth - I just found this Mormonism forum today. Several others were new to it today too, I think it would be fun for those that have visited this forum in the past to check it more regularly and maybe we can really have a nice back and forth chat. Melody