Congratulations!! I had my surgery on 10/23/2009 and have lost 23.5 pounds thus far. It was only a few short weeks ago I was where you are now. I remember the feelings of excitement and fear at the same time.

Best of Luck!!

Dear DenmomLt

It's good to see that you have given this process a lot of thought but more importantly that you have put you trust in the father to help you make the right decision for you. My journey up until now has been very frustrating, set back after set back. Although in my heart I believe that all these setbacks have been for a reason, I still get frustrated. The challenge for me at times is not to question that the father knows what is best for me, even if i think I do. So I turned to him in earnest - to guide and smooth the way for the right thing to happen.

Take strength that you have a guiding light.

Good Luck.

Ryan, congratulations, very exciting news in deed. Now you journey really starts. Good Luck, do keep us informed as to your progress.

Kaly I wish you good luck and hope that things go your way.

That could almost be my story. I turned in the last bit of required paperwork to Dr.Callery's office last week and they are submitting everything to my insurance company this week. The insurance company has 30 days to respond. I am nervous b/c my work told me there will be a change in our insurance 2/1/2010..........yikes.let's hope they hurry.

I think you should stick to your guns, and possibly get a second medical opinion. I don't know what the mention of children issue is. If you feel the sleeve is for you... then pursue it, don't settle for something you're not happy with. This is too important to let some else make the decision for you. Get another opinion then if your satisfied with what you hear ..go for it.

Good Luck

Good luck!! Please let us know how everything goes..My date is Dec.7 and would love some advice.

Brooke

Mint.E...
My surgery is Dec 1st. I also have had moments of panic. I know that I am doing the right thing but I always have that voice in my head saying "are you sure this is for you" or ''What if something goes wrong and you die having a wls" Is that worth it..So ya I know what you mean. I guess the best thing we can do is surround ourselves with positive supportive people. I have also found that this website really helps. There are so many great people/stories on here. It makes me less nervous and more excited. I hope everything goes great for you!!
Brooke

Well, you are lucky for not having to diet at least. I have to be on a physican supervised diet for 6 months. 1200 calories a day, walking 5x per week, 3 weight workouts, and a bunch of dietary restrictions, like 64oz of water a day, 70g of protein, etc. It's been hard. I feel like I've been eating the same meal plan every day for the last five weeks.

Hopefully I can keep it up for another five months. But mercy, everytime I talk to her she has some new torture for me. >.<

It is the only way to get my insurance to pay for it. She wants me to lose 84lbs before surgery.

Hope you get to feeling better soon! Take good care of yourself!

HI Amelia,

I'm still the same. Today i bought Effervescent vitamin C and Vicks First Defence - Micro -gel Nasal spray. My chest is a little wheezy. To top it all my grand daughter has a cold/cought with a fever - that's all I need. Asking people to keep away from me with the germs seems to be falling on deaf ears - their lack of understanding and a bit of selfishness going on.

It's hard to feel positive although I know what you're saying is true - it is better for me to be healthy for surgery - it's common sense really.

Oh and i'm not on a special diet of any sort, my surgeon does not require it. So yes it's very frustrating.

Thanks for responding though.

Ah, hon, how frustrating. I wonder how much of your angst though is that you have been under the weather for so long? Waiting is hard, but it is only in your best interest to wait until you are as healthy as you can be.

On the plus side, the longer you get to diet ahead of time (or so I'm told) the lower your weight at surgery and thus the lower the 'expected sucessful' weight will be. My Nut told me that people on average lose 65% of their excess weight on day of surgery. I'm using that as motivation during my long weight to hope to get as small as I can in hopes to lower my final weight.

Gotta tell ya' though. Last night I would have killed for warm, moist chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream. *cries*

*big hugs* We'll get through this. Hope you get to feeling better soon. I had the flu last week. It was miserable!

I am in month 2 of my six-month required diet, and I totally dread the holidays. Still, we can do this!

Grats on getting your date! Hopefully I won't be too far behind you!

Good luck!! Let us know how it goes!!

keep strong, your day will come. I know its a long process but pls. hang on.

Please don't give up... its hard, the pre-op process takes forever, but think about your health, its the most important thing you've got. Hang in there. If you need to talk, pls. message me.





