VSG...Should I do it???

I'm 63

Today my scale said 171.5 and my dietician said to continue on 1200 cals till i get my surgery date and that my GOAL WEIGHT should be 135. However, the nurse called to say my EKG showed Left Axis Differential whatever that is.

My question: IF I am ok'd to have VSG should I have the surgery or should I just continue to diet away the 35 pounds for the rest of my life.???

I seriously know how some people would kill to be 171, but on me at 5ft 2in my belly is huge. And when i was on steroids for a blood problem i went up to 230. I have never been able to keep a low weight for even a few years at a time.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Susan

With the sleeve you will continue to "diet" for the rest of your life. Going back to eating as you (general you, not you specifically) will just lead you to regain. Over 50% of sleeve patients regain some if not all of their weight, so it's something you will have to stay on top of for the rest of your life.

Also, you can't lose in just one targeted area. You may end up tiny everywhere except your belly, even at goal weight.

This is not as easy as probably most of us initially thought it would be. And personally, I would never let them remove 80% of my stomach to lose 35 lbs. That's just me.

Remember that WLS isn't just to lose weight, but it's also to help a person keep from regaining the weight.

While "just" losing 35 pounds might not seem worth it, losing 35 pounds and maintaining a healthy weight for the rest of your life is a different calculation.

You're absolutely right, Gwen. I meant to point out that the sleeve won't prevent her from having to, as she stated: "continue to diet away the 35 pounds for the rest of my life.???"

From what I've learned here, as well as from my fellow WLS patients at my surgery center, many people regain after WLS. As you said, she'll have to stay on 1200 calories for the rest of her life.

I think you and I are actually more in agreement than not.

I am not a doctor, so this seems like something you should talk with a cardiologist about.

Regardless of whether you have surgery or not, you'll likely need to maintain your 1200 calorie diet for the rest of your life - are you able to do that?

Thanks Gwen, i have never been able to follow a meal plan for more than months at a time. I always fall off the calorie wagon.

How will this time be different, then? I'm not asking to be mean, I'm asking because this is something you need to ask yourself. What will you do differently than you have before? WLS or not, you'll be able to "fall off the calorie wagon."

(For me, the answer is that WLS gave me the mental space I needed to work on my brain - the actual cause of my obesity. I didn't do that without WLS.)

I am hoping the removal of 80% of my stomach will keep me from overeating in the future. It changes your hunger hormones, right?

Not permanently. Many still get hungry post-op. And you can eat around any surgery if you make poor food choices.

WAS isn't really about being forced to eat less. Its really the least important result of the surgery. It fundamentally is a metabolic surgery. It will give you a chance to keep the weight off -- something you will have to fight very hard to do with no WLS.

I was down about 120 pounds from my high weight on the morning of surgery. It gave me a good running start, and a chance to reach my goals in a reasonable period of time. I've kept the weight off for 6 years now. I never could have kept it off without the metabolic fix that surgery gave me.