POSTED UNDER Gastric Bypass REVIEWS
Am I a Good Candidate for Gastric Bypass Surgery? - New York, NY
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Hello everyone! My name is Ashlie and I am a 20...
Hello everyone! My name is Ashlie and I am a 20 year old college student. I have had problems with my weight since I was about 11 years old. I am currently 232 lbs and wish to go down 100 lbs, or up to whatever I feel comfortable in. I've been wanting this for so long! Is it really worth it? Any bad complications? The women in my family suffer from thyroid disease, but I have been tested and my results were negative (thankfully). In high school, I weighed 150 lbs at 16 years old and while dieting and exercising gained a tremendous amount of weight. My first thought was that I had thyroid disease and then proceeded to get tested. After finding out that I was negative for the disease, I was very confused as to why I was gaining so much weight while trying to lose it. I was on a very strict diet at the time and never sneaked any unhealthy foods or treats. I thought I was going to go insane! I was disciplining my body so hard and it rebelled against me.
I have tried diet after diet, exercise after exercise, and have seen no good results. This is by far the biggest I have ever been in my life. I am desperate and I do not know what else to do. Being obese is ruining my life. I am too young to deal with health problems, and not to mention an incredibly distorted view of myself. I have such low self-esteem! So, is gastric bypass a good surgery for me? Does anyone think that I can get this done with no problem? I have a family friend who is the same age and weighed over 300 lbs. She had it done about a year and a half ago and is incredibly thin now!
I have tried diet after diet, exercise after exercise, and have seen no good results. This is by far the biggest I have ever been in my life. I am desperate and I do not know what else to do. Being obese is ruining my life. I am too young to deal with health problems, and not to mention an incredibly distorted view of myself. I have such low self-esteem! So, is gastric bypass a good surgery for me? Does anyone think that I can get this done with no problem? I have a family friend who is the same age and weighed over 300 lbs. She had it done about a year and a half ago and is incredibly thin now!
Replies (22)
Hi Ashlie, First and foremost, even though it might be hard to do - remember, you're beautiful inside and out at ANY weight. Getting yourself to a point where you can emotionally say and feel that is MOST important before considering surgery. I had gastric bypass five years ago, and I've maintained a 145 lbs loss. It was the BEST decision I ever made. That being said, only YOU can know what's best for you and your body/life. I can just tell you that it definitely changed my life for the better. I'm 41 and had the surgery at 36. One thing that you should be prepared for is the emotional component that goes along with such a huge life change. The first thing I tell people is to think about therapy IMMEDIATELY, BEFORE surgery. The changes you are going to go through are so massive and happen so quickly, there's often a big emotional roller coaster that happens for folks. Starting to prepare mentally is the best thing you can do for yourself. You can see my whole journey on my YouTube channel. If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask. I wish you the best - no matter what you decide! Cheers, Taunia
Hi Ashlie, welcome!
I think the first thing to do, once you've made the decision that you at least want to look into this surgery, is find out what your BMI is. You can go to the Weight Loss Surgery page and use the BMI calculator there. Once you know your BMI then you can have an idea as to whether or not you're at least in the BMI range for surgery.
I think it's also important that you speak with your family doctor and get a consultation with one, or more, bariatric surgeons. They will best be able to tell you if you're a candidiate. A lot of consultations are free of charge.