bzbob
Time For Change!
Well, here I am at the age of 61 and weighing in at 340 Lbs. and a BMI of 50! Since my 30's I have always been slightly overweight. But when I stopped smoking at 49 my weight gain kicked into afterburner and I soared to my current 340Lbs. And, I am sure three olives a day soaked heavily in vodka didn't help either. My first step was to stop the olives. Booz and weight loss just don't go together.
I was an Army helicopter pilot in my early 20's and was shocked to see I weighed 159 Lbs. when I was discharged. Incredible, indeed! And to think I thought I was too heavy then. Wonder if I will ever see that weight again in good health? Maybe the WLS will show me the way!
I have been lucky up to this point to not have diabetes or high blood pressure. But, I am sure if I do nothing about my obesity soon I will develop serious problems. I have tried just about all diets and nothing has worked. Yes, I lose weight, sometimes a lot of weight, but it doesn't take long and I am back at my previous weight and more. That's why I decided to take a close look at WLS.
At first I thought about the LapBand. Then I talked with a VA nurse and she told me about a friend who had the LapBand and had problems and needed it removed. Her Doctor suggested she have the LapBand removed and convert to the vertical sleeve. Since her conversion she has been doing great and losing lots of weight. I dreaded the thought of the RNY so her testimony turned me on to investigating the VSG. After a couple of months of looking into the VSG I have made up my mind
to go that way.
I asked my VA representative if the VA does this surgery and was told no. If anyone knows
differently please let me know. However, if it takes the VA a long time to decide then I will go ahead as a cash pay. I feel I need to move quickly if I want to avoid developing any new obesity related ailments. At this age I feel time is of the essence.
I will be making my final decision soon. I have already been to one surgeon's seminar
and talked with another VSG Doctor. Both of them were U.S. Doctors. But, I am leaning towards using Dr. Alvarez of Piedras Negras, Mexico. I have not met him yet, but his coordinator, Susan, was very helpful and patient with all of my silly questions and concerns. Moreover, there seems to be an extraordinary number of folks in this forum who have nothing but great things to say about this Doctor. I know there are other excellent Doctors who do this surgery but compared to what I have read about other Texas surgeons Dr. Alvarez is right up there with the best recommendations. I don't buy anything at Amazon.com without first looking at the customer ratings. When I see five stars from customers I buy and have never been
disappointed. I have a feeling that if there was a star rating system on this forum Dr. Alvarez would have all five.
I have read many of the posts in this forum and have found them to be very enlightening. Because of you I am now ready to move forward. My time for change has come.
Thanks to all of you who have taken the time to share. Your courageous stories about your
personal experiences are invaluable to anyone thinking about WLS.
