I have mostly been reading on this site for the past year but have not said much. I am scheduled to have VSG surgery next Thursday May, 5th. I was suppose to have it late last August but cancelled due to the fact that this scares the crap out of me! Thinking of cancelling again but if I do then thats it, I wont try a 3rd time. I have a job where my health is required and if type II diabetes arrives it will be all over. Already have high BP and diabetes is probably next. Im scared to death of possible complications there by also causing job problems and even more scared of life afterwards i.e. not being normal anymore cuz i cant eat anything. I already know im an idiot. Any other advice?

I had never had any type of surgery before with the exception of a tonsillectomy at 5 years old. I was also scared. My heath diabetes was advancing rapidly (A1C of 7.4), I had high blood pressure and I was probably right around the corner from a heart attack. The surgery saved my life. I can only speak for myself but I would do it over again in a heart beat. I had my surgery on June 9, 2010, Have had zero complications. My Diabetes is not only in remission, I am not even at risk for developing diabetes according to my last A1C (5.6). My blood pressure is normal, I have reversed all of my co morbidities and am not looking back.

My wife had the same procedure on March 23, 2011. She has also had zero complications. She looks at medical procedures in a totally different way than I do. She teaches nursing in a registered nurse program at a local college. She is also working on her PHD in nursing education. If she had any doubts about the safety of the procedure or the competence of the surgeon, she would not even consider it or allowed me to go through with it.

We were fortunate because our insurance covered it and we were able to choose a really good surgeon. If you have any doubts about your surgeon, find another. Of course there are always risks in any surgery and something could happen.

For myself, the mental game was a lot harder than the physical. My wife seems to behaving a better time mentally than I did. I took 2 weeks off from work before returning. She was teaching a lecture 6 days after. The list of things I miss is short, a cold beer on a hot day, socializing over a really big meal. The things I don't miss are, not being able to bend down easily to tie my shoes, getting out of breath climbing a ladder, writing a check to someone every month to mow my lawn, shopping in the fat man section, not fitting comfortably in an airline seat and most of all taking 5 different medications every day to control my diabetes and high blood pressure(and still not having my diabetes under control).

I am finally free from my insatiable appetite. I haven't taken any medication since my surgery. It feels really good to be in shape. I hit the gym 3-4 times a week now. It is easy and I actually look forward to it

I hope you can decide what is right for you but I wish everyone on your side feels what it is like on my side. Sometimes we just need to take a leap of faith. Whatever you decide, good luck.

It can be scary to think about but just imagine where you would be if you had done it the first time. You could be 50 or even 100 pounds down if you had. Do you want to look back a year from now and say should woulda coulda? Everyone is afraid of change. Everyone is afraid of the unknown....in our case the unknown just happens to be eating normal portion sizes and being healthy.

Take a deep breathe and just trust... in your doctors, in your support team, in your personal higher power, but mainly in YOURSELF. You are a strong person. You would not have made it all the way to not be.