thanks for the advice. I know that not being honest is the wrong approach, but I want to keep this private, atleast for now. My daughters (aged 16 & 18) are thrilled for me. When I told them about it, their reaction was one that I'd expect if I told them I won the lottery. My husband...not so much. I didn't even tell him that I was attending the seminar or that I was even CONSIDERING having the surgery until after I scheduled it. I knew that I wouldn't have the support, so I just felt better about doing those things alone. I actually didn't even TELL him anything until AFTER it was scheduled. Basically, after I scheduled it, I TOLD him that I WAS doing it with or without his support. I've never done anything like that before, but I felt strong enough to just tell him that's what I was doing! (I haven't worked for ten years (I stayed home with children), and during that time, I kind of lost myself). He says he's just "being realistic" but basically doesn't think I can do it. I asked him to join my "team" and be my cheerleader, but I don't expect that to happen. My surgeon does a webinar on youtube, and I sent my husband the link so that he could watch it. It's only about 30 minutes long, but it took him well over 24 hours to even open the email. I was so excited, and I sent him the link in an afternoon, but he came home from work and watched golf on TV instead of logging on and watching. I guess I was hoping for him to watch the video and do some online research so he could know how to best support me. I haven't told my parents, because my mom is an extreme worrier and my dad is expecting a phone call for a kidney transplant any day now, so I don't want to add to their plate. I have one close friend that lives nearby, but she is very thin and very exercise/health conscious and VERY opinionated. I wouldn't expect support from her.
I guess this explains why this "job" that I have is very important to me. I just started in August and I only work about 20 hours a week, but it's the first time that I have felt appreciated in YEARS. It's probably something that I don't want to do forever, but it's great for me because it offers flexibility during the day, which is important since I have daughters in High School. The doctors that I work for are very conservative with medicine, and, because of their culture, I genuinely wouldn't expect them to be supportive, but, I guess I could be wrong. (they seem to be very judgemental) The real issue is probably that I don't even feel confident enough in myself to sit down and have the conversation with them. I don't want to feel judged. I'm a smart person and I know that lying is not the best approach, but I'm just feeling like I don't know how to approach it. I'm hoping that after the surgery, I'll lose the weight and gain the self confidence back that I used to have.