How it started

 I thought I would give you all the story on how I decided on bariatric surgery. It probably isn't what you think...

 I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes last August. While I am and was overweight, and yes clinically morbidly obese the Type 2 is actually very much genetic in my family, even those who are MUCH smaller than I was have been diagnosed on both sides of my family. I strictly followed my PCP's diet and when I say strictly I mean for a year I had NOTHING but veggies and meat and occasional sugar free treats. My blood sugar would still hover at 90 fasting if I was lucky.

 I had indeed attempted to lose weight, and had actually lost over 100lbs on Atkins/Low Carb diet previously but after a year or so I just started slowly gaining it back regardless of my diet and exercise. If you can't tell by now I have just LOVELY genes, no offense to my family.

 Regardless of weight I was actually fantastically healthy. Cholesterol was slightly below normal, my blood pressure was pretty good. I had no other medical concerns besides some migraines. However, after doing all I could I was still on 3 regular diabetes meds plus the Humalog (insulin) sliding scale when needed. I looked into Bariatric Surgery and found out that 90% of patients are completely off diabetes meds the day OF surgery. So I asked the RN at my Dr's office what they thought. She said they didn't lean one way or another and thought it should be my choice. So, I called Dr. Graber's office here in Utica and went to the seminar. Dr. Graber has been a Bariatric Surgeon for nearly as long as the current forms have been around. After finding out his success rates, how he manages after care etc I decided that what was best for me due to the diabetes I clearly couldn't control even with trying and the bonus of losing weight a Roux En-Y was the best option for me. I am only 42 and have years left to live with the diabetes and only getting less healthy or I could do something about it.

 My PCP actually was totally excited when he found out, as were all the great ladies who work in his office. I had 100% support from the medical side of my life as well as my sister and David (SO) What I liked most about Dr. Graber though is, he offers support groups for the first year after surgery, he offers support groups for people who have started to regain weight, he has all the folks you need to see pre-op right in his office or they come to his office for your appointments. His office set up all my pre-op appts including the medical release appoint. with my PCP. All I had to do was come in for weight checks every month as I had already followed a medically supervised diet for almost a year when I went to see him the first time.

Now, here I am almost a week after surgery. I am still on a liquid diet but my blood sugar levels are the normal levels of someone without diabetes who is fasting. Instead of 90+ when I wake up in the morning it's 77-80 all day long which puts me in a really good place.

While I LOVE the fact that I will lose weight that was not the reason when I decided. The reason was my diabetes. I do however think that having the surgery "just" to lose weight is a great idea if that's what you want or need to do. Not all of us can simply eat less, work out more or not eat junk food. Believe me, I tried for YEARS to do it that way. If this is the road you want to take on your weight loss journey I am totally supportive of you to do so.