OMG went to Sleeve Siminar

[Larman]

Hello,

I am terrified, but something has to be done. I am 54 and weigh 383 pounds, have pretty much been fat my whole life. I weighed 250 when I got married and 30 years later I am 383. I am terrified about what happens after the surgery as food has been a major part of my life. Its nice to know there are people who have been there done that. Wish me luck!

Larry

[KiwiGal]

Hi Larry

You need to make sure that you have all the information that you can possible gather to make an informed decision.
If your relationship with food is an issue it would possibly pay to address this with a counselor before during and after surgery.
The VSG is a tool that will definitely help with weight loss but you also need to work at it too. It's not a magic wand to solve all our issues.

Food is not as important to me as it used to be. I can pretty much eat what I like just not huge quantities. I now eat because I know my body needs good fuel to keep it going. That is not to say that I don't have the occasional cookie/ice cream/candy but they are very much the exception to the rule these days. Now my focus is on good lean protein, fresh vegetables and some fruit, and lots of water - exercise is also a big part of my life. At this stage it is mostly walking but I do it every day and have just started yoga classes.

Having said all of that this surgery is the best thing that I have ever done for myself. My life has been transformed. I am happy, healthy and loving my new life.

This forum is a great place for support and advice so please don't hesitate to ask any questions.

All the best.

[Ann2]

Hi, Larry. And welcome.

Keep reading. After losing weight post-op (which is not that hard after WLS), those of us who've then turned our lives around by maintaining our weight losses long-term have done so by changing our lifestyle and our lives.

For me (4.5 years post-op and still weighing 100+ pounds than I did pre-op), some of my best new behaviors are weighing daily, planning each day's menu and tracking what I eat (not everybody is into this long-term, but I love it), moving every single day in a variety of ways (walking, yoga, Aquarobics classes, and I just joined a new gym and am finally lifting weights again). All that sounds obvious, eh?

But the two big skill sets I've built that have been essential to my being able to keep doing the obvious behaviors above are:

(1) putting my own needs before those of others (hardly anyone but me noticed when I did this) and

(2) getting very comfortable beginning anew, over and over, sometimes every morning. Doesn't matter what happened yesterday, the sun comes up on brand new opportunities to care for myself well.

I've also been seeing a psychotherapist for almost five years to support my self-care lifestyle and to respond more appropriately to life's never-ending stresses. For me, that's been important, since comforting myself with food was a lifelong response to stresses of all kinds.

You can also read my annual "surgiversary" posts at the end of Years One, Two and Three (they're linked to in my signature block below) to learn what my early post-op years were like.

You can change your life for the better. Many people have. Although WLS by itself won't fix anything long-term, it offers us a tremendous advantage in that it does regulate how much we can eat at a time ... IF WE CHOOSE TO DO SO.

[sraebaer]

Perfect place to start! Glad you took that first step. Continue doing your research, this is a great place to learn and ask questions. I also enjoyed YouTube videos pre-surgery, watching people shrink before your eyes and hearing of their successes and struggles. For me the journey was really easy, I was lucky and kept my positive attitude the whole way.

Weighing what you do is way more terrifying than surgery. With the surgery you will be able to live again. You will be around many more years to be with your family. We were all nervous about the actual surgery, but it was such a short moment in time, it was no big deal.

Where has "food is a major part of my life" gotten you? You will still be able to enjoy food, in fact you will enjoy it more. Don't think of surgery as giving up food. Think of surgery as learning how to eat healthy meals and become a healthy, normal sized person. Last night we had delicious salmon on the grill, cauliflower charred in a cast iron skillet, and a little rice. Yum. You WILL have to give up the super sized extra value meals at the fast food restaurants, but you seriously won't want them. You will laugh at the fact that you used to eat that junk! If you crave fast food you could have something small OCCASIONALLY, like a McDonald's cheeseburger, a piece of pizza, or a taco. But that won't be for a while.

This surgery is totally your choice. Do your research and decide what is best for you. But I can tell you probably everyone here will say their only regret is that they didn't do it sooner. Best of luck in your decision.

[AnnieG]

You're much braver than you know. Everyone here is supportive and kind. And you are right - it can be scary!

[Larman]

Thanks to all who have replied.

The good thing is that my insurance requires 6 months of weigh ins and also I will have to meet with a dietitian and physiologist. They also have a support group that meets several times per week. In terms of support I feel they will more than meet my needs. Just a little nervous about the permanence their is no turning back and also I feel like a failure for not effectively dealing with my weight issues.

[kenson]

Larry,
There is little else that I can add to what has already been stated. Just make sure that you "get your head in the game." Make up your mind that you are going to do this and don't turn back!

[New-Me]

Welcome Larman,

I think everyone has covered the major points, and they've got more experience than me. My surgery was only a few months ago. But, everyone is correct. I wish I had done this much earlier and I have no regrets, even though it is permanent. Although permanent, your stomach can stretch back out and you can put all the weight back on if you don't follow your surgeon's long term advice. The sleeve is only a tool, not a magic bullet.

The first couple of days after surgery sucks, but then things start getting better very quickly. Once you start back on solid foods, you start getting your mojo back, so to speak. From my experience, the one thing I learned is that "mental hunger" is very real. Most of us got where we were at because we had some kind of unhealthy relationship with food. Whether we ate due to stress, as a coping mechanism, or just love unhealthy food. Use your pre-surgery process to really start getting your mental game down and your plan of attack. For a while, the fast food commercials on TV were killing me. My head was telling me I needed that pizza, burgers, and fries, although my stomach was telling me that I wasn't hungry at all. I probably couldn't have gotten more than a few bites in at that time anyway, even if I could have eaten it. But, the mental hunger for junk was very strong for me. I learned to change the channel, pick up a book, go for a short walk, whatever I needed to do to forget about the junk food.

Work with your doctor and staff to have a plan for your needs. I was 324 pounds, high blood pressure, pre-diabetic, sleep apnea, tired, feeling like crap, and generally sick and tired of being sick and tired. When I think about what was looming down the road for me medically, that is way more terrifying than any anxiety I had over getting the VSG. I had anxiety over the surgery also, even that last minute "I'll think I'll just cancel and try again on my own" statements going through my head. That was just my head not wanting to give up the comfort that overeating gave me. Stay strong, hang in there, and trust me, you can make a significant change and reclaim your life.

Again, don't get caught in that trap of thinking VSG is a magic bullet and you never have to work at anything again, regarding food and eating for the rest of your life. You have to learn to eat healthy, exercise, and do the work. But you will have the huge of advantage of not having an overwhelming hunger in your stomach driving you and making you want to eat everything in site. You can do it! This site is one of the best resources I've found.

Good luck!

[Christie13]

Welcome Larry. It is definitely a life changing decision for the better. Wishing you luck on your journey.