Surely you are someone outside of your surgery and struggles with our weight. You have interests and dislikes and families- jobs and hobbies. And honestly- yes it is exciting to have this stool and to be on the journey- but hasn't there been enough focus all our lives on just our weight?

I know VST is dedicated to our VSG stories, but I sort of think that who we are makes our VSG surgeries that much more meaningful.

So I'll go first...

I'm Danielle. I'm 27 and I have three sisters and one nephew. I am unmarried and have no children. I work full time running the office for a respiratory company. This semester I am also attending college full time via online classes. I'm now also trying to squeeze in going to the gym three times a week.

I suffer from PCOS and had this surgery to help increase my chances of having a family of my own one day.

I am a TOTAL girly girl! I love the color pink, I like Hello Kitty the way others like Betty Boop or Tinkerbell, and I HATE HATE HATE spiders! I'm not much of an outdoorsie person- my idea of roughing it is five girls and one bathroom. That being said I do love to garden and can't wait for spring.

I love anything to do with 16th century european history and am a total fanatical nut when it comes to Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I. My favorite movie and book of allllllllll time is Gone With the Wind. I love watching old movies with my mom- our favorites are Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, anything with Doris Day and the Tammy movies. We also make a point of watching A League of Their Own together whenever it is on tv. I'm close with my Dad but sometimes I feel like we don't have anything in common.

Prior to surgery I loved home cooked food! (Along with chinese and pizza hut haha) I still enjoy cooking for my family (One sister, my parents and I all live together for economic reasons) and resumed cooking them meals within a few days of coming home from the hospital. I have a dog, she is a chihuahua/yorkie mix. Her name is Gypsy and well... she is sort of a monster!! I <3 her tho!

Now it's your turn!! Tell us who you are!

I taught at a school for a kindergarten class and my husband worked at a restaurant as a supervisor.

My are you sure your only 25 yrs old? You sure have done alot in your young years! Do you mind if I ask what kind of work you did in Saudi Arabia?

I'm still 24 I'll be 25 may 31 of this year

I'm still 24 I'll be 25 may 31 of this year

Truly amazing!

I graduated from high school this just past year (2012), which makes me a first year college student. I am 19, my birthday is in December. I am the only girl of 3 children and just about the only girl in the family lol. I grew up in an active household, we all played sports. I've always been on the chunkier side but I've always been active so it was never an uncomfortble thing. I am still active till this day. Anytime I've actually put thought into lightening up is been a hard trial ending it small success here and there. Never really had an issue with my weight mentally until like my senior year, probably because of prom but in the end I went to prom felt beautiful and enjoyed myself. Before graduation I made a promise to myself to get back in shape and try to get healthy for myself, I spent the whole summer doing so but no "success". A lot of people look at me sideways when I mention that I'm in the process of getting my WLS of choice the sleeve because I'm known to hold my weight well but I don't care. I'm doing this for myself, I need the push and I refuse to let my lifespan continue to decline because of this weight. I currently don't have diabetes or pre diabetes or any signs of diabetes (family history), no sleep apena, arthritis, heart disease, signs of potential heart disease, high cholestorol or hypertenison according to my doctor It seems as if I'm "healthly" which I guess I'll say i'm blessed because I have my mothers genes and not my dads in that department but as I was saying I dont want to drive myself there. I got here myself and I have to get out of this and back healthly myself (with the help of the sleeve).

DeV ... 5'3" currently 265

Hi Everyone

My name is Valerie and I was sleeved a little over two months ago. Over the past two months I've pretty much just been browsing the forums for the answers to all my post-sleeve questions and I decided today that I should finally register! I look forward to getting to know some of you and sharing our experiences! I am 34 years old, single, no kids, currently a full-time student and employed part time at a financial institution. I've pretty much had a love affair with food for the past 15 years and just started packing on the pounds I am working on building my new healthy relationship with food and I look forward to the day that I can finally shred my Lane Bryant credit card! haha! Speak to you all online...have a good night!

Hello:

I'm 31 years old originally from Dominican Republic. I've been married almost 10 years and have 2 boys. My husband is in the Air Force, we are currently station in Georgia but prior we were stationed in England for 3 years. We loved it!!! While we were over there we got to go to many different countries and we want to go back to Europe soon. We also lived in Virginia for 4 years and New Jersey .

I work in an assisted living facility.

Hi everyone

I'm new

I'm 30 single and female, and have a bmi of 28,

Self image and weight issues has been with me the last 16 years, never succeeded

To maintain my goal,

I am planning to have the sleeve operation but I need your advices before I go on,

Thank you very much

How much do you want to lose? How tall are you? What do you weigh? That is a low BMI, but so was mine, although a little more than yours.

