Ellie

[elllie]

HI! I have just joined the forum as I am in the process of deciding whether or not to have the surgery. I have my second appointment with the doctor this month and I still can't make up my mind. I need to lose allot of weight as I am uncomfortable and very unhappy in my body, but I feel surgery might be one step to far. I know what to do to lose weight but keeping to a diet is very difficult when you are the only one in the household who need to lose weight. I am scared of the first month, as I am not sure I can cope on just liquids and that in itself is a problem as I loathe the protein shakes. I have tried the slim fast diet and I cannot drink the shakes. It is making my anxiety worse. My son also says he doesn't want me to have the operation as it is a major operation and the worst outcome is death, plus the other side affects.

I also have questions regarding eating in the long term. Can you ever eat normal food again, like birthday cake or other treats? If you go out with friends/family to a restaurant can you eat a normal portion of food?

I look forward to hearing from people

[Dutchie]

I have a mantra "when in doubt, don't do it".
I suggest you first read and learn a lot about this procedure.
That will help you make a decision.
Seems to me you have a lot of issues to work out first.

[Luv49ers19]

Welcome Ellie. This surgery is a serious commitment. A total lifestyle change. For me it was a life changer...litteraly. I now have one! I was headed to a life a disability. Chonic back and knee pain, high blood pressure, pre diabetes, sleep apnea and just being miserable! My bmi was 52 now it is 24!

Almost 8 months out and the only meds I'm on is Omeprizole. I was on that before so it isn't new but I have been able to cut that dose in half. Blood pressure meds are a thing of the past now as is the other 3 meds I was on due to being morbidly obese.

This is something you need to figure out on your own if the surgery is worth the risk of every health issue you have now and your health will get worse if you don't do something about it. Trust me I know how hard it is. It got to the point where it was harder to be where I was health wise than to change. I changed eating the first time I meet with my nut (nutritionist). I was ready. I lost 51 pounds before surgery. Now I'm 1 pound away from my goal! You have to be ready and in the right mind set. The sleeve is just a tool. It will not fix your head.

As for the protien shakes. I HATE them as well but suffered through them the first 2 weeks. I am allergic to dairy so mine where plant based. When I got to pureed food I got my protien from chicken. My nut said it was fine because protien absorbs better from meat rather than plant. Today I'm getting at least 100 grams of protien in a day. I can eat almost a cup of food depending on what it is. I can eat anything I want but I'm sticking to the rules of protien first. But the time I get that done there really isn't any room for anything else.

Sorry for the long post. Good luck!

[elllie]

HI! Thanks for the reply. I have done allot of reading up on the procedure and I was all go, but then my son put me off a bit. I will see what the doctor says when I see him at my next appointment. well done on your journey so far

[elllie]

HI Cody, thanks for your reply. You have done amazingly and look fantastic. I don't have a problem having protein first, as i try and follow the diets advocated by Atkins and Tim Noakes. Its the first few weeks on shakes that I am really not keen on. I am hoping that there is an alternative to the shakes.

Keep up your good work.

[Ann2]

Welcome, Ellie.

I'm pertty sure your son doesn't know much about weight loss surgery. I can appreciate his "love my mama" anxiety. But he's not the one whose counsel you will benefit from.

Sit down, pull up a chair, and read. Read a lot. And then go to one or more introductory lectures in your area by bariatric surgeons. There's no cost to attend these sessions. You'll learn even more, including what the risks are to doing nothing to improve your health.

Best wishes!

[Christie13]

Complication rates for this surgery are super low. Lower than most surgeries. I can tell you that I can eat a decent amount now and socializing is no issue. I am super happy that I had this surgery. I am happier and healthier than I have been in ages. LOVE my sleeve.

[Gvn71]

Where to start?

Sure, it's major surgery (what surgery isn't?). Sure there could be complications. Sure, the worst that could happen is you could die. But reality is that it is extremely unlikely. Mortality rates for this surgery are very low, and they are calculated in such a way that things totally unrelated to the surgery are included in the mortality rate.

I recently was talking with a colleague and the subject of my surgery came up. He remarked to me that sure, I had this surgery, and I look great, but it isn't like I had to have it, it isn't like I would of died if I hadn't done it. I BEG TO DIFFER!!!!!

