I am in need help very badly.I know many of us do this but is anyone good with letter writing?I can write but I bable on for days and i am in need of a letter.I am trying to get the gastric bypass surgery and the only thing left to do is I have to write a letter to the surgeon stating why i think the surgery would benefit me.

I know why it would benefit me but how do i put it in letter form so i dont sound like i dont know what i am talking about?I start writing and it sounds really good then all of a sudden i sound like i am lost cause i try to keep explaining after i already have.
I was 113 pounds at 4 months pregnant with my son and thenI got toximia and gained a lot of weight.I am in need of this surgery as i have many medical problems and i just wanna beable to be around for my kids as it doesnt look good at the rate im going.i have a hard time stating what i weigh to the world.I am not at a weight out of this world but enough that i need to get it off.
If you have any good advice please let me know/Like I said this is all i have left to do.My family doctor has already wrote his letter to them and i have got everything i need from doctors and weight loss clinics and such to prove im a canadite but now i have to do my part with a letter and need help badly.


Thanks in advance!!!
Sandra

I hope i poseted this in the right spot.Even if you do not have advice on how to write the letter,do you have any advice at all for me and the surgery?Do you know anyone or have you had it done?Please tell me good or bad!!!

<TABLE width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=2>Lipz17,

A friend of mine had gastric bypass. You should know that there are serious physical and mental risks involved. My friend was coming up on 500 lbs. That is life-threatening heavy. The surgery worked. He weighs 240 now. At 6'2" - not far off from optimal. However, he had a very serious bout of depression recently. If he tries to eat too much he gets sick. When I say too much, I mean anything more than a small portion. He can not eat as much as a person with no weight problem. I can see how that could be depressing. Make sure you really need the surgery, that is, your life is really at risk without it - not just a cosmetic thing. As far as I know, there is no undo.

There are all sorts of writing methods. I am not nor intend to become a good writer. So I just let a free flow of consciousness go through my fingers without worrying whatsoever about effect or grammar or anything else. Those things stiffle my mind. If it is important and if I remember to do it, I'll go back and edit.

I know professional writers work up an outline first. Something like this ...

I need this surgery because ....

</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>1. Risks are too great without it.</TD></TR><TR><TD width="5%"> </TD><TD width="85%">a. My children need their mom.</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>2. Nothing else has worked.</TD></TR><TR><TD width="5%"> </TD><TD width="85%">a. Diet - why it has failed </TD></TR><TR><TD width="5%"> </TD><TD width="85%">b. Exercise - why it has failed </TD></TR><TR><TD width="5%"> </TD><TD width="85%">c. etc.</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>Then use your outline as a template for your letter.

Bob

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Thank you so much Bob.I do know all the ups and downs and so on of the surgery.I have been looking into this for almost 2 years and have decided its gonna be what i am gonna do.I have lost some on my own but its been a 2 year struggle to even lose the little i have lost.I have sleep apnea BADLY to the extreme of VERY low oxygen while sleeping,it drops to 65-68 while sleeping for you's that know that is very dangerous,low blood sugar(with family history of diabetes which im at high risk for with my weight,bulging disk in my back with a lot of pain taking meds daily to help with pain,numbness in legs which causes me to fall at any point and its caused by pinched nerves due to weight,asthma,a lot of heart diese in family(father and both grandmothers and many more down the line)and my weight sets me at high risk for this.I could go on with more but that gives you all a idea.

Bob gave you the best advice you could get!Great job BOB!!!!!!
Lipz,it seems to be a big problem in your life and I would do the same if it were me.

I am very good at writing about feelings.I have never done well in more structured writing.I do have some advice though.....
Anything you write,it comes from your heart and they will see it in your letter.I agree,dont explain the letter away with branches and branches of offshoots!LOL!!!

Just write how you feel,put pictures of your kids in it and really let them know what your going through,how long you researched it and what you fear if not done.

Theres no wrong way to do this.You did just fine writing this thread,take this along.

Best wishes to you.

Thank you very much for taking the time to write much appreicated.I am so very nercous.the clinic already said i am very much a canadite for the surgery,i just am scared of sounding like a fool but i really do need to get past this fear because the longer i drag this on the longer before i can meet the surgeaon and get a surgery date.

When you wake up first thing tommorow.When your still kind of disconnected,write what you feel down.
Its just you and your thoughts.Fresh.
You are no more a fool than anyone else!Writing about you and your experiences cannot be foolish.Its you.
This is your life,grab that bull by the horns!!!!!!!!!!!
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Good idea brandilyn,ill write it tomm morning and ill post it here,k.I'll admit that post made me lol.

