crm22415's Journal, 15 Sep 20

So, weight loss surgery.

I know this can be a controversial topic in the weightloss community. There was once a time when I wanted the gastric bypass so badly. I thought it would solve everything. I was young and saw it as a magic bullet to lose weight. Luckily my insurance would not cover it, so it never happened. I have two cousins that have had the surgery. One died from infection. The other is so malnourished that she needs frequent transfusions of blood to treat anemia and injections/infusions of vitamins and electrolytes because they took too much of her small intestine and now she can't absorb enough nutrients. It's ten years later and now I have another cousin that is planning to get this surgery.

She and I have been on numerous diets together over the past couple years. I am not judging and only stating facts when I say she never lasted more than 5 days on any of the diets, but her insurance is willing to pay for the surgery. Her BMI is 52% and she was recently diagnosed with T2 Diabetes. I feel so strongly that she is going to get the surgery and risk all those complications when surgery is not a cure. Weight loss is a mental fight. Fighting against that momentary good feeling of eating what you crave and fighting for a long healthy life. She is so young, only 22. That is way too early to give up on trying to do this the natural way and having surgery to permanently alter your body's ability to digest and absorb nutrients.

I am in no way saying anything bad about people who have opted for the surgery. I just think it is a very serious procedure and should not be taken lightly, as my cousin is. She is eating burgers at McDonald's everyday, while talking to me about how excited she is about the surgery. That scares me, especially since overeating after the surgery can cause the sutures to rupture and you can die from that.

I'm being supportive in my conversations with her, while still suggesting delaying the surgery to get her eating the bariatric diet for a couple months first. I'm just not sure how to tell her my feelings about it without hurting her feelings or making her think I'm not supportive.

Any suggestions or similar experiences are greatly welcome.

Thanks FSF for letting me rant and inspiring me that I can do this!

115.6 kg Lost so far: 16.9 kg.    Still to go: 38.5 kg.    Diet followed: Reasonably Well.