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Be honest - does anyone regret the surgery?



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I think that it is perfectly normal to wonder if you are doing the right thing and for the right reasons. I think those folks who don't do that have not really prepared themselves emotionally for the surgery. I don't regret my surgery for a single instant. I am not that far out (5/17) so it could change, but at this point I don't think so. I am very happy with my decision. Best of luck to you!

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I am down 93 lbs in just over 5 months and the people are like WOW! I love the ability I have to squeeze by people in a crowded room without saying excuse me a thousand times....I like crossing my legs because I can...my collar bones have reappeared! I love the sleeve and the restriction it gives me!

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Hiya Serendipity--just wanted to say' date=' based on your ticker, you're not a slow loser at all! At 107 days out from surgery, with 104 lbs. lost?! That's just about a pound per day! That's fantastic!![/quote']

What is a "ticker"? I feel like I'm not doing this correctly. Lol. Back to the subject. NO REGRETS! First few weeks were the roughest but I'm 6 weeks out & have felt "back to normal" for awhile. The sleeve was the right tool for me! No more binge eating for me.

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Absolutely NO regrets, but I have to say that being emotionally ready is critical to this process. The first few days after surgery, you will second-guess yourself. That's normal. The strict post-op diet--you may second-guess yourself. At first, I couldn't say, yes, I'd do it all over again. But now, six months out, minus 75 pounds with 45 to go, I know I did the right thing. Just make sure you are emotionally ready to deal with changes that have to be made. My ins company made me wait six months for clearance, and then it took a other six months for all the pre-op testing. I was mad and angry it was taking so long, but without all the time to think and prepare, I would not have been emotionally ready. Do it when you're ready and not before. At least that's my advice.

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No regrets here. Would do it all over again knowing how great it is.

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The only thing I regret about my surgery is what I paid out of pocket for it. $17,500. Now that I am 7 months post op and get a better glimpse of how things are now that I an in the real world, I would not pay more than $7,000 for the surgery. It is not worth more than that in my opinion. But if your insurance pays, that's great.

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Absolutely no regrets here. Best decision I ever made. Wish I had done it sooner. Wish it had been available sooner. I wouldn't have wasted 40 years on dieting.

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Overall No. However there are aspects that I regret. For one, I had complications so my surgery and recovery were not as simple. My Dr had to go in twice (to open me back up because I was closed too tightly).

For that very reason, I feel like my restriction is a bit too much at times. I'm glad to have good restriction but boy, sometimes even liquids don't go down so that gets tough.

I also regret the amount of time it took to heal (4 weeks off work) and what that did to my family during what would have been a great summer (no vacation this year). My kids still worry about me and that is tough to deal with sometimes (esp when something does not agree with me and I'm doubled over throwing up).

I still throw up A LOT. So, that I also wish wasn't my fact of life post-op. I also regret that I'm not a fast loser. At times it can be daunting to know you have almost 150 lbs STILL to go and the scale doesn't move for...WEEKS.

But again, overall I'm happy. I'm down 70 lbs (including pre-op) and feel so much more energy. Plus my inch loss has been awesome! So I would do this again!

I'm an optimist if you haven't figured that out. So a couple of issues now to have great health later make it seem worth it to me.

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Hey there, I appreciate your honesty. I feel it's important to hear it all, the good, the bad, the ugly before going into surgery. If you'd care to expand I'd be interested to hear more about your experience and why you have regrets.

Yep, I regret it. I have had no complications except dehydration & I have lost 72 lbs...and I am just over 15 weeks out... I move more toward peace & acceptance with this terrible decision each day, but there's not a day that goes by that I don't wish life had a rewind button... but most people love their sleeve & love their decision to have wls. I am in a very small minority that happen to not love their love & not love their wls decision. Best of luck to you.

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I have not once regretted being sleeved. I was overweight for over 20 years and at age 57 I knew it would soon start affecting my health. I was sleeved 2/12/13. The best gift I ever gave myself.

I can go places now and I am no longer the biggest person in the room. I can climb stairs and still breath. I can play with my grandchildren. A whole new world is re-opened to me. My husband is now going through the process. I pray he gets accepted. He has only 60 lbs to lose but has 4 co-morbidity's including diabetes. He wanted to make sure I was not going to be sorry before he proceeded. Now he wishes he had done it at the same time as me.

