My question is about the body's anatomy(sp). I quess the one thing keeping me on the concerned side is I'm not sure about how having such a small stomach is good for anyone. I know that the sleeve works and I see wonderful results, however, I ask myself "Am I going to regret doing this when I'm 65, 75 years old?" Like, am i going to have problems down the road with having a small stomach? Will it ever go back to feeling normal? Will I always be reminded that I had surgery when I was 35. Does your body feel the same ever again???? I know, what about the issues that can come from being over weight and all that needs to be thought about. I'm just thinking and typing and would like to know about these things. Haaaaaa!!!!

I think you will adjust and adapt and not regret it. I am 60 now and had this surgery voluntarily done. My neighbor when I was growing up had a major portion of her stomach removed ( not for weight loss) due to ulcers or cancer in the 1950's. She did just fine and lived to be 90 +. She was a lot like the rest of us now, she didn't care when she ate or how much she ate. Food was not the center of her universe. I don't know if it ever was, but in my case it was and is not very much now. As they say I don't live to eat, I now eat to live.

I thought long and hard about how WLS would affect me when I was elderly. This is the primary reason I chose the sleeve over lap band or RnY. My insurance would have paid 50% on either of those procedures but I elected to go to Mexico alone and pay over $10k in fees and airfare for the sleeve because in the end, my stomach would function normally and just as it has been for 40 years, just with a smaller footprint.

Having battled my weight since puberty, The constant very thin people always said was they didn't eat large portions and I wanted so badly to be like them but I couldn't limit my portion sizes. Now I can and I don't feel deprived or hungry. This is the way God meant for me to eat and I just needed medical intervention to get me where I was supposed to be all along.

I asked myself that same question and I answered "will I be alive when I'm 65 or 70 without it?" You have to weigh the pros and the cons for yourself. Also, a good surgeon will also weigh the pros and the cons before even performing the surgery: Do the benefits of this surgery outweigh the cons? If not, a reputable surgeon won't perform the surgery at all and will suggest other options.

Renee`