Estella

AFAIK the purpose of the pre-op diet is to make one's liver shrink a little. Each surgeon provides a slightly different liver-shrinking diet, but the principle is similar. The liver is placed in proximity to the surgery areas and may obstruct the surgeon's access partly. So getting operated without the diet makes it slightly more difficult for your surgeon to work because the fattier, larger liver is in the way, and might be wounded somehow in the process. Consult your surgeon as to whether to postpone the operation or not. He might even give you an easier diet to adhere to! My surgeon gave me a 2 weeks diet diet that has almost no carbs and sugars at all (not even a single fruit), but contains a lot of proteins: tuna for Breakfast, chicken and salad for lunch, eggs for dinner etc. It's no walk in the park, but it might be easier to follow than gooey shake only for 7 days. Good luck. Further info here: http://www.wlshelp.com/pre-weight-loss-surgery-diet.html

Roller derby!!!!! That's the coolest thing EVER. I MEAN IT! I'd totally do that if I were a bit skinnier and could wear the fishnets (j/k). Have you seen the movie "Whip It" with Ellen Page? You rule in any case.

If you'd upload it someone online for us to d/l, it'll save you a lot of effort! Someplace like megaupload.

Nope. No one to support me. My mother does nothing but criticize me for being overweight and not adhering to the 1001 diets I tried. I didn't tell my friends and I rather not. The bus is driving me home from the hospital. Thank you! You and the others here have been a lot more helpful than any doctor I talked to so far.

It's likely that your sister is talking about gastric banding rather than sleeve. Most people who aren't doctors cannot tell the difference between different types of weight-loss surgeries. I've heard quite a few stories of people who got a gastric band, lost some weight but regained it after draining the band from all its fluids (which means it no longer has any effect on stomach-size and restriction). Gastric bands do seem to require more self-discipline and regular maintenance (for instance, if you eat too much you need to go to the doctor and tighten it a little). Being a person with little self-discipline, I decided to get the sleeve. I haven't heard any stories so far of sleeved/bypassed people who regained all their weight back. All these stories come from banded people. Is there anyone here on this forum who got sleeved and gained his/her original weight back?

Hehe, you made me giggle. I will probably sob too, I'm just that type of person. Someone here suggested that I'd tell the psychiatrist about post-op support network. Thing is I have none. My family is not at all supportive and I don't want to go to weekly meetings - they cost a small fortune here and I'm unemployed. Being a old-timer on the Internet, forums and online groups have always felt like my natural habitat, do you think that's a good enough substitute? Thanks.

I have my psych eval scheduled for next month. It's the last stage and I really want to pass, so I could get a date for the surgery. Any tips on what to say or what not to say? I have a history of depression and I used various SSRIs in the past, and I fear that it might affect the psychiatrist's decision. Any tips?

My mom is like that. She lost around 30 lbs a few years ago and she's like, "why can't you just eat smaller quantities and maintain a healthy lifestyle and exercise every day and make sure you you don't exceed 1500 calories" yadda yadda yadda. Easier said than done. I'm one of the few people on earth who know that she has been vomiting her meals into plastic bags, for years. I think that any diet that's success depends entirely on my willpower is doomed to fail eventually. I'm just not that strong a person. And truth is 95% of diets result in failure and weight gain (try googling a UCLA research about dieting, that's where I got the 95% number from). Sleeve gastrectomy has a 70% success rate, that's more than any diet can offer.

You sound like a brilliant person with very high EQ. You're probably not the only one, lots of people here in the forum talk about their husbands and wives' reaction to their surgery, indicating that they're married. For me it's always been a lot more complex. My mom always told me how I'll never get married while being fat, and the words sipped in somehow.

I assumed he was a female with PCOS, hehe. It's a syndrome that's common among women that causes hirsutism: excess hair on the belly, lower face, arms etc.

You neglected to mention one "what-if": What if I stay obese for the rest of my life? It's riskier than many of the dangers you mentioned. All the sleeved people I met at my doctor's waiting room say that they wish they'd done the surgery 10 years ago and hadn't suffered all their mature life being so overweight. While being scared of undergoing the procedure myself (heck, I signed up as an organ donor!), their happy faces shoo away most of my fears.

I don't live in the States. I'm from Israel, in which everyone is entitled to universal health care. The universal plan includes bariatric surgeries, as long as your BMI is 40 or higher or 35 with related diseases. Most people add private health care on top of the public one, especially now that the government has drained a lot of budgets from the public health system. I only have universal health care. All I know about the American health system I learned from a Michael Moore movie, quite shocking to be honest. How do you people live like that? If they want to see I can stick to a plan, well, I cannot. Perhaps for 3-4 months, then hunger takes over. I fear that any WL attempt outside of a surgery would only 1. stall/prevent me from getting the operation. 2. will end up like all the others = regaining every pound I lost.

