nmck

Thank you all for being so positive! I'm relieved to hear that I'm not the only one out there who worries about these things far off issues. Still, I know I want to continue forward because it's even scarier for me to picture my future without the surgery. I think about that scenario of being an old lady and having a young doctor tell me that my surgery was barbaric, but I'm not even sure that I'd live long enough to be an old lady without the surgery! So, it's definitely the lesser of two evils. I'm just hoping that once I have the surgery done and I start seeing the pounds come off that I'll stop worrying so much.

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Its so funny to me that I told the DMV I was 180 hahaha 10years ago knowing in reality I was around 250ish and weight went up with the years now they going to think I lied because I'm 174 now so under my DMV weight hahaha too funny
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I'm 3 months out. I went to the mall yesterday to buy slacks for work becuz all my pants are falling off me (size 12), and picked up some size 10s to try on....and to my surprise, the 10s were too big!!! I'm officially in a size 8!! All 4 pairs of slacks I bought were size 8!!! I haven't been a size 8 since .... Well, decades!! I went from a size 12 to size 8.... totally skipping size 10. So excited!!
4'11"
Heaviest weight: 206
Pre surgery: 192
Surgery weight: 186
Current weight: 146

I still have these fears too. At over two years out and 17 months at goal. But I am happy with my decision and that's the most important thing. I simply could not lose the weight and I was worried it was going to kill me. So for me, having the surgery was the best way to improve my health.
Think about what your life will be without the surgery. If you do decide to have the surgery, set yourself up for health success by taking your Vitamins, choosing healthy foods, and adding exercise. And getting you fluids in every day. I still track my fluids using a whiteboard on my fridge door. I have my Vitamins in a pill case by my toothbrush. I walk with friends 4 days a week. And I plan my meals to get a balanced diet with around 65 grams of Protein every day.
Best wishes, no matter what you decide. Only you know what is best for you.
Lynda

My doctors were up front about the lackof long term results with this surgery. They have a patient who is 10 years out from their first gastric sleeve and her results have been decent. But, I know the research is out there for the results of my morbid obesity and could imagine what problems I would have b/c my parents are having major troubles...hip replacements, severe arthiritis, high bloodpressure, and increasing immobility. Weighing those issues for me, it became an easy choice to pick the sleeve. I have 3 young children and a fit husband. We want an active and healthy lifestyle for our whole family and I was holding that back. In my mind, if I only bought mysellf 30 more years to live into my 60s in a healthy way, this surgery would be worth it as my children would be adults.
So, I think you should ask your doctor every question thatcomes into your mind. Then weigh yourpros and cons once you have the info you can get. Good luck with your decision!

Agree re research but first thing to do is call the clinic, explain what u are thinking and ask your questions to get reassurance. Why is that silly? If u were having a hip replaced, u would ask the doc doing the op what the long term effects would be - so why not with ur sleeve?
This isn't an irrational fear, u are asking sensible questions about life changing surgery. Best place to start looking for answers is with the clinicians who are doing your surgery rather than hearing second hand what orhers docs say. If u r trusting a doc to do ur op, hopefully their answers will give u the reassurance.u need to go forward confidently.
The best any of us can do is work with the info we have. Dont beat yourself up about covering every single base - be as informed as u can be. I didnt know everything but I knew what I wanted to achieve and made sure the sleeve could deliver that at the very least.
My personal advice to any pre-sleevers is that once u gave decided to be sleeved, look hard at what happens first month post sleeve. Thats the time frame that catches most people out as they come to terms with their new life.
Good luck, hope u get the answers u need to join this very happy sleever on the "other" side :-))))

I really think people need to read things a little better before getting all insulted. In addition to not knowing the tone something is being written in, we are all entitled to think what we want. Opinions are just that, opinions. Feel what you want. Do what you want. It's your life!!! But pls, if you post on here, remember you are opening the door to replies that you may not agree with. It's an open forum. It is what it is!!!

I believe divorce post op may be because when someone decides to have the surgery and lose weight they greatly improve their self image, as such they may realize the things they had been willing to put up with in the past and as such see the problems that have always been there in their marriage. This was the case for me, before surgery I was willing to let my ex walk all over me, even forgiving her for having cheated on me, but now I realize I deserve to be treated better then a door mat, and as such it was time to move on and hope for better tomorrows. I would never encourage anyone to rush into a decision as important as divorce but everyone needs to make sure they are being treated the way they deserve to be. Good Luck.

