Cindi A.
Beginnings?
Aug 28, 2011
Last spring I took my first trip to Las Vegas. I knew, from friends’ reports, that it was going to be a ton of walking, and I have to say I was worried. It stripped away a significant percentage of the pre-trip excitement I was entitled to. The trip had been almost 3 years in the planning, and I should’ve felt like a race horse at the starting gate by the time the departure day arrived.
First two days of the trip I proudly kept up with my fit friends. I walked that strip, from morning to night. I toured the Grand Canyon. The rest of the trip I was so exhausted that I spent a lot of it on my own so I wouldn't slow my friends down. I was uncomfortable, my feet throbbed, my legs were like weights. I felt like I had been hit by a truck. I gave up on at least 2 things on my must-see list so that I could go back and sit in the hotel room. Doing anything else failed to be an option.
Once home I spent 3 days on the couch in recovery. I remember how I felt after my hysterectomy; this wasn't much different - minus the mild tummy soreness. I've never been dis-abled because of my weight. There was no denying that this time I was. I had to face the fact that my body had reached the end of its we-can-cope attitude. It's carried 70-100 lbs of useless extra load for close to 40 years. It's done all that it can. It’s crying out: Time to lose weight or face a near future in a damned scooter.
Experience tells me that weight loss for me is not a matter of cut-out-the-potatoes-and-go-for-a-daily-walk. That's a small band-aid on a broken leg. 30+ years of diets, failed exercise programs, hypnotherapy, and meal replacement bars going head to head with a scale that refuses to go in reverse does not lie. Every 5 lbs lost lead to 10 lbs gained. Fail, fail, fail.
I began to question my previous dismissal of weight loss surgery as a possibility. I wasn't sure I could qualify, I wasn't sure I could even get it done here in Canada, at my age. There’s a shortage of surgeons doing WLS here, and our health care system puts a cap on how many can be performed in a year, but I started to think I'd better look into it. This wasn't about dress size anymore.
Then, the Universe spoke up. A friend I hadn't seen in awhile mentioned that she’d be in a hospital near me having a procedure. I was so glad to have a chance to see her, and in the back of my head I wondered about the procedure. Something told me it was WLS; and I was right; a Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy to be exact.
A week after our visit I was diagnosed with serious sleep apnea. Add that to a mild congenital heart defect that might require a valve replacement sometime in the (hopefully not-near) future. Oh, and my family history of diabetes...both sides! Season it with Morton’s Neuroma from decades of abusing my feet by expecting them to support so much more weight than they were designed for.
I don't need to be hit over the head with a lightning bolt to know when the Universe is speaking. I went to my doctor 4 days later and said - in tears, no less - I want to look into getting a VSG. (I don't think I've cried in my doctor's office more than twice in the 20 years we've been together).
I've been heavy almost my whole life. Not just plump. Fat. I've been active, happy, popular and know how to dress sexy. I can appreciate great curves, even my own. I don't need to be a size 8 to feel great about myself, or have an amazing life.
What I need is my health. What I need is life.
No way can I let my weight deprive me of all I want to do in the next 50 years, not if there is anything I can do to stop it. I wouldn't hesitate to get treatment for cancer, would I? And I’m not naïve, I know obesity is every bit the killer cancer is.
Travel, develop my passion for photography, work, play, and love the incredible people in my life…Make a difference in the world. That's what I plan to keep doing, and if I need WLS to get there...well, so be it.
I'm happy to say my doctor agreed. I'm getting referred to the same surgeon that did my friend's surgery. I just spent two days with her, and am thrilled to see the progress she's making. She's my shining example; both of us deserve to be here to celebrate our 100th birthdays.
And WLS may be the tool to help me make that dream come true.
