NaomiAus

I had my sleeve done in Juarez, Mexico

Work in progress, 174lbs down

December 2013 (day I started preop diet) vs December 2014. I'm 19 months out now but look the same as 12 months post (with the addition of a new tattoo)

September 2013 ( 3 months before surgery) vs September 2014 (9 months postop and 10 pounds below goal

Still 14 pounds from goal but very happy with my current size.

HW 325
SW 315
CW....209!

Left pic-1/19....2 weeks post op
Right pic-6/19...6 months post op!

Here I am!!s.w.248 c.w.168.s.d.9/24/14

Welcome! Wishing you all to best for your surgery and beyond.
I wasn't going to tell people, fearing the exact same thing, peoples not so polite comments but I found myself now telling all kinds of people; family, co workers etc and I have had nothing but support and well wishes.
It is a very personal thing and it is completely understandable your decision not to tell people and ultimately, it really anyone but your business.

Way too many to list them all, but for a few; shopping and clothes, traveling (the whole plane seat thing as well as having the energy to actually DO thing while traveling), I have always wanted to sky dive or bungee jump, not declining invitations to go out just because I don't want to be seen the way I am, not always being the driver when going out because I know that my seatbelt fits but others might not, not being exhausted after very little exertion, going to the beach in summer, like I said, way to many to list at once.

Not hating what I see in the mirror.

2+ years post-op and I have only mixed my eating and drinking a couple of times. A couple of times by accident and a couple of times because I was in a huge hurry and didn't have time to wait. I regretted it when I did because once you get used to separating them, it feels physically weird and wrong to do it together. Not painful but uncomfortable -- at least for me. I don't see this changing, ever, in my life.
If you end up in a place where you need to take tiny sips occasionally to avoid puking or gagging, I think that's understandable. But I would say don't plan to make up your own rules up front. Have the attitude that you will follow the plan your medical team lays out for you unless and until you are physically proven that it's impossible. Don't give up and admit failure at any part of it until you've made a sustained effort post-surgery. Good luck!
Completely unrelated but just FYI you won't have a "pouch" -- that's what RNY'ers get. You will have a sleeve.

Talk to your surgeon, do not leave the hospital before you do, it may be nothing but it may be something serious

Talk to your surgeon, do not leave the hospital before you do, it may be nothing but it may be something serious

At the risk of a trainwreck, I'm going to use a phrase I used recently...
"beg your pardon?"

I've considered wls for about six years now, however I got to my highest weight, developed hypertension and then the joint pain came. I've been on and off diets most of my adult life plus my family has a history of HBP, heart disease and diabetes... I'm 37, my mother died at 55 and I don't want to follow the same path. So I've decided WLS and a permanent change to a healthier lifestyle is just what I need to live a full life.

I am extremely grateful this surgery was even available to me, I thought since a year on Weight Watchers did nothing for me, ( a whole 12 lbs, and yes, I had my thyroid checked twice ) I thought I would be overweight for the rest of my life. I did have some mild co morbiditys ( high bp and sleep apnea), but nothing big. One thing I did see was my late MIL, a overweight person who refused to manage her diabetes properly. Each year she got progressively worse, more medications, more Dr.s appts, going from walking to a wheelchair eventually. Even though I didn't have diabetes, I could see myself going down the same road. Ummm, no thanks !! I took control of my health with the Lapband, and except for a still mild case of high BP, and a bum foot, im looking forward to my later years still healthy and happy ! My only regret is I didn't do WLS sooner ! I hope you make a good decision to help youve happy and healthy too !! Good luck !!

@@limichelle34
There was definately a last straw for me. I was very sick for about a year and a half. All of my comorbitities were clearly effecting my health. I have psoriatic arthritis, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, degenerative disc disease and osteoarthritis of my spine.
My kidney function had been going downhill for about two years although I did not really know this at the time.
One day I went to the doctor because I was feeling crappy, I thought my hypothyroid was off and I possibly needed a new prescription.
They did blood work and urine samples and my doctor told me my kidneys were getting worse and I needed to see a nephrologist right away. Honestly I was shocked.
The next day I got in to see the nephrologist and he pulled all my records. He says these simple words: "dear, you have kidney disease and it has progressed to stage 3" it has been progressing rapidly for the past 3 years.
After the shock and him showing me when and where this began to happen in my labs. He asks me about my diet. I was not a quantity eater but I had all the bad stuff. He asks me if I ever considered weight loss surgery. Of course I thought about it but did nothing to pursue it.
He told me if I did not start to lose weight I was looking at dialysis and ultimately a kidney transplant.
That afternoon I went home with a website and the name of a Bariatric center of excellence and began the process. When I found out it was going to take a minimum of 6 months, I was devastated because I was pretty sick at that point. I started changing my habits and eating better immediately following.
That doctor is my hero! And yes, I told him so when I saw him last. My stage 3 kidney disease has improved significantly to where I now have to say I have a history of stage 3 kidney disease when asked. Most of my comorbitities are in remission.

