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I've been looking into weight loss surgery for about 3 years now, my partner and I have been trying to conceive about the same amount of time, and I think the final straw for me was when I finally fell pregnant last year in December and then sadly lost the baby :(

I also have PCOS and an under active thyroid.

type 2 diabetes runs in my mums family, everyone has it and after having a blood test and my doctor telling me that I'm already so close to getting diabetes if I don't do anything ASAP, so I have decided all this was the last straw for me and I need to have this done...

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Go sleeve

Stay away from the lapband.I say sleeve because you want to bear children...seems safer.

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My last straw was when my husband lost his job secondary to disability and I gained 50 lbs in a year following a crazy hike where I tore my knee meniscus. Prior to this I had been doing weight watchers for 5 years and it is a great program. But I could never keep the weight off. always had to follow weight watchers to the T and work out to lose any weight. The problem with my knee got in the way. I like to be active and I try to ski 25 days/year. This past year secondary to my weight and my knee injury, I could barely ski. I pride myself on doing exciting things like ziplining, going on crazy amusement park rides and doing high wire challenge courses. At my current weight I cannot walk without getting winded and cannot do all the things I love to do. I had looked into WLS 2 years ago but was abou 10 pound shy of qualifying for it. I have struggled with my weight throughout my life despite the fact that I have been successful in most other aspects of my life. I am developing some comorbidities (borderline hypertension and I don't sleep as ell as I used to and think I might be developing sleep apnea. I have lost 50-70 lbs at least 10x in my life and it is time for me to do something different! My surgery is scheduled for Sept 2.

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My "last straw" was a lot of things all piled up. The first being that I nearly lost my 6th child during childbirth, because my body couldn't handle the stress of being so heavy and going through ANOTHER pregnancy. My heart rate dropped suddenly and my OB informed me if she did an emergency Csection we would both die and if she did nothing at the very least the baby would die. After a lot of begging and screaming for help, she came up with forced dilation and manually ripping my baby girl out of me. My weight nearly cost her her life and I was the only one responsible for that. She lived and is perfectly fine, but that guilt really took a toll on me and the antidepressants to make it "ok" enough to get through my days, took it's toll and I gained another 100lbs on top of what I already had within literally 6 months. Then one day quite by random I stepped on the bathroom scale and it went over 400lbs. I cried myself to sleep for weeks. I started investigating wls again because I wasn't ready in my 20's but no food was more important than my kids are to me. Before I got far we ended up accidentally pregnant(essure failed) so I was pregnant again and terrified since I nearly killed my other baby with my weight and here I was over 100+lbs more and with a damaged cervix from the other birth to boot! I ended up with gestational diabetes and informed that within 5 yrs most people develop full on diabetes. Around this time my uncle died from diabetes and heart disease related illness and then my Water broke 2 months early and I was in a similar position of body wasn't up to labor and it took 2 days to get my labor started and no doctor in the hospital wanted to touch me to do a csection because they said at my weight it was blind stabbing in the dark. They didn't know what to do so they kept pumping me with more and more calicium infused pitocin til eventually we were at the "death hour" the moment when they had to do something because the baby was suffering from the infection I developed and my labor wasn't progressing so we were going to get sent to another hospital and their "obesity team" we're going to try to wing it to open me up with my OB to get the baby out. Luckily for me, he decided to come out on his own 15 mins before they were getting ready to load us up for what was sure to be his and my death. When I got home from the hospital, I looked into wls online but I couldn't do anything because I needed to nurse my baby. He was very weak in the first few months and he needed that from me. So I tried dieting on my own and when he turned 1 in June, I decided to get started. The guilt that my weight has nearly cost me 2 children is something that will keep me motivated always.