As a guy and a good husband and father, I take exception to how easy it is for some women to generalize and lump most guys into one bucket, of emotionally bankrupt whiny little babies. I'm sure that just as some guys are not great partners, the same can be said for some women. I have had several serious surgeries in the last 6 years and have yet another to face, but I am not whining about it. My wife, family and I are dealing with it head on. If a significant other is not cutting work on getting things resolved or move on. That should be the case no matter what the sex of the person. Just as I hate men being portrayed as buffoons on tv, I hate that some us get bashed by our mates as well.

Men can be babies? Men are like children? If someone said this about women we'd be outraged and call them sexist. Just sayin'.

Ok, I only have a Hs diploma so I'm going to try and not take that as an insult..
But anyway, when my husband and I got together I was a cheerleader with an awesome body. Over the past 4 years, between 2 kids and depression, I've put on 120ish lbs! He's still 6' 180lbs with a chiseled body. He loves me no matter what. He's never once tried to change me.
Have you communicated to him how you feel? Have you tried counseling? Especially with kids in the picture, don't be so quick to quit.

Just for the record my husband of 24 years has been saying that he thinks I am going to lose weight and leave him. He is insecure because he has had me a certain way for many years. I think the surgery is only going to make both of our lives better.

Divorce is a huge deal and I agree with those that say you should think back to when you fell in love in the first place. Also, time, space and some professional help might be worth it. At least if you try those things and you still end up divorced you'll know that you tried everything and didn't just give up.

Now let's be fair about this. Speaking from a guy who no longer has anything resembling Man Tits. Not any more. And that is your point, right, you are improving yourself, and do not see why he is not interested in doing the same. Here is what I felt after reading your post. Okay, you have made a decision to change your life - AWESOME and conrats to you. BUT you would not need that change if you (and I and many many more) had not let ourselves go and made many a bad decision. So you have decided that you want more out of life. Here is my question. How long did it take you to make that decision? Presumably a while. What about him? how much time does he get? If you start looking great - or at least a ton better, is that an encouragement for him? I would only say that none of us - peeking into you life with 5 lines of information - have the answer. But I think a spouse has a little duty to help make changes in us as well. I was a stud athlete, professional, world ranked - that is what my wife married. Then 10 years in I got fat, not big, fat. She stuck by me and put up with my beer drinking and over eating. Now I look good again and I am so glad she is here. But you know what, she is 30 pounds over weight - maybe more - but that is okay. I love her for her. She stuck by me when I was a pig. 30 pounds on her at 5 feet tall is a lot - but I will work with her to get her lower - she wants that and I want that - why? because we are still in love. 25 years of her putting up with my retarded self - and we still care. My guess would be that there is more than just the weight issue. It may be an indicator of the relationship - maybe the weight is not the issue, it is that desire you have for more, and he does not have that. Again, it is easy to be Dr. Phil with 10% of the info, but make sure that it is the weight that is a problem, and not the lack of drive and ambition. Here is why, anyone (with great effort) can lose weight - not everyone can have that desire to move up and be determined for success. So I will get off my "Mr. know-it -all" soap box and wish you the best of luck - love is easy - marriage is hard - make sure you are carefully assessing you issues. And best of luck on your weight loss journey.

Well this divorce you really can't "blame" on surgery and losing weight since it sounds like you are done already and you haven't even had the surgery yet!
Yes divorces happen but I truly believe its because of major problems that existed BEFORE the surgery, like in your case.
Healthy loving relationships survive fat and thin.

Well, I had "lack of hunger" for a good two years post-op. Now that I'm getting closer to 3 years, it has (sadly) returned. But like BTB said it is NO where near the level it was pre-surg. and it is definitely manageable. When I eat carbs/sweets/crap, the hunger rears it's ugly head. When I eat on plan, notsomuch. The 5:2 also really cuts my hunger down tremendously. Interesting ...that eating triggers more eating. While fasting...seems to promote less eating.
Oh and I have recently extended my time window for drinking. I had gotten a little lazy about drinking too soon after eating. Like my window had been narrowed down to 15-25 minutes and in the last month or so, I will set the timer on my phone and NOT drink any Water until I'm at least 45 minutes past my last meal. Sometimes I go longer but my new minimum is 45 minutes. It makes a huge difference in physical hunger to me.

I guess all I can say is I don't plan on being a statistic.... Ummm unless its one I agree with
I do find it interesting to read though, what the bariatric community is saying about the procedure in studies and at bariatric conferences.