Good!You need a laugh.Ill think of you tomm Lipz

Whatever happens, PLEASE make sure that you pick a GOOD surgeon with plenty of experience. This CAN be a very positive surgery.Good luck?

I have done a LOT of research and I know i have found a good surgeon.The surgeon that I have choosen has done the surgery on a VERY good friend of mine as well and she had great results.i do know all the risk of the surgery as well as the good and I choose to have the surgery for a great chance at life!!!

I am gonna get the kids off to school and begin this letter once again,hopefully I can get it today!!!I know I can I know I can.;)

I don't have any advice on writing a letter but I would like to tell you to really think before doing this kind of surgery. I mean really think about it !

I have a friend who had it done 3 years ago. She almost lost her life 2 months later due to bleeding into her tummy.

She has been sick more than well for the past 3 years. Now she needs to stop losing weight and can't.

My friend's life is a mess due to changes in her mental health as well. She has been using drugs has cheated on her husband and has just turned into someone I don't like that much.

I know 5 people who have had this done and 2 of them had no problems and are very happy. The others wish they hadn't done it.

Sorry to be a bummer on this and maybe it's not my place to have posted in this way..........I now have very strong feelings about this surgery and I care what happens to you.

Be careful ok? (((hugs))) I mean who will make me cookies if you can't ;)

Im here to tell you i will be around to make you your cookies if i get the surgery if i do not have it done i may not be around to make you your cookies.;) I do mean this.

I do know all the ups and downs on this surgery,i have been studying it for 2 years and have choosen to go through with it.One of my friends had bad results as well almost died,she choose a surgeon that didnt know jack and he cut her bowels during surgery she almost died.She ended up having the procedure done throught the clincic I am going through and is doing wonderful.My ex sister in law had it done and is doing wondeful.I do know all the ups and downs of it but this is the way i do llok at it.i wanna beable to see my children grow up and at the rate im going it does not look good.im taking a chance on my heart carrying this weight around,i could die of a heartattack today so im going to take this chance.

I very much appreciate your advice i really do and dont you worry I will be around to make you and anyone else who wants some of my cookies.;)

quite a few of the women at work have had the surgery done. the one that impressed me the most lost 2/3's of herself somewhere along the way. she is so thin now, that i can't even remember what she looked like before - she even had to have a new badge made! she is truly a whole new person.

another had the surgery done, but hasn't lost all that much weight. others are considering it. from what i understand, once you get into the program (getting ready for surgery) they send you to weight watchers first. a lot of people at that point lose enough weight to decide not to have surgery after all. and then there is the psychological counselling part.....

good luck to you.

I had to have a pshy evaluation done already that stated I am stable and know what i am getting myself into and such,had a sleep study which proved i do have severe sleep apnea,my family doctor wrote a letter of recomendation for the surgery,my obgyn wrote a letter,i had a lot of different study's done and have all those results as well.They then send it to the insurance company which decided yes we are gonna do this.i just have this letter to write then i will go in and see the surgeon one lasttime before a surgery date is set.I have gone through weight watchers lost 60 lbs and gained the weight back once i got done witht he program.the sad thing is im not even a big eater at all.i have some medical conditions that cause the weight,i have low blood sugar which is becoming the oppoisite and i have poly cyctic ovarian cyst BAD(100's of them) and obesity is a side effect.

Maybe you are putting too much pressure on yourself about this letter, and it's causing you to have kind of a 'block' around it.

The decision is not going to hinge on your letter alone; you already have the medical evidence to prove that it's necessary. Most likely what they will be looking for in your letter is that you are well informed about the risks and benefits, that you are mentally stable enough to have realistic expectations, and that you have the commitment required to follow the diet and exercise regime that will be necessary for the surgery to yield the desired results.

What you've written here shows that you are informed and that you have the commitment, and that you are not expecting that you this will be easy or that you will look like a model when you are done. You might even want to use some of what you've written here!

One BIG AND IMPORTANT SUGGESTION would be to write a draft and have someone else look at it. Be willing and open to make changes and corrections, and accept suggestions for making it better. You might even want to run it by your doctor, if he/she is willing, and you think it would help.

I know a gal at work who had the surgery, and she's looking pretty good. Her face is thinner, she can wear more flattering clothing, and she has a glow about her that was hidden when she was heavier. She claims that it's been pretty easy for her to follow the diet regime....and it has changed her life. She does have some loose skin that may or may not go back into place, and if it doesn't she may want to have more surgery which will result in some scars; probably no bikini's for her! But being able to move better, play with her children....and as you said, be there for them for a long time....well, I wish the same for you!