Edited by Sajijoma

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My "last straw" was a lot of things all piled up. The first being that I nearly lost my 6th child during childbirth, because my body couldn't handle the stress of being so heavy and going through ANOTHER pregnancy. My heart rate dropped suddenly and my OB informed me if she did an emergency Csection we would both die and if she did nothing at the very least the baby would die. After a lot of begging and screaming for help, she came up with forced dilation and manually ripping my baby girl out of me. My weight nearly cost her her life and I was the only one responsible for that. She lived and is perfectly fine, but that guilt really took a toll on me and the antidepressants to make it "ok" enough to get through my days, took it's toll and I gained another 100lbs on top of what I already had within literally 6 months. Then one day quite by random I stepped on the bathroom scale and it went over 400lbs. I cried myself to sleep for weeks. I started investigating wls again because I wasn't ready in my 20's but no food was more important than my kids are to me. Before I got far we ended up accidentally pregnant(essure failed) so I was pregnant again and terrified since I nearly killed my other baby with my weight and here I was over 100+lbs more and with a damaged cervix from the other birth to boot! I ended up with gestational diabetes and informed that within 5 yrs most people develop full on diabetes. Around this time my uncle died from diabetes and heart disease related illness and then my Water broke 2 months early and I was in a similar position of body wasn't up to labor and it took 2 days to get my labor started and no doctor in the hospital wanted to touch me to do a csection because they said at my weight it was blind stabbing in the dark. They didn't know what to do so they kept pumping me with more and more calicium infused pitocin til eventually we were at the "death hour" the moment when they had to do something because the baby was suffering from the infection I developed and my labor wasn't progressing so we were going to get sent to another hospital and their "obesity team" we're going to try to wing it to open me up with my OB to get the baby out. Luckily for me, he decided to come out on his own 15 mins before they were getting ready to load us up for what was sure to be his and my death. When I got home from the hospital, I looked into wls online but I couldn't do anything because I needed to nurse my baby. He was very weak in the first few months and he needed that from me. So I tried dieting on my own and when he turned 1 in June, I decided to get started. The guilt that my weight has nearly cost me 2 children is something that will keep me motivated always.

If I hear one more time that people can't be addicted to food, I'll scream. If the above story does not make folks understand that this is as powerful an addiction as any other drug, I don't know what will convince them. While my story is not as harrowing as yours, I too put myself in very difficult circumstances due to the excess weight I carried.

I watched a program last night about a morbidly obese woman in Miami on the TLC channel and she was so frustrating because she did not seem to take her situation seriously and was looking at WLS as an easy fix. She was told over and over that she was risking her health and unfortunately she did die shortly after having WLS. It was a frustrating and heartbreaking hour I spent watching this train wreck. Usually they have an epiphany and start to make positive changes..but not this woman. And then she paid the ultimate price by dying. I suspect many of us have had those moments...where we knew this was a life or death situation.

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I never really felt that i was that over weight. No one said anything. I had no trouble with men. I married my soulmate. He always says you can't hide beautiful. My mother-in-law said something to the affect of her son always dating thinner woman. I don't think she meant anything about it, but it hurt and made me think. Then I got the pictures back from Hawaii. OMG! That couldn't be me. I started trying all sorts of diets. Loss 50 pounds, gain sixty back. One day my husband and I were listening to the radio, a commercial came on. My husband said I want to grow old with you. We were both obese. Him more than me. He was starting to have major health issues. That was the last straw. We decided to do it together.

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My "last straw" was a lot of things all piled up. The first being that I nearly lost my 6th child during childbirth, because my body couldn't handle the stress of being so heavy and going through ANOTHER pregnancy. My heart rate dropped suddenly and my OB informed me if she did an emergency Csection we would both die and if she did nothing at the very least the baby would die. After a lot of begging and screaming for help, she came up with forced dilation and manually ripping my baby girl out of me. My weight nearly cost her her life and I was the only one responsible for that. She lived and is perfectly fine, but that guilt really took a toll on me and the antidepressants to make it "ok" enough to get through my days, took it's toll and I gained another 100lbs on top of what I already had within literally 6 months. Then one day quite by random I stepped on the bathroom scale and it went over 400lbs. I cried myself to sleep for weeks. I started investigating wls again because I wasn't ready in my 20's but no food was more important than my kids are to me. Before I got far we ended up accidentally pregnant(essure failed) so I was pregnant again and terrified since I nearly killed my other baby with my weight and here I was over 100+lbs more and with a damaged cervix from the other birth to boot! I ended up with gestational diabetes and informed that within 5 yrs most people develop full on diabetes. Around this time my uncle died from diabetes and heart disease related illness and then my Water broke 2 months early and I was in a similar position of body wasn't up to labor and it took 2 days to get my labor started and no doctor in the hospital wanted to touch me to do a csection because they said at my weight it was blind stabbing in the dark. They didn't know what to do so they kept pumping me with more and more calicium infused pitocin til eventually we were at the "death hour" the moment when they had to do something because the baby was suffering from the infection I developed and my labor wasn't progressing so we were going to get sent to another hospital and their "obesity team" we're going to try to wing it to open me up with my OB to get the baby out. Luckily for me, he decided to come out on his own 15 mins before they were getting ready to load us up for what was sure to be his and my death. When I got home from the hospital, I looked into wls online but I couldn't do anything because I needed to nurse my baby. He was very weak in the first few months and he needed that from me. So I tried dieting on my own and when he turned 1 in June, I decided to get started. The guilt that my weight has nearly cost me 2 children is something that will keep me motivated always.

