I have battled my weight since grade 9 and am beginning to consider WLS because I have health related concerns. My father and his two sibling were all over 300 lbs, and both my uncle and my father had cardiac bypass surgery. My grandfather died at 54 of a heart attack. This fall, my father went in to have his carotid artery cleaned out and ended up in the ICU for 3 weeks. It turns out his diabetes led to kidney failure and he is now on dialysis.
So given my family history and the obesity its no wonder why I would consider WLS. But to really understand the reasons, you need to go back to March 2001 (I was 32).
My friend Alana who lives in Calgary gave me a call. She and her friends were going to Belize. I decided to join them on the spur of the moment. I signed up to scuba dive (Belize is known for amazing reef life) and they made me fill out a health form. Being honest-- I checked the "high blood pressure box". The Scuba instructor looked at the form and then told me I needed a doctor's signature on some paperwork. Of course, I argued with my doctor, pointing out that I was controlled on meds and most people my age never even KNOW they had hypertension. No go. She had me do a stress test-- and of course it was abnormal.
"Could be because you have large breasts, and it is a false positive, but let's try another test to be safe"
We followed it up with a "thallium hypertension test". Also abnormal. At this point the panic set in, and suddenly I started to watch what I ate.
At Dr. Hom's urging (I owe her my life). I made an appointment with the cardiologist she recommended and went off to Belize to snorkel, cave and jungle trek. Upon returning I met the Cardiologist- nice approachable guy-- who listened to my history and said--
"You're probably fine, but let's do a heart scan to check"
The heart scan showed calcification in one artery. So, at the next consultation he opined,
"If it wasn't for your family history I would just treat aggressively with meds, but let's do an angiogram to be safe. I can put a stint in and we'll go from there".
I don't remember much of the angiogram, just my card saying "the stint is a no-go".
When I woke up he told me I should have a triple by-pass immediately-- One artery was completely-- 100% blocked; the other two were 40% and 60% blocked. Five days later they operated.
I spent two months feeling like I had been betrayed, and wondering what I had done to deserve this. Then a baseball player died of a heart attack while taking a weight loss drug-- He was 33. A few weeks later 9/11 happened and I stopped feeling sorry for myself.
What's horrible about this is I lost 40 pounds after the bypass and felt great. Then I gained 75 over the next 3-4 years. The last 35 happened when my dad was going bonkers in the ICU and no one knew why (by the way, a sign of kidney failure is agitation and "going nuts").
A few doctors had suggested WLS, but of course I scoffed at it. I thought I could do it myself. After my dad got sick, I started researching it. I talked to my cousin (father's side of course), who had WLS two years ago. She told me about this sight. In February, I made an appointment with a surgeon to discuss the options-- Since he is so well known, I couldn't get the appointment until May
In March of this year my blood sugar started spiking. It hit 126--diabetes is 127 and higher). I could see it- my father's future laying before me. Diabetes, not be able to move, dialysis etc.
That's my background-- Quite lengthy it was, too.
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About Me
Dec 24, 2004
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