Building support mechanisms....

In the back of my mind I knew this was the thing I had to do.

The thought of surgery does scare me witless in some ways. I am, after all, in one of the high-risk categories for general anaesthetic. So, Question: What does a “scared witless” bloke do to move forward?

Answer: He builds support mechanisms in all of the areas he lives and works to make it all the more difficult to back out. Clever huh???

OK, support people in place, well all over the place really… Now the hard one, telling the parents.

I did not anticipate blurting this all out to my folks in the way I did, but they were up in the local area on one of their caravan tours. We arranged to see them on the Friday night, rather than get caught up in the quagmire of nieces and nephews/grandkids the following day.

I had not even discussed all of the thought processes with my wife at this stage… However, during the discussion we had, I brought up the issue of my weight before they did (I know it is hard for them to discuss it with me) and blurted out what had been going on in my mind.

Hmmm, what a cathartic experience, for with every word that I used in describing the process and proposed actions, the more I was committing myself to going down the road to doing this thing.

What an emotional outpouring that was. The people I loved most were hearing all about this at the same time. Some of the content must have been hard for them to hear, as it was hard for me to describe to them. I do feel some guilt at not full disclosing details to my wife, aka F, prior to this dinner. I know she is aware of how I manage these issues within myself, and I know that she will support me through rain, hail, or shine. (We celebrate 17 years of marriage this coming weekend)

It was after the family had been told that I moved forward to making the appointments with the GP and getting referrals etc.

Wow, this was moving forward apace. To some degree I still refuse to believe that it is really happening, until I finally see the surgeon and we discuss some of the big issues.

I know this is what I have to do, I know this is what I want to do, and damn it all, I will be asleep through the scary part.




Tags: Surgery Obesity weight+loss Personal Diet Lap+Band Journey Scales