I'm having gastric bypass surgery in 2 days!!! Wish me luck!!!

Anniepi66 wrote: »

Please don't do it. I will wish you luck, for sure; but I am asking you to please reconsider. It is not too late. I had gone through all the testing and counseling to prepare for the surgery, too. Not bypass, but gastric sleeve. My last visit with the nutritionist/dietitian helped me to make the decision not to do it. I was waffling already, and when I sat for over an hour with her and she went through this book of what I HAD TO DO, the very tiny, tiny amounts of food I would be able to eat and showed me exemplars of those food sizes, that I would be on liquids for two weeks before, for a couple weeks afterwards, then soft foods, then maybe never to eat certain foods again, the things which would make me sick, most likely, I sat there and thought why on earth am I doing this to myself? Why am I having half my stomach cut out to eat so little food? Surely I am strong enough to do this without the surgery. I even cried! I just wanted the weight off. When I first went to the surgeon, it was at the behest of the gastroenterologist because of my fatty liver, which I had to get under control. I have a family history of diabetes, heart attacks, cancer, breast cancer and am knocking on the door of diabetes already. After our meeting, Chelsea took me to the lady so I could go ahead and set up the appointment to have the surgery. I cried again. They both told me it was okay - nobody was going to make me have the surgery if I wasn't ready or if I wanted to think about it more or if I wanted to cancel it altogether. Chelsea and the appointment lady both reminded me the surgery was a tool only, it was not a cure and it was a huge decision. They were kind and understanding. I had also had a very long session with the surgeon early on. He also told me the surgery was a tool, not a cure; it was all up to me to make it work. And I HAD to work at it, it was not going to be easy and there was always the possibility I would gain the weight back if I didn't forever continue to eat tiny amounts of food and to learn not to eat some types of food forever. I didn't make the appointment for the surgery, but did make another appointment with Chelsea the dietitian for January of this year. Another hour meeting of talking food and lifestyle. During December at the last appointment before setting up the surgery, she had given me the MFP app, which I figured it was another dead end for me. Nothing else had ever worked, so why would this IF I decided not to have the surgery? I came home and talked to my husband. I think I had already decided in my own mind not to have the surgery, but I was comforted by the conversation I had with him as we stood in the garage and talked while he was unloading his truck from the deer hunting trip from which he had just returned. He had been supportive of me in wanting to have the surgery, but had already told me he would be happier if I decided not to do it, but he let me make my own decision. Anyway, together we decided I would not do it and that we would work together to get me slim and him slimmer (he's not fat anyway!). So that night I decided that the next morning I would start following MFP and see what happened. Mind you, this was two weeks before Christmas 2014, so my expectations of doing anything meaningful in the way of weight loss were not huge! Started anyway and by Christmas I had actually lost two pounds. Of course, by January 1, I had not lost another ounce. January 1, we both got serious; by my appointment January 15 with Chelsea, he had lost 6 pounds and I had lost 5. I was ecstatic. I am not going to tell you it has been a breeze, I still overeat at times, I still don't exercise as much as I probably should. But for the most part, I have followed MFP, watching calories and losing weight - 35 pounds so far. Something I have never been able to do on my own. Never. Lest you think I am young maybe and have tried only a couple times, no. I am 67 years old and have tried every diet in the book since I was about 25 and have done nothing but gain and lose, gain and lose, on a diet, off a diet, on a diet, off a diet until in November of 2014 I was tipping the scales at 285. I had tried on more than one occasion the calorie counting, but it never worked because it was so much trouble to look up all the foods and the fat content or the sugar content or the sodium content and on and on. But MFP does it for me. And I've had to tweak and learn and add and subtract. And I don't have a lot of MFP friends, but the ones I do have, I'm very thankful for their help and support, which has been invaluable to me. I have found the perfect fit for me. And I don't feel like, for the first time ever, that it is a diet! It is a lifestyle. It is the way I will have to eat forever more, but at least I get to eat. I eat food, real food. I like to eat. And knowing I can eat almost - ALMOST - anything as long as I stay within that calorie count, what a fantastic way to live. I have 65 more pounds to go. If it takes me the rest of the year or it takes me to the end of next year, that's okay. I can do this and I didn't cut out half my stomach and I can eat.
So please reconsider. I don't know your circumstances, so I am not at all telling you that what has worked for me is going to work for you. But as someone who was going in your direction and decided not to and am so happy and thankful every day that I didn't, please give it some thought - more thought maybe than you have. I know how hard it is. But in the vein of being a good citizen, I am wishing you luck in whatever you finally decide.

