I need help

Thank you for adding me. I really need help and encouragement as I am very confused. I have a surgery date for Sleeve on February 14th and to be honest, I have not done a lot of research which I am slowly doing now. I only met my surgeon once and the next time I will meet him will be on the day of my surgery. I don't have preoperative diet and post operative diet. I am from Canada and this surgery is covered. I lose 65 lbs recently doing ketogenic diet and this opportunity came along. I am really scared and contemplating of not getting the surgery since I was able to lose weight on my own. However, part of me still want this surgery. I started 297 lbs and I am now 230 lbs. Any thoughts?

Have you lost weight before?  Losing weight is not usually the problem, it's keeping it off!!  I'm from Canada too and, same as you, met the surgeon once and then 4 years later, the day of my surgery!  I do know that I had to drink Slimfast, or something like that, 14 days before my surgery to shrink my liver.  I started at 282 and was 262 on my surgery date.  They go by the weight you were when you were approved.  I'm not down to 158 and feel wonderful

Because I didn't get a lot of info, I didn't follow all the rules because I didn't know them!!  I'm now back on track and fully expect to get to my goal.  The doctor's goal was 145 but my goal is 135.  People on this site are wonderful and will answer all questions they can!

Thank you! I am from BC, where about are you from? I am researching for pre op diet now.

Yes I can lose weight easily but cannot maintain it. This is the reason why I am considering the surgery. :(  I guess I am just scared of the complications as to be honest, my meeting with the surgeon is 5 minutes that's it.  He basically said I'll be fine. No other information--which is the reason why I am so stress about this lol

I'm from Quebec and I was 62 when I had the RNY.  Everything was fine with no complications.  They gave me some morphine to bring home but honestly I didn't need it.  It's your decision but I don't think you will regret it.  Do you have problems with acid reflux or heartburn?  Because the sleeve can make that worse.  But I no longer have acid reflux, diabetes or high blood pressure!!

Your surgeon should be able to provide you with his practice complication rates.  Mine did.  His were very low, get as much data as you can.  You can check out his site below to get an idea of the complication rates.  It is in the surgeries section...

http://www.weightlosssurgery.ca/

Kikay, check your messages here.  I'm ending you some helpful links!

Thank you so much

If you are 230 pounds yet still qualify for surgery, you are still morbidly obese... As the other poster said, it is not just about losing the weight it is about keeping it off. This is the first time I feel I have a chance to keep it off.

I lost 100+ pounds 5x in my life and 75-80 at least 3x or more...so that is a lot of yo-yo dieting.Not good for my health.

This is the first time in my life I am actually working on maintaining...

I think most people are apprehensive going in...I couldn't believe I was actually doing it... but no regrets

Keep reading and educating yourself...only you can decide if you are ready. There are no takebacks, this is life.

Kikay, 

Welcome.  I'm also new to this forum, having joined only recently here.  But I was sleeved 2.5 years ago, lost 100 pounds and have kept those 100 pounds off for the past year.  That's the first time I've ever maintained a large weight loss.  

Although I'm new here, I have been on online weight loss forum message boards for 3 years.  On a different board I posted at the end of my "first surgiversary" what I'd done to lose nearly 100 pounds at that point.  I'm posting below the link to that post and, if it works, you can see a lot about what I ate, how I ate and drank, how I exercised, and how I worked to manage the "head changes" one goes through on a program like this:  

http://www.gastricsleeve.com/forum/showthread.php?t=59053 

Most people I'm aware of have a LOT more education about WLS provided to them by their surgeon than you have received.  That means you're going to have to get your education on your own -- by reading on message boards and elsewhere.  The good news is that it can be done.  

Good luck to you!  

Ann

I would strongly suggest you start researchin the complications related to this surgery immediately. You need to understand that its more than just the post op and pre op diet. It helps to see the complications from the patients perspective, check out search items like leaks, strictures, GERD, reactive hypoglycemia and vitamin deficiency. 

I can't believe you only had a 5 min meeting with the surgeon! This is a serious surgery with life long implications! I would try to see therapist immediately to investigate why you feel like you need this irreversible procedure.

  If your having doubts take them seriously and reconsider. This is a permanent change and there's no going back. Like you I am in Canada and met my surgeon once preop and on the day of  the surgery. I wish I had more time to understand the implications of my decision. If you did it on your own kudos to you!