Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to introduce myself as "Pixie Dust." I just attended my first seminar in making a decision which WLS is best for me. I have decided on the Sleeve. I had a one-on-one with a Bariatric Nurse yesterday & have an appt with my family doc on Friday (to renew my meds), so will bring the blood work order I received from the nurse, to see if my doc would like to add anything else to it, since he sends me every 6 months for lab work. Then hopefully have my blood work done on Saturday morn.

Monday I go for my psych eval...it was just moved up from from a month from now, since I've made it clear that I need my surgery sometime in the summer time due to my children's school schedule. If I can't have surgery this summer, either I will go to another hospital in search of a summer appt or wait till the following summer. Please wish me luck.! Next month I have an appt with a physical therapist to show me which exercises I can do safely due to my knee being bone on bone & needs to be replaced (but holding off as long as I can!)

I've been overweight most of my life, but not morbidly obese like I am now. In my early 30's I lost about 100 lbs on WW, which made me feel great & look great. Unfortunately, over the years, I've added almost the entire amount back. I have tried to diet but it's so much harder to lose weight the older you get & I'm done with the struggle. I suppose after surgery, I'll have a different type of struggle, like trying to figure out what I can eat safely & trying to stick with healthy foods. My child with autism keeps begging me to lose weight so I won't die. How about that for a reality check? So I have no choice but to do this.

I won't lie, I'm very scared regarding the surgery. I'm scared if I will feel a lot of pain, if I end up with a blood clot, if I can't cope with my lifestyle change. What will I do as I'm an emotional eater? How will it feel cooking for my family when I can't eat (I'm thinking liquid diet here, let alone post surgery!) ? Are these normal fears? Am I even too old to do this?? I'm in my early 50's. I've also wondered "why didn't I do this sooner" as I see pics of people on this site who have had the surgery done. Will I have regrets for any reason?

Guess that about sums me up! If anyone has any advice, please share it with me!

~ Peace

Hey Pixie, while your getting introduced to forums you might want to check out BoneSmart.org for the knee. I had both knees replaced and was very lucky to have found them before my surgeries. The information and support was priceless. I go by "Recycled" over there too. I have yet to get sleeved and am hoping for the same benefits here. Good luck.

OMG! I'm worried about the wrinkles I may get too and I'm 35 this year! People think I'm mid 20s and I always say its my chubby baby face/fat pushing out the wrinkles hahaha ... There's always Botox I suppose

OMGoodness, you're so beautiful, I don't think you have anything to worry about! Plus 35 is a loooooooong way from being 53! LOL! I keep beating myself up thinking why didn't I do this earlier??? Maybe a lot of my skin would have gone back to normal too, but who knows? Good luck to you rollargirl!

.

Hi. Pixie. I just registered. I had the vs two weeks ago today. I'm 53 years old. Yes I was scared but I had no choice but to do it. Former WW lost 75lbs over and over. Morbidly obese also. I have to lose 105lbs. I lost 30lbs so far with the pre liquid diet up to now. I hope this helps. Bridgette W. ps don't worry about the wrinkles. I think I will be ok.

Hi Bridgwil59! Glad to see another one my age going thru this! I guess you understand me having been up & down on the weight cycle! I've lost so much weight over my lifetime but keeping it off is a whole other game plan! Each time I'd say that I'd NEVER regain it since it felt so much better than anything tasted. Yeah...right!

How did you do immediately post op? I worry about being my age & so obese that I may not fair well during or after the surgery.

Thank you for responding & so happy for your 30 lb loss already! That's 120 sticks of butter! Just picture it!! WOW!!

Pixie, are you sure you aren't me from another parallel universe or something? Same fears, and I am married to a man 9 years younger than me. I'll be 52 this year.

Haha! What a cute response SpaceDust! Who knows???

I'm hoping that since everyone who finds out our ages, tells me I look younger than my husband (he's prematurely gray & he's lost a lot of hair), that they will always say that, but I think of a cousin who lost around 50 lbs on WW & I ran into her at costco one day & was shocked at how much older she looked! Of course, since then, she's regained it all but naturally I do worry about how I'll look afterward too! Seems funny cause I should worry about how horrible I look now at nearly 300 lbs! LOL! I guess I just got used to myself looking like this!

Well, I guess we "cougars" best get ourselves nice & healthy so we can be with our "prey" for as many years as life gives us! Hehe....

Well I think. We are all scared. At some point but for me it was the thought of dying in bed next to my kids. I was like. U I lost. That hundred. Pounds. On ww gained. It back u need to pray. About it u will b fine. U can rock the sleave"!!! Welcome to the site

Thank you ruthie35! Yes, I do understand about the thought of dying when it comes to my kids. Especially since my little guy is autistic & he relies on me so much! He's the one that has said to me countless times "please mommy, can you lose some weight because I'm afraid you're going to die!" I also remember what it was like growing up without my father since he died at age 52 & I was only 8. He was obese too (but nothing like me) & he smoked. I'm up for rockin' that sleeve with you girl!! Lets give each other encouragement! God Bless you!

Someone once told me " you can do anything afraid you can do unafraid " you just have to want it! So you are 52? Why not triple the years you have left and do this for you and your children. I wanted to see my grandchildren I'm 41. I'm 2 weeks out down 18 lbs since surgery. 59 total. liquid diet is hard. Surgery is uncomfortable. New eating habits take time. You owe it to yourself and your kids to try. We have all had every single one of your fears and I'm here on the flipside saying. You can do this. You can succeed!

Thank you sunnymyway! I love how positive you are! I hope I can gain at least 10 years having this surgery. I don't think I'll get to see grandchildren but I do hope to see my little one (age 11) be an adult & to be able to somewhat care for himself. Thankfully, I do have a younger husband but who knows how life will play out. He does take care of himself now tho. He works for Blue Cross Blue Shield & the company does a lot to promote health & well being at work & he's jumped on the bandwagon! They offer small perks if you walk so much in a month or lose weight or drink so much Water in a day, etc..., & he's very competitive so he's won every single promotion they've done! He started wearing our 17 y/o son's Aeropostale jeans! LOL! The best part is that my 17 y/o didn't like sharing his jeans, so he started losing weight too (he probably needs to trim down about 20 lbs) & he's doing great so far by cutting portions, cutting out soda, & he gets plenty of exercise at work pushing carts at a neighborhood grocery store. So now it's just me & the little man who need to lose weight!

Good luck to you too!!!

Hey Pixie, while your getting introduced to forums you might want to check out BoneSmart.org for the knee. I had both knees replaced and was very lucky to have found them before my surgeries. The information and support was priceless. I go by "Recycled" over there too. I have yet to get sleeved and am hoping for the same benefits here. Good luck.

Thank you so much for your advice Recycled! I will check out the site later! So you've already done your knees? I'm afraid of having them done at this weight because I just know it will take longer to recover & with a young family, I just can't be down that long. Hoping the losing weight part will buy me an additional year before having to do knee replacement but who knows? Just hoping for my younger son to be a bit more independent before going thru the knee surgery. I think having people help me will be easier once I'm down some weight too. I only have my own family to rely on, as we have no one near me to help. My family lives in Europe. Thank you for responding & sharing! God Bless!

I'll come back later & reread this entire thread. I hope I responded & thanked everyone. It really meant a lot to me to read all your encouragement & your stories! It gives me hope! Thank you for making me feel welcomed here, I really appreciate it!