Thursday, November 20, 2014

weighty decisions

I went to the weight loss seminar. I had a lot of questions answered. I was curious about exactly how big they make the size of the stomach when they do the sleeve surgery. Calling it a gastric sleeve kind of makes it sound like they put a sleeve of something around the stomach but really the dr removes about 85% of the stomach and the stomach is just a small sleeve or pouch. It causes weight loss by restricting the amount of food I would be able to eat as well as removing certain hormones that are made in the stomach like grehlin. This surgery is better for me then the gastric bypass because i dont want my intestines rerouted. This surgery sounds less risky for me. I know others would choose the gastric bypass as what is right for them. I always knew I did not want the lap band surgery. I have a consult with the dr next week. Also paperwork was sent to my insurance to see if they will cover the surgery and what I have to do before they will cover it. I still am not 100% sure this is what I will do but I am continuing to look into it and find out more info and then will make a decision. Ray is not wanting me to have it done. He is worried that something will go wrong or that I will have complications. He worries about how I will be able to eat and drink enough afterwards but I am sure I will be able to manage. I do not want to live the rest of my life being obese. I do not want to have complications from obesity. I am physically and emotionally exhausted from being obese. I have struggled with so many other ailments and feel like I have overcome a lot of my anxiety issues and this is what is allowing me to even look into doing something like this surgery...when I was having panic attacks I would not even have considered having any sort of surgery.

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Giving weight loss surgery heavy thought

I have struggled with my weight since I was 10 years old and my mom put me on my first diet. I went to a dietician and had to be weighed in weekly. When I went to my friends house I had to bring my own snacks. This lasted about 6 months until I got to the weight my mom thought was good. Looking back I do not think I was fat. I was chubby. I was very active. I played all sorts of sports. I was on a softball team, basketball team, I rode my bike everywhere etc..I was just not as skinny as my friends. I saw my dad struggle with his weight all his life and actually his weight contributed to his death. He finally decided he would have weight loss surgery but when he went to have a test to see if he could have it done he found out his heart was in A-fib and he ended up just going downhill from there. I do not want to wait so long and have health issues. My highest weight is around 250 which is very big for my 5 foot 2 height. I went to the orthopeidic dr and was told I need to have a total knee replacement but can not have it done because my BMI is too high. I have tried every diet out there and have only had limited success and then always gained the weight back. I need to do something more drastic. I am on blood pressure medicine and my blood sugar A1C test is scooting up towards diabetes...
     I am scheduled to go to a weight loss seminar tonight put on by a weight loss surgery group. They will discuss the various types of surgery. I am leaning towards the gastric sleeve. I want to find out of my insurance will cover it. I want to know the details. Side effects. Risks. Etc etc...I am not sure I will go ahead and go this route or not but I just want to go tonight and find out in the 2 hour seminar and then there is time to ask questions and I have a few questions I want to ask. Then I will find out if my insurance will even cover the surgery. If my insurance will not cover it then that will put an end to the entire thing...hopefully I will find out some good info and then can make a decision of what I think will be best for me.