What Was Your Final "straw That Broke The Camels Back"

[Leonafire 20]

I am at the very beginning of my journey, I have been one of the ignorant people that tend to pass judgment on WLS, My daughter was sleeved last year, and it took everything in me to not nag her to death, I just felt, their she was taking yet another easy road out of something, I mean come on girl get off your a** and step away from the fork. Stop being so lazy. Well...now here we are, she has a hot healthy active body, she even did a 26mi bike ride with her and my grandchildren. Me on the other hand, have gained 30lbs since her surgery,which makes me almost in the mid 200,im all of 5'3 I'm in pain 24/7 and... Wait for it... I can't even wipe correctly, I know that may be TMI for some of you, but seriously I will bet there are some of you that feel the same way, just not putting it out there. I will do it for you, I want to wipe like a normal person, I want to wash those personal areas without pulling a muscle. I have many other triggers that finally opened up my mind and my heart to this path, but when I saw the topic, What was your last straw? that is the first thing that popped in my mind. I will be attending the seminar this week, my daughter has been such an inspiration to me, and I have seen the suffering, hard work and sacrifices she has made to get to where she is today. No easy road with this decision for sure. I am ready, I am ready to be the hot healthy grandma that can actually sit on the floor and get up all by her self. Ready, Set, Go!!!!

[Bunnydee 40]

Boy I sure can relate to all these stories. Except I DID have the shallow Hal moment. That has been something I will NEVER forget. My Dad was sitting accross from me at this long table of family at a restaurant (celebrating Fathers Day). And it began to happen, the chair started collapsing in slow motion as my Father and I locked eyes...I will never forget that look of helplessness he had in his eyes as well as embarrassment for me. Another time at Knott's berry farm I had to get off a ride because the lap belt wouldn't fit. That was horrible as everyone in my party just looked at me with sadness. I don't ever want anyone to feel those emotions because of me. Especially my Son. He is 8 and I want to do more with him. He loves the outside and I want to go hiking, ride bikes and swim with him. I want to wear clothes and it fit right. Wearing a bathing suit would be fantabulous! I know I have a great support group in my family and friends. My surgery is 2 weeks from tomorrow and I can't wait. Lord help me!

[sleevieray 25]

I've read almost all of the posts in this thread. I have tears in my eyes after reading so many sad things. I totally relate with almost everyone.

So many people were brave enough to post their stories, so I thought I would post mine as well. My last straw occurred in early December, when I took a flight home to see my friends. I was very late getting to the airport due to a bad accident on the highway. I attempted to run through the airport, but could not do it. I could hear people laughing at me. I made it to the plane seconds before the doors were closed. I had to make the walk of shame down the aisle while huffing and puffing and sweating. Most of the passengers looked at me with expressions that seemed to say, "Please don't let her sit next to me." I know I'm not imagining that several people looked relieved when they realized I wasn't in their row. When I made it to my seat, I had to ask the flight attendant for a belt extender. I was mortified.

I had already made an appointment for the surgery to take place on the 20th of December, but I was debating canceling it, as I believed I could lose weight on my own. However, on the plane, I realized that I could not do it on my own and that I desperately needed this tool. I went through with the surgery and I haven't looked back since.

Good luck to everyone on their journey. Thanks to all who posted before me for giving me the courage to tell my story as well.

[vols fan 60]

Boy I sure can relate to all these stories. Except I DID have the shallow Hal moment. That has been something I will NEVER forget. My Dad was sitting accross from me at this long table of family at a restaurant (celebrating Fathers Day). And it began to happen' date=' the chair started collapsing in slow motion as my Father and I locked eyes...I will never forget that look of helplessness he had in his eyes as well as embarrassment for me. Another time at Knott's Berry farm I had to get off a ride because the lap belt wouldn't fit. That was horrible as everyone in my party just looked at me with sadness. I don't ever want anyone to feel those emotions because of me. Especially my Son. He is 8 and I want to do more with him. He loves the outside and I want to go hiking, ride bikes and swim with him. I want to wear clothes and it fit right. Wearing a bathing suit would be fantabulous! I know I have a great support group in my family and friends. My surgery is 2 weeks from tomorrow and I can't wait. Lord help me![/quote']

Congrats on your surgery mine is two weeks from tomorow also Jan 28th let do the dang thing!

[Mysties mom 23]

I am at the very beginning of my journey, I have been one of the ignorant people that tend to pass judgment on WLS, My daughter was sleeved last year, and it took everything in me to not nag her to death, I just felt, their she was taking yet another easy road out of something, I mean come on girl get off your a** and step away from the fork. Stop being so lazy. Well...now here we are, she has a hot healthy active body, she even did a 26mi bike ride with her and my grandchildren. Me on the other hand, have gained 30lbs since her surgery,which makes me almost in the mid 200,im all of 5'3 I'm in pain 24/7 and... Wait for it... I can't even wipe correctly, I know that may be TMI for some of you, but seriously I will bet there are some of you that feel the same way, just not putting it out there. I will do it for you, I want to wipe like a normal person, I want to wash those personal areas without pulling a muscle. I have many other triggers that finally opened up my mind and my heart to this path, but when I saw the topic, What was your last straw? that is the first thing that popped in my mind. I will be attending the seminar this week, my daughter has been such an inspiration to me, and I have seen the suffering, hard work and sacrifices she has made to get to where she is today. No easy road with this decision for sure. I am ready, I am ready to be the hot healthy grandma that can actually sit on the floor and get up all by her self. Ready, Set, Go!!!!

