I am so worried about no support after I have surgery. I have no one to help me. Do you really need help after surgery? Can a person do this by themselves? I would appriciate any feedback. Iam almost there. I have very mild sleep apnea, so I have to wear the machine for 6 weeks and then they're hopefully going to do the surgery.

My family continues to ridicule me about my weight and they are against weight loss surgery. I have had to be my own advocate. I would love to make some new friends here...

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Hi. I am Kathleen. I am in the pre phase on surgery and understand about not having natural supports. Be prepared, look into a local bariatric support group, reach out to others on this site. You can do it! We can do it! I am not sharing with those close to me either because I choose positivity. We can be weight loss support buddies. I need one too. Positive vibes and solution focused.

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Edited November 25, 20169 yr by shineonme3

I don't know your circumstances, so I can only speak for myself. Yes I could have done it on my own, I had a starting weight of 260 and surgery weight of 244. I was up and walking a lot on night 1 and asked to be checked out the next morning but their protocol was 2 nights. I was dressed and ready to go and walking when the doc came to check me out. I believe it was the walking that helped me. I didn't need pain killers after the first night.

I wouldn't have driven for the first few days, but overall felt fine. I cooked dinner for my family 3 days post op and was apple picking on day five. Now I get my results may not be typical. Some of the things I did to prepare was to have all the foods I would need there and in the house, I started my Vitamin Patches before the surgery during the two week pre-op diet and I swear they made a huge difference post op with energy levels etc.

I think you should. I needed the help. Do you have a friend that could stop by your home to check on you. Just for the first few days. Talk to your hospital Advocate, may they can help.

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I am so worried about no support after I have surgery. I have no one to help me. Do you really need help after surgery? Can a person do this by themselves? I would appriciate any feedback. Iam almost there. I have very mild sleep apnea, so I have to wear the machine for 6 weeks and then they're hopefully going to do the surgery.

My family continues to ridicule me about my weight and they are against weight loss surgery. I have had to be my own advocate. I would love to make some new friends here...

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Hey northstar9148, even though i couldve had help, i didnt ask for help. Thats just the person i am. Im 8wks post op. I began the program at 298lbs and lost 22lbs before surgery. On my first check up after surgery i had lost another 41lbs. My surgery was alittle more difficult because not only did they do the sleeve but i had gallbladder removed and a large hernia repaired. So the 3 days in the hospital i lived on the pain pump. To this day, my stomach is still really tight. Im not eating as much as i think i should. Im not drinking as much as i should be at this point because ive been in the er 2x for dehydration. Thats something that you want to avoid. Drink and walk, walk and drink. But in order to get through this entire process, youve made a great start right here. The people that i have encountered here have been wonderful. Yes, im fairly new but you have alot of old heads on here to thats maintained their weight. Reach out to support groups associated with your dr office and of course here. Hit me up on fb if you like and ill keep in touch with you. You can pick my brains if youd like. This isnt something you want to go through alone. If youre getting negative feedback from family, then id stay away from that. But were here for you. Fb pamela taite-pressey.....send me a friend request. Keep in touch

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I'm having mine done on my own too. If my family found out, my mum would put a stop to it somehow and when she finds out.. I'm more scared of that than the surgery it's self. Here anytime. I don't have mind until February ♡♡♡

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I did it on my own. Didn't need any help and frankly would have found people hovering around me annoying. I did make sure the house was thoroughly cleaned beforehand and had my housekeeper come in an extra time to change the kitty litter -- you'll have a lifting restriction after surgery for some weeks, so think about anything you might do on a regular basis that involves lifting something 10+ lbs and find a way to work around that.

I live alone. Work alone. And I live in area where I know no one. Honestly I feel like it is easier to do with no support because you don't have to deal with other people and their issues or attitudes about you having surgery.

You don't need support because really from here on out it is you making choices for you and you have to work through your issues so you are in a place you can always make the right choice.

I am pre surgery, first appointment is January 6th. I've not told my family, we don't talk anyway, but work friends and these online forums, I know I can do it. Please contact me if you ever need a buddy, I believe we can do it, remember, you are NOT alone. You have all of us to get you through this.

I'm nearly two years post op sleeve I had no trouble being on my own it's not terribly painful I didn't take any pain meds after about 36 hours I did everything I needed to do at home with no help best of luck

Glad to hear people say you can do this on your own. I basically have no support either. I am worried about the whole kitty litter situation. I don't think I have anyone that can take care of this for me and my cats are very particular. They will pee on me in the bed if I don't keep it clean! I'm going to need to change it as soon as I get home from the hospital even if it's clean when I leave.

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@@vegbeth if you are comfortable with it, you could hire a petsitter or someone from care.com or taskrabbit to come in and do that for you. It's not terribly expensive and definitely worth spending some money to avoid potentially causing yourself serious complications by lifting bags of kitty litter. Or, if your cats will accept clumping litter, you could buy some of that featherweight litter and use that for a bit after surgery. Good luck!

Edited November 27, 20169 yr by Bufflehead

Bufflehead thanks for the tip. Don't know why I didn't think of it myself. I actually have a profile at care.com. Unfortunately don't think the cats will accept the clumping litter. I'll start looking for a cat sitter asap. Thanks again.

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I live alone with an 82 pound, 9 year old golden retriever. After I'm home from surgery, how long should I plan for someone else to walk him? We currently take 2 walks a day, one a bit over a mile, the second a half mile. Both require bending over to pick up "deposits". Despite being an old man, he walks fast and pulls toward interesting sniffs.

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I was able to manage the bending over part within a couple days of surgery, although it made me wince a bit! I think it's good to be up and moving around.

How long until your surgery? Is there enough time to work on training your dog to stop pulling, or accept a Halti-type collar so he can't pull? I was fortunate in that I live in an extremely quiet neighborhood where it is safe to walk well-behaved dogs off leash, so I never had to worry about that part. But I would think as long as your dog doesn't pull you off your feet, you should be fine after the first few days to walk him. Good luck!

I was able to manage the bending over part within a couple days of surgery, although it made me wince a bit! I think it's good to be up and moving around.

How long until your surgery? Is there enough time to work on training your dog to stop pulling, or accept a Halti-type collar so he can't pull? I was fortunate in that I live in an extremely quiet neighborhood where it is safe to walk well-behaved dogs off leash, so I never had to worry about that part. But I would think as long as your dog doesn't pull you off your feet, you should be fine after the first few days to walk him. Good luck!

I wish! He won't pull me off my feet, he just changes direction quickly sometimes. After 9 years of working with him and his stubborn demeanor I think he's as good as he's gonna get! He's very sweet, just willful and physically very strong.

I have good neighbors who would happily walk him (or with us) for a few days, so thank you for the information! I don't have a date yet, but the doctor suggested it could be February.