One of the pre-surgery courses that Cedars had me take is a psychological course designed to prepare me for the post surgery reality. The only thing that the surgery promised is a chance to loose weight. It is a big change in terms of dietary restriction and life style. It does not promised to fix anything else. If anything does end up getting fixed, it'll just be added bonus. For example, I had type 2 diabetes and hypertension, both not helped by my weight. Within 6 months of the surgery, I'm off both medication, and eating more or less normally with less portion and some difficulty diggesting certain carbohydrate. That's merely the good side benefit of the purpose of the surgery, and the primary reason I get it done. But it's still only side benefit.
The fat on my body is not the cause of all my ills. If I'm a depressed person (I'm not btw), chances are that the fat are not making it better, but it's unlikely to be the cause of it. It is not a cure all. It won't make me feel better about myself. If I had problem relationship, chances are, they'll still just as bad after I loose weight.
When I drive around to and from cemetery weekly, I keep on getting annoyed at the band-mill (if you live in the West Coast, you know the one I'm talking about) billboard along the highway and radio ads that promised the lap-band as a cure-all. If you're reading this and thinking about the surgery, I can promise you one thing, the surgery isn't a cure-all.
My knees are still busted from years of overweight wear and tear. My shins are still scarred, and will takes years to properly heal from the fluid retention issue from 2 years ago. Do I feel more healthy? Absolutely. I do feel a bit better about my self image, but I was never big on that other than being self conscience about being photographed. Now I just have to live with this slightly more healthy body and go forth on slay other demons.
123/70/51 188.2lb 93 mg/DL
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