Reasons to undergo bariatric surgery

Make an informed decision

If you have started thinking about undergoing some kind of bariatric surgery, make sure you know what you are doing. Well, you think you know everything, you have read tons of various materials about it, but (based on my own experience) you have no idea what it feels like, what it means for you, and how much it will impact your everyday life. Forever. That is the most important word. If you undergo this surgery, your body will be altered forever and there is no way back. So, think twice before you sign the informed consent. You will never be able to go back to the hospital and say: I have changed my mind, I want you to reverse it. It is impossible. 

Criteria

In my particular case, I had to meet all the official criteria, go through the process that took almost a year to prepare myself, and then and only then I had the surgery. What were the criteria?

1. Your BMI had to be higher than 40.
2. You have a history of unsuccessful attempts to lose weight.
3. Some health-related conditions make losing weight difficult – in my case it was hypothyroidism.
4. Even if you eat the calories you are supposed to, you don’t lose weight.
5. You have a comorbidity (any health problem developed from excess weight).

My story

I was 42 years old, weighing around 100 kilos / 220 pounds with only 164 cm / 5’5″ ft. I somehow knew I was overweight, it was pretty straightforward, but I never thought it was that bad. As years passed, the weight was accumulating little by little, a diet here and there, sometimes successful, most often not at all. And I always ended with more weight than at the beginning of the previous attempt.

And then Covid happened; times when the whole world gained weight, and I was no exception. Plus, I had a prolonged episode of some kind of neurological problem that almost impeded me from being able to walk. It was almost 7 months when I was crawling along the apartment with cramps in my legs so nasty I was not able to go anywhere. The tons of pills I was swallowing, you can’t even imagine. Luckily it disappeared one day (and till today no one knows what it was).

The result of all this was astounding. I was lucky I was able to buy at least some clothes for myself. I live in Europe where normal sizes end at 46/48 which is 12/14 in the US. Then there are only specialized stores with larger sizes. I was size 46 and it was only a matter of time before it would get even worse. 

Health impact

Having accumulated all this extra weight, I was completely out of shape. Not only visually. I was living on the first floor and it was so so for me to get home without taking the elevator. My knees were hurting, I was not able to walk longer distances, and my hips started to complain bitterly. My blood pressure was creeping up little by little and my cholesterol was sky-high. At least the blood sugar was still ok.

My major problem was my ankles. They were so swollen I could barely fit in my trainers. They looked funny. My feet were so puffy as if some crazy cartoonist drew them. I ended up in the hospital with this problem. They thought at first I was having a blood clot in my lungs. Things went pretty fast that time. They checked everything but found nothing I hadn’t known before already. So they discharged me in three days. 

The doctor´s verdict was merciless

The thing I will never forget, that made me so angry and ashamed, was what the doctor told me that day. “My dear, do something with your weight until it is too late. You can’t go on like this. If you don’t lose weight, and I tell you you are morbidly obese, you will have serious health trouble in quite a near future.”

What the heck do you think??? I was so angry… steam was going out of my ears. How do you dare to tell me something like this? I am not morbidly obese. I am overweight! Thats it. Pff!!! 

Bite the bullet…

But a few days passed, I was sitting at home and I started to think about it. You know, when all the emotions go away and you can see at least a little more clearly and process what they told you. I am the kind of person who likes to double-check all the information, so I went online and started to search for measurements and numbers and tables and… all that.

I was frozen with shame. The doctor was right. No, I was not overweight. Very long time already. I fit in the category of morbid obesity. What a shame… like… How did this all happen??? … When??? … This can’t be… But it was exactly this.

It was a good cold shower. As if somebody threw a bucket of ice-cold water right into your face on a hot summer day. I felt miserable, guilty, ashamed, and incredibly angry. Not at the doctor, he was right, but at myself. How could I let things get to this point???

The very last heroic attempt?

So now what? Ideas like: you have to go jogging every day, do a lot of exercise, lift weights, hours of cardio every day. People, let’s be honest here. How can I go running when my knees hurt after 30 minutes of walking? Jumping? Of course, but I will hurt myself. Lifting whatever? On condition that I want to break my back in a second repetition. This type of advice comes from people who are fit and never had a single pound of extra weight.

Sorry, guys, but this is not possible for heavily obese people. No, they are not lazy – maybe a little, but if you have all this extra weight, you are not moving only your normal weight but also everything extra. So, be so kind and start doing jumping jacks with 50 kilos in the backpack on your back. Get it now? It is really hard, right? And let’s call it a nasty experience. So, please, the next time you are giving any kind of very unsolicited and unwanted advice, better zip up. Go running your marathons and leave us alone. Thank you.

Searching for help

I talked to my GP but she had very little understanding of my problem. Ok, she is not here to sort out my weight, but at least I was hoping for some kind of advice or ideas. This was not the way to go. So I tried my private health care insurance and I got lucky. I tipped over a young endocrinologist who had a few suggestions. And this is where I heard the first time about a WLS.

I was in shock, to tell the truth. So, you mean that I am so heavy that I could qualify for surgery? To sort this out through an operation theatre? Are you sure? I think that at that time it still didn’t dawn on me completely. I mean the severity of my problem. Ok, I was fat, I got it. But THIS fat??? To have a surgery? Wow! So this is something. A new information for me. And also very difficult to process.

Bariatric surgery it is!

I had some vague ideas about what these surgeries do. But I always thought they were for people who were bed-bound, who were 400 kg, and unable to walk at all. And now they are telling me that I could have this. Because, let’s be honest here, it is extremely unlikely that with all the things I have accumulated, all the weight, and the complications that were slowly creeping up on me, I won’t lose all the weight by myself. My metabolism is so slow (thanks to all the stupid diets), I have a thyroid so lazy that it barely makes any hormones it should, and all the joint pain plus everything… I can’t do this all alone. I will need help. And a lot of it. 

Need for more information

Time to start investigating a lot about this procedure. What are my options? What it is? How does it work? What type of surgery it is? Is it dangerous? Does it hurt? So many questions, so little knowledge. Luckily we live in the times of the internet! Google, tell me…