I am so confused. I am scheduled to get sleeve surgery on May 30th and I am scared. I have knee and ankle pain that is probably due to me being overweight my entire life but other than that my health is pretty good. I am 53 years old 5’3” and my current weight is 233. My brain is racing back and forth between try one more time to do it without surgery and the risks that come with it, and I have been trying and haven’t been under 200 lbs since my early 20’s. I’m so afraid I will feel regret or have complications after surgery that I don’t have now and am equally afraid that if I don’t do the surgery, I will have diabetes, high blood pressure, constant joint pain and all the other problems that obesity cause. I’ve always been so terrible at making decisions but this one is really hard. Did any of you struggle with this ?

34 minutes ago, donna66 said:

I am so confused. I am scheduled to get sleeve surgery on May 30th and I am scared. I have knee and ankle pain that is probably due to me being overweight my entire life but other than that my health is pretty good. I am 53 years old 5’3” and my current weight is 233. My brain is racing back and forth between try one more time to do it without surgery and the risks that come with it, and I have been trying and haven’t been under 200 lbs since my early 20’s. I’m so afraid I will feel regret or have complications after surgery that I don’t have now and am equally afraid that if I don’t do the surgery, I will have diabetes, high blood pressure, constant joint pain and all the other problems that obesity cause. I’ve always been so terrible at making decisions but this one is really hard. Did any of you struggle with this ?

this seems to be a common experience. Use the search bar at the top of the page and you will see how many people have pre surgery anxiety.

Here are a few on this topic.

https://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/423607-getting-cold-feet/?tab=comments#comment-4754212

https://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/423992-what-you-had-no-surgery-complications/

Yes, I waffled before my RNY gastric bypass 6 weeks ago. I had a 6 month period of nutrition visits, so I had time to think and learn all I could. When it came to surgery day I was ready, confident in my surgeon, and happy to be improving my health. I have eliminated my type 2 diabetes, and knee pain is better. It is scary, but for me, staying obese with diabetes, sleep apnea, high blood pressure was even scarier!! Read all you can, and good luck with your decision!

I think most of us go through that back & forth stage before surgery. I also thought I should just try to lose weight again on my own, but then, I'd been doing it for over 30 years, just to gain it all back again. What made me think I was going to be successful THIS time? I finally admitted to myself that I was never going to be able to do it on my own - I needed the tool.

btw - lots of people never have complications from the surgery, and for those who do, most are minor. I wouldn't let that stop me.

My only regret is that I didnt do it MUCH sooner. I havent had any complications at all. No dumping, no puking, no regrets,