I was just wondering how long it generally took people to decide to do the surgery from the time they started reading up about it and doing their research. It's only been a few weeks for me, I'm just pouring over message boards and blogs and trying to educate myself and choose a doctor. I'm in a funk right now because I'm thinking about how permanent this is. I'm afraid of complications (leaks, clots, infections & stents and being tube fed etc). I don't know if this is a phase. When I first heard of it I met some people who had gone through the surgery and they were so excited and I was excited and 100% sure I was going to do this. I'm not sure if the bad things I read are proportionate to the successes. Is this normal to feel confusion?

your weight loss tickers are so inspiring lol. sleeve 4 me i thought for a minute your shoe was a stomach :biggrin5:

wouldn't that be an ironic icon.

That would be funny!!!

I was fortunate to speak to a friend who had success with the sleeve. I researched many hours for safe places to go and after that, I went to a general information day at the surgeons' office - there are 3 surgeons there who only do WLS. They answered all my questions. I booked my surgery date right then and there! The medical tests took a while due to things that had to be addressed before surgery - another bonus is finding out more than I ever knew about my health!

From start to finish it was 2 to 2.5 months.

Finding the right surgeon for me was so comforting. When I needed addtional encouragement, I found it through a local meet-up group and with people on this forum. I am 11 days out and have had a super easy time of it. My life now has room in it to think about something besides food or losing weight. I am finally free!!!

The best to you!

I was lucky I went in said I wanted this did allmy Dr's clearance in one day from start to finish 3 weeks!

I started thinking and researching sleeve surgery in mid July, I was self pay and could not afford the surgery locally. Researched into having it done in Mexico. I had surgery on Aug 23rd. Actually, the plans and surgery went off without a hitch. I have had no complications and am satisfied with my sleeve surgery. I am very glad I had the surgery and made what some may call a rash decision. I have lost 92lbs since start of preop diet on July 26th.I am so glad I did not have to go through the lengthy process that is required with the insurance companies in the US.

I had thought about weight loss surgery previously, but I had major reservations about the banding and absolutely did not want the gastric bypass. I had even signed up to attend a seminar about a year or so before I went through with it. I didn't go to the seminar.

This year, in June, I had had enough. I signed up for a seminar and attended it. I learned about the sleeve, and I knew it was the one for me. I had surgery less than 6 weeks later.

i went to my first seminar back in the summer of 2007. At that time i only knew about the band and the bypass only and I knew i never wanted a bypass. I went through the whole process and a week before surgery in October 07 I chickened out.

That was the best thing I did, fast forward to last fall when I heard about the sleeve. I attended another seminar and was SO happy that I did not have the band after reading all of the stories about it. I decided on the sleeve and had the procedure in May, i had to do a 6 month diet otherwise I would have had it done last fall.

I was a self pay. From start was march of this yr. And I was sleeved in July. 72pds later I couldn't be happier.

Good morning! My story is maybe not typical. I had no health issues and my BMI was 36...I have a friend who had had surgery several years before. I thought she was nuts, said I would "never" go to such extremes! I woke up one morning at 4:30 AM and right then and there, I knew I was going to go 'under the knife'. My friend had no problems, she didn't die and was thrilled with her surgery. That was December 2009 - surgery was June 2010. I researched doctors and narrowed it down to two. The one I chose did surgery on Fridays, which was more convenient for me, so I went with him. Both had the "center of excellence" stamp of approval, and that is what I was looking for. I read, read and read more about having this done. I was obsessive. I started attending support group meeting several months prior to surgery. I went to a seminar and read more! Even after surgery was schedule I continued to research and at one point thought about putting surgery off until after we moved back to Texas. (my doctor is in Dallas) Then I re-thought that and did it. I have never had what some refer to as buyers remorse....not for one second. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I never had any problems, maybe because I was in good health, I'm not sure. I treated this as the most important diet I've ever been on. Nothing sweet or fried touched my lips until after I reached goal. Now everything is in moderation, fried foods are rare, sweets in moderation. I love my life, I love it that I can shop anywhere! I highly recommend this......you'll never look back!!! Good luck!

I started the process in July and was sleeved in December 6th. I work for a company that owns hospitals so it only cost $350 for the surgery and $25 copay for each session. I still haven't been billed for the sleep study or EKG but know that's probably coming. I only got the surgery because my mom died from cancer in August at 52 years old. She was 500 lbs and suffered from other obesity related illnesses. I was like "I don't want that to ever happen to me!" so had to do this for my health. I been obese most my life but am very healthy otherwise with no high blood pressure, cholesterol or any illnesses of any kind.

I first started seriously considering it in May 2010. By mid-June, I had booked my surgery for an August date.

On 13 October 2010 I booked the seminar for 16 October. At the seminar, I informed the doctor I wanted the surgery on 20 December. (I was self pay). And, sure enough, I was sleeved on the 20th. That was one year ago and I have lost 137 pounds. The best fastest decision I ever made!

I started thinking about WLS in september of this year. First i was set on the lapband but after a frank talk with my surgeon he swayed me towards the sleeve. my surgeon performs the bypass, lap band and VSG surgery. So when he recommended the surgery i had to listen. i was sleeved on Nov 8th, since then ive lost 57 pounds.

I found out in October of 2009 my insurance was going to include bariatric surgery coverage in January of 2010. I called the insurer the first week of January to find out the requirements. I found Doctor Nick (as an approved center of excellence) and attended his informational seminar in January. He does all 3 surgeries, so I found out about all of them. I liked the sleeve the best.

Then, life interfered. My company was sold right before I went to the informational seminar, but the buying company also covered WLS, and Dr. Nick was still approved as a center of excellence. I started going to the required 6 month dietician visits.

Then, the buying company had a lay-off which affected me. I went back to another division of my original company (same insurance I started with) and continued meeting the requirements for WLS.

Then, the new business I was working for (a joint venture of two companies) sold out to one of the partners - and my insurance changed again (4th one in 8 months). I kept attending the dietician visits throughout because I didn't want to have a break in attendence.

Dr. Nick was still a Center of Excellence provider with the 4th insurance provider. His employee that worked with me was wonderful about keeping track of what all of my different insurance providers required. And, with the delay, my final insurance had changed there coverage to include the sleeve - so it worked out the way I wanted it to.

I got my approval (with one denial before the approval - they decided they wanted 5 years of weight history) on December 29th of 2010. I scheduled my appointment with Dr. Nick to schedule surgery in mid January and had surgery for February 22, 2011.

The 12 months of time allowed me to research quite a bit. I'm glad it took that long, or I wouldn't have been able to have the sleeve covered.