Truth or Dare?

I first started researching WLS (weight loss surgery) in 2005. I was living in Utah at the time, working at AOL. I had a great job with great benefits that actually covered WLS. There were a couple of my colleagues that had gone through WLS and highly recommended it. As we talked my interest became piqued. The question was, do I dare jump into this just based on the info that TWO people have given me, or do I research and find out the truth about the effect such a drastic measure with have on my life?

Anyone who knows me, knows that I either go big or go home. I decided to find out the truth and research the heck out of WLS. At the time there were three different procedures. I wanted to know the good, bad and ugly of all three. I started by going online to multiple websites and reading. I read, and read, and read. Just when I thought I had read everything there was out there about WLS, I did some more reading! After reading I went onto messages boards and chatted with people. After chatting with many people I decided I needed to interview people that had the different procedures. I needed to interview people that had good experiences and people that had bad experiences including complications. I sat down face to face with SIXTY people. Twenty people from each procedure. Ten people that had success and ten people that had complications. Now, when talking about interviewing these people, I should also mention that I am not very good at filtering the questions that come out of my mouth. If I think it I typically say it or ask it. Just who I am. So I asked. I asked all the questions that I had, even if they were uncomfortable for me or the person I was talking to.

This is what I learned:

The Truth: Nine times out of ten the people that I spoke with that were successful and would do it all over again if they had to, did everything that they were supposed to. They took the vitamins, they did everything their doctors asked or told them to. They followed the rules and the instructions. Hmmm, imagine that.

I also learned that nine times out of ten the ones that had complications and did not have success, the ones that wished they would have never taken this step, were the ones that thought that they were the exception to the rule.

You would think that after all that reading and interviewing all those incredible people I would have had the information that I needed to make a decision. Even though I was swaying very heavily to the side of having the surgery, I still needed to talk to some doctors. I needed to know what their professional opinion was. I made appointments with five different WLS surgeons. After speaking with them and sharing "my story" with them they all felt like WLS was a good option for me.

The Dare: Did I dare take this drastic step and change my life? YES!!! I did dare! I decided to have the Roux-en-y Gastric Bypass.

I started the process of submitting my paper work to my insurance company and getting some of the pre op screenings done. Due to some unfortunate events that happened in my personal life at the time, I had to quit my job and I moved back to California. This meant that I no longer had health insurance and had to withdraw from having the surgery. It wouldn't be until seven years later when the opportunity would come before me again.