Important: BEFORE you consider weight loss surgery, ask yourself the following questions:
1. Am I at least 100 lbs overweight?
2. Am I doing this for vanity or health reasons?
3. Are the benefits of surgery worth it EVEN if I have the serious post-op problems some people have?
4. Have I honestly given 100% to a serious diet and exercise program?
5. Am I willing to put my family through this ordeal if I have problems post-op?
6. Do I understand that not everyone has the same results, good or bad?
7. Do I understand that my very life will depend on me having the self-discipline to take my vitamins and protein everyday for the rest of my life?
8. Am I willing to live with the hair loss? Even cut my hair? (Your hair will eventually come back in)
9. Am I willing to live with excessive wrinkly and sagging skin? This is worse on people who refuse to take their protein daily and exercise daily. Sags occur in the underarm area (making me uncomfortable in sleeveless shirts or bathing suits), sags occur greatly on thighs and results in skin hanging over the knees (making me refuse to wear shorts in the summer), the butt becomes flat and hangs over the back of the thighs, and the bust drop toward the floor (lol...of course, that depends on the size of your breast, my little ones only dropped to my midriff area).
10. If not willing to live with the wrinkles and sagging skin, can I afford the 10s of thousands of dollars for plastic surgery (most of which will come out of your pocket)? If you've got the money and the time off of work, I've seen wonders done with plastic surgery. I've met women on the internet who have had plastic surgery done on their face, their bust, their arms, their tummies, their thighs, their butts. Some of them have had it ALL done.
11. Do I realize that every problem I have now might not go away with WLS? Some people honestly think their problems will disappear with their weight. That's not always the case. I have a personal friend who is now on Prozac and seeing a psychologist weekly because she is devastated that her problems didn't go away when she lost her weight.
12. Do I realize that I may be overeating as a comfort to aid me in dealing with issues in my life? After you have surgery, that 'comfort' will be gone and you'll have to deal with any issues head on. (Some people require counseling after surgery because their 'comfort' has been taken away. Kind of like taking an alcoholic's liquor or a druggie's drugs away from them...cold turkey...with no therapy or treatment).
ADHESION NOTE: If you have had more than 1 abdominal surgery, you may want to seriously considering asking your physicians if they encountered any problems with adhesions/scar-tissue while performing your surgery. If the answer is YES, please, please be sure and discuss this with your WLS surgeon PRIOR to having WLS!!! THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT AND COULD PREVENT YOU GOING THROUGH THE PROBLEMS I HAVE ENCOUNTERED.