Best decision I've ever made. At your age I probably had a BMI of 28, continued to lose and re-gain over the next 20 years. You don't pay that much attention when it's 5 or 10 lbs per year. All of a sudden I was 50 yrs old and 228 lbs. OMG, if only I could have had this surgery when I was 30!!! Life changing!

Hi everyone

I'm new

I'm 30 single and female, and have a bmi of 28,

Self image and weight issues has been with me the last 16 years, never succeeded

To maintain my goal,

I am planning to have the sleeve operation but I need your advices before I go on,

Thank you very much

Im Diana im 35 i have three children a 17 yearold daughter an 11 yearold daughter and a 5 yearold son. Ive been married for 11 years but with my husband for 13 years. I live in las vegas nv i manange people who take blood thinners. I love all linds of music but prefer rock. I love animals and currently have a pit/lab mix,two orange kitties and two bunnies so my house is very lively. I would like to go back to school as soon as i can find the time. I love my sleeve as it is truelly the best thing ive done for myself.

Thank you Ntvtxn

If that is what you think. Then I should not hesitate

I'm 65kg and I'm 1.6 meter

I have done Lipo twice and I believe my obesession for food avoids me from being 50 which is my desired goal,

Do you think I can obtain it? And more importantly, can I maintain it by this surgery?

I have the problem of convincing my mom, since she is very worried and protective.

Thank you Ntvtxn

If that is what you think. Then I should not hesitate

I'm 65kg and I'm 1.6 meter

I have done Lipo twice and I believe my obesession for food avoids me from being 50 which is my desired goal,

Do you think I can obtain it? And more importantly, can I maintain it by this surgery?

I have the problem of convincing my mom, since she is very worried and protective.

I'm Jermiria.

Most of my friends know me as Laidee Jae or Jamocha. Sooooo many more nicknames. Ha!

I'm 30, single with no children! Born & raised AND living in Alabama.

I'm currently an Event Specialist for a GA Based Conferencing Company.

In my spare time, I love to travel different concert shows and venues. HUGE lover of music. Doesn't matter the genre. I listen to it all! I have a good amount of friends that are in various bands throughout the country, and I do what I can to support them. I'm on a lot of their street teams, and I promote about them and their shows on my Facebook page. I also take photos at their shows and post them on my page as well. Photography started out as a hobby, but it is turning into my passion. I hope to make a career out of it in the future.

My name is Greg i am 48 i just got home from getting sleeve on Monday

would appreciate any input on comfort and diet/eating

i do feel great at the moment and look forward to this forum

I am Kathy. I am 46 years old and live just outside of Boston. I was layed off in September after 23 years with an electronics distributor. It was hard to say goodbye to something I have known half my life but I moved on. I am now taking everything in stride. I live with my fiance and we enjoy riding our motorcycles more than anything. Every fall we ride them down to our home in Florida and then in the spring we ride them back. Last year was the full length of the blue ridge parkway. Amazing! Going again this year just because there is so much to see on the ridge. After we retire we are planning to ride to all four corners of the US.

We have a puggle name Mugzee.. She truly is a wonderful part of my life and she fills my heart and makes me smile every day.

I was sleeved on 3/6/2013. I did it to save my life. Looking forward to living healthier and longer!

Im new to this forum so I guess Ill tell you who I am.

Im 36 and never been married and I do not have any childern. That being said..I do want to have a family in the future. But my family doctor told me about 6 months ago that I had prob 10 years to live in my state. That really hit home. Ive always been big, but I never thought it would come to that. So I tried to do these diets and working out, but i couldnt keep it up. I blew out my knee a couple years ago and I have a slipped disc in my back..everytime I even tried to work out...I hurt for days. I finally bit the bullet and went to the weight loss center near the house. IM now 2 weeks from surgery and IM both excited and terrified all at the same time. We will see where this new road takes me. I feel like I have lost out on a lot of opportunities due to my weight. Well that time is gone....

Thank you Ntvtxn

If that is what you think. Then I should not hesitate

I'm 65kg and I'm 1.6 meter

I have done Lipo twice and I believe my obesession for food avoids me from being 50 which is my desired goal,

Do you think I can obtain it? And more importantly, can I maintain it by this surgery?

I have the problem of convincing my mom, since she is very worried and protective.

I am certain you can lose the weight and then maintain. The lack of hunger makes it much easier to make wise choices. Good luck!!!!