What you wish you knew before surgery.

I wish I had taken chapstick to the hospital. Small thing, but my lips were like the Sahara.

Sometimes it's the little things that make such a difference.  Thanks Kate!

I am almost 9 years out now....when I look back, I wish I could have had wls sooner in my life, or learned to control my eating. Life is about so much more than food. I think apart of me thought losing weight would make life wonderful....still all the old problems and sometimes more. A co worker who had WLS before me, got into drinking and died at 42...I wouldn't have believed that was possible.
One of the sayings that was going around at the time I had my surgery was "it isn't brain surgery", meaning that your head isn't changed by the surgery and if you don't do the work, you will end up in the same place (I also had another coworker who gained all her weight back). But to me and my experience, it feels like it was brain surgery! I feel so different now and my taste buds are so different and I eat so different. I have done some reading on the gut as the 2nd brain....and I know mine is totally different now. So it was a life changer in so many ways....but life goes on. And to me, bottom line is about health and not the weight . Don't eat crap and sugar free or fat free processed stuff. Eat real food....and be as healthy as you can to enjoy as much life as you can, as long as you can.

Talking to a counselor, having a better understanding and dealing with what "is eating me" so I would have better control on what I am eating.