The Beginning

Over the past 30 (or so) years, I have yo-yo dieted myself from 105 lbs. to 220 lbs. and have decided that dieting is a bad thing. So much so that my reaction to the thought of going on a diet is like a reaction to receiving a bee sting - I will do most anything to avoid the pain. I've tried joining groups, doing it on my own and following programs online...

I've developed type 2 diabetes and since then, you'd think I'd have lost some weight...but no, the bee-sting issue is still very much an instinct.

For those of you who don't have diabetes, I am exhausted 90% of the time and the rest of the time, I don't have any energy. (For instance, it took me 3 months to remove the old wallpaper in my bathroom and repaint it!) When I get sick with a cold or virus, my recovery time is about twice it was before the onset of diabetes.

I hate it.

My insurance has never covered weight loss surgery (WLS for short) but when I lost my job last fall, I had to go on my husband's insurance and his does cover it! Once I discovered that, I still debated it as it's always felt like such a drastic thing to do - not to mention the mortality rate felt way too high for an elective surgery. (Plus those out there that have known me for awhile will remember that my late husband died during stomach surgery!)

My husband (who is probably horrified to be mentioned on the Internet, so I'll just call him "N" to keep him anonymous - love ya honey!) also is obese and interested in the surgery as well. We thought that if we did this thing together, we'd stand a much better chance at being successful.

We did some research and decided on Miami Valley Biartrics since my husband likes Miami Valley Hospital and Dr. Maguire (head surgeon there) did my gall bladder surgery years ago. We went to a group informational meeting and discovered that most of the WLS out there is now done laproscopically rather than the traditionally performed surgery giving a MUCH lower mortality rate. Here is their link: http://www.miamivalleyhospital.org/mvhservices.aspx?id=10358.

Still we didn't decide to do it right away. For me, the idea of this is like looking at a boxer and say, "Go ahead hit me in my gut." But, then I read an article in our local paper (I am sorry that I can't find the link to it for you readers!) that had a headline:
TYPE 2 DIABETES CAN BE ALMOST AS DAMAGING AS SMOKING

Basically it said that from a study of over 820,000 people published in the New England Journal of Medicine some one with type 2 is more than twice as likely to die of cardiovascular disease and 25% more likely to die of cancer than those without diabetes! It went on to say that a 50-year old with type 2 diabetes will lose and average of SIX years of life as a result of the disease! SIX years!

Okay! Let me just say that I'm now on the WLS bandwagon.

In order for it to be approved by our insurance we have to jump through some hoops though. We have to document our attempt to lose weight with our family doctor. Plus see a psychologist, a nutritionist and an exercise physiologist.

My first appointment with my surgeon is this Friday and I'll let you know what happens after that.

thanks for listening....
~barb