Decisions decisions

Sooo...I'm fat. I'm not 800 pounds...but I am fat...

Now...I know I'm fat...but it is a weird thing to see pictures of myself because I do not see myself as how fat I really am...and when I see the reality of it...well...it is disturbing to see at the least...and at most it is just plain out and out scary. I had that experience this week...a picture of Sarah and I together...and it wasn't expected.

My lovely wife Heather just got home today after having the gastric bypass surgery and she is just beginning this journey...but in the next year she is profoundly going to change physically. She keeps asking me how I feel about going through the same thing myself...and I keep telling her that I am still thinking about it...which is the truth.

The catch is...I have a preexisting colon problem that I was born with...and this surgery could/would impact that condition...and I asked her surgeon about this and he confirmed it...so it is not simply a fear of mine...it is a reality....however he also told me that he could do a similar but different form of the surgery on me (a procedure called "the sleeve" which effectively actually removes most of the stomach from the body but does not involve the smaller intestine, therefore it's form and method is not malabsorbtion as Heather's surgery but restriction) and then given some time...a few months...he would reevaluate for a second surgery to remove some of my colon to fix the colon problem I was born with.

This was...to say the least....shocking to me...I was told by a surgeon at the age of 12 years that this was inoperable...that I would live with this the rest of my life and there wasn't much I could do about it. I have learned through my own personal growth that there are things I can do about my condition and it has made an enormous difference for me both in function and in overall health in this regard (Heather's surgeon was impressed when I told him how much I have improved on my own just in the last 4-5 years). I can be proactive and it does make a difference. But I have operated (no pun intended) under the belief all these years, that I would just have to live with this forever and try to do my best. Now...I find out that this belief is no longer true.

That is profound for me. The thought of being normal in that regard has always been a dream that is completely unattainable for me. Now...the idea is no longer unattainable but very real and the surgeon was very frank and casual about this, telling stories of others whom he has done similar things for, albeit not for the same reason.

So I am left with a great big void of uncertainty...and an even more daunting question...do I go through two major surgeries...risk my life twice...to loose this weight and to get rid of a lifelong digestive problem? Would I truly be better off by all of the pain and risk...the possibilities are exciting and scary as hell.

I would be the ideal candidate for a gastric bypass type of surgery...other than the colon thing...I have three of the four conditions they ask about and use as qualifying factors, I have lost 75 pounds on my own and put it all back on plus more...and then lost 30 pounds through weight watchers last year ...and have put it all back on plus...and concerning the surgery her surgeon told me..."ya gotta do it"...and I am still trying to figure out if that is the sales pitch of a businessman plying his trade....or if he is actually right...and if he is correct...then maybe I should be doing everything I can so that I can be here and be healthy for decades to come.

My goal...at this point in my life...is to still be here and have a good and positive quality of life...by the time Sarah is my age...which would put me well into my 80's...and in order to accomplish this task...I need to get this stinkin weight off...and keep it off.

I am in a weird position because...realistically...I have lost 75 pounds before on my own...using a book I bought as a guide...a book called, "Weigh Less, Live Longer" by Dr. Arrone. Good book and I used it effectively, it works. I now "know" I could get this weight off. I do not question whether or not I could get it off. The problem I have is that I can't seem to keep it off. I am an addict and I use food as a drug to relieve my stress and use it as a friend when I need to feel better or differently. Maybe cutting my stomach out and having it completely removed, except for a 2-3 oz. pouch, is the answer. That is scary though. Even the surgery that Heather has had does not remove the organ from the body...they just place it to the side but it is still there.

Should I just....basically...loose/amputate my stomach....and for that matter some of my colon while I am at it? Is this really my only way? Or should I be allowing my weight and the medical complications from it to take me down slowly? Yuck...

How the hell did I end up here? Not in a million years would I have guessed earlier in my life that I would have this as a decision to face. There seems to me to be no clear and easy answer here. Everything is still on the table as for this moment...but I gotta tell ya...I am really struggling with this one...

Both paths are scary. Even if I lost all my weight through diet and exercise...which is still on the table too BTW...could I keep it off? Could I change me so much that I never go back to the way that I have lived the last several years? That...is the final question...and I am in no way reassured that I would be able to accomplish the long term goal. I "know" I could do the short term goal...but could I keep it off? That...that is the real question...hmm....I wish I knew...