Lost and Afraid

I had straight panic attacks at the thought of going under the 1st time. I could barely stand it. But once I met the medical team that handles the anesthesia I got over it. They answered all my Qs and concerns during my preop appointment. The day of the whole team worked to calm my nerves. It all went smoothly. 

Also - I had read as a preop that complications are higher when your BMI is over 50 so to ease the fear, I worked my ass off to get my BMI under 50 for surgery  I lost 85 lbs on my own and had a BMI of 49.9 lol. My surgery went smooth  

Having once been over 400 lbs myself, I really hope you can work out whatever issues you have with the anesthesia. This surgery literally saved my life. It has given me a life I could have never imagined. Even if I knew I would end up with some complications id still do it in a heart beat. 

I ended up having 3 additional surgeries that were necessary and had I not have had that initial experience, I would have freaked out tons more.

Oh! I'm just over 50 at 51- so I'm going to use this as motivation to get mine as much below 50 before my surgery. I still have 4-6 months before, and 2 weeks of optifast.

Hi,

Surgery is scary, no doubt about it.  As you research the benefits of this surgery you can make an educated decision f it's worth the risk to you.  This is a great site to learn a lot more about it, which will hopefully help you not feel so lost.  

The best part of this surgery, in my opinion, was learning to eat right with the help of a nutritionist.  Can your doctor refer you to one? Fasting is definitely not healthy.  Some people go on the Optifast diet for several months along with being in  a support group.  Is that an option available at the center your doctor wants to refer you to?  The second best part was not feeling hungry all the time.  That's powerful stuff!

One things for sure, no one will perform this surgery until you're ready.   Many of us were prepared for the changes, prepared to accept all the consequences, and had tried every other method we could think of. It's ok if you're not ready.  You may never be ready. You may be ready shortly.  It's your personal journey.

Good luck!  And keep trying.  You matter.  

Don't think you would want to do this with anything other than general anesthesia. It takes a couple of hours. Anesthesia had advanced tremendously even in the past 15 years. They give you meds to calm you and when its time, you wake up pretty quickly. They usually call you the day before to discuss concerns.  I had a wonderful anesthesiologist who was very calming and pleasant and had done a ton of surgeries with my surgeon. You should explore these concerns with your surgeon or another professional. Remember that there are thousands of us that have done this and come out just fine. You will probably need a colonoscopy and possibly endoscopy and they sometimes do a general for that for obese people so that might give you a "test drive" of anesthesia. Good luck.  diane

I know this going to sound terrible but this was where my mind was and just how desperate and horrible I felt.

At the time when I decided to have surgery I was 5'8 and 360lbs.  I didn't feel good physically or feel good about myself.  I had an array of health issues and I was only 36 years old.  My doctor told me if I didn't lose a significant amount of weight my quality of life would decrease dramatically in the next 5-10 years.  If that isn't a depressing thought at 36. 

Well I thought I am going to have weight loss surgery and accept any consequences that come with it (yes even death) because otherwise it seems my life was going to be worth living in another 5-10 years anyway.

That is the thought I had when I read through all of the things that could go wrong.  I was able to have my surgery without much anxiety because I was at peace knowing that no matter what I would be better off. I know that is not a very cheery attitude but when you are told that your life will going down hill rapidly if you don't lose weight. And you believe that this is your only option. 

On the bright side.  7+ years later I am hovering at a 190 lb loss.  I am enjoying my life.  I feel good and I feel good about myself.  My health is practically 100%....except for allergies and migraines (which are not weight related).  I am thankful every day for not being obese. 

I weighed more than you do when I decided to have surgery.  I've had several surgeries in the past, and anesthesia was never a fear of mine.  Can I ask why it's a WLS deal breaker for you?

Trusting someone else with my breathing is an issue for me

VSG is only about a 30 min surgery(I think), vs RNY which is more complicated and can take 2-3 hours.  That is one consideration - to minimize the time under general. Also, what issues do you have for general anesthesia - how old are you, etc.    My friend was 70 when she had VSG, she had a heart condition and they had to have a cardiac surgeon on standby in case she coded during the VSG surgery -- she did not and has done well, but whatever issues you have with general can be addressed/minimized. 

Without surgery, the long-term success rate for losing and keeping an appreciable amount of weight off is only 3-5%.  You could try drug therapy, but the long term results are not wonderful, but they may help you lose enough weight to lower your risk for going under general. 

Can you be more specific about your concerns about anesthesia?

Hi Sharon I am 41 and I was diagnosed with bilateral pulmonary embolisms back in 2011 so I know I have to get this weight off of me and I have loss over 100 lbs since then, my concerns is that someone else will be in control of my breathing and I have friends who were under and they woke up in the middle of it

I'm in my 60's and have had Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary disease for the last 15 yrs. I've also had several surgeries during that time. I have never had any problems with breathing during the surgeries I've had. I did wake up during 2 surgeries but since then I make sure to tell the anesthesiologist that I have wakened in the past and no problems since. I am on oxygen 24 hrs a day and also have afib of the heart (uneven heartbeat, controlled with meds) I recently had hernia surgery with no issues at all. I have excellent doctors and our local medical clinics are extremely competent so I have no fear of trusting them. All in all I have had over 20 surgeries in my life and am still here to tell about it! So try to relax, find a top notch surgeon and enjoy the new life you could have!