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My Tate 1984 Classmate Contact & Reunion Page
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Hi, I am Lisa and I had weight loss surgery on August 21, 2001. Gastric Bypass - Laproscopic RNY This is my story. Without this surgery, I would not be here to tell you my story. My health was deteriorating fast & quality of life had diminished greatly. I had a friend and a cousin that had the surgery in 2000 and I thought they were crazy. Not me. You don't have surgery to lose weight. That is what I thought. Then after a year, I saw how much healthier they were. How happy they were. And I realized how miserable I was and just biding my time until I died. Even my doctor gave me 5 years, and that was at 35 years old. When it got to the point that I had to realize that I was slowly dying, I had to open my mind to the fact that this may be my only option. But I did not want to be cut open from my breast-bone to my belly button. That was so drastic. So I started doing research on-line and found out that they had just started doing Laproscopic surgery, and that this specific surgery had been very successful statistically. I was still undecided, but open to the idea, but I definitely had to learn a whole lot more. I decided to discuss it with my family to see what their reactions would be. Completely positive. Then my wonderful Aunt gave me some information to read. I took that and started a notebook. I printed articles and information on the only surgeon I could find (practiced in a connecting state) and I took them to my PCP. As soon as he walked through the door, it was the same conversation as usual. My blood pressure was way too high and I was still vomiting daily. We had tried numerous diet pills and diets over the last 5 years (in addition to before I met him), and to no avail. I just kept gaining and gaining. I had gained 30 lbs in the last 5 months alone. We discussed my health and then I nervously asked him "What about weight loss surgery". Without hesitation he said "Yes, Definitely!". I was shocked. I expected him to tell me no, what a foolish idea it was. Furthermore, he said "as a matter of fact, if you don't have it now, you won't physically be able to have it later. I will do some calling and find you a good surgeon." I left, elated and stunned. There was hope. Then began my journey. I became obsessed. I had to have this. The more I researched, the more I learned, the more obsessed I became. I had resigned myself to the idea that I was doomed to live the rest of my life in misery and this changed all that. I documented all of my health problems, wrote a letter to the insurance company, gathered pictures of my weights over the years & off I went to find my surgeon & get this done. I found this wonderful website (Obesityhelp) that had everything a person could ever desire when looking into weight loss surgery. I spent every waking hour reading. I read comments from patients about surgeons which really helped me in making a final decision about who I would trust to do this surgery on me. That website is probably the most helpful source of information for a pre-op person looking into surgery. At least it was for me. My journals are included. I hope my success with this surgery can help another morbidly obese person to find hope, happiness & health.
This page was last updated on 02/04/10.
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