http://jenlarsen.net/2009/02/the-eternal-weight-loss-surgery-patient/ dealing in awesome, since 1973 Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:04:08 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://jenlarsen.net/2009/02/the-eternal-weight-loss-surgery-patient/comment-page-1/#comment-1620 jen larsen dot net » Blog Archive » it’s just a game Tue, 03 Feb 2009 18:52:22 +0000 http://jenlarsen.net/?p=194#comment-1620 [...] Sick this past weekend, on the couch, tired of reading. I turned on the Wii (you can do it with the Wiimote! Wiimotely!) and I hesitantly clicked on The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, and started to wander through the game, gingerly and a little afraid. Crazily afraid! What is there to be afraid of? It is a game. They are pixels. I hate not being good at something immediately and spectacularly. I hate to be wandering through a puzzle feeling as if I have missed something, that I’m clueless and lost and unsure of what’s going on and completely walking by things that are utterly obvious. I hate the feeling that I may have made a mistake. [...] [...] Sick this past weekend, on the couch, tired of reading. I turned on the Wii (you can do it with the Wiimote! Wiimotely!) and I hesitantly clicked on The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, and started to wander through the game, gingerly and a little afraid. Crazily afraid! What is there to be afraid of? It is a game. They are pixels. I hate not being good at something immediately and spectacularly. I hate to be wandering through a puzzle feeling as if I have missed something, that I’m clueless and lost and unsure of what’s going on and completely walking by things that are utterly obvious. I hate the feeling that I may have made a mistake. [...]

]]> http://jenlarsen.net/2009/02/the-eternal-weight-loss-surgery-patient/comment-page-1/#comment-1617 Mal Tue, 03 Feb 2009 14:56:56 +0000 http://jenlarsen.net/?p=194#comment-1617 Thank you so much for sharing this. It doesn't hurt that you are an excellent writer, and I got completely drawn in. Thank you so much for sharing this. It doesn’t hurt that you are an excellent writer, and I got completely drawn in.

]]> http://jenlarsen.net/2009/02/the-eternal-weight-loss-surgery-patient/comment-page-1/#comment-1613 Susan Grace Mon, 02 Feb 2009 20:58:39 +0000 http://jenlarsen.net/?p=194#comment-1613 I think a lot of WLS patients tend to define their lives by the surgery. For a long time I viewed my life as either before or after until one day I realized that new people I met never knew I used to weigh 310 pounds. One of our graduate students told me once that I had never lived life as a "large" woman and I didn't know how hard it was to lose weight. I believe that the further you get from your surgery date the easier it becomes to separate yourself from it. But then again...with every burble or twinge that comes from my belly I'm convinced that the whole thing is going to burst open and someone will find me on the floor with bloody intestines lying along side. They'll shake their head and say, "I told her the WLS was a bad idea. All she needed was a little more discipline." I think a lot of WLS patients tend to define their lives by the surgery. For a long time I viewed my life as either before or after until one day I realized that new people I met never knew I used to weigh 310 pounds. One of our graduate students told me once that I had never lived life as a “large” woman and I didn’t know how hard it was to lose weight. I believe that the further you get from your surgery date the easier it becomes to separate yourself from it. But then again…with every burble or twinge that comes from my belly I’m convinced that the whole thing is going to burst open and someone will find me on the floor with bloody intestines lying along side. They’ll shake their head and say, “I told her the WLS was a bad idea. All she needed was a little more discipline.”

]]> http://jenlarsen.net/2009/02/the-eternal-weight-loss-surgery-patient/comment-page-1/#comment-1612 Sal Mon, 02 Feb 2009 18:42:00 +0000 http://jenlarsen.net/?p=194#comment-1612 That sounds ... a little oppressive. Since so much of it is physical, I imagine there will always be things that tie you back to surgery, but will some of those ties loosen as your body readjusts to your new, smaller form? That sounds … a little oppressive. Since so much of it is physical, I imagine there will always be things that tie you back to surgery, but will some of those ties loosen as your body readjusts to your new, smaller form?

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