Hollyhock

Well hello there. I am 56 and am also considering surgery in August. I have done 8 months of an Intensive Outpatient Program for eating disorders. I'm also nervous about making such a big change in my life. So, I feel ya!

I was 52 when I had my surgery July 13,2015 I'm down 80lbs feeling great:) I have been having a ball with my 3yr old granddaughter who is a handful we have been going everywhere together. I have even been on the rides in the amusement parks!!!

I had VSG surgery at age 68. I started at 235 pounds, lost 100 pounds, and have been maintaining at or below goal for the last 14 months. I weigh 135. I'm 70 years old.
And my life is amazing. :)

I'm 61, a breast cancer survivor (14 yrs), had a hysterectomy at age 29, an intestinal tumor removed 10 yrs ago, and had RNY a month ago. I thought long and hard about undergoing yet another surgery but I am glad that I did. After surgery I was able to stop taking diabetes medication and should be off hypertension meds soon.
I have seen the toll that diabetes takes on ones body and really felt that I needed to do something to improve my chances at a healthier life. Glad I did!
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Yeah, I recently injured a knee and it is not healing. No issue with the joint, but the meniscus is torn. I'm normally a reasonably active person, but now I can't do most of the things I like to do in terms of physical activity. Which is only strengthening my resolve about surgery.
Thank you very much for the reassurance!

Well hello there. I am 56 and am also considering surgery in August. I have done 8 months of an Intensive Outpatient Program for eating disorders. I'm also nervous about making such a big change in my life. So, I feel ya!

Congrats on 5 years out! Cancer is scary. I wish you much luck and success on your journey!
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What kind of cancer did you have? Mine was cervical and so I'm worried about them cutting into my gut because I think my surgeon move some things around. I think he tacked up one of my ovaries. I just don't want to have more complications because of the surgery.
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I had leukemia - just celebrated 5 yrs in remission in April!! Still have 5 yrs of testing until I'm considered "clear", but so far so good.
I think as long as the surgeon is aware of your history, you'll be just fine. I'm sure they encounter all kinds of issues and have ways of working around them.

I am 55 and had my surgery on May 31, 2016. Just over 5 weeks ago. Only problem I had was bowel impaction after 12 days. I was told not to worry since no much food was going in but, I should have been taking the stool softners 3x day. I all goo now. Still healing. Had an appointment today. All is going well.
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I'm 52 and a cancer survivor as well ~ I figure if I keep waiting, I'll only be an older fat woman. Rather be a skinnier, healthier 53

Best decision of my life! Yesterday was my 9 month post op check in with the surgeons office. Everything is looking great and I have lost 132 pounds since surgery! My bmi is almost to being out of the obese range and I am about 45 pounds from my personal goal weight.
My heaviest weight in 2011 was 376
My surgery weight in September 2015 was 319
My current weight is 187!!!!
First picture is almost at my heaviest, then purple shirt is 11 days before surgery and black & white top is last week.

I am 54 and I am tentatively scheduled for surgery July 21, 2016. I think we will do fine. Thanks for all the input from such a nice sleevers, it is very encouraging.
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My surgery was a week ago and I'm 54. So far, so good!
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I was sleeved just weeks before I turned 58. No problems at all, and frankly even at just 2 months post-op I feel better than I have in many years. So glad I did it.
Now, if I didn't have 58 years worth of minor injuries it would be easier to kick up the exercise but I'm doing it fine just the same. I did injure my knee pretty badly about 2 months prior to surgery and I'm really noticing that this hasn't healed as quickly as it once would have. Gotta play the cards you're dealt though!

I am 56 years old and praying I will have my surgery on July 18 this year. I too had questions about doing this at my age. But I have devoted my life to raising my family. My husband is supportive, my children are as well. I am sure my grandchildren would be also but they are too young to understand. I one of my four sons is worried about me having yet another surgery (many for various health and joint issues). He is afraid I will die, but the high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, COPD, sleep apnea, liver disease etc any could cause me to die. Some quickly others long slow and painful. No thank you!!! I have a chance to being a new stage of my life getting healthy and I am going to do it.

Thank you everyone! I've been taking the Biotin for 7 months now , the hair loss has slowed down but now it's just thin and dry. I get about 60-70 g of Protein so I'm going to try and up that.
@@higher thank you I will try this !!
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Attention, especially from the opposite sex can be very unsettling if you aren't used to it. We get so used to feeling "invisible" before WLS - or worse, the object of the wrong kind of attention (judging, shaming, and all that). It takes work on the inside to unprogram a lot of those old messages and negative self-talk.
As far as "letting them all down", you aren't doing this for anybody else. You're doing this for you. Your health and well being. it truly doesn't matter at all what anybody else thinks. They don't define your success or lack of it - that's strictly up to you.
If you aren't getting counseling about these issues, I'd really, really recommend it. It's just like working out at the gym; the gym works the physical body, counseling is your personal trainer for the inside of your head.
Good luck!

When I read threads like this I think there's still a lot of grieving going on for the tough times (physically, emotionally, etc.) we all endured at whatever our high weights were. To be perfectly honest, the "old me" certainly wasn't good enough for ME!
It truly sucked being that heavy. There was so much that was hard when I was obese. I still feel so bad for my old fat self. I'm so very glad *she* doesn't have to struggle with those issues anymore.
And *she* is incredibly glad, too.

I don't know about you but before surgery I hated to look at myself in the mirror. I'd even stopped putting on makeup so I wouldn't have to look. So I think we are so ashamed of our bodies and don't want to be noticed pre op that once we start to lose weight it is really uncomfortable to accept encouragement/compliments. I still have those weird thoughts about what they thought before but really who cares! Just be glad you did it, say thank you and really take it in. You've done the hard work and it's paying off and people are noticing Congratulations!!!!!

I have not gone through surgery yet but I have completed 8 months of intensive outpatient therapy for an eating disorder and it has been really helpful. Your therapist may simply mean that surgery will be more successful if you resolve stress eating in advance. The IOP I attended included DBT therapy and supported eating which were really helpful.
Did your therapist discourage WLS, or did she tell you to work on stress eating prior to surgery? If the former, I'd get another therapist. If the latter, I might still seek out someone who specializes in stress eating. Does your surgery clinic also have a therapist and nutritionist? That might be the way to go.
PCOS does wreak havoc, no doubt about it. But from what I am told, surgery doesn't cure stress eating. But there are indeed therapies and therapists who can help you with this if you need it.

Good luck with your tests. You'll be fine!Yayy for august!! [/img]
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I have not gone through surgery yet but I have completed 8 months of intensive outpatient therapy for an eating disorder and it has been really helpful. Your therapist may simply mean that surgery will be more successful if you resolve stress eating in advance. The IOP I attended included DBT therapy and supported eating which were really helpful.
Did your therapist discourage WLS, or did she tell you to work on stress eating prior to surgery? If the former, I'd get another therapist. If the latter, I might still seek out someone who specializes in stress eating. Does your surgery clinic also have a therapist and nutritionist? That might be the way to go.
PCOS does wreak havoc, no doubt about it. But from what I am told, surgery doesn't cure stress eating. But there are indeed therapies and therapists who can help you with this if you need it.