Date of Surgery: November 11, 2009
Date released from hospital: November 13, 2009
Starting Weight Pre-OP: 218 pounds
Weight Date of Surgery: 213

Hi there hope all is going well. it's good to share information isnt it.

Have you not found since making this decision to have WLS - you start to anaylise your own eating pattern. I hear you when you say you think something might be wrong with you, but I'll take a gamble and say I bet there is not.

What I came to realise was that I am addicted to carbahydrates, potatoes, mashed, roasted, boiled, chips etc.; bread, ooooooh bread, soft bread, crusty bread in all forms; bastmati rice; yams etc. What I've come to learn more recently is that when you eat carbs. you will tend to get hungry quicker - or just crave more food. So imagine you've had a Chinese meal, (full of carbs), it's not that long before you feel like you could eat something again. So carbs actually has you going back for more. Now think about the stuff you tend to eat - do you fit that pattern. If so, then there is nothing wrong with you. Its just bad habits we have formulated over the years.

I spoke with one of my surgeons the other day and he told me that what we eat after surgery is different for everyone. Some people can eat as before and others have problems being re-introduced to bread - which is understandable as bread actually swells in your stomach, so could cause some difficulty for some people.

Do let me know if you find out any other new facts.

Hyacinth

Hey hychap! I'll try and answer your questions/comments.

The two seminars I attended did not say the Sleeve was faster than Gastric Bypass. Since I am not a candidate for GB and won't have the GB option, I only intended to say that the Sleeve apparently has faster weight loss than those who got LapBand. That's what I was told- I can't guarantee that it is. I didn't get the impression that the Band wouldn't be good due to slower weight loss. It was just something to note. Sorry for any confusion on that!

Most of my "information" is also what I learned from the seminars, the counselor, and what I've found online. I'm in no way any kind of expert on WLS.

The success rates I was given in the seminars were pretty similar. They were success rates for GB, the Sleeve, and LapBand. GB had the best success rate, then the sleeve, then the Band. So if I were to choose the sleeve over the band, according to the statistics we were given in seminar, I should theoretically have an even better chance of losing all my excess weight.

The ghrelin hormone is really part of why I'm starting to really lean towards the sleeve over the band. I like the idea of the band but think that this decrease in ghrelin may solve a lot of my issues.

I'm glad you mentioned the staples and leakages being probable with most WLS's. That's kind of what I was thinking too but when making my little personal list of pros and cons, I put it on there.

The stretching of the stomach/sleeve post WLS is definitely something that freaks me out a little. You're correct, from what I've read, it's possible no matter which surgery you get!

The dietary requirements is the part I really am interested in hearing more about. My nutrition appointment is in a few days and I can't wait to get more knowledge on that.

I'm already on vitamins for life from another medical issue (completely non-weight issue). The thought of having to take medicine or vitamins or regulate certain things in my diet doesn't bother me in the least. Since becoming vegetarian in the last year alone has caused me to have to be organized about things more than before.

I love the line you wrote about when you're sleeved, you're likely to eat what you did before but restricted with amount- I feel like that's the kind of stuff I need to know about. The honest truths of what to expect. Thank you for that.

I'm also an over eater from portion size. I snack though too. I've told several doctors that I truly believe there's something wrong in my body that makes me feel hungry all the time. Doesn't matter if it's pizza or vegetables.. I'll overeat whatever I've got to eat.

Thanks for your comments! I hope I addressed all of them. Thanks for the support too!!!!

Thanks Ivana! I love to hear from people who have made it to the post op side of things and have little regrets. I'm sticking to my guns and planning to protect my privacy!

Thanks Ivana and Bliss. I have had this happen to me on and off several times over the years.. the no eye contact or clear avoidance is pretty standard.

One time a neighbor came in and saw a photo of me and dh from when we first met and asked who the girl was. When dh told him it was me, he didn't believe it and said to me, "What happened?"

I privately cried in the bathroom after the guy left for like an hour.

omg, shoes! in a way it's a good thing we can't afford any extras right now, b/c i am totally girly in that i LOVE shoes!!!!

i keep wondering if, once the weight is off, i'll be able to wear heels easier than i do now. i don't ever wear them b/c they are so uncomfortable, but i love the look of 'em! if i have to stick with kitten heels for the rest of my life i'll live.

p.s. you should post pics of your 13 new pairs of shoes. LOL