Talking it out with my husband

I have been married to my husband for just over 10 years.  We've been together for about 14 years. He has seen me slowly gain weight since I met him.  When we started dating, I weighed probably about 150-160. 4 years later, when we were married, I weighed 175, (and had to exercise and diet to get there).  

After my first baby, which in included huge weight gain and birthing a 9# 10oz baby, I dropped some of my baby weight but slowly, over the next 5 years, my weight crept bank up to about 220. We had been trying for a 2nd child, but it wasn't going well.  I had two heartbreaking miscarriages and we had decided a second child probably wasn't in the cards for us. I joined Weight Watchers (for maybe my third or fourth time) with my sister in law and we actually did really well on the program.  I got down to almost 200 pounds.  I was gearing up to hit one-derland when BAM, I got pregnant with my daughter. (Another HUGE weight gain, HUGE baby, HUGE mama). At this point, my belly was toast and I had that lovely flap thing going on, which not only was painful, but EW.  Over the next four years, my weight crept up to the highest it had ever been. 240. The day I weighed in at the KCBC, that was the highest I had ever been. 

Now, I know that there are patients that are a lot heavier than I am and in comparison, my weight is some people's goal weight, I was seeing it all over the KCBC facebook page.  But all I knew was that my doctor was talking to my about my weight, I felt like crap, and I couldn't do all the things I always wanted to do with my kids. Plus, I'm 5'2", no matter how you look at it, 240 on a frame that small is not good. So this decision was right for me. 

I spoke to my husband about it and I know that I'm a lucky one. He told me he didn't think it was necessary and that he thought I was beautiful (**SOB**). He also told me he liked my stomach because that was only from our babies (**DOUBLE SOB**). But he was supportive of whatever decision I made. 

So with that discussion out of the way and talks about how our life would change, I called the center and made my initial $250 payment. 

                                                    Wedding day Oct, 2009 - 175#

                                         The night before I went into labor with my 1st. June, 2010

                                    The night before I went into labor with my 2nd. June, 2016

                                                                        This is 240

Consultation

My dear friend Elizabeth had her surgery in November of 2019 and was always honest and straightforward about her experience. After watching her work her ass off, rejoice, struggle, and in the end, swear she'd do it all over again, I thought I had to at least start looking into my options. I filled out some paperwork and was told that this was a procedure that my insurance did cover (pending approval), I had my first consultation with Dr. Hamilton at the Bariatric Center of Kansas City early February 2020. 

Information about the Corona Virus was beginning to come out, but at this point, we had no idea the impact it was about to have on 2020. 

After going through this journey with Elizabeth, any thoughts I had before of this being the easy way out were quickly dispelled.  Even though the surgery is completed laparoscopicly, it was still a major, life-altering surgery.  

My first thought was that I wanted the sleeve. The sleeve sounded like a much less drastic option. Dr. Hamilton (he's a bit of a close talker, heads up there) went over both surgeries with me and answered my questions. My biggest concern was safety. We had had someone at work die from weight loss surgery and leave behind two children. To clarify, she had several other major health issues and didn't follow the doctor's orders whatsoever. Outside of being overweight, for all intents and purposes, I am relatively healthy.  No diabetes, no heart issues, no sleep apnea, fairly flexible, and have 100% mobility. He expressed that he had had to fix several sleeves due to complications and issues, but rarely, if ever, had to repair or address issues with the bypass.  I was sold. He also stated you lose more weight with the bypass. While this was a plus, it was not the deciding factor for choosing the bypass, it was a safety issue.

I had my first weigh in that day and I weighed in at 240. I had eaten on the way there, which I had felt bad about. I should have waited to eat if I knew we were going to be weighing in! BUT, I later found out that my insurance requires that no weight be gained during my 6 month waiting period. So, if you are going to your first appointment, my recommendation is to fill that belly to give yourself some room in case you have any small gains. Also, some insurance's require you actually lose a certain amount of weight.  I high first weigh in gives you an advantage there.

My friend Elizabeth only had a 3 month waiting period, so know that the timeline can vary depending on the insurance you carry.

First appointment down, I decided to wait to make my initial $250 payment to be able to talk to my husband and see what we wanted to do.