Anniepi66 wrote: »

Please don't do it. I will wish you luck, for sure; but I am asking you to please reconsider. It is not too late. I had gone through all the testing and counseling to prepare for the surgery, too. Not bypass, but gastric sleeve. My last visit with the nutritionist/dietitian helped me to make the decision not to do it. I was waffling already, and when I sat for over an hour with her and she went through this book of what I HAD TO DO, the very tiny, tiny amounts of food I would be able to eat and showed me exemplars of those food sizes, that I would be on liquids for two weeks before, for a couple weeks afterwards, then soft foods, then maybe never to eat certain foods again, the things which would make me sick, most likely, I sat there and thought why on earth am I doing this to myself? Why am I having half my stomach cut out to eat so little food? Surely I am strong enough to do this without the surgery. I even cried! I just wanted the weight off. When I first went to the surgeon, it was at the behest of the gastroenterologist because of my fatty liver, which I had to get under control. I have a family history of diabetes, heart attacks, cancer, breast cancer and am knocking on the door of diabetes already. After our meeting, Chelsea took me to the lady so I could go ahead and set up the appointment to have the surgery. I cried again. They both told me it was okay - nobody was going to make me have the surgery if I wasn't ready or if I wanted to think about it more or if I wanted to cancel it altogether. Chelsea and the appointment lady both reminded me the surgery was a tool only, it was not a cure and it was a huge decision. They were kind and understanding. I had also had a very long session with the surgeon early on. He also told me the surgery was a tool, not a cure; it was all up to me to make it work. And I HAD to work at it, it was not going to be easy and there was always the possibility I would gain the weight back if I didn't forever continue to eat tiny amounts of food and to learn not to eat some types of food forever. I didn't make the appointment for the surgery, but did make another appointment with Chelsea the dietitian for January of this year. Another hour meeting of talking food and lifestyle. During December at the last appointment before setting up the surgery, she had given me the MFP app, which I figured it was another dead end for me. Nothing else had ever worked, so why would this IF I decided not to have the surgery? I came home and talked to my husband. I think I had already decided in my own mind not to have the surgery, but I was comforted by the conversation I had with him as we stood in the garage and talked while he was unloading his truck from the deer hunting trip from which he had just returned. He had been supportive of me in wanting to have the surgery, but had already told me he would be happier if I decided not to do it, but he let me make my own decision. Anyway, together we decided I would not do it and that we would work together to get me slim and him slimmer (he's not fat anyway!). So that night I decided that the next morning I would start following MFP and see what happened. Mind you, this was two weeks before Christmas 2014, so my expectations of doing anything meaningful in the way of weight loss were not huge! Started anyway and by Christmas I had actually lost two pounds. Of course, by January 1, I had not lost another ounce. January 1, we both got serious; by my appointment January 15 with Chelsea, he had lost 6 pounds and I had lost 5. I was ecstatic. I am not going to tell you it has been a breeze, I still overeat at times, I still don't exercise as much as I probably should. But for the most part, I have followed MFP, watching calories and losing weight - 35 pounds so far. Something I have never been able to do on my own. Never. Lest you think I am young maybe and have tried only a couple times, no. I am 67 years old and have tried every diet in the book since I was about 25 and have done nothing but gain and lose, gain and lose, on a diet, off a diet, on a diet, off a diet until in November of 2014 I was tipping the scales at 285. I had tried on more than one occasion the calorie counting, but it never worked because it was so much trouble to look up all the foods and the fat content or the sugar content or the sodium content and on and on. But MFP does it for me. And I've had to tweak and learn and add and subtract. And I don't have a lot of MFP friends, but the ones I do have, I'm very thankful for their help and support, which has been invaluable to me. I have found the perfect fit for me. And I don't feel like, for the first time ever, that it is a diet! It is a lifestyle. It is the way I will have to eat forever more, but at least I get to eat. I eat food, real food. I like to eat. And knowing I can eat almost - ALMOST - anything as long as I stay within that calorie count, what a fantastic way to live. I have 65 more pounds to go. If it takes me the rest of the year or it takes me to the end of next year, that's okay. I can do this and I didn't cut out half my stomach and I can eat.
So please reconsider. I don't know your circumstances, so I am not at all telling you that what has worked for me is going to work for you. But as someone who was going in your direction and decided not to and am so happy and thankful every day that I didn't, please give it some thought - more thought maybe than you have. I know how hard it is. But in the vein of being a good citizen, I am wishing you luck in whatever you finally decide.