Mattymatt

There is no age where it is good or healthy to be overweight. We are all "too old" to be overweight. LOL!

Hearing the hard truth from my doctors is what set me on this path. My doctors were gentle but firm and really did not want to see me die of a heart attack or become impaired by a stroke. It's nice that they're firmly in my corner and care. My family has been mostly supportive, my father notwithstanding. But his lack of support really is a non-issue.

What are the foamies?

I am coming off of the worst year of my life in terms of physical health. In 2017 I was hospitalized for a week with diabetic ketoacidosis. It literally took my care team 7 days to get my blood sugar down from the high 800s to the 200s. Then I found I had sleep apnea and needed to adjust to sleeping with a machine. Finally, at peak misery, I attended a weigh loss surgery information session in September of 2017. It took all of self control not to break down in tears during the whole shebang. I came to WLS at the urgence of my primary care and endocrinologist. Traditional diet and exercise had not worked in the past and I realized that attempting to do the same thing and expecting different results is madness. Now in February, I am finally going to do it and maybe make the second half of my life the best years.

You have the right attitude. A can do attitude helps a lot.

I am with you on this one. Once I get through surgery, my goal is to never touch the trigger foods again. My goal is to make life about not living to eat, but living for life. I don't have self-control either so it's wise for me to treat those trigger foods like an alcoholic abstains from alcohol.

Way to go!

You're under care so I would try not to worry and leave it to the professionals. If they're unconcerned, I would say you need not be either. :-)

Pending the outcome of the sleep study, you may qualify based on having both sleep apnea and obesity. Ususally for folks with a BMI of less than 40, a co-morbidity is necessary. In this case, having sleep apnea in addition to obesity may qualify you. However, you really need to call your insurance provider's information line for specifics. That will give you the best info available.

Are you still under the surgeon's care in the hospital?

If I were the boss, I know how I would act. I would be positive and supportive of you because a healthy employee is a productive and happier one. I also know that if you are healthier, my insurance costs go down so I would be rooting for you on that front as well. If I really needed your position filled, I would simply go to a temp agency for the time that you are out. Temp agencies can be expensive but the expense can be deducted on income taxes. That being said, I cannot really predict how others would react because the business world is often about the bottom line and rarely considers matters beyond profit and loss. I would advise being honest - even if the outcome is not what you hope for, you do not compromise your integrity. It's funny, last week I had an interview where I really did not care one way or the other how it would go - if these guys passed me up, there would be plenty of others to go to. I interviewed for a security guard position and turnover rate is so high in contract security, as long as you haven't committed a felony and you have a warm body with pulse, you'll get hired. I am coming off of disability and did not want to go back the career I was working. Anyhow, at the interview, I told the hiring manager I would be getting weight loss surgery just for giggles but he hired me anyhow. I'd like to think that he actually gives a damn about me and my health but I'd be deluding myself.

You've got this. As I've heard others say, the hardest part is actually admitting you need help and going to the information session. Let us know how everything goes.

LOL, I get sick from Starbucks now and I have not even gone through RNY just yet. Imagine how sick I'll get post-op if I touch Starbucks. Their coffee is WAY too strong. I like Wawa and Dunkin Donuts. Much more manageable.

Relationships are definitely more complex than friendships. In a relationship, we look for different things and we have different needs. Attraction is also a very complicated thing and I don't even understand it myself because sometimes there are bigger women that I've been strongly attracted to, and at other times, I have not. I have been strongly attracted to women whom would not be considered pretty in the classic sense. It has to be the totality of the person. This is why I really don't have a type! I have to meet the person and if we click, sh*t, we click. If not, that's fine too. Sometimes I bemoan the fact that not even bigger women will check me out and then I have to remember that I as a bigger man, don't always check out bigger women. See, attraction is a really complicated thing. I've had bigger women look at me with disgust. I've had women whom would not be considered classically beautiful look at me with disgust. But I am never bitter because the shoe could just easily be on the other foot.

Were I you, I would just go without. The risk of complications is just too high for so small a reward.

I am impressed with your grit iron determination, @FluffyChix. An 89 day stall is a very long time. I could take a lesson from you!

Carbonated drinks are really not a good idea at all. I've been warned that they can cause stomach leakage and even tear at the surgical staples. I will be giving up soda, beer, and sugar once I am post-op. I am operating on the principle that I should never go back to these kinds of foods again. We have to remember that WLS is a tool that helps with one part of the equation - it isn't the total answer.

I was told that I must give up caffeinated beverages altogether. I am fine with that because I could always take them or leave them. It must be difficult for people who have the caffeine and nicotine addictions.

That's a great idea!

What procedure did you have? I am going the RNY route and I think your problem would be one that I would be happy to have. Right now, I can only dream of being active. Well, in the not too distant future this will happen. I'm scheduled for surgery on the 8th of February.

Oh man! You're still quite young. Don't let excess skin dissuade you. You could be in my shoes with Type 2 Diabetes, sleep apnea, AND high blood pressure. I wish I had thought about bariatric surgery 5 years ago. I am 40 now and just grateful for the opportunity.

Oh man! That means the little matty might actually show itself when I drop some weight. Soweeeeeet!

A normal BMI for me is about 190 as I am 6'4" I am sure going to strive to get there, but I think I could be happy and healthy so long as I stay below 215. Still, 190 is the aim. That's going to put me at almost 170 pounds lost. I am going to lose an adult male worth of weight ... LOL

I am willing to bet, your biggest cheerleader will be your son. Once you get to goal weight, you and your son can revisit the cruise and both of you can fully participate. I hate feeling like I cannot participate in life. I want to date, I want to be active, and I want to be healthy. It took me developing Type 2 Diabetes to finally get me to the point of considering surgery. I am going to do the RNY because the outcome of diabetes reversal is the best. I miss the mountains and being able to ride my bicycle as well. I am wishing you all of the best. This will be kind of like the "do-over" moments from our childhoods. We get a chance as an adult to start our lives anew. I am single and 40 and can't "weight" for my brother's wedding in August. I have surgery on the 8th of Feb and (hopefully) come August, I'll get to rock that tuxedo.

I am a cat guy too! Good to see another guy that likes felines.