[lawilson]

My number one reason was to get rid of all the medical complications that I had, diabeties, high blood pressure, high cholestoral, etc... and at the bottom of the list is looking good again for "ME".

Since my surgery on 9/14, I'm off the meds and on my way to looking good. During the first two weeks with only water and sugar free jello, some broth I have to admit I was a little sorry I did it, but now it's the best decision I ever made. I have a goal and see a light at the end of the tunnel.

[otaku]

backpain, and other issues. I don't like being so big it makes clothes a nightmare and appearance is important. I'm a young man I shouldn't be like this. I always have though so this is sort of a last resort.

[bela]

My deciding factors were:

- oh my, it's a nightmare to put socks on!!!
- a year ago I lost 5 kg with diet and now I put up 15kg! I don't want anymore this damn yo-yo thingy!

[momrobare]

For me it was a visit to my grandsons...then age 4 and 2! The oldest one (Maddox) and I were going up the stairs and he was behind me and he said "Grandma you've got the biggest bum of everybody in the family"! I didn't say anything at that time. Later my daughter and I were discussing diabetes (which I had) and my weight and she was talking about heart attacks and Maddox was sitting on the couch listening. A few minutes after our discussion I went over and sat next to him. He said "Grandma...my grandpa died." His mom's father but NOT my husband died earlier in the year! I said "I know he did". He said "And you're going to die too grandma". I said "Well not right away. I want to live long enough to see you get married". He looked me right in the eye and said "Ok Grandma...I'll get married on one day and you can die of a heart attack the next day".

Let me tell you THAT opened up my eyes to the fact that I was eating myself into an early grave!!!!!!!

I made up my mind THAT day that when I came back to NY ...I would attend the WLS seminar again (the first time I chickened out because it seemed too drastic a measure and if something went wrong there wasn't a whole lot of options). I'll be honest...I went to the seminar with the idea of the lapband because it could be removed but I came out of the seminar with the decision already made to have the gastric bypass!

I want to live long enough to enjoy my GREAT GRANDCHILDREN and maybe even see a GREAT GREAT grandchild!!!!

So Maddox was the reason I got serious and realized that I was headed for an early grave if I kept going the way I was going! Plus I went through it when my daughter was a teenager and didn't want to be seen with me...I did NOT want that to happen when my grandsons are teenagers! They may not want to stay and visit with their grandma but I sure hope they will never be ashamed to be seen with me because of how I look!

[momrobare]

Originally Posted by earthygirl

For me it was not being able to do anything without. gasping for air. I couldn;t even walk to the mailbox. That coupled with the sudden onset of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and bad choloesterol.

The main thing though was my doctor telling me that if i kept going the way I was, I wasn't going to be around for as long as I should be.

I am a 3 year newlywed and this scared the heck out of me. Not to mention that I went through all the fertility clinic hoops, just short of ivf and no luck.

I'm happy to say that even at this short time out of wls I am off all of my meds with exception of half a bp pill. Course I traded them for vitamins and birth control pills but I'll take that trade any day!

As I said above my grandson opened my eyes but after the doctor added 3 1000mg of Metformin a day to my THREE insulin injections...THAT became a huge reason for my WLS too.

I also have high blood pressure and high cholesterol as well as very arthritic knees.

NOW I am off ALL diabetes medication and the high cholesterol medication and if I go back in 3 months and my blood pressure is a tad bit lower...I will be off that too!

Such a relief not to have to carry my insulin pens with me every where I go and not have to worry about forgetting to take one of the shots or a pill.

[mj2903]

I have toyed with the idea for probably 8-10 years, but always chickened out, found excuses - insurance wouldn't cover it, or just thought that I can do this on my own. I am tired of the way I look, the way I feel etc. When I heard the stats of someone morbidly obese living to the age of 65, my mind was made up in that instant, luckily our insurance now will cover it and according to the printed guidelines I do qualify. I also went to the seminar looking at the lap band and the surgeon said that they do about 80% lap bands and 20% rny. But I came out of the session set on the rny. Too many things about the band and the hard look I took at myself just don't make me feel that it is the best option for me.
I want to live to 65, I want to see my grandchildren and preferably great grandchildren or maybe even great great grandchildren. I will make the 2nd of those goals probably in November, when my first grandchild is due. Now hopefully I will have lost enough weight to be able to enjoy grandbaby and get on the floor and back up easily when playing with the grandbaby- which I call 'baby bump' right now as we won't know until next month if it is a boy or a girl and I just can't say 'it' when talking about baby.

Those are my reasons, I want to live and be able to be part of my children/grandchildren etc. lives.

[C.Ray]

The WLS was my best choice ever. My Blood preasure was 200 over 100 and my eye doctor told me if I did not get the preasure down I was going to go blind and drop dead.

Going blind is not an option for me, I value my sight over all ealse.

This is great to see what spured others onto the operation table to get healthy.

[tommiedean378]

378 Pounds. When I could say that out loud without crying I knew I needed help and was ready for it. I know many people who cannot say their weight out loud. I learned to say it and it then became reality for me I knew I needed help. I had seen everyone else in the family including my self lose and then gain it back. So I decided to get drastic and it is working for me. I am lucky and have my whole family behind me, I think they want to see how well I do and then they might take the plunge.

[yvonneiam]

I had thought about it over the years but always made excuses even cancelled a few seminars I was suppose to attend. My husbands work slowed down to only 4 days a week so there was another excuse. Finally he said enough is enough and we went to a seminar and that basically got the ball rolling. I almost chickened out throughout the six month medically supervised diet that was required through insurance. I found out I had type 2 diabeties,sleep apnea,kness buckling up under me,severe back pain and swelled so badly that it hurt to walk. Basically all the above was my wakeup call because I wanted to live and be healthy for myself and my family.

[bluedelight]

My ENT Dr referred me to a weight management program 7 years earlier but my schedule of travelling weekly to a contract 250 miles away would not allow me to invest a year of weekly meetings at the clinic.

I assured my pcp and my ent that I would do it myself by exercising and eating right.

6 1/2 years later I was 80 pounds heavier. I knew I had no self control to loose weight myself so I booked myself back into the wl clinic. When confronted with the choice of that self-management program or surgery as an option I did my research and opted for long term success of keeping off the weight 10, 15, 20 years later by going the surgery route.

That fact that insurance covered the cost of the surgery and not the wl program didn't hurt either but it wasn't really a financial consideration because I could afford to pay for the program if I had to.

It wasn't as much current health problems as much as future problems as I knew I was not able to loose the weight by myself and was confident that I would gain the weight back years later under any other wl program or procedure I chose and face many health related illnesses that would shorten my life and restrict my ability to enjoy life.

I guess in that respect, I knew I was a good (no a great) candidate to be approved by the provincial health plan and I had made the right choice.

So far I know I made the right choice and my only regret is not having done this 7 years earlier, or 15 for that matter