Hi Maria.  Thanks for the comments on my recent posts.  By the way, for some reason, Caleb is starting to look a little like Jason.  Neat, huh?  (Probably just my imagination)

Also, I know you haven’t asked for my opinion regarding WLS but I just wanted you to know that my end results weren’t all that I thought they’d be.   If you get approved, here’s a couple of things I wish someone had told me.  1)  Find out who is the most respected surgeon in your area for this surgery and go with him….even if there is a long waiting list.  I chose a good surgeon but he was still kinda new at it and the wait was about 9 months shorter.  But it was a mistake.  He was still being cautious back then, and making the bypass shorter until he got comfortable with the results.  I heard him speak at an informational meeting later and the amount of centimeters he bypasses now is much better than back when he did mine.  But I couldn’t imagine waiting 9 months to have my surgery done by the more established surgeon.  In my mind, I had to have it RIGHT AWAY!   But now that’s it’s 3 1/2 years later, those 9 months seems like nothing.  I’d give anything if I could go back and make that choice again.  I have gained 35 pounds back of what I lost…and that is before getting pregnant.   After surgery, I got down to a size 12 and stayed there for almost a year.  I’m now up to a size 18 and still growing..     2)  And this is going to be the harder advice to hear….but see a counselor and find out if you have any ”food issues”.  They don’t do surgery on your brain….and the food issues don’t go away.  If your excess weight is all related to health problems, it might not be an issue for you.  But for me, I was overweight because I was an overeater….and overeating is caused by emotional voids that really need to be dealt with.   I’m not saying you have to deal with them completely before surgery, but knowing what they are might help you make better choices than what I made because I was relying completely on the surgery to do it all.

I’m not trying to be negative.  I still think it’s a good surgery.  And most of the people I know who’ve had the surgery have had better results than me.  But I just wanted to share what I’d been through just to give you more stuff to think about.   Feel free to ask questions (you can email me via the link on my blog) and I’d be happy to share more with you if necessary. 

Take care and good luck!