any regretters out there?

[shabby]

hi there,
it seems to good to be true that everyone i speak with who has had the surgery says it's the best thing they have ever done. do you or anyone you know regret the decision to have sleeve surgery? why?

[Gvn71]

You tell me....

Before:
face1.JPG

After:
face2.JPG

Are there parts of it that I wish were different? Sure, but do I have any regrets, no way. It is all about the relationship with food....

[Stacey03]

I have no regrets. I think the surgery is pretty safe but all surgery has risks. Thankfully I have sailed through. I also had a good healthy routine in place for a good 4 years before and was very fit and had already lost 40 kg and had a clean diet, I think for me this made this process so much easier but even if people are not like me they do really well and learn new habits etc as they go along. You will see people on here that are exercising for the first time in their life, its difficult to exercise when you are morbidly obese. Having the surgery gives people so many opportunities to change because it is SO HELPFUL. You cant eat as much so automatically learn about portion sizes and loosing weight makes it far easier on your joints etc to exercise. Heaps of people also were like me and exercised loads and were pretty fit but had some metabolic stuff going on that made it really difficult to lose weight.
I don't think it is a walk in the park for everyone and some people really benefit from therapy to get to the root of some issues, in fact I think anyone can benefit from therapy to deal with issues. Clearly we all had some issues somewhere to become so obese.
I really think this surgery is a lifesaver for people even if they don't realise it for a while. Periodic regrets especially at first may well be a perfectly normal response but long term I don't think many people have regret :-)

[Tamera2]

No regrets! Cured my diabetes, sleep apnea, high blood pressure,off 7 meds. Went from barely climbing a flight of stairs to preparing to summit mountains, enrolled in climbing school to learn technical mountaineering climbing and rock climbing. Happiest I’ve been in years. Wouldn’t change a thing. Happy to answer any questions. 62B63708-014B-40E9-A329-54AB4FCC552F.jpeg879AA56C-05E4-4B4D-BD3B-5683C22FECA5.jpeg Didn’t realize my before pics didn’t come through. They can be found below.

[Tamera2]

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[KiwiGal]

No regrets at all. Just wish I had been able to afford to have this done years ago.

[Ann2]

Do I have regrets about having been sleeved 3.5 years ago?

Hell, no!

Do some have regrets? I think some do -- especially the ones who thought surgery was the only action they needed to take to change their lives forever. To which, I also say ...

Hell, no!

To be successful long-term, you have to REALLY want to change your life. And then you have to actually DO THINGS to change your life -- things like exercise daily, learn more about nutrition and eat more nutritious food than you've eaten as an obese person, see a therapist to gain a lot better self-care skills than you've ever had or exercised before and learn how to manage the stresses we all have in our lives in ways other than self-medicating our anxieties and other emotional discomforts and pain with food, hang out with people who support your new life style and jettison some people from your life who either retard your progress or want to sabotage your progress. And other things.

So ... are you interested in making those kinds of life-long investments in your health and happiness? Or are you one of those who thinks he/she can just have surgery, lose XXX pounds, and then go back to eating and living like you used to? Because you can do that. But you'll be one of the ones who have regrets about WLS.

[Christie13]

One HUGE regret...waiting so long to take the plunge. Should have done it sooner.

[AnnieG]

No regrets. I had a minor complication, resulting in a second surgery the same day, and 2 units of blood. Only added 1 day to my hospital stay.

Today was my 6 month post-op visit. 6 Mo post VGS.jpg

[shabby]

thanks for your thoughtful response. i want, need and must succeed at weight loss at this point, or i'm in big trouble. thankfully, i started this process prior to finding out that have a life threatening condition due to my weight/ eating habits. as a result, i am more motivated now then i was 2 1/2 months ago.

my biggest worry is that i am not asking questions that i should because i don't know to ask them. as a result, i posed this question in the way i did.

i want to be sure that i have all the info i should have before going into surgery.

again, thank you for your time.

[mandyjdc]

I had my surgery 6 months ago, and wish I had done it sooner. I had an easy recovery, no complications, have lost 63 lbs. since Oct. I no longer sweat profusely, I don't have to take diabetes meds anymore, my cholesterol is down, triglycerides are way down, moving/exercising has become SO much easier. I'm doing my first 5k on Saturday! My major problem was over eating. Physically, just can't do it anymore. Not even tempted to. I've been through a couple really stressful situations since surgery (mom getting cancer, boyfriend cheating on me), both would have sent me into an eating tailspin. I gained one lb and promptly lost it!

It's the little things too that make a difference as well. Not having to spend $50 for a cotton t-shirt from the plus size store, but instead can buy a cute dress from Target for $20. Being able to fit into seats at the theater, booths, moving in between tables at restaurants without fearing hitting someone's table and knocking their drinks over...etc.

[denzel]

Gastric sleeve followed up by 1/2 body lift and arm lift - in 2015 - absolutely no regrets.

[JUstKAWS]

I'm 4 years, 8 months out now... NO regrets. I've gained only a little bit back and that's mostly because I got way too skinny, then I have been careless with soda. I only wish I'd done it sooner as well.

[Gege1061]

Hello!
I'm only 5 months out, but at this stage in the game I'd do this surgery over again everyday all day. It was a defining moment in my life. I took charge and I'm in control. I don't know anyone with regrets but I know a lot of people with renewed hope including me.

Gege

[sraebaer]

Do I regret not being obese? Shopping in regular stores? Feeling great? Skiing, biking, and climbing mountains at 61? NO WAY! Wish I would have done this years ago, but I don't think the sleeve has been around that long.

It's been almost 5 years and I still do a double-take when I walk past a mirror. Like is that really me?