Whatever else you have on your mind,
Wherever else you think you're going,
Stop for a moment and look where you are:
You Have Arrived!

Welcome:
You Have Arrived!

Thoughts from Kaye Bailey
Published June 1, 2005 - Premier Issue "You Have Arrived"

Philosophers say we spend our lives striving to meet the same basic needs: protection from the elements, food, water and other physiological needs.

Beyond that, we need to feel safety and security within our family, our home and in our place in the community. We need to feel that we fit in. We need community , fellowship and friendship.

Welcome to LivingAfterWLS. It is my hope and my passion that we grow into a caring and compassionate neighborhood of friends who understand one another in our battle with morbid obesity, our brave decision for recovery through weight loss surgery and our never-ending quest for successful weight maintenance, improved health and self-worth.

Most of us, at some point along the way, have been made to feel we took the "easy way out" anybody can lose weight with surgery. The naysayers would have us feel we were of weak character, gluttonous, and slothful choosing obesity as a way of life. An obese person already suffers from shame and society has made us feel more ashamed because we chose to do something about our weight and for our health. We do not feel part of this world community.

Weight loss surgery, in any of the forms presently practiced, is never the easy way out. At the onset we are told surgery is only a tool, and we nod our heads and commit to lifestyle changes without fully understanding the tool. We do not believe that at times we can sabotage our weight loss, or worse regain the weight we struggled to lose. At first we don't understand that dumping syndrome is ugly and disruptive, or that vomiting can occur quickly after one too many bites. We do not realize that the day will come when we do not recognize the reflection in the mirror and we will feel lost. We are surprised by a phase of anger; shouldn't this be the happiest time in our lives? We feel like imposters, fat people masquerading in thin bodies.

And at times we feel alone.

LivingAfterWLS is your long-term neighborhood of weight loss surgery friends. While I hesitate to say so, many of us are discouraged by the long-term aftercare our bariatric centers provide; programs are geared for pre-operative and newly post-operative patients. Scant are the programs for the woman three years out who finds herself regaining. LivingAfterWLS is here for that woman. Some WLS patients join conventional diet communities for support, yet many find these communities can be inhospitable and even aggressive toward gastric bypass patients.

LivingAfterWLS is a long-term support neighborhood.

Support communities are not just for the hard times. We need cheerleaders and flag wavers for those milestone moments - fitting into smaller clothes, accomplishing fitness milestones, receiving unsolicited compliments. We need friends to put their hands together to applaud our accomplishments and celebrate our triumphant moments. LivingAfterWLS is a community of people who've been-there, done-that and truly enjoy the deep meaning of these milestones.

Congratulations on your decision for a healthier life by way of gastric bypass surgery. You are strong and courageous. Thank you for joining us at Living After WLS.

Welcome to Your New Life. You Have Arrived

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