Help! Less than 3 weeks away & STILL undecided!

[chardgrl 27]

What an inspiration! Thanks for sharing your story Shelley. I'm glad that you're doing so well!

[bigp 2]

That is a amazing story....I will say that I go back and forth about the surgery as well, I have always been a giving person, by that I mean giving to everyone but ME! It was always..." i'll do it next time"...but that time seems to have never come! Well after all the yoyo diets and 25+ pounds I've lost a million and a half times! Lol! I decided its finally my turn! ????I've tossed around lap-band but I think I have decided the sleeve is the way for me!

I think you have to make your own decision.... BUT make this year for YOU!

[chardgrl 27]

Well said bigp!!

[NurseGrace 509]

I put off this surgery for two years until I was certain. While it looks like everyone is basically telling you those are normal feelings (they are) you need to get clear on what you want in life. Sometimes those "simple pleasures" are not so innocent for us big people - sometimes those are the very things actively killing us. Not to be so dramatic, bit really... Sometimes the fantastic meal and the glass of wine are not the same thing for you and me as it is for our skinnier counterparts that don't have issues with food. I have no way of knowing if you personally have food issues because I don't know you, but most people who eat themselves up to a weight where WLS is an option DO have food issues so that's my working assumption unless people say otherwise.

Most people experience a bit of a slump at one point or another post surgery when the reality hits home that the amounts we used to eat just is not a possibility anymore.... so that is all normal.

However, you cannot have your stomach back. If you walk into the hospital and go through with this, things will fundamentally change for you, for the better most likely if you work it to your advantage AND assuming you have no complications. Complications are rare but they do happen, how comfortable are you with that? I went in to surgery knowing what could happen to me and I encourage you to do the same, if we are realistic in our expectations I think we are better equipt to deal with any and all possibly outcomes.

[NevadaDave 66]

_{I kind of a newbie (13 weeks), but beside the physical changes the surgery does to your body, there are mental changes that I did anticipate. The things that were important before surgery about food, drinking just don't matter any more. I don't think about food and drinking wants and desires.}

[Lee 316 24]

I feel the same way. I started this whole process back in September and did my 6-month supervised plan' date=' etc. I was totally on board to do this and then today, my surgeon's office called and told me I was approved and scheduled for March 25th. AACCKK!!! I did not expect to have that reaction. I feel like I have researched this to death and am as informed as I am going to be. But there's still the "oh my God, is this really what it's come to!?" in the back of my mind.[/quote']

Thats exactlyyy what happened to me. They called a week & a half ago and said "ok! March 26th!" I think i almost died on the spot.

[WorkItOutWoman 185]

Similar story I thought I would have to fight to be approved but guess what submitted to insurance the next day I got a call from the coordinator telling me I was approved and scheduled surgery for 3/18/13. GULP approved and scheduled in two weeks! I had to do a six month supervised diet but the time flew by. I know that I want this. My fear isn't that I will die in surgery my fear is that this will be another failed attempt

[Shelley9 36]

Don't even go there! There is such a lot of positive that will come out of your surgery - really. As so many others have written, when your calorie intake is so much less than a it used to be (I am assuming), only positive changes will happen. Yes, there may be stalls which are totally frustrating but only temporary. Please go into this with the attitude that you are getting the upper hand on your weight. I had to go to surgery to have it work, but it is and that is the important part of this surgery.

[K33 87]

I can relate to what everyone is saying. This week is the third time in 1 year that I have moved to within 4 pounds of my pre op goal weight. After about 4 weeks of my pre op diet plan, I am so bored with my food I want to scream. So I go and buy a cookie. I suppose my issue is that I cannot even imagine being thinner , having more energy, being able to bend over and tie my shoes without puffomg. So, on this side of weight surgery, all I see is eating Protein until ot comes shooting out my ears

And, it's on this type of day, that I ask myself, "What are you thinking. Having your stomach removed? " I can trace my weight gain to 1996 when I first started taking anti depressants

I am still on them, and probably will still be on them post up. And, unfortunately the research does not show what happens to people who are post op and taking anti depressants. Will I be taking them forever and 1 day?

[Lilly_ 36]

I was sleeved July 27th 2012 and I can honestly say that now I eat to live and not live to eat, life to me just feels "normal" now I can still enjoy the foods I love just in smaller portions, I have lost 83.7 pounds (37 kilos) and I am 6 kilos to the "healthy weight range" I was mentally ready for the life change and worked with the tool of the sleeve to change my life around, I can't tell you enough that NOTHING taste as good as how I feel both inside and outside so having to give up the little comforts like drinking with a meal or alcohol was a no brainier for me, I do not regret my decision one bit, in return for giving up those crutches I have my life back and it's a very happy healthy one.

Lilly

[tigerbelle 328]

I have a what-if question for those of you who have had the VSG and don't regret it post op...I am going to assume that most, if not all of you, had the surgery laparascopically...if your surgeon had told you that there were certain medical issues with you that would require him to perform an open surgery (definitely more risky and much longer recovery), would that have altered your ultimate decision or the decision process itself? I know no one can answer this definitively, but I am interested in your feedback since you have gone through the decision process

[beautifull13 1]

I made the decision to get sleeved in January' date=' but the sooner the surgery is getting, the more I'm having doubts! I was so confident in my decision that now all I can think about is things I'll be missing. Like all my favorite foods & alcohol, and not being able to drink with my meal. Are these just simple pleasures I can give up? How did everyone else deal with it? I just want to know if its worth all of that, I'm confused if its my "fatness" coming out thinking of these things... I've been heavy my entire life so I really don't know any different. Is it worth it?[/quote']

Don't forget with the sleeve you can go back to your old life if you want to after a year. But would that be a wise decision. The only thing won't be able to do is eat with your meals. But I feel that is a very small price to pay to have a life and a healthy one at that. You can have alcohol they just advise you to stay a way from it because of all of the calories. But this surgery is all up to you Your going to have to want it. Everyone on this site wanted it. So you must decide if you do.

[Lilly_ 36]

I have a what-if question for those of you who have had the VSG and don't regret it post op...I am going to assume that most' date=' if not all of you, had the surgery laparascopically...if your surgeon had told you that there were certain medical issues with you that would require him to perform an open surgery (definitely more risky and much longer recovery), would that have altered your ultimate decision or the decision process itself? I know no one can answer this definitively, but I am interested in your feedback since you have gone through the decision process[/quote']

Hi tigerbelle

That's a good what if question, my surgeon made me aware that this could have been a possibility during the surgery if there were complications, I still made the decision to go ahead, yes there are risks associated with any surgery but for me the health risks of obesity out weighed the risks of the more complicated surgery.

Lilly

[tigerbelle 328]

Thanks, Lilly. I had made my decision to go ahead with the VSG knowing that there could be the possibility of having to do it open during the surgery itself....that, of course, is a little different from knowing up front it is definitely not going to be laparascopic...I am not sure but it sounds like you are saying you believe you would have proceeded even if you knew for sure it was going to be the riskier surgery; is that right?

[Lilly_ 36]

Thanks' date=' Lilly. I had made my decision to go ahead with the VSG knowing that there could be the possibility of having to do it open during the surgery itself....that, of course, is a little different from knowing up front it is definitely not going to be laparascopic...I am not sure but it sounds like you are saying you believe you would have proceeded even if you knew for sure it was going to be the riskier surgery; is that right?[/quote']

Defiantly, I would still choose to go ahead had I been told upfront.