Was it Worth It?

[CowgirlJane 14,259]

Alot of us fear regain. My revision to the sleeve was Dec 2011, and I can tell you my personal experience matches the statistics, it gets harder to maintain the further out you go. I am maintaining within about 5# of my goal weight, but wishing i was UNDER my goal like I used to be... I am up around 20# from my lowest weight.

anyway, I was thinking about all the doubts I had preop. I was suggested to get the sleeve by my sleep apnea doctor who correctly diagnosed that I was on a path to early death with a side trip through disability. I gave him all the arguments why WLS was a bad idea - all the risks etc but the main one being "doesn't everybody always regain?"

He knew the stats so was able to talk percentages (most people regain some, not all) but more impactful was him asking me a couple of questions.

1. Imagine you got to goal, and within 5 years you had regained 50% of the weight you lost... would it still be worth it to have had all that time living a normal, healthy life, where you can move around freely, fit in socially... all that stuff?

My answer was of course YES

2. Imagine the same as above, only in 10 years you do regain all the lost weight. A whole decade of living healthier, trimmer (maybe not thin, but way improved over where I was) - would that be worth it?

My answer was of course YES

I have taken my own doubts and turned them into motivation. I KNOW that it is hard to maintain. Look around - not just formerly morbidly obese - even "normal people" have trouble keeping trim in their middle ages. I view my struggle now as at least possible. I feel like my sleeve has made me more like on an even playing field with all the other 50 year old women working to keep from aquiring a spare tire. Ask any of us, it's a b*tch.

So, for me, this has been worth it but have no illusions, the work continues day after day... in some ways I think maintenance is harder than the losing phase. I think it is human nature to want to cross the finish line, declare victory, and call it good. Doesn't work that way...