Hi, my name is Vicky and i have been a stalker on this site for the last couple months reading and learning so much about the sleeve. Thank you so much to everyone on here for telling your stories to make that possible! I am 34. I have a wonderful and very supportive husband as well a 5 yr old little girl. I have struggled with wt. My entire adult life. Like so many of you I have lost wt. many times over the years only to regain even more every time. I started checking into wt loss surgery a few months back and after reading and starting my research on the sleeve there was no looking back. I am typing this while sitting in my hospital room awaiting surgery. In a few hours i will be sleeved!!! I cannot wait to start the next chapter in my life and get back to the real me instead of the me that I have been the last couple years. I have avoided friends that I havent seen in a while because I was ashamed of how much wt I have gained and didnt want anyone to see me. I cant wait to have our first family portrait made. Yet another thing i have always avoided because I wanted to wait until I lost wt and that never happened. I feel like i have let the way I felt about my weight control everything in my life. I am so excited for my new start and my new freedom from those feelings. It wont be long now!! Thats my story.

Congratulations for making the decision to change your life for the better! It takes real courage to admit that we need help and even more courage to accept that help.

You sound like you've done all the right things. You researched and sought out the information you needed to put your mind at ease. You recognized that your future with your family can be SO MUCH MORE than it is now, as you will not be restricted in any way by your weight and size. You see that your world shrunk as your weight grew...due to shame, due to mobility restrictions, due to it's overall effect on your self-esteem and self-worth.

And now you're taking it all back.....claiming your life and taking no prisoners! Great work!

Best of luck today and every day to come. Hopefully you'll feel minimal pain and discomfort. Be ready for a roller coaster ride in your emotions and mind. The surgeon only works on your stomach.....the mental part will be your "homework" for the next 6 months - 1 year to really learn how your new life will be, and what' you're comfortable with.

I'm only 2 weeks post-op (today!) and I already feel a MAJOR shift in my mental attitude. Today is my first day back at work, and even though it's really hot out today (84 degrees, with humidity that makes it feel like 97), I just went for a 20 min walk on my break. I couldn't sit still any longer (I have an office job).

A month ago you couldn't have PAID me (in ice cream!) to leave the nice air conditioned office today, never mind walk a mile in the blazing sun.

Congratulations Vicky on the start of your new life. Remember, you are doing this for YOU! Everyone & everything else falls into place once YOU take that initial step. Gotta be happy with yourself.

Please keep us posted as to your journey/progress.

Congratulations!!! I have a feeling by the time you read this again it will be post-surgery sooo.... WELCOME TO THE LOSERS BENCH!!!! It is an amazing place to be!

I know exactly how you feel about avoiding people, and it will change!! I still feel like me, but so much... calmer? I don't over-analyze things anymore like I used to. And I never even realized I was doing it so much before!

Good luck and I hope everything went well with your surgery!

Good luck to you, you have quite a journey ahead of you. Your decision is made, the next we hear of you will be after your surgery!

This is a tremendous thing we do here, each of us. What we give ourselves and what it offers to our loved ones is beyond value.

My Mom passed on a week after my surgery. She was 58. She had no weight issues, except being too thin. I am 38. My mom was 58. If I pass at the same age that is 20 years, and honestly Six months ago I doubted I had 20 years in me left.

If it gave me only an extra year, only even the same years but feeling better, it is more than worth it.

Now I can fight - figureatively and literally. I am back into so much I missed. Godspeed.

Hi Vicky,

My name is Vickie also. I was sleeved on November 10, 2010. It was the most wonderful thing I ever did for myself! Yes it is a roller coaster of emotions and physical differences but WELL WORTH every moment of discomfort or feeling like you want to eat more than you are able. I have discovered that I can have a bite or two of anything I want and that satisfies the cravings that caused me to balloon to 284 pounds at 4'11" tall. I have lost 116 pounds to date and plan to lose 30 more. I am at the point where I have to work harder (exercise) to continue on the weight loss journey. All obstacles are meant to either be climbed over or bulldozed through. You will be amazed at the difference in your life in the weeks and months ahead! I can do so many things that for years were impossible for me to do. I am 57 and have a new lease on life. My family is amazed! You go girl. The best days of your life are starting right now. Good luck and God Bless! The Bible says" I can do ALL things through Christ who gives me strength"!

Thanks everyone for the well wishes. My surgery is all done. Yesterday was rough but am feeling much better today. I passed my xray leak test and just finished the blue dye for the second one. Hopefully all will be well and I will be discharged tomorrow. Looking forward to starting my new journey and seeing what all I can accomplish. I look forward to a better life ahead!!

Congrats! sip, walk, sip, rest, sip, sip, sip!

Congrats......