You are moving in the right direction! I was sleeved 2 1/2 months ago and I am so glad I did! One of my issues was the same TMI issue you had (you are not alone there) and I no longer have that issue YAY !!! I just hope that I may be leading by example and that my daughter might follow my lead!

You may be a step ahead of some of us in that your daugher can direct you and guide you as she has been there! Best of luck to you!

[HikeEveryMountain 112]

Congrats on your surgery mine is two weeks from tomorow also Jan 28th let do the dang thing!

Jan 28th also!!

[LeaveItToSleever 80]

The final straw was partially regaining a 143 lb loss.

Losing such a massive amount of weight changed my life drastically. Being slim was better than anything I'd ever imagined, far beyond my wildest expectations. But regaining 90 lbs devastated me like I'd never been devastated before. It was such a huge sense of personal failure. I felt humbled and humiliated. I saw four doctors, joined a gym, hired a personal trainer, even saw an exercise physiologist; but none of them could tell me what was happening inside my body or tell me anything I didn't already know. More importantly, none of them could help. Two of the doctors wanted to put me on antidepressants and get me out the door- they didn't want to (or know how to) deal with the problem at all.

Ironically, one of the doctors who offered me Prozac told me to gain weight so I could qualify for surgery. I was flabbergasted, but eventually I did gain enough weight to qualify, and because I had a primary provider's referral, I made an appointment with a bariatric surgery center. That began the process.

[Bunnydee 40]

Congrats on your surgery mine is two weeks from tomorow also Jan 28th let do the dang thing!

Yayyy lets do this! I will try to see how you are that evening.

[Vicki3007 11]

I don't think it was any one thing for me, guess I just got tied of being stared at and stereotyped as the fat, lazy, gluttonous person.

Got sick of being stared at in public places, of rude sales clerks asking me why I did not lose weight (I was just trying out some shoes!)

Also, anytime I got invited to amusement parks my first thought would be, would I fit in the rides?

In pictures I would always try to duck behind others which didn't work very well as I am rather short.

Random people I have just met would tell me to diet and exercise as though I couldn't have thought of that on my own! Gee really? how amazingly original of you!

Anyways, all that and a lot more, but was a rather gradual process for me.

[*Dean* 1,594]

I've had lots of 'final straw' moments with diets.

The reason I decided I needed a tool like WLS was that as I got older weight loss got infinately harder and I'd lost all optimisim for losing weight on my own.

I know that to lose weight where your head is at is key. So here I am!

[trujiyi 9]

I have been thick/chunky my whole life and have always been ok with it. I am currently at my highest weight (without being pregnant) and am tired. There are so many stigmas that cone with being obese. If you are in a bad mood people attribute it to fatness. If you are single, people assume you can't find a man because you are fat. If you are no nonsense, you are a fat b***h... I am tired of being all those things. I am ready to be the skinny b***h!!! February 14th baby

[devinsgram 3]

I can relate to most of the weight stories and that is why i am scheduled for surgery jan 27/ 2013. I go to amusement parks alot use to love the rides until that one time on a roller coaster with my 24 year old daughter and friends i could not buckle the belt i walked away so mortifed but not enough to do anything yet that was 5 years ago. I now have an awesome grandson who is 3 1/2 he likes rides i squeezed into the train with him at dorney park. His smile he was so happy, but i could not enjoy i was in so much pain my knees i did not fit in the seat of course. I am looking foward to a healthier me

[NtvTxn 1,262]

This is so weird when I think about it, the 'I am going to do it' moment. It was about 2 AM, December 2010. I had gotten up to go to the bathroom and I was disgusted that my tummy was in my lap. I knew then I was going to have surgery. At that particular time, I was thinking 'lap band' because a friend of mine had it done about two years earlier. She was alive and healthy and had lost 60 lbs. I had a low BMI, 36 at the highest and just under 36 when I had surgery the following June, but that is when I KNEW. I was obsessive about learning all I could and early on I learned about sleeve surgery and decided it was a better choice. I was self pay. It was by far, the best decision and I've ever made for me and it was money well spent. A couple of days later (after making sure this wasn't a fleeting thought) I told my husband, who hated that our friend had 'risked her good health' to have surgery. For me, it was all about vanity, I had NO health issues....not at age 50, but we all know that at some point, it was bound to happen.

There you have it, the last straw happened for me in the bathroom at 2 AM!!!

[DeeBrownBaker 139]

I have 3 children, 21, 17, and 8... my oldest is engaged to be married, my middle child graduates high school and has college aspirations for later this year... one particular night, the older two were out with their friends... and it was just me and my youngest....I was in pain... and asking him to bring me this... and bring me that... I realized that if I didn't take charge of my health... get this weight under control... this kid would be stuck with me ALONE in the next few months...I don't want my son to have to take care of me... I'm supposed to be the care giver... I am now 7 wks post-op... and I am more energetic and in less pain... Grateful I took this chance to turn it around!

[NurseGrace 509]

The one thing that stands out in my mind that made me feel like I had had enough was one day I was assisting in the operating room and we needed to all put lead on because we were using a a series of xrays to make sure we were getting the epidural in just the right spot. The lead aprons wouldn't fit over my midsection. It was horrifying. These things are pretty big and are meant to be a sort of "one size fits all" and when that didn't fit over me I knew - this is real.

I am only 24, I dont have health problems at this point related to my weight but that was the first time it was made real for me that I am seriously putting myself at risk for excess radiation from not wearing the lead like I should, and what that might mean for me later on out. I am not an OR nurse but that was just the beginning of it for me, and I realized what a huge problem I had on my hands.