he full medical picture is something I really don't want to look at, but it is something I need to look at closely. No matter how scary surgery is, I cannot forget how bad I actually am and how much will this surgery help.
Lymphedema on my legs (they get swollen, especially the ankles, like baloons; diuretics help a little but I don't want to abuse of them); not treated.
Venous stasis disease on my legs (a condition whereby the blood does not flow back up easily to the heart and therefore stay under the skin: the leg is swollen, red and hot); not treated (the compression socks I should be wearing are too small for me and I cannot bend far enough to fit them on anyway).
Obstructive sleep apnea (I sleep with the CPAP, and actually I need a CPAP every time I lie down, even awake).
Type II diabetes (although very mild, still there and treated with Ozempic).
Osteoarthritis (joint pain) especially on my knees: I go down the steps one step at a time, taking care not to bend my right knee, or my left, according to the day that's in it
Fatty liver desease (due to both obesity and long term excessive alcohol consumption: although I'm now a teetotaler, the consequences are still there)
Periodontal disease at a very advanced stage which will require bone reconstruction. Although this is not direclty related to the obesity it completes the medical picture.
Will surgery resolve all of these conditions?
No, surgery will not. It is my understanding that surgery is a means to an end, it's a tool through which you are aided in changing your lifestyle entirely and dedicate your life to eat small portions, healthy portions, and then once reached a decent weight start phyisical exercise.
Will I make it a success?
I started having issues with my weight 43 years ago. That is a very long time. Bad habits are part of my life, no question about it. However, I have become this incredibly big only in the last 15 years, which is a lot, but not that long compared to 43, right?
Professionally I am a tough cookie and made a good career for myself, studying a lot to continuously certify myself in something or other: I have more letters after my name than the letters of my name, if you know what I mean.
However for the weight I am a disaster.
I've succeeded in making two major changes in my life, why not the third?
This year, in 2021, I made two huge changes though, which make me hope that I can make a third one:
on the 3rd of January I quit smoking. I had been smoking 60 cigarettes per day up to then. I quit from one day to the next using patches for the first 10 days, then nothing
on the 31st of May I quit drinking. I had been drinking every day of the week, and not a little, for the past ten years or more. I quit one day to the next using an anti-anxyety drug prescribed by my psychiatrist (called Rivotril) for two weeks, and Campral, which I continue to take.
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