so I'm 52 in a couple of weeks. I have decided on a sleeve and will meet with a nutritionists and behavioral person next week. I'm 5' 7" and weigh in at 280. Like many, I can lose weight, but it always comes back. Since quitting smoking, three years ago, it has become difficult, and I now have an additional 30 lbs that I didn't have when I smoked. So besides my d**k making a reappearance, losing weight, having loose skin, feeling better, what were some things that happened, that you didn't expect? Good and more importantly, bad.

Thanks, Joe

I got my health back. My heart rate is good (I have a resting heart rate of 65 now!), which means my heart health is so much better. I have a crazy amount of energy all of a sudden, and actually can enjoy doing more physical things because it doesn't HURT anymore. My arthritis in my knees is getting better (not completely gone away, but I can definitely do way more before it starts getting all achy). I don't like the smell of greasy food anymore (which used to be my go to comfort food), and I'm craving (mostly) healthier things, or I've learned how to make versions of junk food that taste good but are on the healthy side.

The bad things are more that, I am never hungry or I am ALWAYS hungry. It depends on when I wake up. I have to set alarms to know when to eat so I don't over or under eat. The dizziness because I'm still eating below 1000 calories most days is annoying. I stand up and get faint or go to another dimension for a moment while my head settles. There are foods that my stomach ABSOLUTELY SAYS NO TO and will let me know when I eat them, but the only way to find out is to try them (so it ends up feeling very stomach crampy, gassy, and occasionally throwing it back up). There are days when I have no energy at all and can barely get out of bed occasionally. I had depression going into this, and it's gotten very bad (I've been going to a therapist, and it's been helping, but I had a really sharp decline in my mental health for a long time after my surgery). I'm only just now starting to feel better about my body (loose skin and all), but now my armpit skin has gotten so loose that it gets caught when I move my arms too fast sometimes and it hurts lol.

When I had my surgery, my gallbladder failed after a month, so I was miserable. I was vomiting, I wasn't keeping anything down, and I didn't eat more than a single saltine cracker a day for almost 2 months. I didn't lose an ounce of weight during that, but my muscles went phbbbt on me because I was so weak. However, I would do it all over again. This has given me my life back. I finally feel good and am getting healthy. Yea, I'm on a bunch of vitamins, but I'm off all my blood pressure meds and my cholesterol meds. It's been a difficult road, but it was certainly the way to go for me.

18 minutes ago, Sammi_Katt said:

I got my health back. My heart rate is good (I have a resting heart rate of 65 now!), which means my heart health is so much better. I have a crazy amount of energy all of a sudden, and actually can enjoy doing more physical things because it doesn't HURT anymore. My arthritis in my knees is getting better (not completely gone away, but I can definitely do way more before it starts getting all achy). I don't like the smell of greasy food anymore (which used to be my go to comfort food), and I'm craving (mostly) healthier things, or I've learned how to make versions of junk food that taste good but are on the healthy side.

The bad things are more that, I am never hungry or I am ALWAYS hungry. It depends on when I wake up. I have to set alarms to know when to eat so I don't over or under eat. The dizziness because I'm still eating below 1000 calories most days is annoying. I stand up and get faint or go to another dimension for a moment while my head settles. There are foods that my stomach ABSOLUTELY SAYS NO TO and will let me know when I eat them, but the only way to find out is to try them (so it ends up feeling very stomach crampy, gassy, and occasionally throwing it back up). There are days when I have no energy at all and can barely get out of bed occasionally. I had depression going into this, and it's gotten very bad (I've been going to a therapist, and it's been helping, but I had a really sharp decline in my mental health for a long time after my surgery). I'm only just now starting to feel better about my body (loose skin and all), but now my armpit skin has gotten so loose that it gets caught when I move my arms too fast sometimes and it hurts lol.

When I had my surgery, my gallbladder failed after a month, so I was miserable. I was vomiting, I wasn't keeping anything down, and I didn't eat more than a single saltine cracker a day for almost 2 months. I didn't lose an ounce of weight during that, but my muscles went phbbbt on me because I was so weak. However, I would do it all over again. This has given me my life back. I finally feel good and am getting healthy. Yea, I'm on a bunch of Vitamins, but I'm off all my blood pressure meds and my cholesterol meds. It's been a difficult road, but it was certainly the way to go for me.

Thanks for taking the time to post. I am worried about several of the things you are experiencing. I'm glad, overall your health has improved. The reward has to be better than the alternative for this to work for me.

I had bypass, but the good and bad outcomes should be essentially the same.

For me, it has been almost all good. As Sammi Kat said above, the health benefits have been immeasurable. I am off BP and cholesterol meds, no longer have knee pain or sleep apnea, I sleep better, have more energy, and generally feel better than I have in 20 years. Health and well-being is the reason I had the surgery, and on that front it was definitely worth it. I'm not having the food issues Sammi Kat describes and can eat essentially anything, but in much smaller quantities. I don't feel deprived at all.

On the vanity side, it's nice to look better, fit into normal clothes and not have to worry about being fat when I'm looking for a seat on public transportation. It's also nice not to always sweat and feel hot. (I actually get cold easily now.)

Cons: As you said, loose skin. It's not visible in clothes aside from the loose flesh on my neck, which makes me look older than I used to. I don't look great naked, but I'm 61 and my wonderful spouse is just happy that I'm now healthy and can be active again. One thing I never expected is that it's quite uncomfortable to sit on a hard surface for any length of time without the padding on my butt.

Those minor drawbacks are nothing compared to the tremendous benefits of surgery. I would do it again in a heartbeat!