KatjaE

Hello! Just wanted to introduce myself. I'm KatjaE and I just got my surgery date of August 27 -- about six weeks away. I'm a complete beginner here, but I think I'm ready. I'm more excited than nervous. I've already made a LOT of behavioral changes over the last year: -- In March 2009, I started exercising 6 days a week (33 minutes on a recumbent stationary bike). This did not lead to weight loss, but it made me feel stronger and healthier. -- In the summer of 2009, I stopped eating ice cream and started eating big salads almost every day. (This was a MAJOR change for me and my family.) This did not lead to weight loss either. -- In January and February of 2010, I had some brief but severe health issues caused by a drug interaction. This led me to change my diet in a couple of ways: ------ I started eating lots of plain yogurt and other dairy products with good bacteria (probiotics) to control some serious digestive issues caused by massive quantities of antibiotics during the hospitalizations. ------ I also cut way back on carbs because I learned (while in the hospital) that my blood sugar was a bit high -- not at the level of diabetes, but not good, either. I have lost about 20 pounds since February. I attribute the weight loss partly to the low-carb diet but also partly to the fact that I've stopped taking the medications that made me so sick in January and February. I believe that they might have caused part of my weight gain over the last few years. I am pursuing the lap band surgery because I want to control several lingering health issues: elevated blood sugar, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and sleep apnea (I use a CPAP machine). These issues do not affect my quality of life a great deal right now (at age 43), but I think they will cause problems as I get older. So I want to fix them now. I'm curious to hear from folks about how they decided whom to tell about their surgery. My own preference would be to tell my husband and children, and no one else. I'm not sure why I feel this way. I don't feel ashamed of needing the surgery, but for some reason -- I just don't want to tell anyone, not even my parents, who I'm sure would be supportive. Maybe I just don't want people to be asking me afterwards "so how much weight have you lost?" I'm not really interested in discussing my weight with anyone other than my doctor. Well, I'm looking forward to hearing from some of you and to reading all of the threads on this board! Thanks for listening! KatjaE :grouphug:

Good luck to both of you, Mishells and Brenda! And thank you for writing back. :grouphug: I don't think the surgery is the easy way out. It's the ONLY way out. Something like 95% or 98% of people who lose weight with diet and exercise alone GAIN BACK THE WEIGHT. Somehow, the human body was not meant to lose lots of weight and keep it off. And I am not really interested in talking with people who think it's the "easy way out" or that I'm just being lazy. I've worked very hard and lost significant weight several times over the last 15 years. If most people I know aren't ready to understand that, I'm just not interested in convincing them. This is why I don't really want to tell people about it. I was glad to hear that Mishells feels the same way. It will be a little awkward though, because I will have those days off from work and then be on a different diet when I get back. But I'm hoping to take just 3 - 4 days off work (the surgery is on a Friday -- I hope to go back to work the following Wednesday or Thursday). And everyone knows I'm already being careful about what I eat and watching my carbs and blood sugar. They all know I had health issues earlier this year and had to be on a liquid diet while battling C Diff. So -- I'm guessing no one will figure out I've had WLS. What kind of hoops have you had to jump through? I had to demonstrate that I could lose some weight under a doctor's supervision for three months. I also had to have a psych evaluation, which went just fine. Tomorrow is the nutrition counseling. I will also have a physical therapy session in a couple of weeks. I'm not sure what that is about; I suppose they teach you how to exercise? That is not really a problem for me, but I suppose if I had more severe limitations, I might not know how to exercise. I'm curious to hear others' experiences in this "getting ready" stage! KatjaE