I met with the surgeon this morning, and we're all set for me to go ahead - just need to set the date. It's likely to be the start of April, although I phoned his secretary and she hasn't gotten back to me yet.
The surgeon and I had a chat about the article - I asked if he'd seen it and he said yes, then asked me what I thought. I said that I was actually wondering what the paper's agenda was in publishing it, and he said he was wondering the same thing. He also said he's happy that they did, because it is important that people understand it's not just another thing to try - that it is surgery and there are risks. We also had a chat about the comment made by Paula Shelton from Slater & Gordon about the difference between good surgeons and bad surgeons - and how important it is to make sure that your surgeon really knows what they're doing, and isn't just jumping on the bandwagon (so to speak!) because they can see dollar signs.
There's no doubt that I agree with what Rick Kausman said about the need to address underlying mental health issues, no matter what they relate to. Additionally, I think that there are a range of physical issues that can stop people losing the weight, and that this surgery assists in addressing those.
One of the things that has occurred to me (although I didn't discuss it with my surgeon this morning) is that there may well be people who are being told by a specialist (cardiologist, endocrinolgist, whatever) that they need to have the surgery to address major health problems that the patient is experiencing, and that this means that there may be people who are heading off to have the surgery without really being fully committed to it - that as far as they're concerned they're just following doctor's orders. In this group of people there would certainly be people whose attitude to food and eating needs to be addressed on a psychological level, in a professional setting.
At the same time, there are those of us who just need to be freed from the battle of fighting hunger - and once that's been done, it's easy to eat the right way, because you're not constantly puttting energy into fighting that hunger sensation. In my particular case, I certainly eat as an emotional response, no doubt about that. But the major emotional issue for me is how I feel about myself at this weight. For me, this surgery will provide a way to control the amount I eat - and then, when I get a desire to eat when I'm not hungry, I don't have to fight the urge to eat, because I know I can't. Instead, I'll be able to put that energy into really working out what has upset me, and how to address that. The problem that Rick Kausman is talking about is those people who haven't learnt how to do that. I don't think it should be an either/or in terms of counselling vs surgery - I think the surgery frees you up to focus on the emotional/psychological side. Good monitoring and follow-up should identify those who need the extra psychological support, and appropriate referrals should be made at that point.
It's not like we refuse heart surgery to patients because they won't address the emotional basis of their weight is it?
There is never a wrong time to do the right thing