*Shell*

Hi Aussie kellof, welcome to this thread. I am in Brisbane at Morningside for next 2 weeks, then moving to The Gap. Having my sleeve done with Dr Copp in Ipswich on 14 August. Very interested to hear how you are getting on post op. Due to start pre with Optifast next Wednesday. Keep us posted. Would enjoy catching up at some stage,
Cheers KelliV

MichelleDes - congrats on you day, well today. I wish you nothing but a positive and trouble free surgery. Our thoughts are with you and looking forward to the progress reports.
Kelliv - that's great you found out your prices and sleep doctor is a price I would have been really happy with but oh we'll I'm not complaining.
Glad you are getting all prepared, the countdown is on

Hi Aussiegirl,
I love your post. Wow you have done amazing and look fabulous. What an exciting time ahead for you to Celebrate your 12 months, that is awesome.
Best of luck

Am I the only one that seems to lose better during TOM? I didn't lose anything from July 1st - 10th. On July 11th I saw signs that TOM was about to hit. I started losing that day and have lost weight every day since. I went from 234.8 on 7/10 to 231.4 today. It is the BEST part of TOM in my opinion.

Its funny because this morning I left the house without telling my hubby I was leaving. He was asleep and I was running late for my nail appointment and to top it off I forgot my cell phone at home charging. Well an hour and a half later while I was heading home, I saw him at a light, and I asked where are you going and he said..."To look for my wife"...ROTFL...that was so funny to me because I really wasn't gone that long and I figured he would still be sleep by the time I return...guess I was wrong!

When you weigh 334 lbs sex is not fun, it is a job and one that would wear me out! I am looking forward to making up for lost time with my wonderful husband, he has stuck by me when I didn't want him to touch me because I was embarrassed of how big I was, I have told him that I hope I wear him out wanting sex more now and he said "Honey, you just go right ahead and try".

Well, I cannot believe I've lost so much weight in 2 mos. I don't mean that in any way except what it says, total shock at the success of this surgery. Hats off to my surgeon as he did a good job on my surgery. And the weight is definitely coming off faster lately which has been a total rush. I feel like I'm just riding the sleeve train in a sense. I would have never had this much control on my own, sadly. I just sucked at diets, still do. Plus, due to an auto immune disorder my thyroid doesn't produce on its own, so even with supplements I was always at a disadvantage metabolically and probably genetically too. It was a battle I had given up on honestly. I'm such a terrible dieter, so I just tried to maintain my high weight, but inevitably would gain a few pounds and it really added up. I was a passenger in my own life in some ways, instead of being the driver.
Being morbidly obese made me mad because I wanted to look good, wanted to wear cute clothes, wanted my husband to drool over me again every once in a while, wanted to feel like I would live to raise my sons and hopefully be able to be a good grandma one day. I didn't want to leave my family early and have heart attacks and so forth. But HOW? I considered the lap band once, but I knew after attending a seminar it was not a good long term solution for me. The chance of slippage sounded pretty great because I didn't think I'd be good at chewing food into dust before swallowing it. I figured it just wouldn't work for me, I just knew that. But I still wanted to be a normal weight....BUT HOW???? I finally decided to find a doctor and just go to him and present myself, fat belly and all...and say "look doc, I don't want to be fat, but I don't want to be malnourished either, my insurance sucks, but I have some money to pay for surgery...so what do you recommend?". He said definitely the sleeve. I was like WHAT IS THE SLEEVE? I was truly shocked as he explained it to me, I had never heard of it. The idea of not bypassing anything was very appealing. And from that moment my life changed I guess. OMG it made TOTAL sense to my logical brain. To forever reduce the size of my stomach, hmmm....that appealed to me and I went for it faster than anyone thought I would. I had the surgery within weeks of going for that first doctor visit. Over the next weeks I started thinking...hmmmm....WHY NOT? Permanently altering my body did not sound great in some respects, but then again I was looking toward heart disease and that didn't sound good either.
The basic reason I chose this surgery is because it would force me into calorie restriction, which is what I felt I needed to give me a good edge over a bad metabolism. That was my basic reasoning.
It worked. Even though I'm a terrible dieter, caloric restriction is now sort of forced...with this sleeve that is not a problem.
I guess you could say I'm happy customer :biggrin2: and that I'm riding the sleeve my way :thumbup1: which is working for me and I am once again my husband's girlfriend :drool5::001_tt1::001_wub::lol0: :001_tt2:
I have bought a few cute clothes, still at Lane Bryant. I'm wearing a 14W/16W now whereas I was an 18W/20W. I have had to buy new cute underwear, bras (down 1-2 cup sizes), and I had to buy a halter bra to wear my cute new shirts with since I don't have to cover up my whole body from head to toe. I think I'm the Lane Bryant cover girl this week b/c we are dressed the same, but guess what....in a couple weeks I'll be having to find me a new store to shop in.
I'm no longer morbidly obese, in two months. I am now obese. I'm sure in 2 more months I'll be overweight, and 2 months after that I'll be normal.
This surgery has huge risks. It does. I came to realize that along the way as I did see others fall ill. But for me it is good so far. I like being my best self and being in the driver's seat again.

I got my hair chopped off today and had my best friend take some new pics of me!! I feel fantastic!!!! Having this surgerywas the absolute BEST decision I have ever made!!! I lost 17 lbs pre-op and 53 lbs since my surgery on April 16th. Who would of thought that 262 would feel and look so good??!! I am only half way to my goal!! WOHOO!!!!     

Thanks for sharing your story shellz I hadn't thought of surgery until about 6 weeks ago when my sleep specialist suggested it. I immediately started researching and met with surgeon, dietician and Phychologist fairly soon after. Doc said he was happy to do either band or sleeve on me, but I was already 95% convinced on sleeve. Wen dietician and GP told me it would be their choice too, that clinched it for me. Looking for a permanent tool, so reversibility not an issue for me. Also didn't want a foreign object inside me for life with the various complications that go with bands. Very confident with my decision.

I would start building yourself up with Optifast if you have an opportunity. I had to start 2 weeks prior and for about 4 days I had a constant headache and really bad tast in my mouth. After this time, I got through it no worries and actually enjoyed my shakes. I didn't have to blend or add anything else, just shook my strawberry and banana shakes. Good luck with it

This photo was on May 31, two weeks before surgery
Transformaion_AmyDownsPagelayout.pdf
This picture was made today, July 22, 52 lbs gone forever!!! It has been a rough 5 weeks but when I look at myself now I just want to cry, I'm so proud I did this for myself and my loved ones.

Someone asked me for these pic it is 2 years and 2 months apart I hope I can inspire any of ya'll 238 is where I started and now 118 and yes I am 51 years. Old. And feel great and would do it all again

bfastaaa.tiff

Hi Everyone, I am new to this site and just saw this thread re sleevers in Australa and I am excited. There doesn't seem to be a lot of us. More people seem to have lap bands. In am in Brisbane and am due to have a sleeve on 14 August with Dr John Copp. Would love to hear from others in Brisbane.

Hi all I had sleeve Sydney 1 year and 6 months ago 80 kilos down and very pleased slowing down need to do some work to get the last 20 off. The sleeve has given me back my life I am very happy.

Another Aussie here. Sleeved 10 months ago by Dr Joseph in the Mater hospital Sydney.
I cant say enough good things about how the surgery has gone for me. Most the surgery was covered under my health fund, including private hospital but still out of pocket around $5k.
I have lost 66kgs in the last 10 months and am happier and healthier than I could have imagined!
Happy to answer any questions anyone has.
Good luck to you all on your journey.