Heyas there Bec, I hit 300kg last year in September and was having a harsh time of it as you can imagine. I ended up being sent to a weight clinic up in Melbourne at the Heidelberg Repat. Met with a really great guy called Joe Proietta (I think I spelt that right) and also a surgeon, Ian Michell. Joe got me started on Optifast which I did pretty full on for a while. After 6 months I'd lost about 60kg. After discussion with Mr. Michell I opted for a gastric sleeving operation. My figuring was that if I was going to do a surgery I might as well go the 'whole hog' as it were and get tummy removed. The added bonus of this is that if I still can't lose the weight I need to lose and need the help then I can consider a lapband or others later. Anyway, my prep was to lose as much weight as possible before the surgery with the Optifast. Had the surgery on the 28th Feb and it went well. I think I was out about 3 hours or something like that, maybe 3 1/2. I was in recovery overnight I think (I was foggy.. heh) and I had some sleep issues (I had undiagnosed sleep apnea) so after a very hazy day the next day they moved me down to respitory to deal with the sleep apnea. All up I was in hospital for about 5 days. There was a little pain at first, but nothing unmanageable... they did it with keyhole surgery so I only had a few holes and a couple cuts. I had a catheter (of course.. erk) and a couple of drains. One drain came out the second day, and the other one stayed in so they could watch it and check I was 'healing' internally okay. They also did a couple 'leak' tests..the first was the first day after surgery.. I had to stand while they got me to do a barium swallow (horrible stuff to try drink) then I watched it go down into my stomach on the screen. No leaks, so I was chuffed ;) The other test was a drink with some blue dye in it after a couple of days. I drank it and then waited to see if it came out in the drain, but all was good. About the worst pain was probably that I was getting pretty intense gas pains... which makes sense I guess. It was sort of like I felt like I was a balloon and kept puffing up, almost 'popping' and then it'd all gurgle back up the wrong way.. *laughs* but that settled after a few days. At the moment I can really eat anything, just usually very small amounts. I'm sure I'm still not 'working' the new tummy right and doing the right thing, but I am vastly improved. My energy level is a lot better (Thanks to the sleep apnea being dealt with - I sleep with a bipap machine) and I get in an hour walk every day, sometimes longer. As to other problems.. gas in the mornings is still a hassle, atlhough nothing I can't deal with. Can even be entertaining at times ;) hehe. I'm on multivitamins every day which is no real biggy. I've found staying hydrated can be a little hard some days because guzzling liquid isn't really possible anymore... I can still take big swallows, just got to go a little slower. I also try to stick to the rule of drinking a cup of liquid before a meal, and waiting 30 mins after my food goes down to drink again.. no drinking while eating. And I eat very slowly. Sometimes it takes me over an hour to eat a meal depending what/how much I have. But then, everyone gulps their food to fast so no stress! The results have been amazing. I went in 10 weeks after my op and I had lost 25kg. It's been another 6 weeks now and I am due to go to Melbourne for another weigh in this week Friday. Hope it'll be a good one. As to has it been worth it? Bloody oath!!! I was sure I was going to die last year. It was horrible. I was depressed all the time, went nowhere.. was a total agoraphobe. I was so unwell. Now, I feel amazing. I am hanging out to see if I can break the 200kg mark. I plan to, and know for sure, that I will lose another 100kg from that point as well. People can see the difference in me and all the time they tell me how well I'm looking. I have an amazing support group of doctors, dieticians, counsellors, friends, etc which really helps. My family are very supportive, even though they live in NSW (I'm in Warrnambool, VIC btw). Definitely do something about your weight now, you're only 23. It only gets harder to lose the weight as you get older, at least that's my experience. No matter what you do, make sure you research things well so you have a pretty good understanding of what they do surgically and side effects or things to watch for afterwards. (which you are obviously already doing). There's no substitute for a good education about this sort of thing and then you just have to make a choice I'm sure whatever choice you make it will be the right one for you, and that is the main thing. The biggest thing for me, aside from the weight loss and sleeping better, has been an attitude change. Staying positive. One of the counsellors I've talked with, Helen, gave me some stuff to read about changing negatives into positives. It's weird, but that's had a huge influence on me. At first I was consciously doing that... if I didn't diet properly I was like 'hey, I'll just walk more tomorrow'.. and I applied it to *everything* not just weight stuff. Now, it's almost just a natural thing. It's made me a happier person and people see it, I'm always walking around with a smile on my face. I hope this has helped you a bit. I hope that the consult on Thursday goes well Write down any questions you want to ask the doctor, there are always things you'll forget to ask at the time. Keep on walking! -Leon-

Hi Pam/Debbie, Hope your surgery went well Pam. Good luck tomorrow Debbie, thoughts are with you. Chat soon. :>) Kannie

Hi there. I live in North Queensland and when I went in my initial consult I was planning on getting a band. I should add that I was way heavier than you and have been overweight my whole life. Main concerns that I had with the band were that most bandsters seemed to have a problem eating red meat (I'm a carnivore so this was an issue) and also bread (not such a big deal as they could usually manage toast or crackers). The other issue was the need for ongoing fills and knowing where a band surgeon was in case of a serious slip. I like to camp and when I go to visit my family who live in rural NSW I didn't want to have to worry about getting to a surgeon should the need arise. Have also seen a few people manage to defeat their bands with an intake of high caloric liquids. So after meeting with the surgeon and discussing the different WLS surgeries with my doctor- band, sleeve, duodenal switch, gastric bypass, etc- decided that the sleeve was a better fit for my personal cir****tances. I didn't particularly worry about getting rid of the majority of my stomach as I'm a nurse and have seen plenty of people do fine without it. I am really happy with my results so far- 55.9 kg since starting my pre-op diet in the middle of November. Still a bit to go but now believe I can get below 100 kg. I do know that there are plenty of people on the main sleeve site who started out around your weight and were at goal disgustingly quickly- I am sooooo jealous!!! My advice to you would be to keep an open mind about the various surgeries. If you haven't already go and spend some time on the various WLS message boards on the main OH site and read lots of peoples profiles. Was really helpful to me in helping to decide on a surgery and also how to cope post surgery. I wish I had this opportunity at your age as I have missed out on so much due to my obesity. Good luck with whatever you decide and let me know if you have any questions, etc. Cheers Leisa

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