8 days until surgery, scared

Last minute fears are normal. I had a lot of "what if?" thoughts as well. I think I remember reading the stomach cancer post you are referring, but cannot remember all the details. I think that it was not related to vsg, but people who had cancer, so not sure if the correlation could be drawn between the two since we had normal stomachs without disease to begin with...I just cannot remember.

As for long term consequences. My family has a history of diabetes, both overweight and healthy weight individuals, so I might not have missed the boat on that. There are also numerous cancers that have killed many (grandparents, great aunts and uncles, cousins) in my family and I'm probably not safe from those either. I guess I just felt in my situation it's a crapshoot. I might as well live as healthy as I can in the time I have on this earth...not saying that I'll do anything to intentionally hurt my health, I personally just felt after my research on the vsg, the pro's outweighed the possible cons. I'm very happy that the surgery is not reversible. I don't ever want to gain all of my weight back.

Good luck on your decision. I couldn't have done this if I had MAJOR concerns, but although I had fears of having complications, everything else was settled in my mind. I felt if I made it through the possible complication's phase (although many on here have had them and done just fine as well), I'd live a much healthier, longer life than without the surgery.

Good luck coming to a decision you can live with!

What if will stop you from success - What if you don't do it..... I just had the sleeve done about 1 1/2 weeks ago. I followed every rule I was told, no cheating. I had the same thoughts about it (not cancer) but not reversable. My weight and life was screaming for change and it out weighed my concern - remember this surgery was originally for the super obese folks to help them get to the point of having the by pass but they were too large for the whole thing at once. However, they were finding that most did not come back for the 2nd surgery because they were doing so good on the sleeve. Again I followed every rule and I actually never had any pain which was surprising to me. My doctor installed a pain pump or drip system that would last approx 3 days. If you go to my blog you can read that story. Called I did it!!!!! Every decision is important but if you are this far along you have made the commitment to loose weight and think of this as a tool you will be successful. I hope you make the right decision for you.

God bless you and I will pray for you.

Honestly, the long term risks of being fat, and dealing with co-morbidities, and poor quality of life got rid of my fears of the sleeve. I had a band, and it's not reversible either. It's removable, but once it's wrapped around your stomach, suture to your stomach, your anatomy is forever changed.

As far as the long term risks, there are tens of thousands of patients that have gastrectomies, partial or complete meaning they lose some or all of their stomach due to cancer or ulcerative conditions. I found that most lived very normal, functional, healthy lives. They did have other nutritional issues because their stomach was diseased before surgery. So, we really can't compare these situations completely, but it gives some perspective on how people live without their stomachs.

I wouldn't want to live another day being fat knowing what I know now. I swear I could hear my arteries hardening before my surgery because of my eating habits. I knew I would increase my years on this Earth getting healthy, and avoiding obesity related health issues.

Thank you so much for your comments! I really appreciate the feedback. I really believe that you all are great mentors and are a blessing for a lot of us on this site. I believe that I am going to wait until this semester of school is over to make my final decision. I was rushing this decision simply to have it done over spring break while I'm not in school, but now I am going to continue on the pre-op diet (I've already lost 14lbs, only 60 more to go). I will be on this site continuously like others are, watching the blogs and praying for the best for everyone!

By the way, health reasons aren't the only reasons I'm postponing the surgery. Long story short, my husband is military and we are living 1200 miles away from our home which is being rented. We just decided to sell our home while the tax credit is in effect and I'm worried about money. I am paying for my surgery with cash.

Kimber do it on your time. I understand the military situation, good luck with the house selling.