If I hear one more time that people can't be addicted to food, I'll scream. If the above story does not make folks understand that this is as powerful an addiction as any other drug, I don't know what will convince them. While my story is not as harrowing as yours, I too put myself in very difficult circumstances due to the excess weight I carried.

I watched a program last night about a morbidly obese woman in Miami on the TLC channel and she was so frustrating because she did not seem to take her situation seriously and was looking at WLS as an easy fix. She was told over and over that she was risking her health and unfortunately she did die shortly after having WLS. It was a frustrating and heartbreaking hour I spent watching this train wreck. Usually they have an epiphany and start to make positive changes..but not this woman. And then she paid the ultimate price by dying. I suspect many of us have had those moments...where we knew this was a life or death situation.

I definitely can't pretend I don't have an addiction, but it's mostly sugar addiction over quantity or quality. Even when I tried to be good and kept the cupboards and fridge clean of sweets, I'd get desperate enough to eat sugar out of the bag. It's sad because I've always been so careful to never drink alcohol, smoke, or do drugs because I've seen the power of addiction and how they lose control of themselves, but the one thing I never thought to protect myself from is what I became addicted to. :( hoping when I get the bypass that I get lasting relief from it. I've had horrific side effects from fat and dairy when I had my gallbladder out so the idea of possibly dumping will be a good motivator to not cave besides my kids.

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I am a metatastic breast cancer survivor....I gained all my weight back and This is scary

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I had started the WLS program a few years ago and got vasculitis. The drugs they had to give me wouldn't be good with surgery in general let alone WLS. After the vasculitis went into remission I got pregnant.

For 8 months I had the cutest little squirmy squishing my stomach and as far as eating goes it was heaven. I actually lost weight during my pregnancy. A month after she was born I got down to 209 (smallest I've been in over 10 years) and I tasted onderland.

Then the bottomless pit of breastfeeding kicked in and my weight skyrocketed and I ballooned. I'm done breastfeeding now. I saw my doctor about a weight loss pill and she said there was no point, I'd just gain it back and said I should get the surgery. I looked at my kids and that was that.

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I had started the WLS program a few years ago and got vasculitis. The drugs they had to give me wouldn't be good with surgery in general let alone WLS. After the vasculitis went into remission I got pregnant.

For 8 months I had the cutest little squirmy squishing my stomach and as far as eating goes it was heaven. I actually lost weight during my pregnancy. A month after she was born I got down to 209 (smallest I've been in over 10 years) and I tasted onderland.

Then the bottomless pit of breastfeeding kicked in and my weight skyrocketed and I ballooned. I'm done breastfeeding now. I saw my doctor about a weight loss pill and she said there was no point, I'd just gain it back and said I should get the surgery. I looked at my kids and that was that.

i'm glad I'm not the only one who gains while breastfeeding! If I try to cut calories back my body is all like "oh no we are starving!" And holds onto everything! :( weaning my baby has been bittersweet though. He's my last and I really did enjoy nursing my kids and that snuggly closeness, but my weight is literally falling off now. I've had him off the tap for about a week now and I've lost 5 whole pounds!

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My final straw was this: I fly a lot for work. The seatbelts kept getting tighter and tighter. I was so embarrassed, one time I could barely get the arm rest down and I was sweating the whole flight thinking the stewardess was going to notice and force me off or make me pay for an extra seat. The guy next to me was extra grumpy about it too - but who could blame him? Mortifying experience. I dread flying. I can't wait for my surgery!!

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I've been thinking about weight loss surgery for about 2 years after a back surgery. I was trying to lose weight on my own and would lose a couple lbs a month but then I had this surgery and gained weight. I tried a diet again and couldn't get back in the grove. This summer I hit 293. That was my wake up call.

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I haven't decided to have surgery yet, I'm here to help me decide if I want to or not. I heard about WLS about 15 years ago, and read that there were a lot of complications and death, and it wasn't recommended at that time.

However, I knew that I'd revisit the idea in a few years. I wasn't ready to commit anyway, lots of issues and thought sugery was cheating, because it was the easy way out. Heh, so ignorant.

Anyway, last year I was diagnosied with diabetes. It's been mild, I've only seen my sugar above 300 once, but it's also been hard to control. I was on 2000 mg of metformin and 1.5 mg of trulicity (a shot taken once a week, worked great for the numbers but made me throw up). I ended up in the hospital last week with metabolic acidosis. My diabetes drugs may have contributed to that, my uti might have, a combonation of the drugs and infection, we don't know.

Yesterday I was having issues with my sugars, and one of my good FB friends messaged me to tell me she'd had the sleeve done years ago, was off her meds now, looks good, and can eat just about whatever. No dumping syndrome, no complications.

