Surgery is NOT the Easy Way Out

Over time, I’ve found that when people don’t understand something, they often jump to conclusions instead of patiently learning more. Bariatric Surgery is one of those subjects that many people don’t understand. Therefore, they often have the opinion that someone is just “taking the easy way out”. But they couldn’t be more wrong.

Numerous doctor appointments. Six months of nutritional visits. Three meetings of psychiatric evaluations. Blood work. Endoscopy. Sleep Apnea Testing. Group support sessions. And that’s even before the surgeon and insurance will approve surgery. Then, there’s the pre-surgery diet.

The Decision to have surgery is not an easy one

I contemplated surgery for over a year before I even said the idea out loud. I was afraid to tell my husband that I wanted to pursue surgery because I was afraid of his opinion on it. The fear that he would judge me for wanting to do this was huge.

Prior to finally admitting out loud that I wanted to go for surgery, I tried everything. Weight Watcher, Southbeach Diet, Atkins, Keto and Counting Calories are just a few of the things I tried. My last resort was the Optifast Diet. For about 4 weeks, it went really well, I lost probably about 20 pounds, and then it all went down hill.

I know a couple of people who have had surgery. My aunt, as well as three people I used to work with all had Gastric Bypass. My cousin had a Gastric Sleeve. I saw fairly mixed results from the people at work, so at first I was scared to make the decision. But one of the guys always told me it was the best decision he ever made.

Research is Key

I did what I consider to be quite a bit of research on Bariatric Surgery. There are tons of resources available online and I watched videos on the surgery, watched how they did it, and I watched and read testimonials. I worried over what my husband would think that I wanted to take this road.

When I told my husband that I wanted to go this route, I could tell he was nervous, he was unsure if this was a good decision or the right decision, but he was still supportive. He knew that this was a huge decision. I was very specific when I told him that surgery wasn’t the ultimate fix. It isn’t a magic pill. But it is a huge life changer.

So many changes

Since having surgery, I can tell you that it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. It was a tough decision. I spent over a month eating next to nothing but protein shakes and pureed food for another couple of weeks. I experienced vomiting after eating the simplest of foods (like scrambled eggs). And now that I’m eating “regular food” again, I’ve experienced getting sick after eating simple things like meatloaf and broccoli. And it changed so much.

The absolute last thing I would ever say about Bariatric Surgery is that it is an easy journey. Looking at the scale and seeing that I’ve lost 65 pounds in 3 months, part of my brain says that results like this make the decision easy. The other part of my brain reminds me of all of the concessions I’ve made and how tough this process has actually been.

There are so many foods that I don’t eat now:  “Sicilian” Pizza, bread (the good kind like they serve in restaurants), treats like cake and ice cream.  It’s tough because so many times now I can’t have what everyone else is having, and while there are healthy alternatives, they’re just not the same.  Flatbread Pizza just isn’t as good as a delicious thick crust.  And frozen yogurt is delicious, but sometimes it just doesn’t compare to a nice bowl of chocolate chip cookie dough.

No, it’s not easy, no matter the results.