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What you wish you'd known before having weight loss surgery



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10 hours ago, Tealael said:

On and on it goes

Doesn't sound so good when you put it like that. So is it enough to make you regret doing it, or do you just wish your daily "routine" didn't have to be so regimented? My surgery is in 10 days. Seems like you pay much closer attention to other's dissatisfaction the closer you get...

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I absolutely DO NOT regret getting sleeved, I would do it again in a heartbeat, should have done it years ago. Eating and drinking is just something to be mindful of because the overall success of these procedures depends on following through with the plans and rules without cheating so I never cheat. And that means no eating and drinking within 30 mins of the finish of each session.

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And no need to be worried about regrets (you'll see for yourself ) plus I'm only 7 weeks out from surgery so I assume eventually it will become second nature and I won't even notice anymore

Edited by Tealael

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I always appreciate any feedback from "those who have gone before", lol. Even when it's not the perfect story, it helps to have realistic expectations. Even the horror stories have to be considered, I feel, but of course we usually take those into account during initial research whenever possible. For me, it is really helpful to hear what things are not that pleasant or even pretty awful to experience, but then hearing the majority of people say they would still do it again is what keeps me going! So definitely thanks for sharing :) And good luck with your continued recovery/success!

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On ‎12‎/‎16‎/‎2017 at 6:27 PM, baribetty said:


How common is having a drain? I’ve never heard of anyone getting on for this surgery.

I had one and I had the sleeve. It's common practice at my program, everyone gets one. I had it for about 48 hours and it was removed before discharge.

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I wish I knew someone in my community/social life who went through with vsg before me. I wish he/she told me what kind of mindset is the best to have to achieve the most loss. I'm just learning now at 4 months postop. It makes me sad that I "wasted" the months I could have lost the most weight.
Just to be clear I don't feel I wasted anything.. it's just this info came later then I would have liked. It's never too late to change your mindset and I'm grateful I realize it now and not 6-9 months or year down the line. I now know what I absolutely have to do. Conquer my demons and take this journey seriously once and for all. That's definetly one thing I wish I had known. I'm still learning as the days go by...good luck everyone!

Sent from my SM-N910C using BariatricPal mobile app

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I wish I'd spoken more to VSG patients in advance as the advice I got from them on what to eat was waaaaaay better than what my nutritionist said. Don't get me wrong, I stay within the macros and limits my NUT said, and I follow her overall guidelines. But taking her advice on what might taste good to me was like getting a non-drinker's beer recommendations.

Edited by etc. etc. etc.

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I wish I knew someone in my community/social life who went through with vsg before me. I wish he/she told me what kind of mindset is the best to have to achieve the most loss. I'm just learning now at 4 months postop. It makes me sad that I "wasted" the months I could have lost the most weight.
Just to be clear I don't feel I wasted anything.. it's just this info came later then I would have liked. It's never too late to change your mindset and I'm grateful I realize it now and not 6-9 months or year down the line. I now know what I absolutely have to do. Conquer my demons and take this journey seriously once and for all. That's definetly one thing I wish I had known. I'm still learning as the days go by...good luck everyone!

Sent from my SM-N910C using BariatricPal mobile app



I don't understand--what could you have done differently???


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I don't understand--what could you have done differently???




I could have lost weight prior to surgery instead of waiting for surgery to "fix" me. I could have started an exercise regimen prior as well..just to prepare for what's ahead. Also, early on postop I was so scared I was eating too little I would eat sliders just so I could "survive". My mind was telling me that my calorie deficit was too low to follow the diet my nutritionist gave me. I feel like a fool really..just realizung now completely sucks because i probably would have lost more than 46 pounds since surgery. I had read many things that say the sleeve is just a tool. But I didn't even use it like I should have from the beginning. It just makes me sad because now I'm stuck at 240 for the past 3 weeks and I actually need to put more work in to get results whereas in the beginning you lose no matter what.

Sent from my SM-N910C using BariatricPal mobile app

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    • LeighaTR

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      · 2 replies
      1. Selina333

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
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