So, here I am. Research, learning what to expect, and what complications there could be. I want to know everything, good and bad. (I always do this before surgery, even mild ones like the gallbladder.)

Honestly, I'm not thrilled about the idea of another surgery (I've had my tonisils out, my gallbladder, a tube/ovary removed, and a patella realignment) but I'm having trouble dieting on my own. I did weight watchers for a year, before my depression kicked me off of the program (the depression is under tight control now). I tried it again for two-three months and kept losing and gaining the same two pounds.

I'm scared. Scared of complications from diabetes. It's a lot more serious a disease than I Thought it was at first.

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My final straw (s) were when my bed broke because of my weight. I bought a new bed and that broke too. So I bought a third bed and well, let's just say Ive spent the past year sleeping on a mattress on my bedroom floor..

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Oh jeeze March. I'm so sorry. Our bed broke once too because both and my husband are overweight. So we fixed and reinforced the crap out of it.

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      Four days post surgery. I am sipping as fast as I can and getting NO WHERE near the goal of 60 - 80 grams of protein or the 64 oz of liquids. I just feel FULL. I don't know if it can still be the gas build up (I would think by now that would be gone) but it is a struggle to drink. And so far I have not had the nausea or spasms and don't want to wander into that territory by pushing too hard with liquids. I about passed out today as it was my most "strenuous" day. Went from second story to basement for shower and I was sure I was going to pass out. Looking back on my last few days I have had a total of less than 1000 calories. Am I just not getting enough nourishment in me? Once again a friday where I can't get ahold of the doc until Monday rolls back around so I am hoping maybe someone here has some experience on how to keep energy going. I do have fibromyalgia too and that may be where some added fatigue comes into play. How did you all fair with the goals the week after surgery?
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    • Doughgurl

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      1. Phil Penn

        Good Luck this procedure is well worth it I am down to 249.6 lb please continue with the process..

      2. Selina333

        I'm in Houston so kind of near you and had the sleeve in Dec. Down 61 lbs. Feeling better. Was definitely worth it. I hope the everything is going well for you. Update us when you can!

      3. Doughgurl

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    • Doughgurl

      Hey everyone. I'm new here so I thought I should introduce myself. I am 53y/o and am scheduled for Gastric Bypass on June 25th, 2025. I'm located in San Antonio, Texas. I will be having my surgery in Tiajuana Mexico. I've wanted this for years, but I always had insurance where bariatric procedures were excluded. Finally I am able to afford to pay out of pocket.  I can't wait to get started, and I hope I'm prepared for the initial period of "hell". I know what I have signed up for, but I'm sure the good to come will out way the temporary period of discomfort and feelings of regret. I'd love to find people to talk to who have been through the same procedure or experience before. So I look forward to meeting you all. Hope you have a great week!
      · 2 replies
      1. Selina333

        I'm so happy for you! You are about to change your life. I was so glad to get the sleeve done in Dec. I didn't have feelings of regret overall. And I'm down almost 60 lbs. I do feel a little sad at restaurants. I can barely eat half a kid's meal. I get adults meals often because kid ones don't have the same offerings at times. Then I feel obligated to eat on that until it's gone and that can be days. So the restaurant thing isn't great for me. All the rest is fine by me! I love feeling full with very little. I do wish I could drink when eating. And will sip at the end. Just a strong habit to stop. But I'm working on it! You will do fine! Just keep focused on your desire to be different. Not better or worse. But different. I am happy both ways but my low back doesn't like me that heavy. So I listened (also my feet!). LOL! Update us on your journey! I'm not far from you. I'm in Houston. Good luck and I hope it all goes smoothly! Would love to see pics of the town you go to for this. I've never been there. Neat you will be traveling for this! Enjoy the journey. Take it one day at a time. Sometimes a few hours at a time. Follow all recommendations as best you can. 💗

      2. Doughgurl

        Thank you so much for your well wishes. I am hoping that everything goes easy for me as well. We don't eat out much as it is, so it wont be too bad in that department. Thankfully. Also, I hear you regarding your back and feet!! I'd like to add knees to the list. Killing me as we speak! I'm only 5' so the weight has to go. Too short to carry all this weight. Menopause really did a doosey on me. (😶lol) My daughter also lives in Houston. with her Husband and my 5 grand-littles. I grew up in Beaumont, so I know Houston well, I will be sure to keep in touch and update you on my journey. I may need some advice in the future, or just motivation. Thank You so much for reaching out, I was hoping to connect with someone in the community. I really appreciate it. 💜

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
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      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

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