Hi, forum people!

I'm new to the whole scene here, and I just wanted to get some opinions on how this whole thing is going to roll. I'm 18, 4 feet 11 inches, and near 240 pounds. I have been talking to my Belite case supervisor, Teri, and am working on getting a passport card for my trip to Juarez for surgery.

I'm hoping that my new sleeve will be the beginning of the end of my (way too long) weight-loss journey. When I was in eleventh grade, I went to Wellspring Academy of the Carolinas, a weight loss-dedicated school in the mountains of North Carolina. There, I had three physical activity periods a day, as well as a low-fat-no-fat diet. We were constantly supervised and not allowed any electronics at all (cell phones, tv, movies, mp3 players). I was there for 8 months and lost 56 pounds; I was around 160-ish when I left the school. This branch of Wellspring has since been shut down. I gained all the weight back within a year due to their teaching me the skills in an extreme environment.

Prior to Wellspring, I did Jenny Craig. That. Was. Horrible. The food made me hate eating every day and my mom, who was doing it with me, would often sneak frozen pizzas into the house to curb our voracious appetite for non-horrible food. Needless to say this did not last long.

AFTER Wellspring I had a personal trainer and a dietician who tried to help me maintain weight loss. Failure.

Even later, I went to an eating disorder clinic which was intensive therapy for seven weeks. I was taught better eating habits there, but no weight was lost and I still continued to gain even after. Then I went to college, which we all know doesn't help anyone. I ended up coming home due to my ill health.

So here I am! My parents are working on getting the surgery working for me, but my dad is still not fully convinced that VSG is right because of the lack of long-term data. I don't really have too many questions, but I would really appreciate anyone that could put forth some details as to what it's done for you to convince my dad (and inform me more) that this is the right thing to do.

Welcome!!!!

I could not lose weight for many reasons including cancer treatment that made me susceptible to weight gain. I was 63 and had my sleeve gastronomy in Jan. 2012. I am down over 100 pounds since the pre-op diet started. I am 2 pounds from my goal and in very good physical shape. I would not go back and change my decision. My life has been so enriched by getting rid of this excess me. The sleeve is just a tool, the mind makes it work. Educate yourself, know what to expect, and understand that this is a permanent change, not a diet plan. It has risks but so does obesity. You must determine which is more detrimental to you and if the rewards are worth the risk.

I'm 19 and have been overweight for most of my life. I tried a lot of things, nothing quite that intensive but lots of crash diets and diet pills. etc. I was sleeved on the 19th of December with no complications at all. I'm down 18 pounds and am NEVER hungry. I actually have to convince myself to eat which is a huge change for me. As I'm sure you already know, this is a tool. If you decide to drink milkshakes post op instead of protein shakes, you still aren't going to lose weight. It's all about what you put in your body, it's just easier to make good decisions because you aren't as hungry and have less cravings. My dad was also very skeptical at first, he would roll his eyes every time I talked about getting surgery and acted like it was taking the easy way out, there were too many risks, etc. Now that I'm done with surgery without any complications and I'm losing weight steadily he's thrilled that I got it done. He said it was a great decision for my health and it's a wonderful life change for me. I'm just as happy, it's a bit of a struggle getting all your fluids and protein in but if you stick with it (which you pretty much have to) then you will get the hang of it eventually. Of course there are risks with surgery and a few after-effects that suck but when I weighed the risks in my mind, surgery was the clear choice. The chance of complications during surgery are extremely low and the things that suck after surgery like hair loss and saggy skin are nothing compared to the state of health your body is currently in and as you get older, it just get's worse. It's GREAT to do it young, we are generally successful and heal easily. Just know that it's a big decision and once you go under, there's no turning back! Good luck, if you have any specific questions be sure to let me know

Thank you two so much for your input! My dad has been following the thread and I'm sure he much appreciates your responses - almost as much as I do. <3

I look forward to having this done. I understand it's a lifestyle change, and I'm actually happy about that because, let's face it, I need it!

Again, thank you!