014 Getting Down to Business

Unless you are still in school, on disability or in between jobs right now you know what it's like to go to work on a regular basis. You probably also know how good or bad employers can be about allowing you to take time off of work. That's why it is important for you to carefully think things through when considering whether or not to do a weight loss surgery (WLS).

WLS effects more than just your body. It effects your emotions, your mind, your family/relationships, your job and so much more. If you are going to do a wls you need to realize that your near future includes many trips to the doctors office along with various medical tests and expenses. You have to be prepared.

One of the biggest areas of preparedness is your job. It's important to know your rights and to keep communication lines open between you and your employer. When I was hired at the St. Joseph News-Press, I was open with my potential employer about the hours that I would be taking off so that I could attend doctors appointments with my husband and the hours I would take off when he finally has his surgery. They were okay with my choices and appreciated my honesty. I know that not everyone has a job like that. That's why it's important for you to know about things like the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Admittedly I don't know how best to explain it but you can learn more by talking to your companies human resources person and/or by visiting The Department of Labor Website.

No matter how easy or difficult your employer is to work with it is important to let them know how much time off you need, when you need it, and what they will be able to expect from you once your doctor clears you to come back to work after surgery. So get down to business and make a visit to your HR department. You need to know what you are getting yourself into before you dive into the deep end!

011 Waiting is the Hardest

Whether I find myself waiting for a birthday, special event, doctor's appointment or date, I find myself impatient and easily frustrated. Why is it that waiting is so hard and yet we have to do so much of it in life? I truly believe waiting is the hardest.

In this case it was waiting for the six months of doctor supervised weight loss to be over! You get into a routine--eat right, exercise and repeat. Things get boring. There seems to be no end in sight (although you really know that it is only going to take six months). Everything seems to be moving so slowly! What to do?

Well, the answer is NOT to fall off the wagon. HOWEVER, that's where we found ourselves. We started slacking off and caught ourselves thinking more than once "oh we still have months left to…fill in the blank". Then you start to backslide.

In our case this resulted in a stern talking to from Dr. Weiderholt. At first we were a little put off by how forceful she was (especially Jimmy) but looking back on it now I can see that it was exactly what we needed to hear at that moment. If we thought for a second that she was going to call off the supervised weight loss then she knew that we would re-double our efforts to keep going. She knew that we want this more than anything and she had to make us see that even though we still had four or three or two months left to go before all the actual surgery appointments and insurance approval processes could begin that it was still important to stick with it.

Does that mean that we are now perfect and never ever backslide? NO! By no means! We are still human and very prone to ordering pizza when we are feeling tired or lazy but at least we know that are not in this alone and we will be held accountable for our actions and we know that we don't have to wait for that!

003 Let's Go Back...

I realized when I was looking back at my last post that I talked about why obese people in general consider Weight Loss Surgery (WLS) but I didn’t talk specifically about Jimmy and me. So I wanted to stop and take you back...

Jimmy is 36 years old. He is 6’3” and a BIG guy. Many people can pinpoint the cause of their weight gain to a specific event or series of events in their lives. Jimmy once told me that he doesn’t remember a time when he wasn’t the “Big Kid”. I don’t think that could be easy on anyone.

Jimmy doesn’t believe there were any specific things in his life that caused him to gain weight (and of course there is the continuing genetics debate about weight) but that doesn’t mean his life was easy. He was raised by his amazingly wonderful grandparents--Grampy and Grammy--who lived in Boonville, MO.

Grampy and Grammy did their best to help Jimmy be healthy and active. He participated in just about every sport he was eligible to play. They made sure he ate his veggies (however few of them he may enjoy), and they took him to the doctor in the third grade when they were still concerned about his size. Nothing any of them did seemed to change the weight.

Jimmy says that it wasn’t until he had free reign over his diet and he could eat whatever he wanted that his weight truly escalated. Like most people in America, Jimmy didn’t make very healthy choices when it came to eating. By the time he really realized he had a real and serious weight problem things seemed hopeless to change.

I can attest from personal experience that when you can’t see a way out of your bad circumstances you often choose to continue in them instead of trying to make a way. So here we are now. It’s been 18 years since Jimmy left home to go to college and the spiral began and we are just now really, seriously trying to fight out way out of the pit. It’s going to be a long hard journey but we know in the end it will be worth all the blood, sweat, and tears.