Hello all - I would ultimately like to meet with somebody who has had sleeve surgery prior to going ahead with mine. I think it would be very beneficial. I'm hoping that the clinic I'm going through is able to provide this.

Did any of you have this opportunity? If so, did it help you with your decision?

You could start attending support group meetings pre-op. Depending on the size of the group there may be people at various stages in the process.

You could start attending support group meetings pre-op. Depending on the size of the group there may be people at various stages in the process.

Good idea! I'll mention it at my first appointment :-)

I met a lady on a cruise who had it done. Had a long chat with her and she actually helped me to decide. Seeing how good she looked and how positive she was about it all was a great help to me. I actually used the same surgeon as her and couldn't have been happier. Three and a half months out now and exceedingly happy with it all! Good luck, you won't regret it.

I met a lady on a cruise who had it done. Had a long chat with her and she actually helped me to decide. Seeing how good she looked and how positive she was about it all was a great help to me. I actually used the same surgeon as her and couldn't have been happier. Three and a half months out now and exceedingly happy with it all! Good luck, you won't regret it.

That's great you got to speak with somebody - how did the subject come up? Just wondering - not something commonly discussed on a cruise of course! lol

Hello all - I would ultimately like to meet with somebody who has had sleeve surgery prior to going ahead with mine. I think it would be very beneficial. I'm hoping that the clinic I'm going through is able to provide this.

Did any of you have this opportunity? If so, did it help you with your decision?

I agree, I really want to talk to someone in real life who has had it done. I am awaiting approval and plan to attend my first support group at the hospital tonight so hopefully I will meet some people who are post-op.

I do know a couple of people who had gastric bypass. I have one friend who had the sleeve but it isn't common knowledge. She told another friend who spilled the Beans to me (she didn't realize it was a secret) but the person who had it doesn't discuss it. I understand it's her life and she wants privacy but I would love to talk to her about the experience.

Anyway, I have moved on. These boards help. Watching sleevers on Youtube helps. And like I said, I hope to meet some IRL sleevers tonight. I will let you know

Hello all - I would ultimately like to meet with somebody who has had sleeve surgery prior to going ahead with mine. I think it would be very beneficial. I'm hoping that the clinic I'm going through is able to provide this.

Did any of you have this opportunity? If so, did it help you with your decision?

I agree, I really want to talk to someone in real life who has had it done. I am awaiting approval and plan to attend my first support group at the hospital tonight so hopefully I will meet some people who are post-op.

I do know a couple of people who had gastric bypass. I have one friend who had the sleeve but it isn't common knowledge. She told another friend who spilled the Beans to me (she didn't realize it was a secret) but the person who had it doesn't discuss it. I understand it's her life and she wants privacy but I would love to talk to her about the experience.

Anyway, I have moved on. These boards help. Watching sleevers on Youtube helps. And like I said, I hope to meet some IRL sleevers tonight. I will let you know

thank you laceemouse - it would be nice to hear what you take away from speaking with them. I'm doing my courses online rather than attending sessions. Trying so hard to get through them quickly, but on the other hand I want to focus on what I'm reading, listening to, etc as well. Long weekend coming up and hope to be done in one day (supposed to rain!).

a good friend of mine had the surgery in April. She has been instrumental in my decision to have the surgery. She looks and feels wonderful, and has given me all kinds of tips.

I have also met a few people at the support groups that have been very helpful.

I actually have a few co-workers who have gone through the process, one of whom I'm pretty close with. Watching their progress makes me wish I'd thought to do it sooner.

I met a lady on a cruise who had it done. Had a long chat with her and she actually helped me to decide. Seeing how good she looked and how positive she was about it all was a great help to me. I actually used the same surgeon as her and couldn't have been happier. Three and a half months out now and exceedingly happy with it all! Good luck, you won't regret it.

That's great you got to speak with somebody - how did the subject come up? Just wondering - not something commonly discussed on a cruise of course! lol

She was sitting at the next table talking to a friend about how great she felt after the surgery. I had been researching for a while and thought this is a great opportunity to get an unbiased opinion. I figured if she didn't want people to know she wouldn't have been talking about it quite as loudly as she was. Maybe she did it for my benefit Either way I am glad she did because it gave me the final reason to go and see the doctor, and it is one of the be decisions I ever made, other than marrying my darling husband, am just loving life now!

