Gastric Bypass: How To Decide

Did you choose gastric bypass partly for mental health reasons?

Tying emotion in with eating is not healthy and I knew that either for the better or the worse - after the gastric bypass that was going to change. Because I went to a fabulous program, I spent six months dealing with eating mindfully. Mindful eating and not using food as a crutch, not eating because I am sad, it was basically learning how to eat again as a child basically, smelling food for the first time, taking small bites and really using food for what it is meant to be, to sustain your life and not to overpower your emotion, not to mask your pain because that is not what food was meant to be, that is not what any drug was meant to be.

Who helped you in your decision to choose gastric bypass?

My close family helped me in choosing gastric bypass. I would say my mother, my sister and my uncle were the most influential people in making this decision with me. Because it was very much a collective decision. I knew I wanted to make it but, of course I was scared and at the same time they were there to help guide me and to help give me the emotional support I need in such a big decision.

How much thought did you put into choosing gastric bypass?

The decision probably consumed me for many months. I would have to say at least four to six months before I even signed up, I thought about it, and I researched it, and I pretty much read everything I could about the surgery. I spoke to people who had it. I spoke to people whom it didn't work for. I spoke to surgeons. I spoke to doctors. I spoke to people in other countries. I don't make decisions on the fly, and it took me quite some time--many months.

What consequences of gastric bypass did you worry about?

I would have to say, the biggest consequence that I knew I would be facing with gastric bypass was knowing I had to stick with it. No more excuses. No more "Oh, I'll start that diet tomorrow" or "I'll eat the candy today and, you know, work out twice as hard tomorrow", because that's just a slippery slope in your mind and you always lose it because, you just- the consequences of having the surgery are you can't make those decisions anymore because they impact you too much.

Who first recommended gastric bypass?

It was Team Chad . . . Team Chad assembled and we basically talked about gastric bypass. It had been brought up to me by my mother a few times, but I automatically brushed it off and said "no, no, no, I'm not ready for that, I don't need that." For years, that's how I would push that away, while I continued to self destruct. But, Team Chad put together gastric bypass, and to me, it would be family. Family brought up gastric bypass to me, and then we consulted with our primary care physician, and then found the proper team to actually go forward.