As for the people who posted about how they want to buy in regular stores: I recently found out that most "skinny-only" stores do have larger clothes here and there that suit me just fine. I've learned to target the "oversize" styled items, which are meant to seem loose on skinny gals and are tighter on me. I don't shop in plus size stores because their designs are oriented for older ladies. Shoes are still impossible for me to buy in almost any store, my foot size is US 10 (EU 42, or UK 8). I was told that in the US it's different since it has a lot more plus size people. What I'm really, really looking forward to is finding a spouse. It's very hard and disappointing to search for a boyfriend in my current weight, especially since I'm NOT into dating someone who wants me just because he has a "fat fetish" or mom-complex. I want someone who likes the same music and movies and books as me, and who'd like me because of that - not because of my weight.

My current BMI is slightly lower than the required 40 - it's about 39.9. I have no significant weight-related diseases, apparently PCOS doesn't count. The hospital's dietician says that I have to lose some weight prior to the operation to show them I can, or something like that. She also assured me that the surgeon won't deny me just because I lose weight, on the contrary, and that I will still be qualified for the operation. The problem is she doesn't cut the cheque, if you know what I mean. I suspect that she can make those promises because she doesn't decide on funding. My fear is that if I lose the tiniest bit of weight the universal health care in my country (Israel) won't agree to pay for the surgery. Suppose I lose 10 lbs, then the insurance denies me - I will regain that weight eventually anyway as I did in all past attempts. I will get screwed twice - no operation, same large number on the scale. Should I take her advice or disregard it?

It's not the easy way, it's the only way for 95% of the population. You mentioned statistics, so here it is: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070404162428.htm According to this research 95% of diets fail. Just to compare 70% of VSGs succeed. Simple as that.

I know of someone who had a similar problem, she couldn't even keep Water down and vomited everything. Turned out she was suffering from dehydration, because she didn't drink enough post-op, and she's better now. I'm no doctor and I suppose your friends' doc ruled out this option already though. Did he?

From what I read, not all doctors perform band-to-sleeve surgery, and those who do don't remove the lap band. They leave it there and drain all the fluids from it, to make it inactive, and perform the sleeve. I'm glad I don't live in The States, we have universal health care (Israel). Problem is my country really tries to be American and our governments have been draining the budgets from the national health plans. A lot of people who choose to go through bariatric surgeries pay for them with private health insurance. I have to wait in long wait lists because all the privately-insured people are using the same surgeons as everyone and pay extra for faster queues.

I did the exact same thing! I went to H&M a few days ago and they had this amazing sailor jacket. While the store usually has a separate section for plus size clothes, where I usually purchase my stuff (I'm EU size 48, UK size 20 and US size 16 - you only learn that when you're overweight and forced to order clothes online from abroad like I usually do). This jacket's highest size was 44 (UK size 16, US size 12). The sleeves were way too tight to wear, but I figured that after the operation it'll be usable. I don't even have a date for the operation yet, but it gives me hope somehow.

Thank you for the replies. For years I tried to get used to being overweight with no success, I'm glad I finally had the guts to do something about it. The three of you were very reassuring. I'm 100% sure I want to go through the surgery, I was and I still am. Unlike others, I have no other options but my healthcare provider, so it takes a lot of patience. I noticed yours tickers, and all of you had higher BMIs than my current number when you went under the knife - if you could do it I think I can too.

Everyone keeps telling me that the operation will only have an effect on me if I participate in regular weight-loss support meetings, go to a dietician and exercise regularly. Well, if I could do those regularly for the rest of my life and persist on doing them, I wouldn't need the operation anyway, right? Will I regain all the weight I lose from VSGS a few years later? Thing is I already tried weight-loss support groups and dieticians and I ever exercised 30 mins every day for two years. Whenever I quit I regained the weight I lost. I started the process towards a VSGS because I read it has such huge success rates compared to those other methods I tried. I guess what I want to hear is that while will power, persistence, exercise and healthy eating habits are important, the medical procedure will make the real difference. I know from past experience that if it depends on my willpower to fight the desire for a sandwich by 100%, the chances of success are slim. I also read that VSGS is a relatively new procedure and that there are no statistics about the success rate after 5-6 years. Is that true? (My BMI is almost 40 and I'm still battling against my insurance provider to get the operation.