Well, after reading the study info that Laura provided I feel better. I'm a little over three years. I just ate my dinner which started with a plate of salad with cucumbers, cherry tomatoes lettuce and 3 ounces of chicken which at the time seems edible. I ate MAYBE a fourth of it and about 1 1/2 ounces of the chicken on top.
I can't imagine that just suddenly in the next year and a half ALL this restriction is going to have disappeared. I did gain over 25 lbs ( which I have almost completely lost less 2.5 pounds) but it WASN'T because of the sleeve. I would have gained it in the first year, the first months or the third, fifth or tenth year. Garbage in garbage out. If you eat junk and sliders you WILL gain weight just like you do without the sleeve
Like Swizzly, I will NOT be gaining back all my weight lost and ALL THOSE DOCTORS who told us most restriction can't be lost (yes, some naturally will) are wrong??
The tool continues to work WITH ME as I Work my sleeve.

Manwich Meatballs
*** 1 can, 15 oz of Manwich Sloppy Joe Sauce.
1 package of 97% lean ground turkey
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/3 cup dried seasoned breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons of olive oil
I egg
Combine ingredients except the can of Manwich. Mix well then shape mixture into 20 meatballs.
Brown meatballs over medium heat in a non stick skillet that his been sprayed with Pam.
Cook until all sides of the meatballs are browned. (They do not need to be cooked through)
Pour one 15 oz can of Manwich Sloppy Joe mix into a crockpot that has been set to low.
Cook on low for 4 hours or until meatballs are cook through.
Each meatball has 7.4 grams of Protein and 3.2 grams of carbs

Nicole my stomach growls.. I fast two day a week and on those days my stomach growls and feels like its eating itself.
When people say they feel "empty" I feel that too a bit, I'm not sure that's hunger? I eat I'm full and a couple of hours or (less sometimes) the fullness goes away and it's an empty feeling right?
But is it hunger? I know I think about food then.
But I think about food all the time it seems.

EXACTLY... I have no idea what hunger is/. In the "old days" I just ate... continuously. Now I just follow the plan and tell mt brain "skippy" to go away...

I kind of wonder if the problem isn't that most of us never really new what hunger truly felt like in the first place, maybe what we have always considered hunger was just our minds messing with us in the first place. I truly don't believe I ever feel hungry anymore, I do sometimes feel the need to eat because I am getting week and/or shaky, and sometimes I get a headache because I am deficient in something. I feel it is an important part of journey to figure out what our bodies are telling us so that we can respond to it appropriately instead of shot gunning every problem with as much food a possible. Anyhow that's my thoughts on hunger, good luck to everyone.

Well, I'm screwed. My brain doesn't always tell me to eat but my body doesn't want me to eat junk food or overeat - that's all on my thinker. If it's busted, well, crap.
I have to wonder, though, if this is a bigger issue to do more with wiring than habit. My kids come to mind. My daughter? Heavily influenced by any discussion, pictures, books, etc. that include food. If she sees or hears about food she's "hungry" even if she's just had a snack. My son? Hardly ever hungry and his response to food does seem totally different. Maybe he's wired different. If he sees a food commercial or smells food while we're out he can separate appreciating that from wanting/needing it, where my daughter (yes, she's also obese) has a harder time doing that. He'll say, "Yum, pizza smells good. We should eat pizza next time we're out." She'll say, "Yum, pizza, I'm hungry!"
My kids don't have crappy eating habits. They're five going on six and don't even remember fat Mommy or fat Mommy's food binges and crappy food isn't part of our lives. Seriously, we go out to eat like once a month and they might get fast food once every six to eight weeks! They can also walk away from Cookies and cakes and freshly baked goodies like they're nothing and ask for Greek yogurt instead. But the hunger thing seems to be the real difference - also, what the hunger is FOR. She always wants carby crappy stuff if she's swept up by the idea of food. If she's just having a normal day? fruit, veggies, yogurt, etc. - very healthy choices all around.
Things to ponder. Thanks for that, Laura.
~Cheri

Ha! I was just sitting here contemplating hunger...
I've been think about "true" hunger since yesterday and what that means and feels like.
So this morning I asked a naturally thin person
(My husband) I explained my confusion on this.
I don't know what hunger is/was? I think I'm not as hungry as before, but quite honestly before I don't think I ate most of the time out of this thing called hunger...
"So what does hunger feel like to you?" I ask what are your "signals" he tells me "my head, I get a signal in my brain that says you need to eat, your body is in need of food" ????
Not a empty feeling? Not weak??
No! a brain signal! He tells me "right now I'm not hungry at all I'm not thinking about food it hasn't even come up in my brain since I've been awake"
Well f**k! I tell him "your brain?"
My brain is always telling me to eat! I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about food. When I woke up this morning my second thought was food...
To this he says "well there's the problem, your brain signals are broken" ...
Hunger? What is it? Good question, I think it is so many different things for different people.