I'm so so nervous about getting the surgery that I've been trying to focus on all the positive things that the sleeve (and weight loss) will give me back, like climbing stairs without pain in my knees, being able to enjoy clothes shopping again, feeling pretty again and more energy, Also to be able to do things I've never been able to do before...like Water ski.

Love to hear all the positive things that the weight loss has given others too. How has the weight loss and the sleeve changed your life?

Most importantly the sleeve gave me my LIFE back. ~160 pounds gone and I can do so much more than I have in decades! BPis down, my sugar is stable, I'm off ALL pain killers for aches and pains and reduced amounts of the one remaining medication. It was the best thing I have EVER done.

I am only 15 days out but I am amazed at the lack of hunger! Hallelujah! Imagine how much easier dieting is when you're not hungry, you can eat normally ( I will be able to soon anyway) and are truly satisfied with a small amount of food. I am no longer a slave to my stomach.

I am in normal sized clothing.

I am not the fattest person in the room.

I am off my blood pressure and cholesterol meds.

I am not hungry all the time.

I can bend over more easily.

I can sit comfortably in all chairs and booths.

People react to me differently now that I'm thinner.

I am not scared every day that my fat is going to kill me.

I feel like I can control my weight, not that my weight is controlling me.

Lynda

Random thoughts about what the sleeve has given me . . .

In the last 6 1/2 months I have gotten rid of sleep apnea, high cholesterol and elevated triglycerides. I am off of 75% of my blood pressure medications. My joints don't ache like they used to. I sleep better than I have in years.

In addition, I am able to do Zumba classes and enjoy them. I can ride a bike again. I am more active at home and find doing things around the house and property much easier. I can get down on the floor with my grandkids and not have help to get back up off of the floor. I am not ashamed to have a picture taken with family members or work associates.

When I meet people for the first time, I am not worried that being morbidly obese will negatively impact the first impression I make.

I am looking forward to traveling with my family next month rather than dreading the ordeal of traveling while being morbidly obese. I WON'T HAVE TO GET THE DA*N SEATBELT EXTENDER ON THE PLANE.

I weigh less than my husband (by 50 pounds now!) I am smaller by far than his ex wife (yea!). My wedding rings fit again!

I can go into any women's shop and find clothes that fit. When I go into one, I don't feel like a freak from the circus that has wandered in.

What a great question... and some fab responses so far... will be interesting to see what else comes up.

For me, the sleeve has simply given me my life back. It has afford me the opportunity not only to look better but to FEEL GOOD... and I can honestly say, I haven't felt like this for many, many years. I was luck enough not to have any serious health matters, but I know they were just around the corner ... I am now hoping not to see them at all! I just have this zest for life again... a hunger to do 'stuff' to live again... and I know that might sound a little corny but it is true. I am not ashamed any more and I don't want to hid myself and my personality away... I have to say, life is really good now!

Ellie4me, Try not to be nervous of your operation... you will be in good hands I am sure, and believe me, the positive certainly out weigh the negatives... Good luck!

It plain and simple has given me the life I only dreamed I could have.

Life without co-morbidities, without self depracation, without low self esteem, without the need to wear clothes that would make a circus clown look silly, without feeling judged for being the fattest person everywhere I go...

There are just too many more reasons TO do it, than not.

_{Freedom!!! From all the diets I have been on and failed from all the times I lost just to regain and then some. I sometimes say I feel like I am on a permanent diet pill that I don’t have to think about it just works (that may be a weird analogy) LOL you get me right}

MY SELF-CONFIDENCE! For the first time in almost 10 years, I'm not afraid to make eye-contact with strangers or people who I don't already know really well. I'm actually going out and being social & flirting! Before this surgery, I can remember looking in the mirror and crying because I felt like the person I know myself to be was being swallowed alive by the fat & I could barely see myself there anymore. I now feel like I look more like the person I saw myself as & that others are starting to see me that way, too.

Krista

Where to start ....

Well like everyone says, it has given me my life back

My Comorbidities: Pre-sleeve 20 pills a day, post sleeve 3

High Blood Preasure - Controlled with 1 pill

Diabeties - zero pills and is in complete remission

Cholesterol/Triglycerides - 2 pills a day

I am able to work out and enjoy it rather than hate me and the classes

I am able to do more things with hubby inside and outs side the bedroom

I am able to wear cute clothes

I am able to walk miles before getting tired

The list goes on and on and on lol

Over all the most important thing is I am happy.

I am only 45 days in....I have lost 30 pounds. I am off of the 3 blood pressure meds a day that I used to take.

And a week ago- I RAN down some woman's cart in the Walmart parking lot. It escaped her- and was tearing down the parking lot looking for something to crash into. I Ran it down and caught it before it could do any damage. I haven't RUN anywhere in over 10 years.

I exercise every day. And not because I have to. I do it because I enjoy it so much- it is the best part of my day.

Not being the fattest girl in the room

My knees don't kill me at night when I get off work

I can cross my legs again!

My wedding ring (25 years next year) fits in the morning (looking forward to the day it fits all day - but baby steps right?)

My hubby calling me "skinny" lolol.....

