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how to tell other family and friends?



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I am 19 but will turn 20 in April. I got sleeved Dec. 17, 2013 so a few days.

I will be starting school on jan. 21. I just wanted to know techniques or ways you told them about your surgery. How did you feel?

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It's not very savvy but I just told.

When I went out to eat and somebody asked about my weird eating I would just blurt out I had weight loss surgery on such and such a date.

Then answer all the questions they had about it.

I don't shout it from the roof tops but at the same time it is part of what I'm going through so It would and does come up in conversations :)

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I'm struggling with the issue of who to tell and not tell about my surgery. I really don't want to hear other people's ignorant opinions and judgements so I had decided not to tell anyone, except my sister and a close friend. But now with Christmas next week I don't know how to handle all the questions about my eating at the big family get-together. I just had surgery earlier this week so I'm on a completely liquid diet. There will be nothing at Christmas that I will be able to eat and all sorts of tempting goodies I would rather avoid. I'm thinking about not going and just telling my family that I'm sick.

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I didn't tell my in laws and I was super nervous about all the questions I was going to get at Thanksgiving. It's funny how sure I was that EVERYONE would notice that I ate next to nothing and not one person out of 12 said a word. HA!

Because I've lost so much, I have told them that I am doing high protein/low carb but not a single peep was made about my teeny portions.

If you don't make a big deal of it, no one else will either. I am 7 months out and no one has mentioned what I eat that doesn't know and I go out to eat, to parties, to business conventions, etc. all the time. Funny that.

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Well, you are over 18 now. I felt no obligation to tell anyone. I told my wife and my sisters-in-law as they were watching my children as I traveled for this procedure to Las Vegas. A couple days before surgery, I told my Mother. That was it. I felt it was nobody's business as to the decisions I make as it relates to my body.

I did this because I did tell one other person. A neighbor, who then went on and on asking why I couldn't do it on my own, why I was looking for the easy way out, I wasn't fat enough for WLS ... on and on. I decided she didn't need to know the details of my personal battle with my weight and neither does anyone else.

After I got to goal, I did start telling a few people who asked that I had a VSG because I figured they wouldn't be able to criticize since it obviously worked for me. Plus, at that time, I was so much more informed about the whole process and what it meant to me, I could better answer any comments they had.

Do what you feel is right in your heart. Trust in yourself. You will find the answer that is right for you.

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    • 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.
      · 0 replies
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    • 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
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    • KimBaxleyWilson

      Three months and four days ago... I was in Costa Rica having a life changing surgery! Yesterday we had a followup visit with Dr. Esmeral via video chat and this morning my middle number changed.  I'm down 47lbs and two pants sizes. I can wear a Large tshirt for the first time in like... 14 years! Woot!! Everything is going great. I have zero regrets. I went down to the riverwalk with a friend and walked 2 miles on Monday without even getting fatigued. And no more snoring or chugging pickle juice for crazy leg cramps! I need to go to the gym more... I'm making new shirts next week so that will motivate me. LOL But I'm also just not as TIRED all the time! I have a LONG way to go...but seeing the progress on the scales and in the mirror is a huge motivator!! Thank you all for cheering me on and supporting me!!
      · 0 replies
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    • bellaamey

      https://alluniqueguide.com/java-burn-coffee-reviews/
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