What was the hardest part of your decision?

[ambwolfe 20]

For me the hardest part of making the decision for surgery was having to put trying to have kids on hold. My husband and I have been trying for a while but I honestly believe my weight is stopping us. I just had to tell myself that after surgery I will be so much healthier and I can be a better example of healthy living for my future children.

[Nicole Cloud 39]

The hardest part for me was going against my father's wishes and actually having the surgery done, because he was completely against it even though my mom was completely supportive.

[ambwolfe 20]

The hardest part for me was going against my father's wishes and actually having the surgery done, because he was completely against it even though my mom was completely supportive.

Why was your dad unsupportive?

[portuguesegal10 16]

For me it was exactly the same as @@Nicole Cloud .. my dad is very against me getting surgery

[JamieLogical 8,713]

The hardest part for me was losing some of the respect my husband had for me. He has always seen me as an incredibly strong person and that vision of me was diminished somewhat when I "gave up" on losing weight and maintaining it on my own and turned to surgery. Don't get me wrong, he has been supportive of me through the whole process. But he never fully understood why I felt it was necessary and why, despite being so strong, I was unable to do it "on my own". He'd seen me lose 90+ pounds in the past on my own and he couldn't wrap his head around how/why I was unable to maintain that loss. Mostly because I probably made a lot of excuses about why I regained at the time and he believed them!

[CowgirlJane 14,260]

Plain and simple - FEAR

I had the lapband and failed. I felt the sense of failure with the band and with all previous attempts (I could lose alot of weight, but never get to a normal size, and always regain it) like a weight on my shoulders. Like evidence of how weak/awful/damaged I must be.

The thing that shifted my view about this was hearing from a woman who ran a non surgical weight loss program that i wanted to try. She explained to me the metabolic disease of obesity and why I had been trying to canoe upstream without a working paddle. She told me I needed the sleeve or bypass - i would not succeed in her 2 year lifestyle program because my obesity disease was just too advanced.

Then she said something magical "I know you will succeed with the sleeve, beyond your wildest dreams because in spite of everything - you never give up"

that was a completely different ways to see my failures. Everytime I failed, I tried again. Like running into a brick wall, but I kept trying. All that "try" paid off big time with the sleeve. So, sometimes, seeing things through a different viewpoint can really be a positive thing.

Now, 3 years post op, maintaining a normal body weight for the last 2 years - for the first time EVER, I mean I was chubby as a baby/toddler/preschooler and was obese by 1st grade - so truly first time EVER. (I got slim when I was in my 20s but only maintained for about 2 weeks, seriously) Can you imagine reaching your late 40s and finally having this dream come true? It is possible.

[ambwolfe 20]

@@CowgirlJane thanks for sharing your story very inspiring!

[bvenegas 89]

The hardest part for me was that with any surgery there is always a risk and i went back and forth with that. I have a family and it was hard for me to make the decision.

[CheleLynn45 615]

I would have to say the hardest part of deciding to have to surgery for me would have to be the belief in myself.

I had to do a 6 month doc supervised diet per my insurance, and though most people hate this requirement I welcomed it. I took those 6 months to work on me, to figure out why I wasn't keeping the weight off in years past, figuring out if I could do the hard work that is required with the sleeve.

So when my time came for surgery on October 27, 2014 I was ready!! I was confident I could do this and with my support team could tackle any obstacles that came my way. I believed in myself.

Now I am 18wks post op and I am loving life!!! I am succeeding and I KNOW I will do just great!! I'm not perfect, but I am living the life I want and I am losing the weight. I TRULY BELIEVE that I can and I will be successful!!

[ambwolfe 20]

I think a lot of people who have never considered bariatric surgery don't realize how hard of a decision it is.

[JCP 619]

The hardest part for me was realizing I could no longer take comfort in food and also admitting I was out of control and could not resolve the issue the "old fashioned" way.

[blissfulbeing 84]

My biggest fear is failing. I'm only three weeks out and I am doing really, really well.. But what about a year or two or three from now.. Will I, for once in my life, be able to maintain my weight loss? That is my biggest fear..

[Kindle 8,667]

I was very confident with my decision to have WLS, so the hardest part was trying to figure out how to fit it into my busy work schedule. I am part owner/vet tech/practice manager/after hours answering service/accounts receivable person in a small veterinary practice. With it just being me and the vet, if one of us is gone we are pretty limited on what services we can offer. No such thing as PTO. No work=no money. Neither of us had taken a single sick day in over 5 years. We schedule our vacations at the same time usually 1 week out of the year. I had decided on VSG and had selected my surgeon by June, but had to wait until December to get it done. I squeezed it in over the holidays, so between the weekend, Christmas Eve and Christmas, I only had to miss 3 days of work. And New Years helped make my first week back a short one.

The second hardest part was telling my parents. I postponed it until November but turned out I worried for no reason...after their initial surprise and concern, they were extremely supportive.

Edited March 4, 2015 by Kindle

[hanna91 33]

I'm scared of failing. I'm scared I will fall back into old habits. I'm scared I won't have the self control I need. I'm still preop and trying to change my ways as much as I can now. I have stopped snack foods and soda so it's a start. food has always been my comfort so it's scary not to have my security blanket

[Jovie62 135]

The hardest part for me was that I blamed myself for putting me in this position. I kept asking why I did or didn't do this or why I eat this or that. It was also hard to admit that I was "morbidly obese" as I read so many times on my health record.