I have a date too!

My date is Nov 14 for open RNY and I am totally terrified! Afraid of dieing, afraid of having some horrible complication, afraid of messing it up, afraid it won't work, afraid, afraid, afraid. Trying to keep a positive attitude but it is hard to do. I just want to get through it. I am way too old to be such a big baby about this but guess what? I am anyway. It will be nice to get off of so much medicine. It will be nice to be able to do more things than I can now. It will be nice to have to get rid of clothes because they are too big instead of too small. Maybe I need to make an It Will Be Nice list. It is a wonderful and terrible thing to hope to just be a normal size person some day. Okay, I am done venting now. I usually don't do the pity party thing much because it is a total waste of time and enough is enough. Have a great weekend everyone.

Connie, My surgery is this Monday, and up until yesterday I was as scared as you. I'm only slightly worried about complications, I'm a strong enough person to deal, but I was terrified about dying and leaving my little boy and my husband. I went and bought the book "the real skinny on weight loss surgery" and read the whole thing last night and this morning. Now that I know exactly what to expect, I'm not so worried anymore. In the chapter on complications (which came with stories so funny I was laughing out loud), one of the authors (they both had complications) said that when they told her what was wrong she told him she trusted him completely and to do what was necessary. She reminded me that these are professional people and they've been through it all before many times. No one can guarantee that you won't have any complications, but if you trust your surgeon enough to "switch" around your insides, then you should trust him/her to fix anything that goes wrong. There is also a list in the book. A list of the "little things" that make life post-op so rewarding. It goes way beyond fitting into smaller clothes and being heathier. It has things like being able to reach behind you to zip up your skirt instead of zipping it up in front and turning it around. Stuff I never even thought of, but I found it incredibly inspirational and now I'm waaaayyy more calm and optimistic. You should check your local library and see if they have a copy....or better yet check with your bariatric center, they usually have books to lend out. I just borrowed Carnie Wilson's newest book from mine. Sheryl

Yes as soon as I was given the date I started getting nervous too. We have made a very good decision. Write that list and then you will have something to ready while sitting in the hospital. God Bless and My prayers are with you. April

Sheryl and April, Thanks so much for the responses. I know I have made a good decision, in fact it is the only one left to make other than staying this way, becoming more unhealthy, and dieing early anyway. I don't think that my support group has any books to borrow but I am going to call tomorrow and find out. I have only been to one support meeting but I am planning to go to the one this Wednesday if I can manage it. I am going to start my list this afternoon, April. It should be really long by surgery time! Good luck to you both. My new motto is "think positive". What are the words to that old song? Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, hold on to the affirmative, and don't mess with Mr. In-between!

Congratulations!!!! You have made a very couragious decision. I am almost one year out, and I would do it again in a heart beat!! I don't know why, but I went into surgery with such a calm. I have gone from 279 to 162 and from 22/24 to currently wearing 10's!!! I power walk 3 miles nearly every day, my energy level is through the roof!! Here is the ONLY way I found to get my protein in... 1 scoop EAS Premium whey protein-vanilla (walmart) 4 large frozen SF strawberries 1/2 banana 7 moon shaped ice cubes (counting each as an oz.) 2 oz cold water...can substitute ice and water with skim milk. 3/4 packet splenda (or to taste) Blend well...enjoy (works great to take supplements with once you no longer need to crush) I tried ordering all the samples that everyone talks about...personally I could not stand them. everyones taste buds are different. sending Best Wishes and Hugs your way...you bring back memories...wanting to get all the holiday stuff done ahead of time...3 trees in my home, went to 2 last year lol Debi 279/162/150ish?

Connie, I just had my surgery on 10/10. I felt calm and confident about it until the night before. Then I was a bit of a wreck and the morning of I as really nervous. I recommend just reading as much as you can between now and then. Two books that have been good for me are WLS for dummies and Susan Maria Leach's book. I also think your idea of making the list is a great one. I did this and it does really help to put things into perspective. My surgeon also said something that really stuck with me. He said that unless I lost weight, my health was going to continue to deteriorate. Lord knows I had tried everything else so the surgery was a chance at health and that cinched it for me! Best of luck to you, Connie! -Nan

Thanks, everyone, for the encouragement. I went to the support group meeting Wednesday night (my second one) and everyone was so nice. It calmed me down just listening to some other experiences and see how happy everyone was. You have all given me some great ideas and helped me get a better perspective. I am still afraid but now I have some kind of strange anticipation too. Hard to describe but I am sure you have all felt the same way in the past. I think I might have a life again instead of just an existence. And thanks for the smoothie hint. I bought a new bullet blender to play with and will try that idea today. This is definately an adventure. Hugs to everybody! (((((((you all)))))))!!