Hello from a Newbie :) VSG is my plan...

Hello Terry and welcome!  I asked my surgeon if there was anyway I could NOT have a catheter placed.  He said that if I used the restroom right before being wheeled into surgery he would consider my request.  I did what he asked and woke without a catheter.  I had no problem getting up to use the restroom about 2 hours after getting settled into my room.  Speak to your surgeon, I bet he/she will consider it as well.

Good for you with taking the first step!! This is the best decision I've ever made! There is nothing like reclaiming your health! It feels wonderful!

Good luck to you!

Welcome Terry. You'll be really glad you went forward with surgery. It's the best thing I've ever done for myself.

I'm a little taller than you, and started out about 100 pounds heavier, and have been rock steady at 190 for almost 3 years. It's a huge, huge difference.

I had a catheter (no choice), and it's not a big deal. You'll have so much else going on, you won't be thinking about it. They put it in when I was under anesthesia. I will say that the nurse who took it out could be a product tester for Briggs and Stratton. But really, not a big deal.

Hi Terry my name is Tom,

Like anything in life some days are great and other not so good after VSG. Don't let anybody fool you. I had my VSG on May 11th of this year and have lost over a hundred pounds. There are days I look in the mirror and could not be happier and there are days I miss my old life (style). Yes its true. I admit it. Sometimes I regret having this surgery. Some days I really miss eating a 2" porterhouse and finishing the whole thing. Those days are gone and that's just not going to happen anymore. Having 4 bites of a steak happens, but it is not the same. You will not be able to dive into food anymore and that's the plan and simple truth. BUT!  (there is always a but) the good outweighs the bad or should I say the good outweighs the (I'm so sad I can't pig out anymore! poor me, poor me why did I do this days), by 10 fold. And you will have them. Everyone does whether they admit to it or not, So yeah, there are temporary post VSG regrets. And its healthy to have them. You will be changing your lifestyle like it or not. There are going hard days and there are going to easy ones, that's just how it is,  

Now that, that has been said, I am sooooooo much healthier. And my life and the ability to live it was the reason I went ahead and had surgery. I went into this knowing full well that I was to trading my unhealthy overeating lifestyle for this new one. And the decision was the right one for me.... I knew having huge meals was just not going to happen anymore. So yeah, sometimes you will as I do, look back and "miss" your old lifestyle. and missing is a form of regret. You will just have to get over it. Just be prepared for it. It will happen, you will need to remind yourself why you went through all this and look forward and sometimes it will be hard. But then again I'm not one of those life is wonder journey I just made 14 meals in a ice cube tray type of person that posts on this board.... either. So if anyone says I have NO regrets they are not telling the whole truth... 

At 10 months out I can eat whatever I want now. And lots of things I use to love just doesn't do it for me anymore. You will just have to understand it is not a game there is a real mental thing we all have to overcome. Things you say you will not miss now, You will miss after surgery. I.E. The joy of ordering fast food is something I miss. My idea of fast food now is a taco bell bean burrito! You will miss that, everyone does but its something you have to do if you want to live longer healthier life. 

So look really hard at yourself and ask are you ready not just for a body change but a mind set change and if you are then do it. Not because someone else looks good and you want to look good too. That is not a good reason. Understand you will have extra skin to deal with and host of other things that you do not deal with now. It is not a fix all or a cure for anything. Its a tool to help you life longer and healthier. Hopefully. And if you are ready for that then move forward. It is not always going to be a lovely journey. Some days its going to be a hard road to go down. Will you have regrets of course you will but you need to ask yourself is it worth it and the answer needs to be yes all the time... 

My Mother and I were built the same (like a beer barrel). She passed at 61 and I was looking at not making it that long. There I was at the brite age of 50 and I could not bend over to tie my shoes anymore without loosing my breath much less cross my legs. BTW now I can do do both with no problem at all. I can go on and on but you get the idea. At 275 lbs and getting older I was starting to slow down. Way down and I did not like what was happening to me at all! I could feel myself dying inside and it scared the crap out of me.  Now at 165 lbs I can do anything except, "pig out". That is the only thing this surgery does. It physically stops you from pigging out.  Having it does not stop nor will it change anything else you feel. Your friends will be your friends and your family will be your family and you will be you just thin. Your joys will still bring you joy and pains will still be there. So look in the mirror and take a hard look.  And ask yourself "why are" the reasons you want to go forward. Do you want to live longer because you (God willing) will. Or do you think it will make you more popular, happier and/or fit in better with your thinner friends and/or family because as I said before you are already you. Nothing about this surgery will change that. 

My point is everyone has regrets. Do they last long (No) hopefully not, you will need to take the good days with the bad. Being thin will not nor has it ever changed that. Will you look back at who you are now and you will miss the "old" you as I do from time to time? Sure you will, there is no doubt about. I miss the old me, not the fat but I do miss the love affair I had with food. I miss that very much.  I am sure everyone does  .. So look at yourself and look hard because after VSG the person you are is not going to change...... your body will change, but you will still be you. It is going to be a hard road to go down sometimes.  Is it worth it? In my case, the answer was then as it is now, yes, if that is the same for you, then by all means move forward.... But don't let a friend or a doctor make up your mind. You need too. You have to live with you and no one else...

You are right it is a life changing surgery and its not always a bed of roses. But is it worth I said it before and I'll say it again, yes!

Now I will get off this high horse I rode in on and bid you all the luck and joy one man can wish to another

Tom 

Honest to God, I do not have a single regret. Things have changed, absolutely. My relationship with food, and how I look at it certainly has. 

I enjoy 6 ounces of steak much, much more than the 22 ounces I used to shove in my face. On the rare occasion I get a burger at some burger joint, I enjoy it more than I used to enjoy the two double burgers and two large fries I used to inhale. Enjoying food does NOT need to be about vast quantities. 

Again, I do not have a single regret, or anything from my old life I wish I had back.

Non... rien de rien
Non je ne regrette rien
Ni le bien... qu'on m'a fait
Ni le mal, tout ça m'est bien égal...

Non... rien de rien
Non... je ne regrette rien
C'est payé, balayé, oublié
Je me fous du passé...

Avec mes souvenirs
J'ai allumé le feu
Mes chagrins, mes plaisirs
Je n'ai plus besoin d'eux

Balayées les amours
Avec leurs trémolos
Balayés pour toujours
Je repars à zéro

Non... rien de rien
Non... je ne regrette rien
Ni le bien, qu'on m'a fait
Ni le mal, tout ça m'est bien égal...

Non, rien de rien
Non... je ne regrette rien
Car ma vie... car mes joies...
Aujourd'hui... ça commence avec toi...

La vérité

Kudos to you Tom for telling it like it is...Yours is the first that I have read that actually tells the bad with the good and all the bad wants that come along on this journey..I have lost 100 pounds and feel better than I have in years (I still have about 30 pounds to go)..I go to the gym and can actually walk on the tread mill now without getting out of breath...I can walk around the mall now (my husband hates that part..lol) without getting out of breath and having to sit every few minutes! Yes this has definitely made me healthier..I also had to quit smoking before my surgery so have been 2 years since that..YEP, I would have it done again!