Wednesday, August 24, 2011

And now .. the rest .. of the story.

Over the last 6 months I have been through a lot of tests and a lot of procedures.  Sleep studies, stress test, upper GI, EKG, breathing tests, blood tests, ultrasound, and there are probably more I cannot think of.  If you don't read my 'Fat blog', and not many do, you would not know why.  


This morning I am undergoing weight loss surgery.  It has been a 6-month journey to be approved by my insurance company, there have been many hoops to jump through and many criteria to be met.  But all of that is behind me now and today is my reset button.


Weight has been a problem for me for many years, off and on.  The decision to take this step was the result of many years of dieting and exercising, gaining and losing but mainly - always gaining it back.


When I got the diabetes diagnosis I got scared and lost some weight and was heading to a pretty good place.  But when my mom came to live with me - those good eating habits went out the window and I pretty much came off the rails.  Going to the nursing home straight from work every other day made a good meal schedule impossible and actually - I'm sure I was rewarding myself with food, you know - I've had a really long day, I deserve  to just whip through that drive thru.


Writing about this here is not something I wanted to do right away.  People have many ideas about weight loss surgery and the most common negative reaction is - it's the easy way out.  I have confronted that with people, one exercise trainer specifically got me really mad with that attitude when he suggested I just exercise and to heck with the surgery.  My response to him - after I told him he needed to get a different job - was that he had no idea what had brought me to this point.  He was assuming I had never tried the exercise route.  He was assuming I did not want to work for what I wanted.  He was making a judgment of me based on his own experiences and what has worked for him.


Many people react the same way he did, and it hurts.  Especially people who have never had a weight problem, like my old office roommate who could probably still wear her high school clothes, even though she is older than me and eats all.  day.  long.  When she found out I had a treadmill her response was "well then you have no excuse."  Hmm.  People frequently do not think before they speak so I held off writing about this.  I still needed to talk about it so I wrote on my other blog because I knew no one - or hardly anyone ever read it.  My journey is over there if you would like to read it.  And if you'd like one post that explains my feelings about it the best - try this one.


For now, please wish me well and wish me success in this endeavor.  There are many changes I need to make and I am hoping to have your support.  Know I am not going into this lightly, this has been a huge decision for me.  It is all part of getting control of my life and yes, starting over.
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7 Comments:

Moms Musings said...

Lots of luck with the surgery. It's not something I would do, but then I'm chicken. Lots of luck with your new adventure.

Anonymous said...

I so wish you success on this journey. I know it is not easy, nor did you undertake it lightly (I was one of the "fat blog" readers). I know this has been difficult for you, and I will be thinking of you. Good Luck.

Stimey said...

I wish you so much luck with this!!! Good for you! I hope you have a quick recovery and excellent results!

BetteJo said...

Thank you for the positive comments!

Teena in Toronto said...

A friend of mine did it 1.5 years ago and she's looking and feeling great.

It's not the easy way out that everyone thinks it is ... your food intake is limited as far as how much and what you can eat.

Good luck with it!

Shai Williams said...

Good luck with the surgery. I don't think that it is the easy way out but instead is a big step to get your health issues back under control.

The Beading Gem said...

If you've tried everything else, then go for it! After all your overall health is the most important part!