I’m a new reader of your blog and I must tell you I really appreciate the honesty you bring. I am 23 years old, 5’1’’ and 225 lbs. I was diagnosed with Poly-cystic Ovary Syndrome about 3 years ago and have gained and retained a total of 85lbs since late 2003. I feel like I’m living inside someone else’s body and I can’t get out. I have tried everything I can think of – I work out every day, I’m eating no more than 1000 calories a day (of barely any carbs or sugars of any kind) and nothing is working. I even tried going to a hypnotherapist for weight loss. I think about gastric bypass every day – especially when I look in the mirror. Then I second-guess it and think about how young I am and how there must be something else. How did you make your decision? What would be your advice to me? Thanks for writing me, and thanks for what you’re doing…
Alison N.
Long Island

Hi Alison! Another LI Girl! How I love LI Girls! I love being one, too.

I actually have a good friend who has (er, HAD) Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. She had GB at the advice of her physician. She weighed about 230 at the time of her surgery 5 years ago. As expected, she lost a ton of weight. She’s about 112 pounds now but best of all…the Polycystic Ovary Syndrome is gone gone GONE. And with it, all the dreadful side effects of which you are obviously intimately familiar.

I do not know, and nor does she, that anyone can say that will happen for every person who has GB and also has POS, but it did happen here. One of the best reasons to get GB, of course, is to permanently clear up conditions associated with obesity.

And I, too, tried so many different things to lose weight, Alison. My mother had my glands checked thoroughly 7 times when I was a kid. Doctors put me on Synthroid when I was just 12. My mother started me on diets from A to Z. As an adult, I did every liquid diet invented, and they did work. And of course, I lost 80 pounds, enjoyed it for a bit and quickly ballooned back up (and then some). I did the whole Ephedrine/workout regime thing, sometimes with a trainer, sometimes not. That worked. I lost the same 80 pounds…sometimes more. Enjoyed that a bit and quickly ballooned back up (and then some). I also ate no more than 1000 calories a day and counted every single one. Kept lists, read self-help books, kept a food diary, attended self-awareness classes, joined and immediately quit OA (ugh!) and Weight Watchers (oh puhleeez…with the bumper sticker speak…spare me), ate Shaklee crap (only because my mother was bigtime into it), lived on boiled chicken and broccoli every single day for 14 months, started smoking for 12 years to stave off hunger of any kind (smart!) and stopped just short of committing suicide. And that’s really just the tip of the iceberg.

I had one thing to help me with the decision to have the procedure that you may not have the benefit of– I had family members who‘d already had it. I suppose it’s easier to decide when you can see the effect GBS has on people in your gene pool.

My mother and younger sister had already had the surgery and I monitored them very closely for 4 years afterwards. I did see the difficulties they had with loose skin and elimination issues and nutritional maintenance, and that did frighten me. A LOT. But then, I also saw other things...

I saw how chipper they sounded when they’d both been morose for years and years before.
I saw how happy they were for each new day.
I saw them shrink into skinny minis and wear short skirts.
I saw my mother start to use her dreaded exercise machines and enjoy them.
I saw her take pleasure out of little things like ordering a new pair of pants off QVC.
I saw my sister look at herself in mirrors and windows as we walked around a mall.
I saw my mother throw away her Synthroid medication.
I saw my sister cancel her chiropractor appointments forever.
I saw her fall in love and get married.
I saw her run up 3 flights of stairs and continue getting her degree after dropping it for years.

I saw hope, Alison, where I’d never seen it before. And good health. And ENERGY. And I wanted me some a that. And I think you do, too. And I think you deserve it.

And I know what you mean about thinking there must be another way, and you’re right. There are many wonderful and effective ways to lose weight. But for some, losing it and keeping it off are wholly different, regardless of how diligent they are afterwards. You and I can both attest to that. I needed to do it with lasting finality. So I wouldn’t keep aggravating my heart, which had already seen me through ups and downs that could kill a horse. I was able to lose weight on my own but not able to keep it off me, and it was obvious to all the doctors I'd seen over the years that I wouldn't ever be able to keep it off me. So I had GBS.

This is just my story. You have your own. If mine sounds all too familiar maybe you should consider the procedure more seriously. And please please please promise to let me know how you are doing, Alison. I would love to help you make this decision and can offer you fresh perspective when you feel you've run out. And whatever you decide, we’re all rooting for you!

GB Girl