Hi, I am new to this site. my journey started a couple years ago , I went through the Kaiser program . made it through all the classes, and then I had started a new job so I was concerned about taking the time off work . and I just put it all on the back burner. I started again this year, I just retook all the classes and I have a sleeve surgery date of 09/18/2014. I have been more active than ever before , and I have lost 30 lbs in two months. I am honestly scared to death about the surgery now that its getting closer and closer. and I really dont know if reading all the stuff I have read helps or not . I really would just love to be on the other side and in a good place where things are great and I have no regrets.

Edited September 2, 201412 yr by pryttyinpynk

I was also extremely nervous about surgery before I had it. I am one week away from being one year post-op and I do not regret the surgery for a second. Sure, there are times where I ended up sick, because I ate the wrong thing, and I've felt awkward at dinners, but overall, the sleeve has proven to be a wonderful tool that continues to make my life easier and better. I wish I had the benefit of hindsight this time last year- I would have been SO much less stressed out!

Good luck to you!

I was so scared when it got close to surgery that I almost cancelled it. I did a will and wrote notes for people to leave behind and everything. Try to relax and breathe and know that your surgeon has done a lot of these and knows what tests are needed to be sure you're in the best possible shape for surgery. If they had doubts about your ability to withstand surgery, they'd do more tests! You can do it!

I was also extremely nervous about surgery before I had it. I am one week away from being one year post-op and I do not regret the surgery for a second. Sure, there are times where I ended up sick, because I ate the wrong thing, and I've felt awkward at dinners, but overall, the sleeve has proven to be a wonderful tool that continues to make my life easier and better. I wish I

had the benefit of hindsight this time last year- I would have

been SO much less stressed out!

Hi , kinda stressed out now. You are my height and I had same starting weight. Did you stall a lot? How long did it take you to get to goal? I know not to compare myself to others, but so discouraged right now. Just wanted to know how your loss journey went; if you don't mind. I have not lost anything in over two weeks. I'm following the plan. Congrats!

Good luck to you!

I was also extremely nervous about surgery before I had it. I am one week away from being one year post-op and I do not regret the surgery for a second. Sure, there are times where I ended up sick, because I ate the wrong thing, and I've felt awkward at dinners, but overall, the sleeve has proven to be a wonderful tool that continues to make my life easier and better. I wish I

had the benefit of hindsight this time last year- I would have

been SO much less stressed out!

Hi , kinda stressed out now. You are my height and I had same starting weight. Did you stall a lot? How long did it take you to get to goal? I know not to compare myself to others, but so discouraged right now. Just wanted to know how your loss journey went; if you don't mind. I have not lost anything in over two weeks. I'm following the plan. Congrats!

Good luck to you!

@@AvaFern hi I responded to your post and it somehow got attached to yours. Hope you can find it. Thanks for reading it.

Thank you all ! I too have thought about doing a will to get everything in order and I struggle with wanting to cancel it . I've worked so long and hard to get here . Can't turn back now ????

Thanks for posting your concerns as the responses help me too. I am so scared My surgery is on the 22nd and I was thinking today about canceling - it feels both rational (who likes surgery?) and also irrational (I know I can't do this myself and am totally over feeling sick and tired and in pain). I am terrified of the complications and recovery. I took wish I could just jump ahead to 6 months from now. Where is a TARDIS when you need one!

My surgery is schedules for 9/15/14 and I am so scared and nervous. I feel like an emotional roller coaster because one minute I am very excited and then when I think too much into it them I start getting scared again..lol..I think it's a natural feeling though. I also think it's because it's my first surgery ever. But I've done a lot of research and I know this is what I need to get my life back. good luck to u

Same here ! I get excited and then nervous . Worried about way too many things and looking forward to better health ! Good luck to you ladies ! Let's check back afterwards is love to see if all our fears were for nothing ????

I just had my pre-op with my surgeon, and it made everything so real! My surgery is 9/22. I have to off my hormones tomorrow! ???? kind of worried to be honest, about not taking hormones which could trigger some anxiety.. Anyone else have to go off? If so, how are you doing?

Excited for all you September sleevers! I just got the go ahead from the program review board and now I have a 7 week wait for an appt with the surgeon. What I was hoping would be a mid October surgery is looking more like November only due to scheduling. Bummed!!!

@@finediva

Hey! I didn't see your post before, let me try to answer your questions.

I did stall a lot and I'm still not quite at goal. I started at 237 and my first big stall was at 196, which was around Christmas-time. When New Year came around I cleaned up my diet a lot and started dropping again. My next big stall which lasted like almost 2.5 months was at 166-169. I stayed here from the end of April until the begining of June. In June I really kicked up my workouts again and then joy, stalled again at 156 for several weeks. I finally broke that stall the week before I had plastic surgery and I went into surgery on 8/20 at 153. I came out of surgery at 161, and within a few days had dropped back to 153 after all the Fluid was gone. I'm now two weeks out and this morning I was 146.

