Welcome my Brother

Yup that's me. Thanks for the welcome

Diane,

My brother could benefit from the sleeve but he has yet to make that determination on his own.
My wife was sleeved this February, has already lost 55 pounds and is looking and feeling amazing. She has to lose 20 more pounds to reach her goal weight.

George

 George, that's wonderful! I didn't know your wife had the VSG.. good for her!

My success and the ease with which I lost and have maintained really motivated her. She's a light weight (35 BMI) but even light weights benefit from the sleeve. 

She's 20 pounds away from her goal weight and doing great. Her only complaint has been that her clothes no longer fit. She's cleared out a lot of clothes and is enjoying shopping.

Our close friend and neighbor was also motivated by my experience with the sleeve and she was operated on last month.

Don't you love that! My MIL & her husband were up for a visit recently, and after I told them about my surgery, it came out that he had went to a seminar about the band a while back.. he had never heard of any of the bad stuff, and didn't know anything about the sleeve.. it was a topic of conversation, and he asked many, many questions about it- my surgeon, the experience.. etc. I think he's very interested and I think he'd do wonderful with it.

Hey, if the cir****tances were right and I was aware of it back when I was a lightweight (I've passed that mark a couple times!) I would have jumped to do this. Once you pass a certain point, remaining smaller without help is nearly impossible over a lifetime.. I have full faith that this is the just the right kind of help for many people.

I agree, if I was aware of the sleeve sooner I would have looked into it before getting to 297 pounds. Every year I made the same New Years resolution to lose weight only to gain 10-15 pounds. I saw the trend and knew that I would never lose weight and keep it off through yo-yo dieting.

The sleeve changed my life for the better!

Oh this makes me so happy!  I am hoping that I set an example for my husband and reading this just warms my heart.  I have posted this before, but he could actually benefit from surgery more than I did.  He is MO, has type 2 diabetes, High BP and high cholesterol. PLUS surgery on his spine a few years back - the weigh is NOT good for that.  Congrats to you AND your wife!

Kristy,

Thanks.  Hopefully your husband will be inspired by your success.

My wife was instrumental in me having tgetting the VSG. She made the appointments (and made sure I didn't miss them), followed up with the doctors, reassured me when I was certain I would never survive a surgery (typical guy fears). When I complained about the cost (I self-paid) she pointed out that this was an investment in our future. Who could argue with that?

I also had high blood pressure and was on 5 medicines which barely kept it in the normal range. My blood pressure is normal now with no medication needed.

I had a lot of knee pain which went away when I lost the weight.

Best of luck,
George

 My husband has been very supportive of me and making sure I stay on track, he reads all my literature and without him helping me with the diet guidelines early on, I don't know what I would have done.  He has been there for me 100%.  He started some dialog with me the other day about surgery, and I am thrilled that he is even discussing it - he expressed that he is interested, but really concerned that he would not be able to adhere to the portions.  I explained that you learn very quickly, LOL.  And in fact your appetite totally changes.    I would never push him, of course, we all have to come to our own decisions.  He also had knee surgery when he was young, and I worry about the impact on it as he gets a bit older - his knee has started popping walking up stairs.  My insurance did pay for most of my surgery, but there was still a financial impact at a time where we can least afford it.  He did not hesitate.  

Kristy,

I had the same concerns your husband expressed. I wondered how I could adhere to the portion size and being hungry all the time. I thought the sleeve would mean I would be constantly hungry. Speaking with people who had the sleeve reassured me that this would not be the case. Reading the post on this forum and speaking to people who had the sleeve made me realize that the sleeve could work for me, I would not be consumed with thoughts of food and hunger. I never thought my appetite and desire for food could change so much.

I never told my wife that she should get the sleeve. Seeing my progress and success she can to that decision on her own. Hopefully your husband will see the benefits  of getting the VSG.

Good luck,
George