Peanut120

I am BRAND NEW so please bear with me! I am 61 years old and 65 lbs overweight -- I have a BMI of 37 (not diabetic but have GERD, high BP and cholesterol, both controlled by meds). I have been overweight ALL of my adult life minus 3 years when I successfully lost 55 lbs on WW -- I kept most of it off for about 2 years. Since then I have gained that plus 10 lbs. I like WW -- I like recording what I eat and enjoy the meetings, but have not been successful since that one time in spite of re-joining eleventy-million times.... (I never got to "lifetime" when I lost the 55 lbs -- I just stopped going after the majority of the weight was gone. So in fairness to WW, I never followed through on their entire program.) I have a hiatal hernia that now must be fixed by surgery -- I had an internal bleed that made me severely anemic and in the hospital for 5 days. While there I met with a Thoracic surgeon who confirmed I would need surgery -- and she asked me if I would consider Bariatric Surgery at the same time. What? YES! Of course! Let's DO it! And then... I found out about dumping. I have a SEVERE fear of vomiting -- I literally have thrown up less than 10 times in my 61 years (many times I should have but I fight it -- which just makes me more miserable). I would almost rather die than barf. I have read everything I can about "dumping" and I find myself asking: why would I do ANYTHING that might increase the risk that I will vomit? Granted, WW is slow and tedious, but I can do so without fear of dumping. Also, the thing that keeps coming through when I read about bariatric surgery is that it is not the SURGERY that makes you lose weight, it is the nutritional program and long term lifestyle changes that make you lose weight. Anyway, I'm just super scared about dumping and also question having two pretty intense stomach surgeries at the same time. (Heck, I will lose weight from the hernia surgery alone -- maybe use that as a jumping board to really get back into WW?) Any advice would be greatly appreciated -- and sorry to go on so about WW -- I know this is not a forum about other weight loss programs. Cheers and thanks, Peanut120

Yes, the Doctor told me about this (and I've read about it as well) but I have been at a healthier set point for a very long time (10 years) and am confident I can get back there again. I know it takes a long time to "reset" your set point, but I know it can be done and I'm willing to really work hard to avoid the surgery. I like that my surgeon is challenging me to lose the weight so that I don't have to have the surgery - I really appreciate his honesty. (He said that although the two surgeries are frequently done together, it still means there is more risk, and having only one of the surgeries is preferable.) Thank you for your response -- everything everyone has said has been excellent "food for thought" (ha ha).