I'm going thru my insurance requirements to get my sleeve. I know it's the right thing I'm doing. just wanted to poll the forum to find out when you knew "it was time". I'm scared to do it, but more scared that my health problems will worsen if I don't. I could use a little moral support. hoping to have insurance approval by mid-august.

I knew it was time when my pill count was up to 20 and I saw the decline of a friend and coworker who had diabeties. Just 3 years older than me he had part of his foot taken off, was going blind and went on dialysis right before my eyes. I saw in him what would happen to me if I didn't do something.

I've always known it was time, the problem was the money and the courage to do it. . . then finally i convinced hubbie to come to a seminar after many years of him saying nope he wasn't coming to seminars or supporting me with WLS and at the seminar he was the one who picked the sleeve. . . Lucky for me, i didn't even wait for him to change his mind, i took out a loan against my daughter's new car and there we go, the rest is history. . . i'm glad i did it, there are days i really hate the sleeve, but more days then not, I'm really glad i did this. . . i went horseback riding for the first time in many years on Saturday and it sure was fun (except for the extremely sore butt now) . It's nice to be able to do things and not worry if you'll kill the animal. . . hehehe

When I ran out of diets to try! I had been thru the gambit of diets (insert what ever name you like) twice and I was to the point that with extreme effort I could only lose 15 lbs. It used to be I would only gain back to my starting weight but the last few go rounds it gain back to start and pack on more. After being on Jenny Craig all of last year and losing only 14lbs I gave up. I could not afford to keep spending my money on failed diets. So I decided to just not worry about my weight anymore. Well, that lasted about 3 months and I could not stand it anymore and reseached wls. I was to the point that I did not want to participate in anything cuz I was so tired all the time. I have Primary Biliary Cirrhosis, hypo thyroid, and high blood pressure. It was time. Started out thinking lapband and then found out about all the problems and switched to sleeve. Hoping to surgery in 6 weeks. Good luck!

Hi Pagie, I was diagnosed with uterine cancer in Dec 2008. I went thru surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. By January 2010 I took off my wig and thought I'd feel good again. Throughout my ordeal I had a lot of friends and family supporting me, I am very blessed in that regard. They would always ask: how are you now?, is everything ok?, how are you feeling?, are you healthy now? And at the end of all the he|| I went through, I COULD NOT HONESTLY SAY YES, I am fine now. Because I was still 100 pounds overweight with diabetes out of control. I couldn't believe i fought cancer and felt even worse than before. So that was it, I made the decision. The best reason for having this surgery is for your health, I'm just at the beginning of this new journey, so time will tell...but what I do know is that my fat-related health problems were doing nothing but getting worse as time went on.

Adri - I pray that you continue to do well post-chemo. And thanks for the encouragement. I wish you much success during this exciting journey. You deserve it.

Happy Monday - and thanks to you all for sharing your experiences. I can relate in many ways to all of your stories and struggles.

I struggle with feeling worthy enough to be happy. - Well guess what?

It's time for a new "sleeve" on life. I'm dropping this fat blanket like its hot, and letting all the good that life has to offer go right to my soul!

This July 4th - Celebrate your Independence from Obesity!!!!

All the best to all my VSG family.