My name is Rohit and I've had my consultation appointment with my doctor about bariatric surgery. I am 18 and weigh about 413 lbs and have been big my whole life. I'm planning on doing this surgery now because I know I've missed out so much in life because Im a heavy set fellow. I want to get the opinions of people who have had the surgery to see how they're doing and what surgery they had done so I can decide on what surgery I will get so I can improve my life. Any wisdom helps. Thank you!

Hi Rohit,

I can tell you that the surgery is the best thing that I have ever done for myself. I wish I had done it years ago. I weighed 397 when I started my six month pre-op diet program on March 21, 2016. This morning, I weighed 219. My quality of life has drastically improved in every way -- health, professional, personal, and everything else. I am more active, my confidence has grown (though I was never too self-conscious for a big guy), and I just feel better overall.

Good for you for taking this step at your age. It shows a lot of maturity on your part. Best wishes as you proceed. You won't regret your decision!

Blair

Hello Rohit,

At my heaviest I was 388 lbs. I finally realized that dieting and pills was not going to work for me. I grew despondent and then a friend made a comment that I should get weight loss surgery. I was offended. I kept dwelling on it it, obsessing over her words. I was formerly dead-set against it and thought it was only for losers and was the "easy way out". I finally considered that maybe I was wrong and began researching it. After about a year of research and saving money I decided to get the gastric sleeve in Tijuana. I was 350 lbs on the day of surgery. Four to five months later I had already lost over 100 lbs. Today, I'm just 8 lbs away from my goal weight. I'm both extremely excited and anxious because there is both positive and negative things that you have to work through but I can tell you that I should have had the surgery sooner. I do not regret it and highly recommend it.

Hello Rohit...

I have had problems with my weight for over 25 years, ever since I had thyroid issues. I would lose weight then put it back on... lose weight, put it back on, lose weight.... well you get the picture. I decided on the sleeve because I didn't, want the malabsorption issues you can have with the bypass. I am not saying that the bypass is better or worse, I am just saying for me the sleeve was the best option.

My only regret is that I didn't have it done earlier. Read as much as you can online, research it until you know exactly what this entails as it's for life not just a quick fix. Best wishes with your decision ?

Kate

I had the lapband in 2008 when I was 380 pounds at my consultation. I was able to get down to 280 but had many complications and gained all my weight back and had to get it removed in 2012. I continued in a downward (or upward I should say) Spiral with my health and weight.

I rapidly gained weight and in October of 2015 I decided I needed to make a change and fast when I was put in the hospital for breathing problems and they almost wouldn't do a catscan because I was over the weight limit when I told them I was 480 pounds (which is what I thought I was). I was so overweight doctors were having trouble treating me. I ended up having to go on oxygen 24/7 because I was so overweight it was pressing against my lungs and restricting my breathing. I called and made an appointment at the bariatric surgeon the day I got out of the hospital. When I went for the consultation it turns out I actually weighed 540 pounds.

I went through 6 months of preop diet and was able to lose 60 pounds. The day of surgery on May 29, 2016 I weighed 480 pounds. Today, March 16, 2017, I weight 303.8 pounds. I got my life back. Before I could hardly walk the length of a room and now I walk 2 miles almost every day.

I had a lot of complications after surgery but I would do this surgery again in a heartbeat even with all I went through. I had the sleeve surgery because I did not want the malabsorbtion or dumping syndrome.

Good luck to you and if you have any other questions you can ask!

Edited March 16, 20179 yr by Dashofpixiedust8