Today, looking through my documents, I found the background of one of the most important decisions I have made in my life after entering the faculty of architecture at the Jose Maria Vargas University.
I begin my post by sharing my experience almost 5 years after taking the step and having undergone bariatric surgery. I divide this story into three parts with their respective conclusions.
For 27 years of my life, I struggled against my body, my hereditary tendency to gain weight and against myself... With strong variations in weight and body mass, quite radical and strict diets, which as well as leaving great things like my three great passions (walking, cooking and dancing), also left marks, physical and emotional injuries.
Obesity is also a chain disease, which only those who have experienced it firsthand or have lived with someone in these conditions understand.
Morbid obesity is when a person is 50 to 100 percent over the ideal body weight (45 kg). A person with a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or more would also be considered morbidly obese.
In my case, I lived with a person with morbid obesity and seeing all the suffering he went through, led me to make the decision to change my life if I had the chance. Despite being determined and longing for change, I still had my doubts and fears. In this way, after the loss of my father, I experienced first-hand what it is to be obese and all that it brings with it:
Hypertension is a serious condition that occurs when blood pressure is higher than it should be. He was only 29 years old and is normal in people over 40. The pressure ranged from D=170-S=90 or D=160-S=90. On several occasions I left the infirmary at work where I was on medication to control my blood pressure.
Sleep apnea - defined as a common disorder in which the person suffering from sleep apnea takes one or more pauses in breathing or has shallow breaths during sleep. Very poor quality of sleep and night rest. You can fall asleep anywhere. Extremely dangerous if you drive or work at heights.
Others: severe pain in the joints and back due to the weight and bad posture that we acquire with it. Intolerance to the consumption of certain foods. Not to mention the social pressure that even if you fight it, it will always exist.
One night after a long working and academic day, I was finally able to fall asleep. An hour later I woke up and I literally couldn't breathe, I was drowned. After playing for a while, I couldn't help but cry, I knew what was happening to me and those seconds of not being able to breathe and the feeling of drowning filled me with fear... That fear that makes you make the most radical and forceful decisions.
So the next day, with the help of a good friend who had already gone through this process, I made an appointment with a bariatric doctor, who explained the existing surgical options, the long-term changes, advantages and disadvantages and the whole process. I met his team of three surgeon doctors, a psychologist and a nutritionist.
The intervention I would undergo if I were a candidate would be a gastric bypass whose characteristics would be the following: I would have a stomach divided into two parts, a 15% reserve that would receive the food and go directly to the intestine, the rest of the stomach (85%) would be excluded and would continue its regular functions. The lighter the weight, the easier the laparoscopic surgery will be and the faster the recovery will be. The doctor gave me a picture of the procedure with all the information I needed.
This surgery is reversible, but the idea is to stay firm and follow the treatments to the letter. The feeding changes radically to the point that if you increase the amounts you run the risk of losing the operation. The stomach is a muscle and can therefore expand.
My family and friends were asking me, Sharlin, aren't you a little bit afraid to go into surgery and have that? My answer was simple.... I'm more afraid of walking on the street and having a heart attack or stroke. I'm more afraid of wanting to have children and not being able to or hopefully get pregnant, having a difficult delivery or cesarean section and having my family choose. I'M MORE AFRAID OF NOT LIVING.
So, I took the savings I had so far, I took the tests assigned by the doctor and I was a candidate with almost 36 kg and a BMI of more than 40, besides the hypertension that was the worst, I couldn't control it even with medication. All administrative procedures were completed and preparations for the changes began.
I conclude the first part as follows:
It's normal to be afraid of change, but when you have nothing to lose, you just have to take risks. But when you go the same way, if you don't have a heart attack in the street or while you sleep, you stay in the operating room.... IT'S SCARIER NOT TO LIVE...
Before getting sick and three times my father told me: God always takes something from us to give us something better, but there will always be something to sacrifice to achieve that change, that's why you must ask for everything in perfect balance and without harming anyone.
Obesity is not an aesthetic issue, it's a disease.... One of my dreams is to be able to help people who are going through this situation.
I hope I can make people understand that you can't judge without knowing.... Every head is a world and every person has an inner fight.
When you have the possibility and the means to do something you want, you should not miss the opportunity. And this applies not only to the issue of health, it applies to all areas of life....
Don't wait until you are affected by a situation that is hurting you to act. If you don't like something, participate and change it.
In your worst battles you will know who your true friends are and others will have no choice but to join your fight.
Very important and like everything else be informed and go with the experts. Remember, it's not about moving a mole around or erasing it.
Sources:
https://www.docshop.com/es/education/bariatrics/obesity
http://www.bariatrico.com/equipomed
To see spanish edition visit: https://steemit.com/cervantes/@sharlinm1983/leccion-de-vida-parte-1-de-3-cuando-hay-salud-lo-demas-llega-solo