So..there are a lot of stalls that tend to come up, you just have to take a look at what you're doing and revise it. To break 166, I had to commit to running 3-5 miles everyday, and I did 2-3 hours of hard cardio classes at my boxing gym. Once you break through the plateau, I haven't really tended to gain it back, it's just a matter of sticking to the diet and working out and eventually the scale starts to move again.

Good luck!

I was also extremely nervous about surgery before I had it. I am one week away from being one year post-op and I do not regret the surgery for a second. Sure, there are times where I ended up sick, because I ate the wrong thing, and I've felt awkward at dinners, but overall, the sleeve has proven to be a wonderful tool that continues to make my life easier and better. I wish I
had the benefit of hindsight this time last year- I would have
been SO much less stressed out!
Hi , kinda stressed out now. You are my height and I had same starting weight. Did you stall a lot? How long did it take you to get to goal? I know not to compare myself to others, but so discouraged right now. Just wanted to know how your loss journey went; if you don't mind. I have not lost anything in over two weeks. I'm following the plan. Congrats!

Good luck to you!

@AvaFern. You found my post. Yeah! Thanks for responding. At this point I don't know how to really change it up, but I'll look to see what I can do better or different. You obviously worked very hard, and have the results to show. Congrats. Plastics healing well?

Thanks for posting your concerns as the responses help me too. I am so scared My surgery is on the 22nd and I was thinking today about canceling - it feels both rational (who likes surgery?) and also irrational (I know I can't do this myself and am totally over feeling sick and tired and in pain). I am terrified of the complications and recovery. I took wish I could just jump ahead to 6 months from now. Where is a TARDIS when you need one!

Hi! I'm scheduled for 9/22. We can be sugary buddies. First, follow your heart. Don't make a decision based on fear. Do your research, make a pro/con list. Then visit a local support group. My clinic has a support group that meets twice a month. Different guest facilitators share leading the group. Sometimes it's a surgeon, a psychologist, a successful veteran. I think meeting folks in person at different stages of the journey could really help you.

I also think it is very reasonable to have fear and concern. This is major surgery. You just need to ask which fears are rational, vs. irrational. Sounds easy, but I know it isn't. You might also check out the veterans' forum and ask some of your questions.

Let me know if I can do,anything to help.

I was so scared when it got close to surgery that I almost cancelled it. I did a will and wrote notes for people to leave behind and everything. Try to relax and breathe and know that your surgeon has done a lot of these and knows what tests are needed to be sure you're in the best possible shape for surgery. If they had doubts about your ability to withstand surgery, they'd do more tests! You can do it!

LOL - I did the same thing, down to power of attorney, advance directives and a will and all of that. Wanted to make sure that if I wasn't around, my husband would have an easier time making necessary decisions (I have two boys and a very special doggy).

I was super scared to have this surgery as well. I managed not to think about it too much due to the demands of work and home, but on the day of surgery, I freaked out and almost left the hospital. The one thing I kept thinking about was if I didn't have the surgery, I would be fat the rest of my whole life and then, diabetic, then high blood pressure, nerve damage and all the rest. I have had high resting blood sugar test results for the past 7 years. It runs in my family as well. So, it wasn't an issue of "if" I would develop severe co-morbidities as a result of my weight, it was an issue of "when". I've watched family members go down that road and I don't want any part of it.

As far as the surgery goes, I had an excellent surgeon. I was in pain for the first week, most notably the first 4 days. I have had two c-sections and the pain was no worse than both of them - tolerable with pain meds. i could not sleep on my side or my stomach, which are the only two ways I can really sleep well. My incisions hurt and I was sore. i did not have nausea (most common complication according to my doctor), but I was fully prepared to deal with it so I was surprised when I didn't have it. I did think however, why in the world did I allow the doctor to cut out part of a perfectly good organ that has been with me my whole life? But I am glad that I did this, honest.

Drinking was hard for the first 6 days, and then it got better. It has gotten better with each day that passes. I have been out of work for 4 weeks and will be returning on Monday, the 15th (I have a desk job).

I am now dealing with the dreaded constipation, but with the wonderful selection of medications to make that part of my life easier, I am not suffering too much.

Other than being fat, I was (and am) in excellent health. I did not and still do not smoke or drink. I did not have any co-morbidities going into surgery, so I really do think that helped with the recorvery as well..

I hope this helps you in your path to making a decision.