haai...I was so sure about the surgery until family members started discouraging me stating its not safe and the whole procedure is ridiculous. I am 155kg's...I have tried just about every diet since the age of 10!! What is everybody's opinion about the procedure??

Your family member is ignorant on the topic. This is not vudoo. Had the surgery on 5/28 and have had worse times having teeth pulled. Very little pain. The chances of dieing are like .01. If you dont have any other major issues you will be fine. Pick a good doc. I asked mine specifically if he had any fatalities. He and his entire staff (2 other docs) have not and they have been doing bariatric surgery for 10 years as a team. Actually they have only had one leak issue in that amount of time.

I am still pre-op, But I also had family members try to discourage me from going fourth in my decision to have the sleeve but ultimately it's my decision in what I do to MY body, Not theirs. Other people are always going to have their own opinions on what's right but at the end of the day it's you're decision. This site is a great place to find support, and a lot of pre-op people will tell you making the decision to get the sleeve was the best decision they ever made.

only you can make this decision alone. gain as much information from professionals. you will soon see that this procedure is safe and effective for many many people. sounds extremely cliche .. but the choice is yours!!

I recommend you reading a lot of posts on here, it's what helped me to make the decision. So many good thoughts and for the most the writers on here are great! You can understand it all in a way that the drs and nut don't explain, first hand! I've been on other sites and this site for me has been the best.

Read on and educate yourself on this and you will come to a decision, good luck.

We tend to be biased around here. Most of us spent a lifetime of dieting, exercise and while we maybe could lose weight we couldn't maintain. For many of us, the sleeve (or other bariatric surgery) has been a lifesaver.

Look at my before and afters... I am less than half the size I started.My life has fundamentally changed.

Is it right for everyone - NO. Is it a viable option for morbidly obese - ABSOLUTELY. It still takes alot of work and effort, but here is how I put it. I work LESS HARD at maintaining 140 pounds now than I worked at (unsuccessfully) staying below 300#. This tool really does help.

I sat my family down one evening and told them all that this is what I am doing. This is an educated decision on my part, I have gone through counseling, was referred to a psyclolgist, and the doctors think it is a tool "I" can use to achieve a goal that I have for myself. Any surgery has its negative possibilities and outcomes but that is not what I plan to focus on. Once I did that my family was on board, worried but on board. I had the surgery on February 27th, 2014. I weighed in that day at 351 lbs. Today I am at 265 and feel great. I am only 25 lbs away from my goal weight 3.5 months into this. Now I am a workout freak and love it. I would say the first month really sucked and I questioned myself every day. I still question myself from time to time when I want to eat something I know will not agree wth my new stomach. 99% totally glad and satisfied with my decision. 1% wants what I used to have but the 99% kisks that 1%'s butt. Go for it and live the life that you deserve. YOU can do this!

My mom was really against it, she hates any surgery. So after I told her I wanted to do it and got all her objections I stopped talking about it with her. I had to do low carb pre op and I told her I 2 going on low carb which wasn't a lie. She just didn't know a week later I got surgery. I was SO OVER IT!! sick of figuring out the next diet and how long the weight I worked so hard to lose would actually stay off. I've never been half way to goal, and like you, been doing it since I was a kid. My stomach needed fixed so I could succeed. I did it for myself. And I was glad to be in the hospital 3 days without worrying about anyone but me. It's your life, no one else's, you have to decide what you want to make of it. :-)

thank you all for taking the time out to reassure me and I am so glad that this op has made a difference in your life. Like you said...its my decision...and I am going ahead. I will be in touch post surgery

I figure the risk of having this surgery was far less than living at a morbidly weight.

i feel the same as lipsticklady. i had 3 friends who had bypass... a 50 something year old friend, a 29 year old friend with 4 kids and an old boyfriend who is in his late 40s (like me). they all have had excellence results and are very glad they had the surgery. so i asked myself... what risk was i willing to take? after working with my doc for 3 years, all i managed to do was gain 15 pounds and my blood pressure was dangerously high. my father died young from a heart attack (he was fat with high blood pressure). 3 years ago my 48 year old cousin dropped dead in front of me from a heart attack. i needed to do something. when i read about the vsg, i knew it was the choice for me. (2 of my friends have issues with anemia).

