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Doing this by myself - terrified!



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Hi everyone, new to this forum. You can call me wagyu (as in i love wagyu beef!) anyways I started my journey will get sleeved sometime next month. Going through all my pre requisites like endoscopy/pulmonary etc... and I am doing it by myself. No one knows and I am so terrified. Well maybe one or two friends know. But no one is going to the doctors appts with me or the surgery, so I am very terrified. Don't know what to do, and feel like I am alone and want to back up because this is such a big thing. I don't know. But! I will go through with it! Would like some support if anyone is going through the same thing, or if not, do you have advice? Thanks a lot!

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You will be fine, I am sure of that. But you will need someone to drive you home after surgery.

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Hi yeah I am just going to uber/get a car.

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You're not alone! We will all be here for you!

It is a scary thing to go through. Especially without a lot of support. But if you decide to pull the trigger and go through with it, you will be so happy you did! It's a lot of hard work and dedication, but so worth it in the end to achieve the life you deserve.

Keep us posted!

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You can totally do it! I know several people who went to Mexico and did it alone! I was so grumpy after mine I wanted to be alone lol so enjoy it! It's totally a easy surgery just walk walk walk sip sip sip and you'll do great!

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Thanks Babbas and Alindsey!!

This helps a lot. I didn't know people go to Mexico alone. I'm doing it in town! Thanks a lot- i know it's going to be ok. After that it's going to be worth it.

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Im having my surgery in a couple weeks. I had planned to not tell anyone and go to and from the surgery alone but my doc told me that I had to have someone there to drive me home and I couldn't be there alone.

if not for the docs requirements, I sure was planning to go at it alone

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I was alone too.. I actually chose to do it that way- felt as though I needed the time on my own to experience all the raw emotions without trying to bury them or have someone else "fix" them for me.. I got myself in this situation and I needed to get myself out.. Sleeved on 5/11.. Still mourn the loss of my old fur ever friend (food) but getting better .. In retrospect I am glad I went alone.. It redeemed my faith in myself, I found my strength and it felt good to know I can do it!. You can too!.

Edited by Dreamer33

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I'm five weeks out and also did this mostly alone.... it was so strange to drive myself to the hospital that morning! But also I felt some empowerment that I was doing this for me and no one else. You will be okay, stay strong and you'll come out the other side even stronger. And those first few days all I wanted to do was sleep and really didn't want anyone fussing over me, so enjoy the sleep and take care of yourself. There is ALWAYS support here, reach out and we'll encourage you.

:rolleyes:

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You should be fine. I had a ride home from surgery, and that was it. No help more than that. Here are some things I did to make things easier on myself...

My kitchen was ready. I had these tiny little tupperware (condiment sized) and I pre-measured broth and Water into those. I would get them set up in the morning and it was easy to keep track of my consumption. I also had all my med's lined up and ready for the day,

Immediatly post-op I had my living room set up...sofa was ready with lots of pillows, tv ready, bathroom....

I had the frige ready for stage two..pureed. I bought boxed Soups, yogurt, and whatever else I thought of that I may need. I really wanted to avoid grocery shopping with my new sleeve so I prepared as much as possible.

My ex kept the kids for about three days after my surgery. I was fine from that point on. Not much recovery time. Mostly it was food prep.

The MOST important thing was realizing that my number One go-to coping skill (eating) was non-existent. So my big advise would be to not forget about lining up a few new ways of dealing with stress.

Good luck on your journey!! The early days go by quick. The recovery isn't that bad. You can do it alone with some prep work.

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I went to mexico alone. I was sleeved on May 1st. I flew there alone and back home alone. I drove myself from the airport home. The day of my surgery was rough and my back hurt so bad but after that first day it was so much better. You just gotta take it slow and remember to walk alot and sip Water as much as possible. The recovery is not as bad as you are probably thinking. I am 9 weeks post op now and yes sometimes I still miss food but it is so worth it to have lost 41 pounds so far. I feel 100 times better about myself now and I am still going! I wish you the best of luck with your journey

Edited by sleeve32

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I went to Mexico alone. I was sleeved on May 1st. I flew there alone and back home alone. I drove myself from the airport home. The day of my surgery was rough and my back hurt so bad but after that first day it was so much better. You just gotta take it slow and remember to walk alot and sip Water as much as possible. The recovery is not as bad as you are probably thinking. I am 9 weeks post op now and yes sometimes I still miss food but it is so worth it to have lost 41 pounds so far. I feel 100 times better about myself now and I am still going! I wish you the best of luck with your journey

Oh wow that is impressive! To Mexico alone? Congrats on your loss! I can't wait to get there!!

Thanks everyone else, this is seriously helping me a lot. So it is actually pretty normal to go at this alone. WOO!

Butterfly, thanks for the tips!! I'm definately going to follow the tips. it helps a lot thank you.

In general I think I will come here for support and questions because it really really helps thank so much everyone.

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I went to Mexico by myself, driving 6 hours from Arizona. My husband wanted to come but he has severe chronic pain and I did not want to worry about him. It was BY FAR the easiest surgery I have ever had! For others who have not had much experience with surgery, I can understand how hard the discomforts immediately after surgery are. I don't discount that but also know how temporary they are for the vast majority of us! I had no problems driving myself home after surgery but we were in the hospital 2 nights and in a medical floor of a beautiful hotel for 2 more nights which is longer than most US hospitals. Like the Uber idea. Go for it! You will be fine but not alone as you have all of us!

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Except for my roommate knowing I am doing this alone also. Most of my friends are obese and are against WLS and I only told one coworker and I know she will not tell a soul. They know I have had a hernia since 2012 so when I do go in for the surgery they will all think it is for the hernia. I only work 2 days a week and often do not have lunch so I don't see any problems with lunch time. If any one does ask I will just tell them that the hernia affected my stomach as well. I am willing to tell a little white lie to avoid all the questions and drama. I am just beginning as I have a 6 month supervised diet and will have surgery some time in 2016. I sent you a friends request. Anyone else feel free to send friends request to me too. Thanks

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Do what you feel comfortable with. I didn't tell anyone until 2 weeks before surgery. I then told only close family and friends. I wanted to do this because *I* wanted it without any outside pressure so I did all my research and pre-op testing by myself. It was more than fine. My sister drove me to the hospital, my bestie drove me for pre-admission testing. Everyone was there post-op. I was calm and relaxed going into surgery, secure in the fact that I had done my homework and was ready to make this change.

If you know in your heart of hearts this is the right thing, and have done your homework, then you will be fine.

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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. LeighaTR

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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.

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