Any REGRETS out there?

[nancy322 2]

I am in that phase between having met with my surgeon the 1st time and doing all the requirements for my insurance company..(oh, excuse me, did I say jumping through hoops??) ...they tel me as long as I do everything on the checklist, I'll get approved. So this means my surgery will be in July. I cannot wait!! This is where I need to ask for some info....I have some friends/family that (while supportive).. are clearly more objective than I am at the moment. It has been suggested to me that I get some feedback from folks that have been sleeved (and I'm looking for people who have been sleeved a MINIMUM of 6 months) that REGRET having the surgery....I can't imagine that I would change my mind, but these people LOVE me and only want the best for me....SOOOOO... please talk to me if you had the surgery and wish you didn't..tell me everything you regret. I want to know that I am truly making an educated decision!! HIT ME UP!!! Let me hear from you....THANKS, FRIENDS!

[totaloser 75]

I have no regret for having the surgery. My only regret is that I didn't do it years ago!

[RooRoja13 8]

^ Agreed! I wish I had done it sooner! Even at my most nauseous (there might be some nausea), I STILL didn't regret it! I have friends who have been sleeved and they also do not regret it. Congrats on scheduling your surgery!

[2013sleevegirl 126]

I had a leak and even with everything I we through, I don't regret it.

[CowgirlJane 14,261]

I am maintaining a 160# loss and finally living the active life I always wanted so no regrets.

If you search for the word regret you will get people who do share that feeling. Sometimes it is due to complications but I think more often disappointing results...it can happen.

[happygirlforlife 34]

Its so great to read everyone's comments. I have found through my research just what you all said. Only regret not having it sooner. I have done all the items on my checklist and am good to go in April. Cannot wait. I am buckled up and ready to go. great luck to all of you ...

[Bufflehead 6,358]

I'm nine months out. No regrets! I would have this surgery again every year for the rest of my life if I had to. This surgery was the best decision I ever made for my health -- physical, psychological, and emotional.

[missmeow 156]

No regrets.

I will say this though. I took my time to decide and mentally prepare for what I was going to face. My pre-op liquid diet wasn't difficult. I didn't lick Doritos or cheat. It was pretty easy because I food funeraled to the point where I didn't ever want to eat again. It was part of my process.

My post-op...well, post-op sucks for the first month or two. It isn't too bad when you're in it as I had no issues and I felt great at the time. But in retrospect, yeah it sucks. Not going to lie. So don't use the first two months as your measuring stick because it's not how you will be a year out.

My travels with the sleeve have been pretty good. It's my stomach but smaller. I get the same satisfaction from food just in the lesser quantity. At about 4 months out, I pretty much was eating most anything but I did hold off on a few things until 6 months. From then on, anything goes. I have had no vomiting or dumping poops or anything bad.

I think it has been pretty easy going for me because I was mentally prepared. And then the worst parts weren't so bad, it was really easy. I think the people who struggle maybe haven't spent as much time preparing themselves mentally? So my advice is to be 100% sure you are ready and then go for it 100%.

So when people get mad because someone tells them they took the easy way out, I kind of laugh because for me, it has been easy. It's like I am how I should have always been, if that makes sense. I love it

[hope2be 10]

I'm only two weeks post op and I have gone back and forth on regret but I've been very tired. I'm not very patient either. Just make sure you make a list of the pros an cons of doing this. I have been looking back at that list myself. And u definitely want to have the right mindset. Know you are changing things permanently and u have to live with that decision everyday.

[pinksjo1 137]

I agree with Bufflehead. If I had to do this surgery every year I would. I still can't believe how it has changed my life! I don't regret not doing it earlier as I was still in the state of "its my fault I can't keep the weight off" thinking. Now, that my hunger hormone is reduced, I finally understand what eating enough to maintain life instead of maintaining life in order to eat is all about. Good luck!

[Vixynne 695]

I have NO regrets. This surgery has given me a NEW lease on life. Beyond smaller clothes and a thin (if somewhat wobblysaggy) body, I FEEL amazing. I've lost 85 pounds in 8 months--which isn't recordbreaking speed, but WOW, what a difference in the quality of my everyday living. Words can't describe it.

In my opinion, it helps to be totally prepared with some lifestyle counseling, some training about what to expect--realistic expectations for what a sleeve can (and *can't*) do for you is absolutely key to success and fewer regrets. A support system of people who are rooting for you, who also have had a chance to get informed about what is ahead, is incredibly helpful, too.

I'm a July 2013 sleever, and after all these months of work, struggle and challenges along the way, I still would not change a SINGLE THING. Feel free to PM me if you want to chat about my experiences!

[Band2Sleever 78]

edited - duplicate posting

Edited March 22, 2014 by Band2Sleever

[Band2Sleever 78]

Hello @@nancy322

Good luck with your decision. Only you can decide.

I'm not sure that asking people more than 6 months out gives enough feedback, . I'm preop too, and am more worried about what happens at 5 years out and 10 years out!

From what I've read, and please bear in mind that that this is not formal research just what I've picked up from the forums (so there could be all kinds of problems with this... as people with bad experiences might not post about them)., people seem to report the folllowing experiences:

- first few days post op posts about pain and difficulty walking to start with

- first 6 weeks postop posts about worrying if it's worked or not and also about psychologically adjusting to liquid/puree diet (but appreciating it's only temporary) . There seems to be varying experiences of whether people feel NO hunger at this stage or are VERY hungry and struggling on the liquid diet. Some posts at this stage about very serious complications such as having a leak and needing to be in hospital for 6+ weeks

- first 6 weeks to 6 months postop very varying experiences, and people seem to be saying they have less hunger at this stage and are doing well with eating much smaller portion sizes. People seem to be saying they are losing lots of weight by this stage (although at very different speeds... there are posts by fast losers and slow losers, and from what I can understand men generally lose faster than women! There are lots of posts about stalls, but to my understanding this seems to be part of the normal process of weightloss. If you were to draw a graph it wouldn't be a gradual straight line down, it would be more of a stepped line with little plateaus or stalls along the way being NORMAL. (There are a tonne of posts about stalls!)

- several years out... I find it harder to understand what people are saying at this point. There seems to be a honeymoon period of up to 3years or so when losing and maintaining a lower weight is not too hard (it takes work, but if you put the work in you get results).my impression is that after 3 years or so people begin to have some weight regain and it becomes much harder to keep the weight off (have a read of the veterans forums about this, and around veterans talking about their struggles longer term and using 5:2 diet to get things back on track... so it taking much more effort at this stage).

My worry is what happens at 10yeara out? What if I've had part of my stomach removed, lost weight for a few years, then gradually gain it back and am no better off 10 years down the line weight wise. I find this one very difficult to answers.

Maybe ask your question in the veterans' form too?

Good luck with your journey. I hope you get all the help and support that you need.

Edited March 22, 2014 by Band2Sleever

[sweetcheeks14 13]

I had a leak and even with everything I we through, I don't regret it.

How did you know you had a leak?

[lala3613 39]

No Regrets! You have to be prepared to change your who life not just eatting habits. People who generally regret it didn't get the results they want. And they didn't get them because they didn't change their lifestyles.