andre96

As a Navy veteran, I understand about not always having been overweight. Reality is, however, I've been "obese" for many years. For the longest time I felt that having gastric bypass surgery was ridiculously extreme. Who in their right mind would do that to their insides??? I also had no interest in the lap-band...no desire to have plastic bits and pieces inside me! (And I know too many people who've had it and failed, or had significant issues.) Over the years I tried almost every diet known to man...Weight Watchers (multiple times), Atkins, Nutrasystem, etc etc. I'd lose 20 or 30 pounds, stop losing, get frustrated and quit, and gain 30 or 40 back. When I hit 350 pounds, I decided I was just always going to be fat....I was going to be diagnosed with diabetes (I was "pre-diabetic" already), and my blood pressure was edging up towards the point of being hypertensive. I was just going to have to deal with it.
And then I watched a program called "My 600 lb Life", earlier this year. There were four episodes, each following a different gastric bypass patient over the course of 7 years. At the beginning they were each at least 650 lbs, and chose to have bypass surgery in order to get their weight off, and their lives back in control. They were each portrayed in such human terms....and I realized that, unless I made some drastic changes, and quick, I was going to end up being that heavy. I signed up for Weight Watchers yet again, and managed to lose 20 pounds. When I quit losing (yet again), I decided dieting wasn't going to cut it for me....I needed something more dramatic....and, for the first time, I began investigating weight loss surgery. I looked at numerous programs located in the Boston area, and ended up choosing the program at Beth Israel Deaconess....a marvelous choice!. I initially thought I would have gastric bypass surgery (believe it or not), but ultimately chose to have the "sleeve", after discussing with my surgeon.
Now I'm 8 weeks post-op, and am so incredibly grateful I had the opportunity to have surgery!! My wife has been incredibly supportive, and the program at BIDMC is awesome. I'm religious about following my surgeon's instructions, and am thrilled with the results! I've lost just under 70 pounds since my first visit with the surgeon, and am down 3 pants/shirts sizes since my surgery! I've had no major issues eating...I've learned when to stop, in order to avoid the discomfort of over-eating (trust me...you don't want to eat to the point of being over-full!!)...and I'm enjoying the process of reintroducing "regular" foods to my diet. Yes...there have been difficult days...no doubt about it. The first few days after surgery were miserable. The first 3 weeks after surgery I was exhausted much of the time. There are days when hormones get the better of me (hormones are stored in fatty tissue, so when you burn fat quickly, you often get bursts of hormones released, affecting your mood). But, even with all of that, I wouldn't trade my sleeve for anything in the world!! Its my new best friend, and I work hard to take good care of it. To have surgery was, without a doubt, the best decision I've made in a very long time!!

Hi...I recently joined as well. I'm considering going to Mexico to get the sleeve surgery so I have the added worry of not being home (in Colorado) and not having a surgeon close by if something goes wrong and I have complications. My husband and I are self employed and self paid for medical insurance. Needless to say the insurance wouldn't even think of paying for this so Mexico here I come.
I'm very nervous and I think that is normal. It's a major change and we should be concerned and nervous. I've thought about this for 3 yrs as well. I have a friend that lost 127lbs with the band.
Yep it's scary but I'm going for it! Because I'm tired of having the internal conversation of "I hate being fat". Kudos to you for losing weight a couple of times. Yeah you gained it back which is a bummer but with the wls you probably won't this time.

I struggled with the decision too. Post op, it is easier to know that you made the right decision without any doubts. Here is something I posted a few days ago about still being able to Celebrate food:
You'll still have food. It is never going to go away. Within a week post-op, I was sad about cooking spaghetti for my family. I kept thinking that I would never be able to eat a big plate of spaghetti again. Then, it hit me. I will be able to eat spaghetti again. I'll have a child's size portion one day, and I'll be satisfied like I was never satisfied before. I won't be eating two huge helpings, four pieces of garlic bread and two cokes in one setting.
I feel good about what I eat. I am not gorging myself on huge restaurant portions. It is kind of nice being the person at the table that eats the petite portion. I like to secretly think that the other women are jealous of me because I eat so little (because I used to feel a twinge of jealousy that all my thin cousins would eat half as much as I did at a meal!) I no longer feel as though I am wasting food when I can't eat an entire portion. I don't have the desire to finish off every last little bit. I also don't need dessert.
My tastes are already changing. I'm not stopping for fast food. I'm searching out fresher, tastier foods that I didn't appreciate as much pre-op. I have become a food explorer. I've been trying new fruits and vegetables from the frou frou grocery store with all the fancy food! I'm cooking Thai food at my house - something that I've never done before. I want to play with spices and fresh herbs. Don't be afraid, a whole new food adventure is coming!
How will your friends feel about your restrictions? My friends don't even notice. I have told very few people about my surgery. I've had a few people mention that I wasn't eating very much, but when I said that it was all I needed right now. There really wasn't any one who pushed me on the issue. When I go out to eat with my friends, I can always find something on the menu that fits my new lifestyle. This may be a little harder while you are on the liquid phase, but you can order a good Soup and just eat the broth. Those around you won't notice. I stayed with Soups when I was on soft foods. Once I got to solid food, there were no issues. There is something for you at every meal to eat out.
On the other hand, if you complain about your portion or your meal constantly, I am sure that your friends will notice.
Sounds like you have a lot of signs. You just need to embrace those signs, and realize that being anxious is part of the process. Come here for support from people who have made it through that part of the journey.

*!*!*!*!*!*!*! DO IT!!! *!*!*!*!*!*! (pretend this is flashing)
I know exactly how you feel! My legs and arms are tan, in front. The backs are white because I'm going to lay on my stomach? Hahahahaha. I can't even go without a chair because I'd never be able to get up off the ground. Hard enough getting out of a chair. And God forbid I should forget my chair because I can't use anyone else's because I will break it! Even worse, I sweat like a PIG! How cliche', the fat girl sweats a lot.
It's the little things like this. The constant, daily, BS that we have to consider before anything! Because we are fat. Let's not be fat anymore! Let's think about eating different food in place of thinking about how to be fat today. Because I spend way too much time trying to figure out how to "fit" fat into the lifestyle I want!

Well my dear fluffy girl, you really need to ask yourself if you are REALLY mentally ready for this. . . to me it seems like you care more about what your friends will think and about food celebrations. . . with this surgery you have to be willing to sacrifice alot! You have to be ready to give up mass amounts of food. . in the first few weeks you mourn the loss of your freedom to eat whatever and whenever, it's very hard, you only eat pea sized amounts and then you don't feel so great. . . but this is a decision only you can make. . . there are no signs, no miracles, no nothing out there. . . only you. . . .so honey, you really have to think and make this something YOU really want. . .and not give a damn about what your friends will think. . . .good luck!