Where are the 50's??? -- all I see is a topic about wrinkles! How has the surgery changed your life?

Ladies thank you for your responses. I am appreciative of everyones responses. I can't shake this nagging feeling that I should be able to loose with out surgery, but of course I have been 250 plus for 10 years and am growing. I want to continue to read about everyones comments and updates and hopefully I will make the right decision.

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Just one more thought that might be helpful. At 4 months post op I am eating about 1000 calories a day plus exercising and right now I am losing about 1 lb per week. The thing is, 1000 calories with this tool is very fulfilling and I never feel deprived. The traditional diets say you will lose about 2 lbs a week on 1500 calories (which I always felt were restrictive and always felt hungry). I know every one is different but if it takes less than a 1000 calories a day to lose one lb a week, it would have never happened with the sleeve, for me anyway. I started out at 223 lbs and am now 161 lbs and have never felt better.

www.queenofcrop.com

Queen I think you are writing my story. I want to be in a place where food does not occupy my every thought. I am struggling right now on weight watchers with a pound a week. A pound a week is good but I am always hungry. Maybe with the sleeve I wont feel hunger, or that gnawing sensation. To not feel deprived or crave something would be good. Do the cravings go away?

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Queen I think you are writing my story. I want to be in a place where food does not occupy my every thought. I am struggling right now on weight watchers with a pound a week. A pound a week is good but I am always hungry. Maybe with the sleeve I wont feel hunger, or that gnawing sensation. To not feel deprived or crave something would be good. Do the cravings go away?

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Queen I think you are writing my story. I want to be in a place where food does not occupy my every thought. I am struggling right now on weight watchers with a pound a week. A pound a week is good but I am always hungry. Maybe with the sleeve I wont feel hunger, or that gnawing sensation. To not feel deprived or crave something would be good. Do the cravings go away?

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Good news! At least for me, I not only don't have cravings, I'm rarely hungry at all! Because they remove the hormone that controls hunger (grehlin - not sure of the spellilng) this makes life with a sleeve much easier. Some people still have a lot head hunger (because of satisfying their emotions through food), but the physical hunger, at least for me, is hardly there. I don't feel like I am dieting at all; I feel like I am just eating small portions and feeling just fine about that. (My husband calls me a cheap date! :wub: ) It may change since I am only 4 months out, but for now, it's made this ride much smoother! And the honest truth is that i have a goodie every afternoon, but unlike before, a small cookie is all I want and all I need.

www.queenofcrop.com

Hi Everyone, I am 55 and have another six weeks to go before I am sleeved. I am struggling to keep my weight down as I must to get my surgery. (I am having it on the NHS and they insist on you staying at the set 10% loss you had to achieve to get on the list, and not regaining before surgery) I have been struggling all my life with weight and been at my highest for the last twenty years. I think that may have a big effect on how my skin looks after weightloss!!! I can't wait to join all of you who have been sleeved, your stories keep me plugging away and with luck I shall soon be able to share my successes with you. Did any of you worry about the possibilities of dying? I don't want to bring anyone down or cause any worries but I have been writing letters to my family just in case. Is this crazy, I am pretty positive and feel I will come through surgery ok but just want to cover all bases. I couldn't bear it if the worst happened and I hadn't had a chance to tell them all how much they mean to me. Did anyone else do this? Or is it just me?

Sure I worried about dying - which is why I had my will updated, my insurance beneficiaries all correct, a living will made out, the house clean, all my bills paid and spoke to all my loved ones in the week or so before surgery. But I went through the surgery even with that underlying worry. I have had that worry before all my surgeries, not just the VSG. I had trust in my surgeon and the hospital, so I "let go and let GOD" take care of the rest.

Good luck to you!

Sharon

Ladies thank you for your responses. I am appreciative of everyones responses. I can't shake this nagging feeling that I should be able to loose with out surgery, but of course I have been 250 plus for 10 years and am growing. I want to continue to read about everyones comments and updates and hopefully I will make the right decision.

Sent from my DROIDX using VST

I too knew I could lose weight without the sleeve - and I have - I lost 100 pounds four other times. I didn't need the sleeve to help me LOSE the weight - I need to sleeve to help me MAINTAIN my weight loss. Yes, it is a great way to lose the weight - but it is the ONLY way I think I will maintain a normal weight. It is one ot the "three pillars" that will hold up my maintenance - the other two being eating healthy food and exercising regularly.

Good luck with your decision.

Sharon

Sorry I forget! I'm a Nurse. N/V Nausea and Vomiting

Hi I'm cathy, living in the UK and scheduled for surgery on 3 April. I am a self pay (do not meet criteria for wls on nhs) so am going to Brno in czech rep for surgery. I am 52 at present and will be 53 at surgery date. I have been looking at this site for some weeks and found it very informative. Sleeve surgery in the UK is not very common and so people understanding what it is even is hard. I have to make final payment this week and so I am having should I/shouldn't I 'worries'. I know in my heart i should but the little devil is sitting on my shoulder saying "why don't you give diet ... one more try", "will it work for you?", "you do know that you will never eat normally again" etc etc Some help and reassurance please

Good morning (evening!) Cathy! Just to let you know, I was traveling this past year and ended up having my surgery in Frankfurt (I live in Hawaii). I was also self-pay. I know everyone is different and you have to make your own decisions; but if you read most of the post-op posts here, you will see there are few if any regrets. I had just turned 58 when I had mine done last October. For me, I knew I could NEVER lose the weight on diet alone without feeling deprived and miserable all the time. That has since been completely validated now that I have had the surgery, lost 61 lbs and at 1000 calories a day, I am losing about 1 lb a week at this point. (Which I am quite happy with because I never feel deprived, and eat and feel so much healthier!). You may not eat 'normally' again, but what is your 'normal?' For me, I am eating things I would never have eaten when I was dieting, I even bought a bag of Doritos one day! It's all a trade off....feeling better, looking better, reducing your risks of obesity related factors, and not wanting to overeat. I hope your surgery goes as well as mine did in Frankfurt; they treated me very well and I felt very cared for. Keep us posted!

BTW, I do a weekly blog called www.queenofcrop.com which shows the ups and downs (mostly ups!) of my journey. I post each Sunday; it might help reassure you.

www.queenofcrop.com

Communicating with all of you has been heaven sent, I'm so happy that I found this website. I have been so conflicted for the last 5 weeks and as I mentioned earlier I canceled my surgery date. I just got off the phone with my surgeon and scheduled to meet with him next week at 2 pm and I will make a decision after. I'm pretty confident that I could lose a significant part of my weight but do have a lot of fears about gaining it back. I seem to be a very slow loser but quick gainer.

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Good for you! And on the slow losing / quick gainiing....we can ALL relate to that one!

Keep us posted!

www.queenofcrop.com

UK Cathy I very much share your fears and concerns. I have the same voices going off in my head. I know one thing for sure, over eating has become such a way of life for me not sure how to break out of the rut. I have been 200 or more pounds for the last 10 years which is about 60 pounds over weight for me. In 1995 I weighed 220. Now in 2012, I was as high as 266. I am now 244 as I have lost weight and every day is a struggle. I am either over full, because I ate to much, or I am ravenous. My wish is to become not so preoccupied with food. I hope this surgery can help me with this.

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The sleeve was the best thing I have done for myself... And my family is eating better too! So we all benefited from my decision.