Wondering where to begin...

[JulieLynn]

Hello All! So this is my first post here and I just happened to find this site by chance. I am excited to learn all I can about Gastric Sleeve. I am a 40 year old wife and mother to 3 boys. I have been overweight since the pregnancy of my first son 18 years ago. With my health changes of being an Ovarian Cancer survivor, BRCA 2+, diagnosed with Hoshimotos, Gluten sensitive and newly diagnosed Insulin Resistance I have decided that it's time for a change. I was just told that I am pre-diabetic and that scares me the most. I just started looking into Bariatric surgery and I just got approved from my insurance company, yea! After reading a lot on line, I think that a Gastric sleeve is the way to go. I would love to hear your advice, recipes and ups and downs of your experiences. I have my first appointment, nurses consultation, on July 19th and I am taking my best friend with me. I am looking forward to hear what they have to say. I hope you are having a great day and look forward to hearing from you.

[stacydev]

The sleeve will change your life! It has been absolutely wonderful for me and I could never have imagined at just over a year out, I'm down 84 pounds and in a size 6-8. I can't speak about the health issues, as I was a healthy fat person before surgery and had no issues. I just recently had blood work done and my triglycerides dropped from 179 to 89! My HDL and LDL cholesterol are both great with my total score well below 200. So yes, this surgery will greatly benefit you physically. I have to say my energy level has gone through the roof! I can't believe I actually want to go out and do things and stay busy.

While I did my research with the surgery, there were still some things I was not mentally prepared for, but do not regret my decision. I knew I would have to give up certain things like soda, sweet tea. Some people can/will still drink these in moderation, but I feel like that would be a slippery slope for me, so I have not put those things to my lips. The only things I drink now are water and coffee, occasionally juice if I'm making a protein shake. Also, I LOVE food, so it was hard for me to accept that when my stomach said it's full to stop eating. I would/still do get pissed when I'm really enjoying something, but I have to stop eating because my tummy has had enough. That can be difficult to do. I mean, how do most of get fat? We keep eating after we are full and this is a behavior that has to be relearned to put the fork down when you feel that restriction. It's still something I have to deal with every day. Since February though, my weight has been within the same 4 pounds and while I would still like to lose about 10 pounds, I think this is where my body is happy at and I'm starting to accept it.

Best of luck to you and welcome to this journey. You will be so happy you made this decision.

[WANAGL]

Welcome!

This is hands down the best decision I ever made for me and my health. My ONLY regret is that I didn't do it sooner.

I highly recommend watching Dr Matthew Weiner videos on YouTube. They're full of useful information.

I used the wait time to practice healthy post-op behaviors. Surgery will be here before you know it!

Best of luck as you embark on your journey!