Hi all I'm Ben, I am all the way over in New Zealand so I hope it's OK for me to post here.

Anyway I have been looking around this forum for helpful information regarding Weight loss surgery and I have found plenty of down to earth relatable information.

I thought I would write my first post regarding my story so far. I am a 29yr old male (married with 2 boys), I'm 365 pounds and 6ft 2".

I have battled weight my whole life and was always the biggest in my class through my school years.

I have been considering surgery for about the last year or so, I had the first appointment with the surgeon a couple of weeks ago. He said I was a good candidate, he ran bloods and apart from high BP which he gave me medication for I was healthy. I did the sleep study last night checking me for sleep apnea which I am waiting on the results off. I have an appointment with the nutritionist next month.

We booked in the surgery for mid July to work around my downtime at work in July/August. He advised me I would need to go on a liquid diet 4 weeks prior to shrink the size of my stomach.

I haven't fully decided what surgery I'm going to have yet I'm leaning 70/30 toward gastric bypass at the moment. Mostly because of dumping, my greatest fear would be trying to eat what I used to again. My biggest problem is White bread, soda and greasy food.

Im currently really excited about the possibilities my future holds. I have never known what it's like to be a "normal" person so to speak. I know it's not going to be an easy road and just reading some of the posts on here I have received some great inspiration. Apart from my wife and parents nobody knows about me having the surgery so it'll be good to hear some positive advice from people who have been through what I am going through.

Thanks for reading

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Hi Ben Im a kiwi living in melbourne and I am due fir a gastric sleeve op this coming Tuesday. I only have had to go thru a 2 week liquid diet b4 the op and its challenging but doable. I am 48yo, 5ft 11in and and also around 360lbs. Although I haven't been like this all my life and have only really put it on over the past 5+ years. Happy to share my experiences as I go, you will find i post abit under the melbourne/australia parts in both the gastric sleeve and chat sections if the forum.

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Hi kiwi jet yeah that would be good I will go for a read, I'm starting to look at the sleeve now after seeing how well guys do on here after the op cheers

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Hi kiwi jet yeah that would be good I will go for a read, I'm starting to look at the sleeve now after seeing how well guys do on here after the op cheers

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Hi BigBen

I have seen posts from all over this blue planet so I think all will be welcome.

I am working on a surgery date in Sept. I would love to do it earlier but my job can't spare me til then.

I first started this journey with a sleeve in mind. The thought of them dettaching and

re-attaching my organ parts was too scary.

I am now seriously considering the bypass even though it will cost more (I am self-pay). I keep reading about people having to revise to the bypass after a sleeve for various reasons. Being self-pay will put me in debt for quite some time so another surgery is not an option.

I have also been concerned about reflux that seems to be very common with the sleeve. I don't think I would want to risk battling that my whole life.

I realize that there is actually more risk of complications with a bypass but I am hoping my surgeon, who has an excellent track record, will minimize this.

However, if you do decide on a bypass I would not count on dumping to keep you on track. I was hoping for the same help but I have been reading that there is only a small percentage of people that actually experience dumping.

Finally, I am 5'8" 336 lbs with a BMI of 51 and since bypass has a slight advantage in 1st year for weightloss it is looking like an option that better works for me.

Having said all that...I will of course take the advice of my surgeon and do whichever he thinks is the best fit for me.

Good luck in your Journey BigBen. Hopefully see you around here more sharing your success stories.

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