My 53 year old sister is going thru the approval process for this surgery now. She's 5' 5" and weighs 295 lbs. She just passed the required psychological testing and has received the papers you need to send to the insurance company for approval. She's gone thru the classes that tell you what to expect during and after surgery, how to eat, what quantities, how you have to literally make your food into mush before you eat it, etc. I know she's praying that the insurance company approves her, but I'm praying that they don't. While I try to be supportive of her and her decision, I have to tell you that it scares the beejesus out of me. I'm so afraid that something will happen to her during or after the surgery. While I'd love to see her lose the weight, I just don't want her to do it this way. She's been on WW and lost about 50 lbs, but gained that and more back; she's been on Meridia (sp?), but that apparently didn't work. She's tried low carbing, but claims that didn't work (she lives with my mother and I KNOW they weren't strict about what they were eating). I'm just really torn about this whole thing. I want to be happy for her, but it's very difficult.

I read a thread here a while back that dated back to May '03, I believe. In it, the male poster was talking about an old friend of his who had the surgery, had lost a lot of weight, but just didn't look "happy" anymore. I'm so afraid this will happen to my sister. I know she's happier on the outside than she probably is on the inside, but I guess one of my fears is that she won't seem like my sister anymore. Does that make sense?