Surgery scheduled

[Ivy Joel 12]

So my surgery is scheduled, after 6 months of going through all the pre reqs. Waiting for insurance approval for gastric sleeve. I am terrified. Ive never had any type of surgery before, never broken a bone. I am terrified ill get sick of taking Vitamins everyday because someone told me their friend regrets getting it because of all the vitamins. I am terrified ill regret it and i cant take it back.

Waiting for insurance approval for November 5th. I guess i have until then to decide. My insurance required me to see a nutritionist 3 times each 4 weeks apart. I lost over 30lbs on my own. Ive lost all the weight 3 times on my own and gotten to my goal weight before i ever considered this surgery. But everytime i get there and im like "so i can eat what i want now right" and gain it all back plus some. But what if this time is different, i am 10 years older than when i first gained all this weight my senior year. I went through all this and learned a lot. What if i can do it on my own? But if i could wouldnt i have done it by now? I dont know what to do. I am super indecisive in normal life, trying to decide what shirt to wear each morning is a process. So how do I make this huge decision that I cant take back, like changing into a new shirt?

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[Matt Z 4,140]

10 minutes ago, Ivy Joel said:

So my surgery is scheduled, after 6 months of going through all the pre reqs. Waiting for insurance approval for gastric sleeve. I am terrified. Ive never had any type of surgery before, never broken a bone. I am terrified ill get sick of taking Vitamins everyday because someone told me their friend regrets getting it because of all the Vitamins. I am terrified ill regret it and i cant take it back.

Waiting for insurance approval for November 5th. I guess i have until then to decide. My insurance required me to see a nutritionist 3 times each 4 weeks apart. I lost over 30lbs on my own. Ive lost all the weight 3 times on my own and gotten to my goal weight before i ever considered this surgery. But everytime i get there and im like "so i can eat what i want now right" and gain it all back plus some. But what if this time is different, i am 10 years older than when i first gained all this weight my senior year. I went through all this and learned a lot. What if i can do it on my own? But if i could wouldnt i have done it by now? I dont know what to do. I am super indecisive in normal life, trying to decide what shirt to wear each morning is a process. So how do I make this huge decision that I cant take back, like changing into a new shirt?

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The sleeve doesn't require much added vitamins, because there isn't any malabsorption going on. So don't worry too much about that, when you are afraid of the change, just ask yourself this, whats going to happen to you if you don't make any changes? I know for me, when I was a stones throw from 400, I knew not doing the surgery was going to kill me. When I was revised from the band to the bypass, not having the surgery was the bigger risk. Weight loss gets harder and harder as we age.

You need to sit down and write out a full pro/con list. Because with the sleeve, a large portion of your stomach is going to be removed and thrown away. There is NO going back from the sleeve. The bypass is more reversible than the sleeve is, because the bypass, you get rerouted, but nothing is removed and the bypass is only reversed in very rare instances. Something else to think about as well.

[Ivy Joel 12]

The sleeve doesn't require much added Vitamins, because there isn't any malabsorption going on. So don't worry too much about that, when you are afraid of the change, just ask yourself this, whats going to happen to you if you don't make any changes? I know for me, when I was a stones throw from 400, I knew not doing the surgery was going to kill me. When I was revised from the band to the bypass, not having the surgery was the bigger risk. Weight loss gets harder and harder as we age.

You need to sit down and write out a full pro/con list. Because with the sleeve, a large portion of your stomach is going to be removed and thrown away. There is NO going back from the sleeve. The bypass is more reversible than the sleeve is, because the bypass, you get rerouted, but nothing is removed and the bypass is only reversed in very rare instances. Something else to think about as well.

What are the reasons people would want to reverse it? Because they cant eat what they want? Id rather be healthy. But if there are other reasons like your body cant tolerate a ton of foods and it just makes general day to day living extremely difficult because of your limited options and your special dietary needs. I thought they took out the part of the stomach that absorbs most of your vitamins and minerals and thats why vitamins were so important with the sleeve, but Theyre less important?

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[Matt Z 4,140]

6 minutes ago, Ivy Joel said:

What are the reasons people would want to reverse it? Because they cant eat what they want? Id rather be healthy. But if there are other reasons like your body cant tolerate a ton of foods and it just makes general day to day living extremely difficult because of your limited options and your special dietary needs. I thought they took out the part of the stomach that absorbs most of your Vitamins and minerals and thats why vitamins were so important with the sleeve, but Theyre less important?

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No doctor is going to reverse any WLS simply because a patient can't eat what they want to, it would ONLY be reversed due to a complication that would warrant it. Your stomach doesn't absorb nutrients, that's the job of the intestines, which is why the Bypass folks have the malabsorption and the sleeved folks don't, there are plenty of sleeved folks that, once they get into their proper eating schedule, don't need any extra nutrition because everything is provided by the food they eat. Bypass patients generally will need Vitamin supplementation for the rest of their lives.

Edited September 10, 2018 by Matt Z

[Ivy Joel 12]

I dont understand why in all these nutritionist appointments and such i was told id need Vitamins everyday for the rest of my life. I just wish i could talk to my surgeon asap. But the scheduler said once insurance approves it i will be seeing him, before the surgery. So i guess i can ask him all these questions then. But yes, my nutritionist told me with the sleeve i will have to take vitamins everyday for the rest of my life. I guess in a perfect world if i ate perfectly i might not need to but. How can you find out what vitamins youre low on? Just a blood test? I guess its all a process. A very daunting process. I think i still want the sleeve, because that is what all the doctors have said based on my case would be best for me. I am just worried that i wont be able to tolerate so many foods. And that will make life so much more difficult. Lifes hard enough without having to be like well i cant eat lettuce beef this that and the other. I know im venting very hard right now i appreciate your patience and advice

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[Matt Z 4,140]

4 minutes ago, Ivy Joel said:

I dont understand why in all these nutritionist appointments and such i was told id need Vitamins everyday for the rest of my life. I just wish i could talk to my surgeon asap. But the scheduler said once insurance approves it i will be seeing him, before the surgery. So i guess i can ask him all these questions then. But yes, my nutritionist told me with the sleeve i will have to take Vitamins everyday for the rest of my life. I guess in a perfect world if i ate perfectly i might not need to but. How can you find out what vitamins youre low on? Just a blood test? I guess its all a process. A very daunting process. I think i still want the sleeve, because that is what all the doctors have said based on my case would be best for me. I am just worried that i wont be able to tolerate so many foods. And that will make life so much more difficult. Lifes hard enough without having to be like well i cant eat lettuce beef this that and the other. I know im venting very hard right now i appreciate your patience and advice

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Did your doctor tell you that a very common side effect of the sleeve is GERD/acid reflux issues? If you have GERD or acid reflux issues now, the sleeve generally makes it worse. Post WLS, odds are there are going to be some foods you can no longer eat. Even if only for a little while. I've come to find that so far, 99% of the foods I try, I have no issues with, including the ones I wish I did have issues with... I don't seem to get any dumping with any foods at this point. Which makes working with the surgery a bit harder, because it's back to that mental fortitude in order to not eat **** food.

[Ivy Joel 12]

Yes i have a good friend with GERD but i only get heartburn or acid reflux from certain foods. Tomato sauce oj etc.

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[Ed_NW 684]

You'll do well. Congratulations and good luck!