bottom line, what did i have to look forward to with being fat and sick? was it a bigger or smaller risk than this surgery? i would not discuss this with family members or friends. i would talk with your doctor about it. my doctors were both very supportive and my surgeon was very upfront about possible complications, side effects and how my life would need to change after surgery. i felt fairly well prepared.

Here's my story, I hope it helps you,

We decided to go with Dr. Ramos Kelly for our doctor in Tijuana Mexico. We decided to have the gastric sleeve. I did so much research on him and I decided on him for me and my family based on all the good reviews. Which was a awesome choice! Me and my husband and daughter decided to have surgery on May 31 2014. I might add that they ask for no money upfront, which we loved that idea. We flew in to San Diego on May 30 a day early. Dr. Kelly's (very friendly) wife met us at the airport and drove us to the hotel Ticuán where we spent the night. We had asked for this hotel because I had read that you can shop a strip mall full of Mexican vendors on the sidewalk only a couple of blocks away. The hotel was a 5 plus star in our book, we thought it was nicer than in the United States. The hotel restaurants food was off the charts, they had the best tortilla soup. The next morning was Saturday May 31 surgery day and we was picked up by Dr. Kelly's wife and Fabiola which was a coordinator that works directly with Dr. Kelly, both ladies were really sweet. We went to the Hospital Centro Medico Nova. Which was very clean and very friendly staff and the nurses were awesome! As soon as you walk into hospital Nova you can smell the clean aroma of the hospital, personally I think the hospital was better than any other Hosp. I've ever been in, its a little outdated but A plus in my book. They ran blood test, took x rays and done a EKG on us before surgery to make sure everything was ok. My husband had surgery first, then me and lastly my daughter all in the same day. My husband didn't have any pain, but me and my daughter had some pain from gas after surgery (which was our fault because we didn't follow the diet like we should have). We brought with us some gas-x strips which really helped. My advice is if your going to cheat do not cheat in the last week (like us). About a couple hours after surgery we were up walking the halls. We were told by all the nurses the more we walked the less pain you will have, and there right because you have less pains, really there's no pain from the surgery or the cuts it's from gasses only. The hospital and all the nurses and staff were all off the charts, they came in our room constantly and all through the night checking on us. I have a iPhone and I had downloaded a spanish app translator, which we only needed to use it a few times because most of the nurses spoke English and if they didn't understand they would go get someone who could. Dr. Kelly spoke perfect English which he should because he's from the United States. We spent the that night in the hospital and the next night and we was released (so 2 days all together). Before we went back to the hotel the Dr.s wife and his assistant brought us to another hospital were a second leak test was performed at a state of the art hospital which all 3 of us tested fine. We went back to the wonderful hotel. They gave us vouchers for all the free chicken broth we could eat, which wasn't that bad. The next day we were released from the hotel. Dr. Kelly's wife and assistant was so kind enough to bring us shopping. We asked them to drop us off at a car rental place in San Diego because we had plans to go to Hollywood afterwards. We felt so good once we got to hollywood we walked 2 miles roughly sight seeing and took a bus tour and also managed to walk all over The Walk Of Fame seeing all the stars on the sidewalk (this was day 4 after surgery). The next day (day 5 after surgery) we had planned to go to Lets Make A Deal game show. The producers tell you if you don't show ALOT of energy and enthusiasm you will not get picked and I didn't go there not to get picked lol. So needless to say I had so much energy and I felt so good I danced the whole time, and guess what Wayne Brady picked me on his show for a quickie deal and I got to hug him! The only reason I'm talking about after the surgery is to show everyone not be scared the pain was 0 at this point and all 3 of us did this on the 4th day after surgery and felt GREAT! We had a awesome Doctor, thank you Dr. Jaime Ricardo Ramos Kelly and staff! If anyone would like to get in touch with Dr. Kelly and his staff or just to ask questions, please call Darilyn at 337-302-4922.

