I'm not prepared - ThinnerTimes - Gastric Bypass Forum, Lap Band Forum, and Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy Forum

ClarkeStone · 06-22-2009, 08:18 PM

Hi, my names Adam and this is my secodn topic.

I really am not prepared for surgery - unti last week I didnt know when surgery was due, and now ive foudn out its the 28th of this month

They asked me if I can find something apart form confort eating after the op, I answered yes, I meant no

They asked me if I understood the degree of difference this will mean on almost every aspect of my life, I said yes, I meant no.

I am scred of needles. I had a bad experience many years ago, and now I just cant seem to give blood. I am really scared about the op and just wondered how others have coped with the work up

ClarkeStone · 06-22-2009, 08:31 PM

also, it seems as if most people have some sort fo scan to see if their liver has shrunk enough. there is no such scan planned for me.

I think I'm going to cancl.

TheFour · 06-22-2009, 09:03 PM

Surgery is frightening, no doubt. This decision that you have to make has to be weighed accordingly.

Liver shrinkage----if isnt small as they think it should be the worst that will happen is that they conduct an open style surgery in order to not damage your liver.

The wishy-washy aspect of your life without food isnt as bad as you might think. Yes we all have used food as a crutch. It is comforting, but like any drug if it cant be controlled it will kill you. Sorry for the scare.

Lets be real. You seeked a doctor, went through many hoops, talked to a billion people about it and if you are ready. Those people think you are ready, why dont you????

I think you are being hard on yourself for no reason. Forget food, forget surgery, forget all the stress in your life. What do you want for yourself? Is it to be obese, I think not. Is it to struggle walking up stairs, i think not. Finding clothing that fits and looks good, I think not. You want what everyone else wants. A healthy, happy, long life. Maybe you can have some of these while being obese, maybe not.

You are a 26 year old male, you can vote, drink, fight and die for your country. Be a man and dont use needles as an excuse to not have surgery. If your not ready then say that. Dont blame an inanimate object. Plus tell them you freak-out over needles they will give you some oral meds to put you in a nice and easy state.

Sorry to sound like a dick. You just need to step back and think about what you want your quality of life to be.

AirForceWifeInUtah · 06-23-2009, 01:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClarkeStone

Hi, my names Adam and this is my secodn topic.

I really am not prepared for surgery - unti last week I didnt know when surgery was due, and now ive foudn out its the 28th of this month

They asked me if I can find something apart form confort eating after the op, I answered yes, I meant no

They asked me if I understood the degree of difference this will mean on almost every aspect of my life, I said yes, I meant no.

I am scred of needles. I had a bad experience many years ago, and now I just cant seem to give blood. I am really scared about the op and just wondered how others have coped with the work up

I'm pre-surgery so take my advice with a grain of salt, but before you dismiss it, take a few moments to really think about it.

WLS is like a wedding. You talk about it, you seriously talk about it, then you take the plunge and propose. With WLS you think about it, you seriously think about it then do the research, then you take the plunge and talk to your doctor about it.

At this point both the to-be bride and doctor have said "YES!" and you're on your way to the planning and preparation stage. You've ordered your wedding invitations and sent them out. You've ordered and gotten your medical tests done.

Now you're recieving replies from wedding guests.
Now you're recieving a reply from your surgeon.

The day approaches. You've been so excited about this and looking forward to it but now all your fears come to light.

What if I can't provide for my family? etc etc all the fears that come along with getting married. COLD FEET!

Same with surgery. You're making a drastic change in your life and now that the time is almost upon you, you're having a case of the cold feets.

Once you sit down, take a deep breath, take a step back and re-evaluate the thought process that brought you to that point... things make sense. You're still nervous as hell but this is a choice you made.. that you WANTED to make in order to improve your life.

You'll see that once you're through the fear stage and take your seat on the losers bench, that it's a choice you're glad you went through with.

Btw, in my story... the marriage is happily ever after, so your life post-WLS will also be happily ever after

ClarkeStone · 06-23-2009, 05:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheFour

Surgery is frightening, no doubt. This decision that you have to make has to be weighed accordingly.

Liver shrinkage----if isnt small as they think it should be the worst that will happen is that they conduct an open style surgery in order to not damage your liver.

The wishy-washy aspect of your life without food isnt as bad as you might think. Yes we all have used food as a crutch. It is comforting, but like any drug if it cant be controlled it will kill you. Sorry for the scare.

Lets be real. You seeked a doctor, went through many hoops, talked to a billion people about it and if you are ready. Those people think you are ready, why dont you????

I think you are being hard on yourself for no reason. Forget food, forget surgery, forget all the stress in your life. What do you want for yourself? Is it to be obese, I think not. Is it to struggle walking up stairs, i think not. Finding clothing that fits and looks good, I think not. You want what everyone else wants. A healthy, happy, long life. Maybe you can have some of these while being obese, maybe not.

You are a 26 year old male, you can vote, drink, fight and die for your country. Be a man and dont use needles as an excuse to not have surgery. If your not ready then say that. Dont blame an inanimate object. Plus tell them you freak-out over needles they will give you some oral meds to put you in a nice and easy state.

