Trying to start the process again

[carrielee 87]

Hi all,

my name is Carrielee. I’m 32, from TN. I’ve been overweight/obese since childhood and the weight keeps piling on as well as the co-morbid diagnoses. I was finally referred to Bariatric surgery earlier this year after an Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension diagnosis and just finally scheduled my initial consult. I’m scared and anxious and overwhelmed and questioning things but also don’t want to die early and that’s where I’m headed with things as they are so it’s time for a change. At 5’1”, I currently weigh 298 pounds, putting me at a BMI of 56.3.

I currently have Hypertension refractory to medications, Type II Diabetes, angina, high cholesterol and triglycerides, sleep apnea, arthritis in most joints, past history of pulmonary embolism, IIH, fatty liver disease, tachycardia. I’m on a fast track to early death due to obesity like my mom and grandfather faced and that isn’t what I want my reality to be.

i considered it about a year ago and started the process for surgery to happen, but backed out, gained more weight and lost more health. I’m literally eating myself to death and it’s not what I want for myself.

[Edge13 64]

Imagine you're in an airplane, and it's heading straight towards a mountain. The mountain has many names; Mt. Diabetes, Mt. Depression, Mt. sleep Apnea, Mt. Early Death, everything you mentioned. Time is running out, and it's getting bigger, and bigger in your windscreen...

In a few weeks, it'll be two years post for me, and hindsight is so enlightening. I tried so many things, over so much time, and for so many reasons that mountain still kept getting closer. When it became unavoidable, I took evasive action, and had the procedure. It was like Top Gun man... the nose rotated up, fired the afterburners, and next thing I know, the mountain is below me, and I'm in clear skies, all those conditions gone, or handled. No one knows how it ends, but it feels damn good to be flying, instead of crashing.

Bringing it back, right now that mountain might be all you see. It's scary, and it's intimidating, but you can absolutely overcome it. Congrats on starting the process again. Wishing you nothing but the best!

[summerseeker 2,237]

If you do this surgery and when you have got through the rough first weeks, you will know you have done the right thing, my diabetes, high blood pressure and breathlessness just faded away. I know your Apnoea will go soon too because many others on here suffered with it.

Hold your nerves if you can, everyone is very nervous, we all jumped into the unknown and I am fairly sure we would all do it again tomorrow

[MasonMoonGirl 43]

I have sleep apnea, arthiritis, fatty liver and high cholesterol and am scared as well but I'm also scared of all of these conditions I have and developing more later in life if I don't take control of my obesity. So I have made the decision to go through with the surgery for reals this time and not cancel like twice before.

All I can do now is do everything I can to help this surgery go smoothly. I'm three weeks out and am following a semi liquid diet (even though my doctors office told me it wasn't necessary because I know shrinking my liver and more weight loss before surgery is safer and better)

I take all my supplements and more (with Dr approval) I make sure to get my Protein in to promote faster healing and I've begun therapy/support groups. I'm going to try to take as little pain medication as possible after surgery because too many opiods and surgery dont mix. It seems like all these "celebrity deaths" (Kanye west mother, Lisa marie presleu) after surgery had opiods as a factor. I currently had been taken tylenol codeine #3 (a mild opiod) three times a day for arthiritis and that stopped today. I'm not taking any chances even with this mild one. When I have pain I will use creams or tens therapy or hell even book a massage but I am doing everything In my power to prevent complications.

I've read books and gained a lot of knowledge about the surgery and have asked patients here how they've done it. That's all we can do and then leave the rest up to God/the powers that be.