First time posting here, but I've been lurking for awhile.

I'm self-pay and scheduled with Dr. Illan in Mexico for May 12.

Feeling very calm and not nervous about the surgery itself...but I worry that I'll be the one this doesn't work for. Has anyone else felt that way??

About me 5'2", 47 years old, 295 pounds. I've been overweight since I was maybe 10 or so. Childhood pictures show a normal-sized child, but I don't remember not being fat. I was over 200 in high school, probably 250 or so before/after my two pregnancies, and been 275-295 for the last 15-20 years. That's were my weight seems to want to be; on the one hand, I can pretty much eat whatever, and I don't go up anymore; but on the other hand, it's pretty impossible to lose anything, and it always resettles in the 275-295 range.

I've been a vegan/vegetarian for over 10 years (first 5 vegan, now vegetarian). Before that I did Atkins and lost 80 pounds (but was also pretty much starving myself...it was Atkins in name only). Since then, I've done WW, superfood diets, blah blah blah. You know the drill.

I have Hashimoto's, which I'm sure plays a role in all this (I was diagnosed at hypothyroid about 16 years ago, and Hashi's about 5 years ago). I am treated properly for my thyroid and it is technically right where it should be.

I'm excited about having the sleeve because I feel like, from everything I've read, this will be the tool that gets me where I want to be. I love to eat healthy foods (though I eat bad ones, too, for sure), and wish I could be more active without the pain, so in theory this should all work for me.

But...I can't picture it. I don't know what it's like to be a healthy weight. What if my body can't do that, no matter how hard I try (so far it hasn't, afterall!). I feel like this is my last chance, so what if it doesn't work? These are my worries :/ I'll be the one it doesn't work for...

My goals are really just to be healthier, to avoid diabetes (I'm pre-diabetic now) and heart disease, to be able to go backpacking and walking and do all the things I want to do. I have a vague idea that I'll be able to fit into smaller clothes, and that would be fun (I've never in my life bought something that was actually cool or fun to wear or fashionable). I hope to lose a lot of weight, and I'm 100% willing to do the work. But....I've done the work before and been frustrated when nothing happens. So that is my worry and my fear.

Has anyone else ever felt that way? Thank you in advance for taking the time to read my rambles...

megall9 that's a load of garbage. My friend who is a nurse practitioner said over and over that it wasn't a long term solution. Well you know what? Neither is diet and exercise. Both are what you make of them long term. And frankly I don't know anyone who has kept up with just diet and exercise.

megall9 that's a load of garbage. My friend who is a nurse practitioner said over and over that it wasn't a long term solution. Well you know what? Neither is diet and exercise. Both are what you make of them long term. And frankly I don't know anyone who has kept up with just diet and exercise.

In my head I know it's a load of garbage, but it hurt my heart that she would say something so negative to me when I was obviously excited. She just kind of rained on my parade, you know? It's hard because we've been good friends for over 10 years. Everyone else in my life has been so supportive, and she is the only one in the back whispering "you can't do this"

I guess I'll show her

@@Megall9 ... she's wrong. The sleeve's benefits never go away.

However, the sleeve is NOT all that you need.

You're going to have to learn and use a whole new way of living -- and you will, because now you'll have a fighting chance of actually living the healthy and slim lifestyle.

Me too! I've been overweight since I was 9 or 10 and already wth this first stall (3 weeks out) I am dreading that I got sleeved and will still be morbidly obese forever, and that I'll look like an idiot going through all this for nothing.

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I'm the same. I'm convinced I'm the oddball case who it won't work for. I'm trying to be extremely honest with myself about my good habits now so that I can not lie to myself about my food habits afterwards. Rebirth!

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