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Booked in, but need finance...!



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Hello everyone, new girl here.

After months of searching and applying to various surgeons, I finally booked in with Dr Chris De Bruyne in Brussels. I'm in the UK where a sleeve costs about £10,000 and I can't get one on the NHS because I have no diabetes or hypertension etc - I'm mostly doing this because I'm really unhappy with myself and I have some other issues like arthritis and PCOS that could be so much better if I lost weight. So I decided to go to Brussels where the surgery is relatively cheap.

Anyway, after applying for finance from lots of places, I still don't have the money yet. My credit score is on the low side, but only because I'm in my 20s and haven't got anything as collateral (car or mortgage etc) - for someone of my age, it's higher than average. My bank are considering me for a loan for the cost of treatment, but I have to convince them. There is no one I know who could lend me the money or even be a guarantor on a loan if I needed one.

I know, I know, why did I book in? I asked and there is no charge for changing your op dates, so even if I end up having to get it months or years from now, at least I finally feel like it's really happening. You guys know how desperate you have to be to get to the point of considering surgery. I feel like I've lost so much of my life because I'm sluggish and unhappy and I can't interact happily with people, or be confident in myself or be free of pain. I just want to feel like this is really happening, my life will really change. It felt better to book it in and then look for the money than look for the money and wait ages to be able to book in. Of course, if I don't get this loan, I will have to keep postponing surgery dates until I do.

So if I don't get this loan, I will be crushed. At this point there's basically no other option except to wait a few years while my credit score improves enough to get a loan, and be miserable and not looking in the mirror for all that time. I looked at other things like the balloon and the band, but they seem to have quite a high rate of re-gain and psychologically I just can't take regaining all the weight again.

Anyone else relate?

Can anyone tell me I'm not being insane?

Also I'd be happy to hear from anyone with experience of being operated on by Dr Chris, or getting the op with PCOS or arthritis.

Thanks for reading xx

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    • 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. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • 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
      1. This update has no replies.
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