Having a good time here............which in all the years of yoyo diets never happened

Best thing I did in a long while............should have done it years before!

You all are so inspiring!! I made a list of things I hope WLS would give me back. I'm still so so so nervous. I jump back & forth between "I can't risk it" to "wanting it right now". I've been reading tons of post and it isn't the after surgery that frightens me. I realize the first few months will be hard, that I can do.....can't be worse then a lifetime of diets. I'm just so afraid of something going terribly wrong. My kids would be forever changed if something happened to me. They would surely prefer a fat mom over no mom. It's just such a big decision.

Thank you all for helping me focus on the positive side.

I felt the same way! I had all the negative feeling from failing at every diet to the guilt of doing this and risking my life therefore hurting my family, to shame of people knowing I was this out of control. But i know I was dying a slow but sure death because if the health risks of being so fat. I had everyone telling me I wasn't big enough to consider this to hearing that I should give Weight Watchers another try . (By the way I was 5"6" and 245 the day I started my liquids so I KNOW I am big enough!) But I weighed my risks of surgery with the lifelong struggle - the always wanting to wear something I couldn't, beginning to not fit in seats, etc. and I just knew it was worth the risks. I have had a couple of rough days this week because I have so much trouble getting in food and enough fluid. Now THAT"S a first! Pray my friend. Only you can decide, But I know it is going to be worth it for me when I can walk as far as I want to, and wear clothes that have a little shape to them. I will keep you in my prayers! Kathy

I can SO identify with your fears! the night before my surgery I didn't sleep at all. My children are raised and off on their own, but I was SO afraid of "what might happen". I didn't want my life to be over, to end on some operating table in Tijuana, Mexico. But I thought I have come this far, I am NOT going to let fear stop me! Thankfully, everything went well, and I did well with NO problems at all post op, other than some complaints of fatigue for several weeks.

There were of course days when I had "buyer's remorse", cause I wanted to pig out so badly. I wanted all the foods that had comforted me daily for SO long! And I got tired of liquids before I could progress to mushies and then solids! But now I am almost 14 weeks out, and I feel SO good! I have lost a total of 79 pounds so far, 20 on the pre-op diet and 59 since the surgery. I still am only able to eat about 5-6 bites before I am full. And I am still working on trying to eat SLOWLY and enjoy my food, rather than stuff it in as fast as I can and unintensionally overeat. But I know that will come, it is just something I need to continue to work on.

Of course, everything in my closet has gotten to big for me. I finished cleaning out my closet just this week, and I do not have one original piece of clothing left in there that I had prior to my surgery. In fact, some of the shorts I bought 4-6 weeks ago (cause my other shorts were FALLING OFF OF ME WHEN I WALKED!) are too big now already! I have shipped 6 huge boxes of clothes to friends who are about the size I was prior to my surgery.

When I went shopping last week, I bought six bras with matching panties! I SO LOVE having these beautiful sets! They make me feel SO feminine! Something that I hadn't felt in years and years!!! I love wearing them to work. I have to change clothes when I get to work, and everyone in the dressing room comments on my "fancy underwear". But I can tell they all think it is great! I love wearing some of my new clothes that make me look slimmer and make my legs look like they go on forever! I am totally in love with how my body is looking now that I have lost those 79 pounds! My husband is home in Iowa, and hasn't seen me much since the surgery. (I am a travel nurse, working in California.) I am flying home in less than two weeks for a week's vacation, and I can hardly wait to get home and show my new bod to hubbie! He is excited to see the changes that have happened since he last saw me!

In addition, my allergies are SO much better since my surgery. Don't know why or what my extra poundage had to do with my environmental allergies, but have been able to go off my allergy meds. almost never have a problem with stuffy nose now. Also have been able to go off my cholesterol meds, my anti-inflammatory meds, my sleeping pill, and my high blood pressure meds! So am saving $ every month on medications!

I have tons more energy, and love it. I used to drag myself to work, and drag myself home. Now I feel pretty good, even in the morning when I get off work after a 12 hour shift! Just a couple years ago my husband said to me he didn't think I was physically able to even work in a hospital anymore. I went out and got a hospital job just to show him he was wrong, but it almost killed me some days, I was so tired from dragging all the extra weight around at a very physically challenging job. Now it is so much better.

Also LOVE all the positive remarks I get at work and from friends! So many people have told me how good I look. I got my hair cut into a more "hip" style and co-workes have told me it takes 10 years off my appearance! I am so pumped and excited about my "new" life! I LOVE IT! It is the most positive thing I have ever done for myself! I would not ever go back to where I was before!

I hope you make the decision that is right for you. But for me, my sleeve has literally SAVED MY LIFE!

Helen - your life changes are EXACTLY what I hope will happen for me. I know WLS could give me a real life again. I am also self-pay and looking at MX for surgery. If it was just me, I would have been in the operating room already but it is whenever I think about my kids that I change my mind. I hear that negative voice in my head saying...".oh yeah can see it now, your gone and your loved ones are left wondering how they lost you to having WLS, and how you could risk so much just to loose weight". Sorry, having a doubting night