Hi all!

I had a very easy time with getting approved with my insurance and meeting requirements for my sleeve. I was able to get all the requirements done in a month and I am already scheduled for 02/01/2021! I feel relieved it was so easy but as soon as I made the appointment the anxiety and reality kicked in hard. Did anyone else find themselves worrying about if they would be successful after surgery? I am also worried about pain since I have never had surgery other than my wisdom teeth (which were so painful). After failing diets my entire life I am now 130lbs overweight and I know this is the best shot I have at losing that much. I am just worried it will be like every other diet or change I have failed. My doctor's office has a support group I have been to but I just feel silly talking in them. Any advice or words of encouragement for dealing with pre-surgery anxiety would be super helpful! Thank you all for the constant support with your own posts, makes me feel not alone ❤️

I don't think there is a person alive who wouldn't be worried about any surgery. You just have to man up as they say and once you get with the anaesthetists you will be ok. They are very used to nervous patients and will put you right.

I had no pains at all not even gas pain but if I had, I would have been given the meds.

I read these forums for months to get to know the good and the bad about this surgery and soaked up the all the advice everyone gave. Its all good stuff. Keep us posted and goodluck

I think most people are nervous before surgeries. I've had several surgeries and I'm always nervous before them

Pain is all across the board, but most people seem to have little to no pain with these surgeries. I had none. They'll send you home with pain pills. I never even bothered to open mine, but if you do have pain, take them as directed and you should be able to stay on top of it.

I started out at almost 400 lbs and had been on every diet known to man. Surgery is the only thing that worked for me. If you follow your surgeon's plan, you WILL lose the weight.

You've got it!

Definitely definitely use the support group, and know that the more you share, the more you get. But it's okay to share when you're ready to share, you don't have to share everything, all at once

I have a distinct memory of looking at myself in the mirror the week before surgery and saying “ what the heck are you doing?” Just suddenly hitting me that after all the work I was going to remove a healthy organ. But I just kept on trucking ahead and before I knew it the surgery was over.

One of my friends asked me recently if I wish I could be “back to normal” now that I lost the excess weight. Not in a million years! I still love my sleeve, and over a year later the novelty of being able to be “full” so easy hasn’t worn off.

Change is hard and scary, but it becomes normal over time. This surgery is pretty darn low risk comparatively. And staying morbidly obese is a high risk activity every day!

It’s very common to start to feel anxious when you get a surgery date or a few days before surgery. Just means you are aware that this is a major surgery and you are not taking it lightly which is a good thing.

Congratulations! So exciting that you will soon be getting a tool that will help you lose weight.

Yes, upcoming surgery is scary. What helped me is writing down all my questions (and the responses from doctors, billing, etc.), getting anything possible ready ahead of time for the hospital and recovery, tying all loose ends with work/home/family ahead of time, and trusting in the experts.

I don’t mean to scare you, but hospitals are short-staffed due to COVID. My requests for pain relief regularly took 30-90 minutes, and I wasn’t allowed to have my husband stay overnight to be my advocate. If I had to do it again, I would have gone ahead and woken him up at 1am to call the nurse station himself. I also would have involved the charge nurse or patient advocate much sooner. And when I could walk the next day, I should have walked myself over to the nurse’s station to insist on meds.

Yes, I also worried that I wouldn’t be successful. So, I only told my husband. And I am private so did not join support groups, but found this forum such a blessing!! The wonderful people here have provided all the support, ideas, encouragement needed. GL!

On 12/21/2021 at 12:13 PM, greenwitch17 said:

Hi all!

I had a very easy time with getting approved with my insurance and meeting requirements for my sleeve. I was able to get all the requirements done in a month and I am already scheduled for 02/01/2021! I feel relieved it was so easy but as soon as I made the appointment the anxiety and reality kicked in hard. Did anyone else find themselves worrying about if they would be successful after surgery? I am also worried about pain since I have never had surgery other than my wisdom teeth (which were so painful). After failing diets my entire life I am now 130lbs overweight and I know this is the best shot I have at losing that much. I am just worried it will be like every other diet or change I have failed. My doctor's office has a support group I have been to but I just feel silly talking in them. Any advice or words of encouragement for dealing with pre-surgery anxiety would be super helpful! Thank you all for the constant support with your own posts, makes me feel not alone ❤️

Hi there! I totally get it, as I just got my surgery date earlier this week. I had so many requirements from the insurance company so the process has taken me 5 months. I wavered while making the decision, but while I am convinced it's the right one, it suddenly feels real. My biggest fear is not being able to maintain the lifestyle changes needed to get and stay healthy, but this just has to happen. Nothing else has worked, and the weight keeps piling on. So while I can't speak to the pain aspect, I can tell you that I am scared, too. We'll get through it though, and I'm willing to bet it will all be worth it.

It's perfectly normal to be a little worried. If you weren't, we'd worry about you. ? Any surgery comes with risks but these are tried and true procedures that millions of people have undergone, so feel comfortable that they've got it down to a science. Post-op just keep remembering what made you want to have the WLS surgery in the first place and it'll keep you focused and successful.