The Most Dramatic Change

I've been struggling with my weight for a while now, and even though I've finally seen a doctor and have tried to lose weight following a diabetic diet, I still keep gaining. Maybe it's because of my bad back keeping me from being as active as I used to be? Maybe it's because I'm still facing the loss of my best friend (who was more of a soul mate to me than just a friend)? Maybe it's because I haven't been able to work the past couple of years? But in this past year alone, I'm ashamed to admit, I had gained 100 pounds.

It's hard to try and get that off because I can't stand for longer than 10 minutes without my back feeling like it's going to break. I can't do conventional aerobics because of this, but I've tried aqua aerobics. It did wonders for my back pain, but I wasn't getting any results from it. Most recently, I found out that I now have fatty liver disease. All of my health problems - the diabetes, the apnea, the fatty liver, problems getting pregnant - all of them are related to my weight.

Thankfully, my doctor recommended that I see a bariatric surgeon for this. I grew up hearing about weight loss surgeries. I'll be honest - the thought of them terrified me. I don't want to permanently alter my body because of this! My Mom had a gastric bypass before I was born and that didn't seem to help, especially since they wired her up wrong! I was actually pretty scared of the thought of it. But I went ahead and went to the appointment today anyway, and now I'm happy to say that I'm not as scared as I once was. I'm actually pretty excited! And a hell of a lot nervous. Not only because it's a scary surgery, but because I don't know how I'm going to do with it, or how well it will or won't work... It's a big life changer!

First, he talked over the options with me. He broke them down into three main operations, and from the least effective to the most effective. I had no idea how these worked, so he took his time explaining, and he even drew me a picture! lol First is the sleeve. That's where they cut your stomach in half so you get fuller faster and can't eat as much. It's the least effective at showing weight loss within the first year. Then there's a gastric bypass. This makes the stomach even smaller, and takes off some of your intestine, bringing it up to that stomach pouch to keep you from absorbing as many nutrients from the food. Then there's the duodenal switch. That's the one I'm opting for.

The duodenal switch is something I've never heard of. I asked him if there's an actual kind of switch that is used, but he said no lol I asked if it was like a lap band, but he said no to that as well. He said he actually stopped doing those a couple of years ago because there wasn't really much going on with them. He said a duodenal switch is kind of a mix between the two, and it shows the best results. The reason why we both think this would be the best option for me is because he said it shows a dramatic difference for people with diabetes, and he said some organ (I can't remember which) starts doing wonders for the body after this surgery. Less weight? Less apnea. Fatty liver starts to fix itself. Blood sugar regulates. This one cuts the stomach in half, like the sleeve, and cuts the intestines even more so that you're absorbing less nutrients. How do you keep from becoming malnutritioned? That's an issue taken care of with multivitamins, which I take every day anyway.

There's a few things I'll have to do first, but he said once my insurance clears around the 11th of this month, I can start the process! I will have to do things like talk to a dietitian, get an ultrasound on my gallbladder, get a scope of my stomach to make sure there aren't any surprises. There's going to be much to do, but I hope it will all be worth it. For one, I'm excited about the idea, and I can't "weight"! haha :-p

Here's a diagram I found, if it helps to understand it any better?