At what point do choose surgery? - ThinnerTimes

colinsito · 04-29-2008, 06:19 AM

I am a little confused...

I am 46 yr old male and have struggled with weight for the past 15 years. Especially when I quit smoking over 12 years ago.

I am now about 60 lbs over weight and am feeling very discouraged by spending the rest of my life overweight and trying to diet. I have been on most diets (Jenny Craig, weight watchers, no carb, over eaters anonymous, etc etc) I have had bouts of success, but I have always returned to weight and then some.... I find food a constant struggle and unlike smoking, I am not able to stay away from it. The prospect of being overweight for the rest of my life and a constant struggle to wrestle with it depresses me about the future. I also now feel that I am at an age where serious health risks could be looming if I do not do something and keep it off.

So, here I am not morbidly obese, but still at a health risk and growing. So, do I wait till I am 100 lbs overweight and have more weight health issues, or do I look at taking action now? Is that possible or advisable?

I live in Costa Rica and would have surgery here if I chose to go that route. I do not take this decision lightly and know there is consequenses in doing so.

Any advice would be appreciated...

Zenomia · 04-29-2008, 06:41 AM

Beings you are asking for advice, that is what you are going to get here...keep that in mind!! Also, nothing, and I mean NOTHING replaces your DRs. advice!! That said:

Most people will say the risk to those under 100#'s over weight is too great. The health issues that people who are "under" standard and still have surgery tends to be not only higher, but more severe.

This is NOT a surgery that is a weight loss option. Is the the LAST resort. A lifestyle change is NOT accomplished in a surgeons office, it is only possible with dedication and understanding that your aren't just re-routing your system your getting a Re-do on life. You have to ask yourself if you are really ready to take that on.

If not, you do have other options. The lap band is an acceptable option for those who aren't Morbidly obese but still have comorbidities that could resolve with weight loss.

Gastric bypass for a 60# loss is very, very drastic. Especially with males who lose faster and sometimes a more signifigant amount of weight than females. I would research the HECK out of your options and understand the great amount of risk and stress your thinking of putting your body under for 60#'s. I will say, most reputable Drs. won't touch it unless your MO with co-morbidities...

Be careful...be informed....be aware!

CeeCee · 04-29-2008, 11:29 AM

What Zen said....
==============
Then I'll add that I was, and still am, morbidly obese. My doctor had "put it on the radar" a couple years earlier. When I started seriously considering it, she looked me square in the eye and said "You stand a better chance of surviving the surgery than living past the age of 60 with all that extra weight". That was the final straw.

Godsblessedme · 04-29-2008, 12:25 PM

i would totally consider the lap band that is very doable with only 60pounds to loose

shereeks · 04-29-2008, 12:40 PM

If you really want my honest opinion - absolutely NOT! For all the resons that Zen said so well. 60lbs can be shifted by exercise alone. At 60lbs overweight I would think that you are physically much more able to exercie than someone 200lbs overweight.

If you really want to lose the 60lbs this is the way that I would do it.

Good luck whatever your decision is.

doxielover · 04-29-2008, 01:11 PM

I understand how frustrated you must be. I have tried for 24 years to lose the "baby weight" from my pregnancy. My dear daughter is now 23 and a first year law student! There are clinical trials going on right now to place the lapband in patients with BMI's between 30 and 35. You should be able to google using lapband and low bmi/clinical trials as your keywords. Good Luck and please don't think that you are alone! Good Luck!

colinsito · 04-29-2008, 03:36 PM

I appreciate the advice.

I like to think I have done enough research to understand that this is not just another type of weight loss treatment and it is something that I would not take lightly. You can deliver the message just as well without the CAPS and !! I got that... thank you.

Yes, I have done excersise and dieting and have lost much weight many times and many times not so much weight. I am a compulsive eater and when I lost the weight, It was the hardest thing to stay away from the foods that I crave.

So, when I look at the statistics for people like me, it is very clear that very few keep the weight off and as I am getting older, I see that I am gaining more. It is hard to get motivated to loose it all again, when past experince has been short successes, and the lack of real success stories of people that were able to keep weight off for the rest of their life.

When I quit smoking 12+ years ago, I thought it was the most difficult thing I had done. I have managed to stay quit despite the odd desire now and then to light up. But I know if I so much as have one cigarette, I would be back to 1.5 packs a day in 2 weeks.

But with food, I can't just not eat and the thought of spending a life time feeling like you are craving food all the time and being obsessed about food, does not look appealing. If I knew that was going to happen with cigarettes, I don't think I would have quit. I have been able to move past that. But with food, I have not. (and sitting in one more over - eaters anonymous meeting listening to overweight people talking about how they have been trying for 20 plus years is really depressing).

So I guess one of my questions is for those of you that moved into an serious weight/health problem, if you were better informed, what might you had done differently had you known that there might be more options then yet another rigourous dieting and excerside program?

Daphne's Mom · 04-29-2008, 04:47 PM

There are a couple of books that were very helpful to me (although they are both by/about obese women)
The Weight of It, by Amy Wilensky (story of Amy's sister, who was always obese, and who successfully underwent RNY)
Passing for Thin: Losing Half My Weight and Finding Myself, by Frances Kuffel (first person story about her successful experience in an "Overeaters Anonymous" type program.

Both are honest, very well written, and I could see myself in both books.

Best of luck with your decision!
Anita

Godsblessedme · 04-29-2008, 06:02 PM

Quote:

You can deliver the message just as well without the CAPS and !!

Wow you asked for opinions and thats just some people being brutally honest. If you didnt want to hear the truth why ask for "advice" sorry

colinsito · 04-29-2008, 06:15 PM

One can be honest without the brutal.

It's not very Zen...

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