red_delicious

Thanks for the replies on this! I'm pretty sure that I will be going though with this even if you told me it would be worse than the c-section . . . but it's good to have a comparison. I am expecting pain . . . but having an expectation of what it might feel like helps!

I'm new here and not sure if this is the proper place to ask this question . . . but I'm asking it!

I had an emergency c-section last year . . . and after the pain medication wore off . . . I must say . . . sitting up, getting in and out of bed . . . pretty much any movement in the bed hurt like I never imagined it would.

I was wondering if anyone else here has ever had a c-section, and how does the pain of the sleeve surgery compare with the pain of a c-section? It might help me put this in some kind of perspective.

C-section can't be done laprascopically . . . lol . . . so I had a big ol' multi-layered incision that had to heal, too. I think that if I can survive that . . . which I clearly did . . . I can probably survive the sleeve surgery!

Thanks!

Shanna

You are beautiful! I hope I look HALF as good after I have my surgery!

Hi Shanna, Like you I am also a Registered Nurse, been fat all of my life, tried every diet only to lose some weight and gain it all back and I also think this is the best WLS to have. For the last 10 years I have researched every WLS procedure and have settled on the Sleeve. By nature and trade I worry because I know of al the possible complications. Now that I have been approved I am thinking more about the " what ifs". However I know that if I don't get the weight off now at the age of 52 I will more than likely have serious health problems in the future. I have a 20 year old daughter and I want to live to see her become an old lady!

Exactly! I'm not crazy about getting surgery of any kind . . . but the status quo will kill me in 15 years . . . NOT INTERESTED! LOL . . .

Seriously though . . . I don't mind the 12 week program. If I were ONLY doing that program, I would be concerned, because I know that after I finish it, I would just gain the weight right back. THIS time, after I finish the "diet," I will be undergoing the surgery that will equip me with a TOOL for life. It's a process . . . I know it's not nirvana . . . but I am seriously thinking that I have a snowball's chance in Hades of succeeding this time.

Thank you all for your warm welcome! I appreciate that, and I know that you will all be a font of information for me in the months to come!

Shanna

This is pretty much what you will find if you go to my "About me" page. It's there in case anyone wants to re-read this ever again . . . but I figured it was as good a way to introduce myself here as any! I am inspired by the successes of the people on this board, and I have certainly learned a LOT from reading on here!

I am a thoroughly blessed wife to my husband of 19 years . . . and mother to the most amazing three children on the planet! We have a son, 19 years old, a daughter, 16 and a half years old, and another daughter who just turned 14 months old! Thanks to PCOS, we had a REALLY LONG gap between those last two children . . .

But God knew what he was doing because having a sweet little baby in the house has certainly been an enormously positive change to an already awesome family! We are all crazy about her . . . even though her presence certainly changed the dynamics of this family!

I am not sleeved yet, and I don't have a surgery date yet either. I have not met with the surgeon, but I know it will be one of two at DePaul Hospital in St. Louis, MO . . .

I begin a 12-week "medically supervised" diet next week . . . a month into that, I get to meet with the surgeon. I am a registered nurse by education and have done EXTENSIVE research on the available procedures, and I know that the sleeve is the right one for me. I wish I had done this a long time ago, but my husband's insurance has only been covering weight loss surgery for a couple of years . . . so it wasn't an option for me before. I have type 2 diabetes, PCOS, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia. I'm sure I'm really not very different from anyone else here . . . although I HAVE already raised a couple of kids and I just started over!

My older kids have said they don't know if they want a "skinny mom," because "fat mom" is the only mom they have ever known. They love me the way I am and have never been embarrassed to introduce me to their friends . . . have never been ashamed to say I am their mom. They think it's weird that their baby sister is going to be the only one of them to grow up with a thinner mom . . . lol. They are saying that none of her childhood experiences of mom and dad are going to be like theirs were . . . especially this. They support my decision to do this . . . but they really don't understand all of the factors that went in this decision.

I do not have any raging body issues. My husband (who is thin) absolutely loves me. He finds me attractive at any size and can't keep his hands off of me! I know I'm heavy, but I still clean up ok! I'm not really having surgery because of a burning desire to be thin necessarily. I want to control my diabetes. I want to live long enough to see my baby grow up . . . and at my current weight (285), and with all of the problems I have controlling my blood sugar, I just don't see that happening without a massive surgical intervention. That's not to say that I'm not looking forward to some of the benefits of being thinner! I can't wait to buy a pair of pants that I DIDN'T have to go to Lane Bryant for! I might even start wearing make-up again! Who knows!

All I know is that I am committed to this change, as well as all of the lifestyle adjustments that it entails. I need this tool . . . this mechanical advantage, if you will, to help me. I have been unsuccessful on my own, and I have been fat, getting fatter and fatter for almost 20 years. Enough is enough.

Thank you for reading my ramblings!

Shanna