Here's my story, I hope this helps you out, I'm copying and pasting this because I was doing a review on Dr. Kelly and it saves me having to re type everything again,

We decided to go with Dr. Ramos Kelly for our doctor in Tijuana Mexico. We decided to have the gastric sleeve. I did so much research on him and I decided on him for me and my family based on all the good reviews. Which was a awesome choice! Me and my husband and daughter decided to have surgery on May 31 2014. I might add that they ask for no money upfront, which we loved that idea. We flew in to San Diego on May 30 a day early. Dr. Kelly's (very friendly) wife met us at the airport and drove us to the hotel Ticuán where we spent the night. We had asked for this hotel because I had read that you can shop a strip mall full of Mexican vendors on the sidewalk only a couple of blocks away. The hotel was a 5 plus star in our book, we thought it was nicer than in the United States. The hotel restaurants food was off the charts, they had the best tortilla soup. The next morning was Saturday May 31 surgery day and we was picked up by Dr. Kelly's wife and Fabiola which was a coordinator that works directly with Dr. Kelly, both ladies were really sweet. We went to the Hospital Centro Medico Nova. Which was very clean and very friendly staff and the nurses were awesome! As soon as you walk into hospital Nova you can smell the clean aroma of the hospital, personally I think the hospital was better than any other Hosp. I've ever been in, its a little outdated but A plus in my book. They ran blood test, took x rays and done a EKG on us before surgery to make sure everything was ok. My husband had surgery first, then me and lastly my daughter all in the same day. My husband didn't have any pain, but me and my daughter had some pain from gas after surgery (which was our fault because we didn't follow the diet like we should have). We brought with us some gas-x strips which really helped. My advice is if your going to cheat do not cheat in the last week (like us). About a couple hours after surgery we were up walking the halls. We were told by all the nurses the more we walked the less pain you will have, and there right because you have less pains, really there's no pain from the surgery or the cuts it's from gasses only. The hospital and all the nurses and staff were all off the charts, they came in our room constantly and all through the night checking on us. I have a iPhone and I had downloaded a spanish app translator, which we only needed to use it a few times because most of the nurses spoke English and if they didn't understand they would go get someone who could. Dr. Kelly spoke perfect English which he should because he's from the United States. We spent the that night in the hospital and the next night and we was released (so 2 days all together). Before we went back to the hotel the Dr.s wife and his assistant brought us to another hospital were a second leak test was performed at a state of the art hospital which all 3 of us tested fine. We went back to the wonderful hotel. They gave us vouchers for all the free chicken broth we could eat, which wasn't that bad. The next day we were released from the hotel. Dr. Kelly's wife and assistant was so kind enough to bring us shopping. We asked them to drop us off at a car rental place in San Diego because we had plans to go to Hollywood afterwards. We felt so good once we got to hollywood we walked 2 miles roughly sight seeing and took a bus tour and also managed to walk all over The Walk Of Fame seeing all the stars on the sidewalk (this was day 4 after surgery). The next day (day 5 after surgery) we had planned to go to Lets Make A Deal game show. The producers tell you if you don't show ALOT of energy and enthusiasm you will not get picked and I didn't go there not to get picked lol. So needless to say I had so much energy and I felt so good I danced the whole time, and guess what Wayne Brady picked me on his show for a quickie deal and I got to hug him! The only reason I'm talking about after the surgery is to show everyone not be scared the pain was 0 at this point and all 3 of us did this on the 4th day after surgery and felt GREAT! We had a awesome Doctor, thank you Dr. Jaime Ricardo Ramos Kelly and staff! If anyone would like to get in touch with Dr. Kelly and his staff or just to ask questions, please call Darilyn at 337-302-4922.