2017--Is the time "right" for a 67 year old?

[MovinSue]

I was browsing this website and caught a thread about "age" and bariatric surgery.  The participants were mostly in their mid-50's--ha babies to me!  I clicked and realized that most posts were 5-6 years old.  So, I decided to start a new thread.

I am a 67 year old female in good health.  I had a gastric plication with Dr. Ortiz in 2011.  In 2014, I changed my lifestyle to incorporate more "fun" with a partner!  While alone, I was easily able to engineer my household to meet my dietary needs.  However, I noticed a "creeping up" of weight in 2015.  My first denial was that is a natural age-related decline in muscle mass/hormones etc and a small increase was expected and reasonable over time.

In 2017, I became alarmed when I could barely close up my zipper on jeans and saw a photo of myself.  Having not worried much about my weight, I had not been weighing myself as I did before.  I weighed myself and finally came out of my denial.  I had gained back 15 lbs in 5 years.

Now, what to do?  I am 67.  Is the time right to do this AGAIN?  Am I wasting money to throw thousands at an intractable lifelong problem that I had hoped was solved with the plication?

I decided YES, the time is absolutely right!  I am a well female and may live another 20 years!  I am now "out of denial" about the reason for my slow, steady weight gain--and--it had almost nothing to do with the plication.  Though, as a retired nurse and quasi-geek on many things, I do have some technical and practical doubts about the long-term efficacy of the procedure but that is another subject.  I am going to ask Dr. Ortiz about one key question.  I decided to have a vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG) rather than a revision of the plication.

I decided that the time is right to invest in my future health and comfort.  I have the dreaded X syndrome, a petite frame, genetic predisposition for energy thiftiness and am vulnerable to other exacerbations of carrying around too much weight (including having had a second hip replacement surgery about a year ago).  I am very uncomfortable in my current pants wardrobe and the thought of shopping for a bigger size is depressing.  My boyfriend has a big dog and I would like to hike along on morning walks along the river.

On another level, WHO defines the "right time" for anything?  Is there a cosmic "right time".  I think that "right time" is our human way of putting off things that are unpleasant or seem daunting.  I can attest, having been through a plication, that it is not pleasant thing to look forward to but is most certainly made as easy peasy as possible with the coordinators on staff at Dr. Ortiz's office, who will guide you every step of the way.  I am impressed that the process has become "higher tech" since 2011 and patient accountability has been buffed up.

I look forward to this procedure reset button as my "right time" on May 9, 2017.

 

[MovinSue]

I am now 2 lbs lighter than my lowest weight after my plication.  I have incorporated my playfriend into my dietary regime and he is extremely supportive of a household with two completely different diets. 

I now have more respect for the power of Not Paying Attention and Making Excuses in the process of gaining weight.