In August of 2013 I decided to find out what this surgical thing was all about. To be honest, I'm not 100% sure what finally made me decide to start the research. All surgical programs require that you attend a surgical orientation. Basically, it's just a meeting where they explain the basics of bariatric surgery. They detail both the positive and negative sides of the various surgeries. I won't go in to the graphic details, but some of the side effects are quite disgusting. I attended two different surgery orientations. If you know me, you know that I need as much information as possible before I can make any decision. (I am definitely a TYPE A personality!) One presentation was very professional and made it very clear that the decision to get the surgery was ultimately my decision. They went over both the negative and positive side effects and were very honest about the process. They really stressed that the surgery was not the "magic pill". It was only a tool. To really change my lifestyle, I would have to make the daily decisions to make that happen. On a side note, if you have never been to a bariatric facility, it is a very interesting experience. The first thing I noticed was that the chairs were wider than standard chairs and didn't have arms. For the first time, I didn't have to worry about fitting in a chair!!! The second presentation was very informal and assumed that I already intended to get the surgery. It really focused on the various surgeries and the excess amount of weight that could be lost with each surgery. It reminded me of the weight loss commercials on TV. "Need to lose 50 or more pounds? Come to our program and we will do it for you!" After attending both presentations, I made the following decisions:

If I decided to get the surgery, I would only get the vertical sleeve gastrectomy "sleeve". The other surgery options were two invasive and had side effects that I did not want to deal with.
I was going to move forward with the first program because first impressions are very important to me and I didn't want it to be just about the weight loss.

The next week, I contacted the first program to schedule my initial appointments.