Good news and bad news...

Hi all,

I'm sure I would have been bounding in here sooner to tell you my good news, but unfortunately, the bad news was pretty bad. My aunt, who I was very close to, died Saturday, July 27th from septicemia, after a long stay in the hospital due to her many, many co-morbidities at 65 years old. Her weight gain started in the late 70s, when she was prescribed huge doses of corticosteroids for serious asthma, which made her start to balloon, and cease physical activity. Her husband pretty much ignored her for the next 35 years (he's Catholic, so he wouldn't divorce, and she loved him too much to leave) so she resorted to comfort eating. 

By her early 60s she had type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, migraines, etc etc, culminating in a series of strokes and congestive heart failure, liver failure... basically, anything awful you can think of.

The last time I was able to visit her, in June, she told me not to end up like her. It broke my heart.

So the good news? I was finally able to see my gastroenterologist and talk to him about being referred to the registry. We spoke for over an hour, with him suggesting I wait for weight loss drugs to be approved (he had heard about diabetes drugs that caused weight loss as an unexpected side effect, but we're talking maybe 30-50 lb losses, not 100+), that he worried about my Crohn's disease being active (so I'm getting an MRI, yuck!), and finally, him seeing why I want to pursue this, and FINALLY agreeing to do the referral. I think the final motivation for his agreeing was that I was willing to go through with colonoscopy and endoscopy if the surgeons were willing to go through with it, and that my aunt had just died of all the things I am worried about happening to me.

I'm still very much in the grieving process for my aunt. She was a beautiful, innocent and kind soul and I will miss her greatly. But I feel she would be proud of me for making this difficult choice for my future health.

So sorry to hear about your aunt. But I'm sure that she will be with you every step of the way cheering you on in spirit. Good luck on your journey.

Thank-you Lola! Yeah, I think she would have just wanted me to live a better life than she did.

My condolences and good luck on your journey. Someties it feels like a hurry up and wait process, but eventually we will all get through it.

Thanks Gael. It does feel like a lot of waiting, but I have a lot of life ahead of me, so I'm trying to focus on the good.

So sorry for your loss.

So glad you got your referral as I advised my crohns is active and I had the surgery and have lost 100 so far.  

Thanks so much for the condolence and your continued support! It really means a lot. Dr. Atin is concerned about them operating if my Crohn's is active in the stomach, for the VSG, but I haven't had any symptoms of active Crohn's since 2005, when I had my resection. I think I will be fine, but I will happily go through the scopes if it makes Dr. Atin more confident.

Oh honey...I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. :( It's never easy, that's for sure. 

I think you're making an important, wonderful step for yourself - and we'll all be right here supporting you. (((HUGS)))

Thank-you Gwynn... that means so much!

I'm so terribly sorry to hear of your loss....Your aunt sounds like an incredibly wonderful and strong woman and there's no doubt in my mind that she will always be with you, cheering you on with each step of on your new journey.