Life Before Surgery?

Went to a monthly follow-up meeting last night, and Dr. Courtney Holbrook, who ran the session, gave me two  writing assignments.  This is The First.

For this assignment, Dr. H asked us to write about what our life was before surgery, to help us remember why we decided to have it.  For me, the answer was simple: diabetes.  I had fought this affliction for over 20 years, and despite reasonable care and close compliance, I was starting to see my end game, and it wasn't pretty.  My eyes were damaged, and I am restricted from night driving.  I had a stroke in 2006, followed by heart surgery.  And I was feeling effects of diabetes in my feet and legs.

Some of my friends and contemporaries have had much more serious issues.  Three of them have had leg/foot operations, and two have had parts of a foot amputated.  Because these are dear friends, it was easy to see myself in their shoes, and predict that another few years would leave me with amputations and blindness.

I had wanted to receive bariatric surgery five years or so ago, but my then-primary care physician vetoed it.  "Absolutely not," he said.  "That is dangerous, unproven surgery and I'll never approve it."  I eventually found a new PCP, but never trusted him enough to discuss this.  Fortunately, my insurance provided an alternative to requiring a PCP approval.