Sorry to sound like a dick. You just need to step back and think about what you want your quality of life to be.

1st off, you really dont sound like a dick. You made your opinion clear in a way I can relate to. I've asked for advice from people that havent been involved in this particular field, and all I have had is luke warm "you'll be fine" responses. It really is important to me that you stated the facts, so theres no misunderstanding on my part.

Yes im still scared about the whole operation and the fall out.

Am I prepared? Maybe a little more so now. Do I accept that this will be happeneing in 5 days? YES.

Thank you

Adam

ClarkeStone · 06-23-2009, 05:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AirForceWifeInUtah

I'm pre-surgery so take my advice with a grain of salt, but before you dismiss it, take a few moments to really think about it.

WLS is like a wedding. You talk about it, you seriously talk about it, then you take the plunge and propose. With WLS you think about it, you seriously think about it then do the research, then you take the plunge and talk to your doctor about it.

At this point both the to-be bride and doctor have said "YES!" and you're on your way to the planning and preparation stage. You've ordered your wedding invitations and sent them out. You've ordered and gotten your medical tests done.

Now you're recieving replies from wedding guests.
Now you're recieving a reply from your surgeon.

The day approaches. You've been so excited about this and looking forward to it but now all your fears come to light.

What if I can't provide for my family? etc etc all the fears that come along with getting married. COLD FEET!

Same with surgery. You're making a drastic change in your life and now that the time is almost upon you, you're having a case of the cold feets.

Once you sit down, take a deep breath, take a step back and re-evaluate the thought process that brought you to that point... things make sense. You're still nervous as hell but this is a choice you made.. that you WANTED to make in order to improve your life.

You'll see that once you're through the fear stage and take your seat on the losers bench, that it's a choice you're glad you went through with.

Btw, in my story... the marriage is happily ever after, so your life post-WLS will also be happily ever after

Hi

I love yoru story and can relate this directly to the operation. Both you and the above poster have made my day. I am due to go into work and was sure I woudl be emailing my nurse to cancel today, this is now not the case. The operation will be going ahead, all being well at a little assessment tomorrow.

Needles will not bother me, as it's Juice vs Squeeze, and a little bit of pain will get me 10, 000's of happiness back.

Thank you both

Adam

supersexysprite · 06-23-2009, 05:49 AM

This is classic goodness right here. This thread alone, represents what this forum can do for the many out there that are in the same position. I love it.

Good on you.

I'm just begining to see a stark contrast in the advice or extreme lack of detail and or instruction given to patients for post operative care. It's startling.

Well done

Kimberly76 · 06-23-2009, 06:40 AM

Jitters / fear of the unexpected in a first surgery are very expected. I had a woman in my support group say that she was terrified to have surgery. And I told her, that when I had my surgery (being a big fan of shows like ER and Grey's) it was my first and I felt like a movie star playing a part. Everything seemed so big and so AAAHHH! like wow! I'm really here.

When I saw her after surgery, she told me thank you for that image, cus she was thinking of me and my story. And not so much the fear of the actual surgery. And she did the whole, wow this isn't as bad as I thought it would be.

hope it helps : )

Meghan · 06-23-2009, 06:49 AM

I can totaly related to how you are feeling about the actual operation. I never had my liver scanned to see if it shrunk enough for surger, two of my friends who had it done also did not have their's scanned. My surgery was two weeks ago today. I went in at 10:00 AM didn't get in to the OR until maybe 3:30. I am also terrified of needles, the nurses and doctors are very comforting, atleast they were with me. The nurse actually got my IV in on one stick, which is very unusual with my veins. I sat all day waiting nervous as could be. I brought my mom with me for support, so maybe if you bring a support system with you it will ease your nerves. When I was down in the room the put you in before you go to the OR is when my nerves went nuts! But the Anestiologist (sp?) his assistant, my Doctor and all the other OR staff were awesome, that I just felt at ease. I'm two weeks out now and I feel great. I'm not sure which surgery you are having, I had the lap band. It was uncomfortable for about a week, not so much pain but muscle ache. I feel that all my nerves and pre op fears were normal, but I was glad I followed through with it because even two weeks after I feel healthy and truly feel this was the best decision I have ever made in my life!
Good Luck to you!

Vikkator · 06-23-2009, 07:11 AM

You need to really assess your situation and I hope you're well informed about what you're getting yourself into. Your life is going to change drastically. You will have to eat differently for the rest of your life. Are you really ready for that? You definitely should not take this lightly and if you are that scared, you might want to wait. But only you can make that decision.

With that said, I'll relate my own experience. This was the best thing I've ever done for myself. I was 110 pounds overweight and have about 21 pounds to get to my goal. I had my surgery on election day. I am thrilled to feel like a normal person again. I can fit in chairs without my ass hanging out the sides. I can cross my legs. I can walk up the stairs without groaning. But there are a lot of sacrifices I've made to get here. The surgery isn't a quick fix. It's a tool that helps, but you have to do the work. We were all scared going in to surgery. Maybe ask your doc if you can have a sedative before you go in. I did that and it helped me immensely.

I hope you make the right decision for yourself and that everything works out ok. Good luck.