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I can't believe it's finally here... Tomorrow at 11am I "check in" to hospital! Laying here wide awake!!

I have been on Optifast for nearly 3 weeks & have lost 6kg! The FIRST time I have ever stuck to a diet for more than 2 weeks.

Can't wait for tomorrow to be over so I can get on with my new life!

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I am having my sleeve done on the 1st, I started by telling family and close friends! When I started telling friends at work (they will notice when I am not there and I decided it was easier to tell them than try make something up!) I was blown away by the support that I received! I have now told most people I know and am loving the support I am going to have during this process! I decided for me this was the best way and I am glad I did it this way, however it is everyone's own personal decision what to say!

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Thanks Kelli we have only told my sister so far and planned on telling my husbands brother and his wife last weekend but it just didn't feel right. So we have decided to wait until we are sleeved and then start to introduce the topic with our family and friends. Our family's are very opinionated and sometimes run off on tangents about things they don't really understand. So we think it will be better to wait and not turn the next month into a more stressful situation.

Sounds like the best strategy. People do tend to have an opinion about this surgery and 99% of the time they are uninformed. I agree that you don't need the additional stress of risking other people condemnation.

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I am having my sleeve done on the 1st' date=' I started by telling family and close friends! When I started telling friends at work (they will notice when I am not there and I decided it was easier to tell them than try make something up!) I was blown away by the support that I received! I have now told most people I know and am loving the support I am going to have during this process! I decided for me this was the best way and I am glad I did it this way, however it is everyone's own personal decision what to say! [/quote']

It's great that you have received a positive reaction. In reality most people we tell are supportive. It's often just one or two people who are close to us that feel they have the right to question our decision. Sometimes they are uninformed or simply envious of our decision. So excited for you.

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Thanks Kelli we have only told my sister so far and planned on telling my husbands brother and his wife last weekend but it just didn't feel right. So we have decided to wait until we are sleeved and then start to introduce the topic with our family and friends. Our family's are very opinionated and sometimes run off on tangents about things they don't really understand. So we think it will be better to wait and not turn the next month into a more stressful situation.

As. Birdie007 said you will find most people will support your decision, but if you are u sure about someone in particular I do agree that it is better to tell them afterwards when the weight is coming off and you are doing well.

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As. Birdie007 said you will find most people will support your decision' date=' but if you are u sure about someone in particular I do agree that it is better to tell them afterwards when the weight is coming off and you are doing well.[/quote']

Yeah I was worried about that but I am set in my decision so it would be hard for anyone to change my mind now anyway! But I do agree if there was anyone I was worried about I wouldn't have said anything to them prior!

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What is the best book to buy for my kindle about perpetration before and life after the sleeve ?

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What is the best book to buy for my kindle about perpetration before and life after the sleeve ?
Hi ausmith - I think the best advice about preparation before and life after the sleeve is right here! (and of course, from your surgeon and dietitian!) I have received so much great advice and support from this thread that I don't think any book you read could replace that! Sending you all the best wishes for your journey!

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Yeah I was worried about that but I am set in my decision so it would be hard for anyone to change my mind now anyway! But I do agree if there was anyone I was worried about I wouldn't have said anything to them prior!

I told everyone that would listen before and after - even shop assistants! I only had one negative reaction and the comment was they thought it was too drastic - I also had a phone call from one not so close friend which was a bit strange trying to talk me out of the surgery about a week before my op! However, like you, I was fully committed so nothing was going to change my mind - I knew I was doing the right thing for me! The first person has never commented on my weight loss so I get the impression that they think I did it the 'easy' way and didn't put the hard yards in! The other not so close friend did complement me - I think they were fearful of the operation not against what it was going to achieve.

All other people were supportive as they could tell that this is what I wanted - I think everyone is bit scared for you regarding the surgery - hell I was nervous about that too!

The sort of comments I got were - you are so brave and you are so determined and committed (if you can survive the pre-op diet then that is what I call commitment!).

Anyway, here I am 15 months later sitting at around 60kg (goal was 65) and maintaining and happy as a pig in you know what....no one has told me that I did the wrong thing!

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Hi ausmith - I think the best advice about preparation before and life after the sleeve is right here! (and of course' date=' from your surgeon and dietitian!) I have received so much great advice and support from this thread that I don't think any book you read could replace that! Sending you all the best wishes for your journey![/quote']

Thanks I know what you mean about the site, I'm constantly on it. I don't plan on using a book to replace my time on the site it's just that time is getting closer and I am worried my husband has not read enough. Don't get me wrong he has researched all of the info related to the surgery but not a lot about living with the surgery, through the eye's of someone who has.

Obviously I do through this site and share with him what I have read but I think sometimes you need to read it for yourself to start thinking about how it relates to you personally.

I think if he had a great book he could read it and then go back to it from time to time after the surgery. We are on this journey together and will be there to help each other. Although I know there will be times when we both just want it to be about us individually. I will have the site to check and double check concerns but I can't see him using it so would love to be able to give him another tool to make sure we are 120% ready to make this the very last time we have weight issues.

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I'm an info junkie but other than this forum and the factual info about the sleeve I didn't read anything else - not sure that there is anything else. What has struck me is that there are a lot of bodily changes initially (appetite, aversion to some foods) and these change how you react to what happens (you can't imagine right now what it's like to have NO appetite for an extended period of time) and, somewhat contrary to this, a thousand people have a thousand different reactions to being sleeved. And even at 5 months out my experience (of hunger and fullness, for example) is v different to how it was just a few months ago. And I expect that will keep on changing.

You won't be able to eat a lot, and as a former big portion eater I can say that that (probably) won't worry you. But you will still like food and drink and have to deal with not just feeding your face because that looks/sounds/smells quite nice. If I'd only eaten when I was hungry before I wouldn't have needed the surgery, so removing hunger is only a small part of the problem solved.

Good luck!

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What is the best book to buy for my kindle about perpetration before and life after the sleeve ?

I searched Amazon under Bariatric surgery and also gastric sleeve. There are currently 3 books on the gastric sleeve. I have loaded them onto my iPad. I think the best is by Duc Vuong who is a surgeon in Texas. They are all by surgeons and all good. All up I have downloaded 11 books, only one was a dud, written by a bypass patient. Another good book for the psychology side of things is a book called "Emotional first aid"

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I searched Amazon under Bariatric surgery and also gastric sleeve. There are currently 3 books on the gastric sleeve. I have loaded them onto my iPad. I think the best is by Duc Vuong who is a surgeon in Texas. They are all by surgeons and all good. All up I have downloaded 11 books' date=' only one was a dud, written by a bypass patient. Another good book for the psychology side of things is a book called "Emotional first aid"[/quote']

Thanks I will look them up now

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      · 2 replies
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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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      1. LeighaTR

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

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        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

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        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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