Not your typical Valentine's day- Starting My Journey

Feb 26, 2018

The date I began my weight loss surgery journey will be easy to remember. While most couples are sharing gifts, chocolates, flowers, and enjoying romantic dinners on Valentine's Day, I spent the morning with my wife sitting in the Carolinas Weight Management clinic answering question after question about my health and facing an issue that I had spent most of my life trying to avoid. I have struggled with weight since I was a teenager, but now I am at a point where it is affecting my ability to do normal activities. This was my first consult with the weight management program that will eventually lead me to weight loss surgery. I had attended the informational session back in December and was finally getting to speak with the doctors and surgeon. I don't have a fear of doctors but I can get nervous when they ask questions. So on that day I was especially nervous. I’ve never had a surgery, at all! And now I was here asking for one voluntarily. What in the world was I thinking!!?? Luckily I have the support of my wife, who has WLS before and is a R.N. Despite still having issues with her lap-band, she is being super supportive of my decision and helped me with all my medical questions. The staff at the weight management office was great that day and really helped ease my nerves. Initially I was a bit concerned, as my surgeon wasn’t the friendliest or most enthusiastic, but after talking about VSG with him, my wife was 100% convinced he was the best surgeon for the job. And being a RN in an ICU, I trust her judgment on doctors and surgeons. He was very confident and serious, which come to think about it, that is what I want in a surgeon. I don’t need a friend. I need a professional with a great track record. During my visit, I confirmed my decision to go with the VSG. The only down side to my consult visit was the weigh-in. unfortunately, my weight at the consult was my all-time high, 320 lbs. While very depressing, this just reaffirmed to me that action is necessary and is now a motivational factor.

So now I begin my weight loss journey. My insurance requires a 6-month medically supervised weight loss program, but that doesn’t bother me. I would like to start making my lifestyle changes now and hopefully get down below 300 before the surgery. That might be too ambitious for 6 months, but that’s my goal. I’m still nervous about this journey so I was thrilled to find this community online. I hope that by documenting my journey here, I will find additional support and guidance. I’m not very good at doing things on my own, but when I have a detailed plan, have support from others, I tend to do very well at accomplishing my goals. I look forward to sharing my stories with this community.

0 Comments