Urban Myths and Other LIES...

An urban myth is a story that someone swears is true--but it always happens to a friend of a friend of a friend.  But it really happened.  (yeah, right...)

Like the man who got bitten by a spider and when he cut himself shaving, he released thousands of baby spiders.  Or the woman who brought home a sick puppy from her trip to Mexico only to find out at the vet's office that her new pet was a rabid sewer rat.  And so on...

I wish I had a dollar for every time someone has told me, "Oh, my (fill in the blank) had that surgery, and it didn't work.  She only lost 20 pounds..." or "...she gained all her weight back..." or..."she was sick all the time..." or...

ENOUGH!  First, I do not believe for a second that anyone gained all of his or her weight back after this surgery.  I'm sure that people do gain after they lose a great deal--I'm sure that their bodies adjust, but all the weight lost? No way.  Second, the physician assistant I see has been working with bariatric surgery patients for more than seven years, and she said that she has never seen anyone gain back all their weight.  Third, I have lost nearly fifty pounds in less than three months.  The woman who only lost twenty pounds?  How is that even possible?  I can eat one half of a chicken breast at a time...2-3 ounces at a time.  That's it.  So how could anyone gain back a hundred (or more) pounds eating 2-3 ounces at a time? "Well, the stomach stretches..." is another story I keep hearing.  How can a little pouch the size of an egg stretch that much? It might expand to the size of two eggs, but not a dozen!!

Of course, what bothers me more than any of the urban legends is why people are telling me these things.  Why can't people just say, "Congratulations.  That's great.  Good for you."  Why do they feel the need to tell me their horror stories?  It doesn't seem to be out of compassion.  And as far as I'm concerned, I wish they'd shut up!  The next time someone tries to give me the "friend of a friend" story, I'm going to tell them that I didn't believe the spiders story, either!