Did FOREVER scare you?

Yep, forever gave me a couple of 2nd thoughts. But...here's how I rationalized:

"I can FOREVER be fat, unhealthy and unhappy OR I can FOREVER utilize my sleeve as a powerful tool to help me get thinner, healthier and happier!"

Which FOREVER are you going to choose?

I had that miserable, ****ing band 10 years before my revision. Band failure, since it is surgery and therefore is considered an "extreme" step to take to lose weight, it has a devastating effect when it fails. Patients develop the burnt-once-twice-shy syndrome about anything else bariatric. 'Cause if you screw this up, there's no going back!

Yeah, it's scary. But at 90 pounds lost and counting (and this from someone who couldn't lose 10 pounds on her own to save her own life), I can assure you that the band does not hold a candle to the sleeve for effective weight loss. I predict that 10 years from now, the band will have been tossed on the trash pile of dangerous and largely ineffective bariatric surgery procedures.

I know how nervous you are about this point from your past posts. It's true that your recovery from sleeve surgery may be difficult, but there is an end to it, and you will start feeling healthy and you'll lose weight. There's really no way to reassure you completely, because you may be thinking, "Yeah, it worked for you, but that doesn't mean it will work for me." The only solution is to decide whether to have the surgery or not. If you commit to it, just hold your breath and jump in. If you can't trust that it will work for you, then you'll need to find a different way to deal with your excess weight. And you know how that goes. To quote "The Matrix": "...you have been down there, Neo. You know that road. You know exactly where it ends. And I know that's not where you want to be."

psychoticparrot

Thank you for always being there to encourage me. You have absolutely no idea how much that means to me. I feel like I am borderline neurotic about this, but as you well know, that darn band was hell! You always talk me down. I hope I don't drive you crazy between now and my surgery. LOL Hopefully it will be the end of December!!!!! Thank you again.

CJ

Forever didn't scare me. It was a relief. I was sick and tired of the weightloss cycle. I WANTED forever.

I can understand how the band has colored your perspective. Certainly makes sense. I encourage you to check out the profiles of Tripmom and USAFwife - both band to sleeve revision patients and highly successful.

Your worry about the food getting stuck at the band and that feeling of never getting enough, even though it feels like too much doesn't happen with the sleeve (as far as I know). It does take time to adjust to the new size of your stomach - especially the "My eyes were bigger than my stomach" Syndrome. You will (most likely) be able to eat everything you can eat today once your stomach is completely healed. You may CHOOSE to not eat certain things, but that doesn't mean you CAN'T eat certain foods.

Full-satisfied-sated, whatever you want to call it, feels different now, too. At least, it does to me. That new feeling takes some time to get used to. I will be completely honest and admit that sometimes I do miss the old full feeling, BUT I would never turn back the clock to change my decision to have VSG! NEVER, NEVER, NEVER! What I have gained is priceless.

Yes, it scared the heck out of me that VSG was forever. No going back from this one! I even talked with my surgeon after my preop diet whcich went so well about doing it on my own. He pointed out that I'd done it on my own several times and that WLS was as much about keeping it off as it was getting it off!

Yes, it is forever. Yes, it takes some getting used to. Yes, it's one of the best things I've ever done for myself. Like the band, the VSG is not a cure, but it is one hell of a tool - far superior than what you had previously.

You are right to question and worry and ponder. If you didn't do those things, how would you be sure you made the absolute right decision? I remember I struggled between VSG and RNY (My doc steered me far away from the band at the get go.) I hemmed and hawed and researched and worried myself in to a lather on a couple of occasions. So, when I decided on the VSG I knew deep in my gut it was the right choice for me. You will know, too.

Happy Contemplating!

Thank you so much for your response. I hope my responding doesn't erase/change your post...lol. I am so excited about my new life post sleeve, but I would be much more at ease if I had a crystal ball. I will continue to research, pray, and rely on the wonderful advice from people like you to help me through. I am about 5 weeks away from completing the "hoop jumping", and then it will be a matter of insurance approval and scheduling. I am on the downhill slope....I can not wait. Thanks again. I will try not to aggravate you to death asking questions. I really appreciate your replies.

CJ

@Karik: I STILL have eyes are bigger than my stomach syndrome. I am starting to think my brain will never adjust to that!

For the OP: I remember being a little freaked out about that, and this is what stopped me from going to the first seminar for a long time. I remember right up until surgury trying to just keep in the back of my mind that complications and such are possible, but very unlikely. Essentially, I just had to commit to the idea and then stop beating myself up about it by worrying what "might" be an issue if I had the surgury. Instead, I focused on what my known issues were doing to my health from being so overweight. That helped in that it freed me from worrying about what "might" go wrong and instead allowed me to hope for a better path post op.

I wouldn't hesitate to do the surgury again. Stay the path!

I could have written your post. I was terrified, and even now, post op, it kinda freaks me out, that this is a FOREVER thing. There IS NO turning back now.

However, didn't we get the band in the first place, intending on it being a forever thing? I know I had no intentions of ever having it removed. The idea of the sleeve being forever scared me, but the idea of having most of my stomach removed terrified me. I mean, to me, this is akin to amputating a limb that still functions.

My husband helped me put it a bit more into perspective. Removing most of your stomach, isn't removing ALL of your stomach. And for me, I try to think about it like it wasn't actually functioning properly at all. I never, as many other people who have fought the weight loss battle have said, knew what being full actually felt like, unless of course it was Thanksgiving dinner full. People would tell me for years, just eat until you felt satisfied, not til your full. That had no meaning for me. They were the same thing, and feeling full didn't come after 20 minutes of eating. I could just go on. So, really my stomach was....if you will, broken. This is how I try to think of this now.

YOU ARE SO RIGHT! I never intended on my band NOT being forever either! BUT, once complications started, I was certainly glad I had options. I think the fickle nature of the band was the worst. I thought for years that I failed, but the band failed me. I tried to follow the rules, but it didn't cooperate. I couldn't eat healthy....healthy things almost always got stuck. I'm glad to know that the concept of stuck seems foreign to sleevers. I am starting to get more comfortable, and responses like this help immensely!

CJ

Sorry to hear you had a rough time. I can't relate, because I never had the band but no, I did not have anxieties about forever with the sleeve and my experience has been completely uncomplicated and pleasant. I am very glad I went through with it. I did have anxieties about being morbidly obese forever - and "forever" would have been pretty short at my starting weight.

Many fears prior to surgery are normal and expected. It's a natural thing to be a bit worried - especially if the band was a bad experience!