I was also conflicted about the surgery. I did not tell my kids (6 and 9 at the time) what the surgery was for, and I didn't even ask their opinion or permission prior to making my decision. My wife was not in support. She was terrified that something would go wrong, and also a little terrified that I was going to be successful and lose a lot of weight. We were both overweight at the time, but I had some significant health issues that were all caused by my being so overweight. I decided based on all the information that I was having the surgery. I had (notice I said had) type 2 diabetes, severe sleep apnea, high blood pressure, and chronic lower back pain to name a few. Not to mention that my knees and legs ached everyday. I justified my decision in that if I did not make major changes to my lifestyle I was never going to see me kids go to college or grow up. I just couldn't get it out of my head that some other guy was going to be raising my kids, and it broke my heart.

Fast forward to today! I am in better shape than I have been in since 9th grade! I no longer have any health problems, no more diabetes, no more apnea, no more high blood pressure and I feel great! I can exercise daily and I feel good doing it.

The chance of the surgery killing me was so much less than the likelihood that my weight was going to was the deciding factor. I also did this for me! I was miserable in my old body. All of the things I wanted to do that I did painfully or just couldn't do are now available to me.

As far as eating goes, I can now eat pretty much whatever I want, but I definitely can't eat as much (it's a good thing). I also don't eat crap anymore. I'm not saying I won't have a bite of birthday cake or a piece (small) of apple pie at Christmas, but I definitely watch what I eat. I don't miss the massive meals with huge portions, don't know why, but I don't. I can go out to dinner, go to parties, etc.



Hope this helps.

[elllie]

HI Glenn
Thanks for the response. My husband was never keen on me having the operation and felt that I should be able to do it just by eating less and exercising more. He recently realized that that isn't the case and now he thinks it would be best for me as he is worried about me developing all the problems you mention. He is now more keen on me having the operation than me wanting it. However after joining this forum and having people tell their stories I now believe this is the best option for me. Your response has helped.

[mandyjdc]

Hi Ellie!

It's a really hard decision. One that took me two years to ponder. Depending on your health conditions, it's a relatively easy, low incident surgery.

I'm almost three months out, and I'm so glad I did it! I struggled with my weight since I was 12. I've always loved food and eating, and one of my struggles before surgery was deciding if I really wanted to give up overeating and eating junk food. I'll admit, I've had a couple days where I've been upset that I couldn't eat more. But I look at the fact that between the 7 month pre diet and now, I've lost 10 inches from my waist, and 10 inches from my hips.

I've gone down 2 sizes since mid October. I feel happier, healthier, exercise is a heck of a lot easier!

I also find that cravings aren't anywhere near what they used to be before surgery. Did I have 1/4 of a cupcake and a bite of pasta at Christmas? Yep. But most days, I'm just not that interested in junk food.

Right now I can only eat about 1/4 cup of food at a time. I think once about a year out, most people are eating about 1 cup of food.

Honestly, it was the best decision I've ever made. I used to have to take a couple medicines for type II diabetes. The only medicine I take now is a gallbladder med they want you take while losing weight to avoid getting gallstones. I'm off all my other meds!

I also do not like protein shakes. Any of them. I found a couple protein shakes that are doable. There is a website called bariatric eating that sells Inspire protein shakes. They have about 20 different flavors, and they're pretty decent. Also, Syntrax makes fruit flavored protein powders for water that are pretty good as well.

Anyways, hope that helps! Good luck on making your decision!

[Pheeel21]

Ellie,
This decision is yours alone. You should not consider this surgery to please another person just YOU! Also you should also not reject this surgery because someone else doesn't think its a good idea. Almost all of us on this forum tried every diet out there. We know how to lose weight but we just couldn't keep it off. The gastric sleeve surgery is a tool. It is a very powerful tool. To be honest I thought the surgery was easy. For me not painful and the recovery was easy. But I also know that I had to be committed to "the process". I know that I needed a life change. The sleeve did it for me. Although I am only 14 weeks out I lost a lot of weight, I am off 1 medication and soon to be off another and I feel great. My ankles, knees, back and overall feeling is just great. I walk every day and work out 3 times per week. Is the surgery and life style change easy?. No but it is not difficult or impossible. My question for you is "where do you want to be 1 year from today"? Do you want to be thinner, more healthy, in better shape, look better and feel better? Can you do this with a conventional diet? Yest but the sleeve is a great tool to consider.