I love my sleeve!!!

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I will miss a lot of things.

NOTHING, tastes as good as healthy feels!!!

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I regret that I had to have the surgery. So many people have this surgery and hear all the whistles and bells about it and decide to have the surgery. I had some complications that I didn't expect and am still struggling to drink and eat 8 weeks post op. This is not a simple procedure and one that requires some serious reflection and behavior changes. You may not feel great 2 weeks post op. Are you prepared for possible complications? I thought I had done all the research and was prepared, then my experience did not go as planned. I wondered what I had done to myself. What if I could never eat and drink properly again in this body. What would that mean to my family and to my quality of life? On the flip side, yes, I am 40+ lbs lighter. I can cross my legs again and get in to smaller clothes. I am off of my diabetes and blood pressure meds too. All of these are possitives, but I cannot eat a normal meal or drink fluids on any given day without knowing if it is going to stay down. I can only believe that in time, this will get better. People ask me if they should get the sleeve and I am honest. I tell them that I cannot answer that question. I share my story to date, and my hope for a better tomorrow. Because if I give in to regret, then I am in trouble! Best of luck with your journey.

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I'm 2 weeks out, and have not had complications nor any regrets....am glad I had it.....eating is still tough, I won't lie, but each day gets better.

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I am 2 months post surgery. I started my journey in May 2012 and with the help of a dietician i feel very prepared for the rest of my life. I had so many health issues prior that now I feel happy I actually did it. I wish I had done it sooner.

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Yep' date=' I regret it. I have had no complications except dehydration & I have lost 72 lbs...and I am just over 15 weeks out... I move more toward peace & acceptance with this terrible decision each day, but there's not a day that goes by that I don't wish life had a rewind button... but most people love their sleeve & love their decision to have wls. I am in a very small minority that happen to not love their love & not love their wls decision. Best of luck to you.[/quote']

Luckysmomma what is it that you regret ?

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    • LeighaTR

      I am new here today... and only two weeks out from my sleeve surgery on the 23rd. I am amazed I have kept my calories down to 467 today so far... that leaves me almost 750 left for dinner and maybe a snack. This is going to be tough for two weeks... but I have to believe I can do it!
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • Doughgurl

      Hey everyone. I'm new here so I thought I should introduce myself. I am 53y/o and am scheduled for Gastric Bypass on June 25th, 2025. I'm located in San Antonio, Texas. I will be having my surgery in Tiajuana Mexico. I've wanted this for years, but I always had insurance where bariatric procedures were excluded. Finally I am able to afford to pay out of pocket.  I can't wait to get started, and I hope I'm prepared for the initial period of "hell". I know what I have signed up for, but I'm sure the good to come will out way the temporary period of discomfort and feelings of regret. I'd love to find people to talk to who have been through the same procedure or experience before. So I look forward to meeting you all. Hope you have a great week!
      · 1 reply
      1. Selina333

        I'm so happy for you! You are about to change your life. I was so glad to get the sleeve done in Dec. I didn't have feelings of regret overall. And I'm down almost 60 lbs. I do feel a little sad at restaurants. I can barely eat half a kid's meal. I get adults meals often because kid ones don't have the same offerings at times. Then I feel obligated to eat on that until it's gone and that can be days. So the restaurant thing isn't great for me. All the rest is fine by me! I love feeling full with very little. I do wish I could drink when eating. And will sip at the end. Just a strong habit to stop. But I'm working on it! You will do fine! Just keep focused on your desire to be different. Not better or worse. But different. I am happy both ways but my low back doesn't like me that heavy. So I listened (also my feet!). LOL! Update us on your journey! I'm not far from you. I'm in Houston. Good luck and I hope it all goes smoothly! Would love to see pics of the town you go to for this. I've never been there. Neat you will be traveling for this! Enjoy the journey. Take it one day at a time. Sometimes a few hours at a time. Follow all recommendations as best you can. 💗

    • 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. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • 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.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        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.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

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

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
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