Once I said that I'm getting it done, so many people were telling me about their experiences. I had no idea that they had it done. In the past, I have worked with 4 nurses from different hospitals that had it done. Every person except for one reached their goal weight.

Note to self: I don't have to take this day all at once but rather one step, one breath and one moment at a time. I am only one person.

Go to support groups that how I meet a lot of people and it is very helpful

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I agree go to the support groups, you will get so much info and you can ask as many questions as you would like. A Co-worker of mine had it done last month and another is a couple years post. Both have been very helpful and supportive in this journey for me. But I also got a lot of info and listened to people's experiences from the support group I attend.

Yes! I have 2 friends that have had the surgery already (1 almost a year ago) and it most differently helped me decide for VSG. I was prepared to have the lap band.

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I met a lady on a cruise who had it done. Had a long chat with her and she actually helped me to decide. Seeing how good she looked and how positive she was about it all was a great help to me. I actually used the same surgeon as her and couldn't have been happier. Three and a half months out now and exceedingly happy with it all! Good luck, you won't regret it.

That's great you got to speak with somebody - how did the subject come up? Just wondering - not something commonly discussed on a cruise of course! lol

She was sitting at the next table talking to a friend about how great she felt after the surgery. I had been researching for a while and thought this is a great opportunity to get an unbiased opinion. I figured if she didn't want people to know she wouldn't have been talking about it quite as loudly as she was. Maybe she did it for my benefit Either way I am glad she did because it gave me the final reason to go and see the doctor, and it is one of the be decisions I ever made, other than marrying my darling husband, am just loving life now!

That's a fantastic story! And it's so nice to hear so much positivity around this surgery. I just hope I don't have to wait too long to get the surgery - I've decided not to do self-pay as it means not having any support before or after - so going through our healthcare system means possible long waits. I'm going to get all the courses out of the way this weekend - taking me ages - then I can set up an appt. with the clinic. I've been referred and accepted - but that's just a tiny bit of the journey! Thanks again - really helped to hear your experience. And feel free to tell me whatever you think of regarding the surgery, pre-op and post-op, good and bad. You can message me here too. What city are you in? I spent about 8 months in Australia in the 80's! And loved it :-)

That's a fantastic story! And it's so nice to hear so much positivity around this surgery. I just hope I don't have to wait too long to get the surgery - I've decided not to do self-pay as it means not having any support before or after - so going through our healthcare system means possible long waits. I'm going to get all the courses out of the way this weekend - taking me ages - then I can set up an appt. with the clinic. I've been referred and accepted - but that's just a tiny bit of the journey! Thanks again - really helped to hear your experience. And feel free to tell me whatever you think of regarding the surgery, pre-op and post-op, good and bad. You can message me here too. What city are you in? I spent about 8 months in Australia in the 80's! And loved it :-)

I met a lady on a cruise who had it done. Had a long chat with her and she actually helped me to decide. Seeing how good she looked and how positive she was about it all was a great help to me. I actually used the same surgeon as her and couldn't have been happier. Three and a half months out now and exceedingly happy with it all! Good luck, you won't regret it.

That's great you got to speak with somebody - how did the subject come up? Just wondering - not something commonly discussed on a cruise of course! lol

She was sitting at the next table talking to a friend about how great she felt after the surgery. I had been researching for a while and thought this is a great opportunity to get an unbiased opinion. I figured if she didn't want people to know she wouldn't have been talking about it quite as loudly as she was. Maybe she did it for my benefit Either way I am glad she did because it gave me the final reason to go and see the doctor, and it is one of the be decisions I ever made, other than marrying my darling husband, am just loving life now!

I live about an hour north of Sydney. I had to wait 12 months for my private health insurance to cover me, and I found that to be great. Gave me lots of time to make sure that this was the right decision for me. I can honestly say that I have not had one single regret. I had some nausea and gas pain in my shoulders for about a week after the surgery but that was really all. The incisions healed really well and caused me no pain at all. The first two weeks after when you are on just liquids (well I was) I thought would be hard, but they really weren't, what people say is true (again for me) you have no appetite or hunger, it's a really strange feeling for someone who has always been completely food focused, especially bad foods, to not be even the slightest bit interested was odd. Even now 3 and a half months post op, food doesn't have the hold over me that it used to.

I love this new me, and am happy to answer any questions you might have.