Why keep a blog?

I first started thinking about gastric surgery about four years ago, when I turned 40 and began to get seriously worried about my future. I thought that fifteen years or more of carrying the equivalent of several sacks of potatoes around on my shoulders must be wearing out my heart, lungs, knees, hips – you name it – what kind of a future was I going to have? I’d always believed that one day, one day, I would finally manage to lose the weight (and keep it off) ‘under my own steam’, but reaching 40 years of age led me to doubt, for the first time in my life, that that was ever really going to happen. For several years the idea of surgery remained just an idea, nothing more. I even remember seeing a TV documentary where a woman was talking about having had gastric surgery, and I recall thinking “wow, she must be really desperate to do anything like that – that would never happen to me”…….. or so I thought! A few more failed diet attempts later I began to look into it on the Internet, and found loads of really helpful information. In particular, I gained an enormous amount by reading the forums on http://www.ukgastricband.co.uk and the patient diaries on the BOSPA web site (http://www.bospa.org). Now, only days away from the big day, I decided I would keep a blog in the hope that it will bring some answers, information and reassurance to others out there. Whatever you decide – good luck!

I’d be really grateful if people would add comments to the blog so I know whether this is useful or not?