I needed the confidence to leave my emotionally and financially abusive marriage.
Ironically, I can thank the NSETBEx (not soon enough to be ex) for WLS as the solution. He is obese, and knew three men who had recently had three different surgeries. His boss (RNY), his cousin (sleeve) and a coworker (LapBand). He would come home and ridicule them to me, and make fun of their trials and tribulations. Oh, it was so funny that J with RNY crapped his pants at work. Oh, sure, M lost a hundred pounds with his band, but now he's not losing anymore and eats a full Subway sandwich every day and sometimes fries. D doesn't walk with a cane anymore after his sleeve surgery, but he still looks like an old man with all his hanging skin. Those fools. Ha ha ha.
Little did he know that this was all causing me to look into surgery, since his excellent union insurance covered these surgeries, and I was oh so ready to make a permanent change.
I was over 300 pounds and miserable and having trouble breathing at night. I didn't ask anybody's permission. I checked into the surgery in September, had the LapBand in March, and left him in July. A year later the divorce is still creeping forward.
Creeping. Ha. My divorce is creeping forward and my LapBand fills are creeping toward the green. All thanks to the creep.
Anyway, I never looked back. Best series of decisions I ever made in my life.

So many things but mostly not being able to do a lot of activities without getting out of breath. Feeling tired and sad. Also sleeping with a cpap machine every night.
I want to live!

Being prescribed meds for hypertension. That did it for me!

It's always been something that was in the back of my mind but I always ignored it thinking it wasn't something for me.
My wake up call was when I discovered I had hypertension and at 26 I knew I was way too young to be on blood pressure medication. I hope that within a few months of surgery and eating well and exercising I'll be off my medication.
Oh and the daily battle with lower back pain helped with decision too.

It's always been something that was in the back of my mind but I always ignored it thinking it wasn't something for me.
My wake up call was when I discovered I had hypertension and at 26 I knew I was way too young to be on blood pressure medication. I hope that within a few months of surgery and eating well and exercising I'll be off my medication.
Oh and the daily battle with lower back pain helped with decision too.

Named mine VICTORIA. Because we are victorious!!!

ummm.... last I checked this is a weight loss surgery SUPPORT group... not a 'tell us to just diet and exercise' group. That's great that it was quite easy for you, but I'm told enough in society that surgery was the 'easy way'. I certainly don't need to hear it when I'm looking for support.

Hey, guess what? I learned how to eat responsibly, exercise properly, reset my metabolic rate too! I too, don't follow the typical American diet. 95% of the time, I don't eat processed food, and eat nothing but lean protien, nuts, legumes, fruits and veggies. I rarely eat sweets. I feel the healthiest I've felt in over 20 years. And I had (GASP) weight loss surgery!
So you do you, I'll do me, and we'll all go on living happily ever after. Sound good?

You're making me LOL.
You seem to think you've earned a weight loss of greater than one pound a week the last three weeks because you're eating so little. But by your own "logic," you also didn't earn a 30-pound loss the first five weeks post-op. That was "too much" for you to lose, given all the calories you were eating those weeks.
Big protip: Our bodies don't lose weight in a straight line. The scale moves in fits and leaps. It doesn't drop predictably like a car's fuel gauge. It simply doesn't work that way for anyone. The universe isn't picking on you.
Your body is adjusting right now after a huge weight loss, some of which was fluids. It sounds like you've lost 33 pounds (?) in 8 weeks. That's an average weight loss of over 4 pounds a week, which is great.
FYI, I lost 10 pounds the first month post-op and 11 pounds the second month.
Here's the bad news: You're not going to lose 4 pounds a week every week for the rest of your WLS weight losing career. It's going to slow down.
Here's the good news: If you follow your surgeon's instructions and eat what you're supposed to and don't try to get so creative you screw things up you will lose all your excess weight.
Just. Follow. Your. Surgeon's. Directions.