James McDonald

Hi everyone,
 
I'm new here. I'm not very good at internet searches. I will probably be asking a lot of questions. Questions that have probably been asked and answered several times.
 
I will be 55 in a couple of weeks. I am very short for a man. At 5' 4" I currently weigh about 235. A couple of years ago I was 260, so I have been successful at taking some of the weight off myself. Like many of you, I had tried every kind of diet on the planet from the lemonade and cayenne pepper one to Weight Watchers (most successful), and lately paleo and Mediterranean. (Side note: if the Mediterranean diet is so good for you, why are Italian grandmothers always portrayed as fat?).
 
My most successful weight loss was at Weight Watchers a few years ago. I started at 260 and got to 202 pounds. But I could not get below that 200 mark. I tried for months, a year actually, and just could not get below it. After a while it was embarrassing going to the meetings and listening to (imagined) accusations of cheating. I was wasting $40 a month on it and with no raises at work for three years running, I just couldn't afford it anymore.
 
Which of course meant I started putting the weight back on. Not to 260 thankfully, but enough.
 
About this time, my hours at worked changed making it harder to get out and walk. I don't get any weight loss from walking unless I go at least 3-5 miles at a stretch so I need significant amounts of time for walking.
 
But walking has been getting increasingly difficult for me. I have meralgia paresthetica in my right thigh, and after a couple of miles of walking, or after about 20 minutes of standing or slow trolling (not good for shopping trips with the wife) my thigh feels like it's on fire--literally. Literally, literally, not figuratively literally.
 
Last winter was a particularly bad one in West Michigan. I have a gravel driveway on a truck route. Because of this, I can't plow or snow-blow the driveway. I have to do it the old fashioned way. My wife has a bad back, and my children are all adults and don't live with us anymore. So it's up to me and my trusty, rusty shovel, and my arthritic back. And because I live on a truck route, my street gets plowed several times every day. Not good for someone who has to go back out and reshovel eight inches of hard-pack plus the weight of the salt every time they pass by.
 
Throw my weight into the mix and you can see why I need to lose my weight. It is getting harder and harder to exercise and do physical labor when it is difficult to just bend over, or crouch and get back up again without rolling onto my knees first. It's crazy embarrassing, especially when working with someone 10 years older than you and they are in much better shape.
 
My niece had roux en y done a few years ago. She is 20 years younger than I am, so she has some added benefits, like skin that is still elastic. But she has lost all of the weight that she had gained starting with the never-ending food bar at Western Michigan U. She has her teenage body back and she is enjoying life to the fullest, so she is a HUGE inspiration to me.
 
It can be so frustrating, not only as an impediment to work and exercise, but to be able to tie my shoes again without holding my breath...

Sorry this is so long. I hope it gives a clear picture of why I want this surgery done.