So I just wanted to introduce myself. I am a man in my early 30’s living in NJ. I have been overweight for my entire adult life. I am 5’9 and when I was in HS I was 177lbs and played football and wrestled and baseball. I was in great shape and lifted weights and felt great. Then I went to college and the lbs started packing on. After college when I entered the working world, I lived the life of a decent paid young person in the business worlds. Restaurants and traveling and living it up and kept on ballooning. Now through marriage and kids and greater responsibilities at work I reached my maximum weight ever in August of 2010 of 340lbs. I was so shocked at the number but not shocked because of how I felt. My ankles were swelling and my blood pressure was always high (even with the 3 meds I’m taking) and I was not fitting into my 3XL clothes. That was the lowest point of my life. I have always had a tremendous amount of confidence and always felt like the sexiest big daddy I knew (lol) but when I saw that scale I was floored. I had been looking into WLS and was convinced that I wanted the Band. I got all my clearances done except for the seminar because I had this stupid complex about being seen going to a “fat people” meeting. Well I got over that and went to the seminar and I am now convinced that the Band isn’t for me and that I want to do the sleeve. There was a band patient and a sleeve patient there and I spoke to both. I know what I want to do now.

This all happened last night so I found out about this site and decided to join today. This weekend I am going to be on here all day and night reading people’s stories and making sure this is really the right decision for me. Since the day I saw that scale in August, I committed myself to my weight loss, regardless of which WLS I choose. Today, 2 months later, I’ve lost 39lbs by getting my Proteins, drinking my shakes, and eating sensibly. No matter what I chose to do, I am going to be healthy.

Sorry for being long winded. I just wanted to share a part of my story. I am going to be doing my research and I am hoping for a December surgery date (I have a tentative 12/20 date). It will be my early Christmas present to myself.

If there is anyone in here from NJ (especially Central NJ) I definitely want to hear from you. I would love to hear from everyone.

Big Daddy (soon to be Slim Daddy…J)

Greetings!

Hi BD2SD, and welcome aboard. I haven't been sleeved yet but like you I believe it is the surgery for me. My sister and I toyed with the Lap Band but after the seminar...nah! I'm not from Central NJ but Philly isn't that far away. Besides, there are so many wonderful people on this site, I'm sure you'll connect with someone from your area in a very similar situation.

Congrats on the weight loss so far. Keep up the good work and I look forward to reading your progress.

Be well.

Niki

Good luck with whatever choice you make! I was looking into RNY and my surgeon recommended the sleeve... once I looked into it I knew it WAS the right one for me. My date is Jan 18 2011.

Welcome and congrats on your weight loss so far and your committment to improving your health!

My story is similar ...even what you weighed in HS, was about what I weighed back then (and thought I was huge!) lol. Now my dr. wants me to weigh 150!! Anyway, I'm a 38 year old married mom of 2 girls and I started this journey back in Apr. of this year researching my insurance and then started the 'hoop jumping' process to actually have surgery. In the 6+ months that I have been working on this, I did lots of research and decided that the band was not for me. Also, my husband went to the seminar with me and decided he wanted to do this too. It was at his insistance that I do more sleeve research and we both felt much better doing the sleeve vs. the band. (He is hoping for a Dec. date too.)

Good luck with everything and I don't mind admitting that I have spent countless hours reading and absorbing tons of info from this site. It has truly been a lifesaver to find all of these people and all of the information here.

Thank you all so much for the kind words. I really feel good about my decision and I can already tell that there is a lot of support on this site. Has anyone had experience with Dr. Morris Washington? He seems to really be really good and I was excited to go to his seminar. He says he's done 110 sleeves and only one leakage. Sounds good to me but i don't know if that is a lot of surgeries for a Dr or not. What do you guys think?

Welcome!

The sleeve is not on my Drs "menu" yet. All of my information has been for RNY... he has done many many RNY surgeries and is the head of a center of excellence in a teaching hospital. I do not yet know how many sleeves he has done... I plan on asking. His partner Dr who at this time only does RNY did recommend me for a sleeve, and the main Dr agreed to perform it so.....I will go with him unless I find out something that changes my mind. The centers safety record is well above average at this time for RNY. They won't even touch the band... WAY too many problems with that in the long run.

One study said that the percentages of leaks per 100 is 0.7%.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17981515

Best health deciscion I ever made! Good luck!

Congrats on making the decision to be healthy and welcome to the site. I to started this journey thinking I was going to get the band then I went to the seminar and changed my mind then this site sealed the deal as far as my decision to do the sleeve. Good luck with your research and feel free to ask any questions. LKepp us updated on your journey!