🎙️ The Fears That Follow Us After Surgery

Hi Reader,

This week’s podcast episode is a BIG one.

It takes on two of the most common, and most heavy, fears many of us carry along our bariatric journey:

What if the weight comes back?
What if I end up doing this all alone?

If you’ve ever felt the quiet pressure of either fear (or both), this episode was made with you in mind.

In this conversation, we don’t minimize those fears or rush past them. We name them. We sit with them. And we explore them with deep kindness, compassion, and hope.

Some of the early feedback we’ve received from members and listeners has been incredibly moving. Many shared that this episode helped them finally understand feelings, doubts, and worries they’ve carried for years, but never had words for.

That it felt powerful to hear the scariest things said out loud. To face them honestly. And to walk away feeling more whole, more human, and more understood.

This journey we’re all on is, at its core, a journey of hope. And this conversation reminds us that we can confront our fears, find people who will hold space for us exactly as we are, and walk together, out of the darkness and into something steadier.

A heartfelt thank you to our friend, expert, and patient, Melanie Lindell, LMHC, for stepping into the simulation suit on that fateful day. Without her curiosity and courage, this conversation and the learning that came from

it, would never have happened.

And if you are interested to learn how this episode came to be and what Melanie went through, read about it here.

🎧 Have you already listened or watched this episode?

We would truly love to hear from you. Just reply to this email and tell us what resonated, what stayed with you, or what you’re still thinking about.

You are not alone in this. And this episode is proof of that.

❤️ We Could Use Your Help

If a podcast episode this year resonated, stuck, or made you think differently about something along your journey, will you let us know by giving us a $5 "high-five?"

A $5 donation to our Drive to Thrive campaign feels the same as that simple gesture. It lets us know that we are helping you and that you value the education we produce.

It might not seem like much, but it's a deeply appreciated gesture that helps BariNation keep going.

Learn More and Donate

The holidays are challenging. Full stop.

When we are stressed out, the challenges become overwhelming, and those voices of fear and doubt get louder.

We hope this week's episode is a pressure release valve for you. An opportunity to exhale, to release some of that tension, and find some relief in shedding a few tears because sometimes, our body needs to let go.

Just as damns break to ease the pressure, we need to do the same thing for us.

You got this and we got you.

With Gratitude,
April, Jason, Natalie, and the BariNation Team