I got insurance approval today, but I had already decided not to have the surgery. What now?

You all may remember my previous post. I had done all the paperwork and doctors visits in order to get approved for surgery.  Then I got a horrible migraine and decided that I couldn't handle the nausea that could potentially be an issue with the sleeve surgery.  So I decided to lose weight "on my own".

 

The insurance lady called today all excited telling me that I was approved.  I was silent. I then told her that I wasn't sure that I could go through with it.  She said okay, that my approval was good through the end of April.  

 

Now I'm second-guessing myself.  I had hired a personal trainer, and rejoined overeaters anonymous.  My weight is still the same.  Now I'm telling myself that this is a sign from God, and I just need to go for it and have the surgery.  I just don't know, so I'm turning to you all. What advice do you have to give me?

 

thanks for any input.

renee

I would 100% be for the surgery if it wasn't for the following; the nausea and or vomiting. I have a severe phobia of nausea and vomiting.  The second thing I am afraid of, is the emotional havoc that could occur as the hormones are being depleted from the fat. That concerns me a lot. I used to sever from tremendous PMS, and it was horrible.  I am very emotionally stable at this point and I hate to let anything get in the way of that.

I thought I could do it on my own, but I have had such a hard time even knowing where to start. Now I'm thinking again maybe this is the solution.  Of course I would stay in OA because I would need that for the emotional support. 

I have done so much research, and I could probably teach a class on Vsg. 

 

Thanks. 

150 pounds is hard to lose and keep off, but if you are not ready, you should not have surgery. Hopefully your insurance will still cover WLS if you decided to try again at a later date.

Good luck on your journey.

I was worried about all that stuff too. I went on anti depressants before surgery and I think that has really helped me stay level headed.  I have had some issues with my period but my gyn has helped me get through all of that. I only experienced nausea at 4 weeks out when I started the medication to prevent gall bladder surgery. But as long as I take it when I eat or right before I go to sleep I'm ok.  I have only thrown up once but I wasn't even nauseated when I did. I just took one bite too many and I just kind of choked it up.   I have not had any other issues and neither has my husband. We wouldn't take this decision back for anything. As soon as we started eating real food we kept saying "This is why we had to have surgery.  This is why we couldn't do it before." It became so obvious afterward. 

No one can make this decision for you.  I think your fears are realistic possibilities.  You will like deal with nausea and an emotional roller coaster.  For me it was worth it, but you need to make the decision for yourself.  

Good Luck!

First of all. It is up to you. You need to decide what is best for you.

Now, deciding not to have surgery because you don't want to deal with the potential nausea that you'll get isn't a great reason to not get surgery? Usually if one gets this it is short lived right out of surgery. Cases where people have prolonged nausea are rare. I didn't have a single moment of nausea right away or since and I'm six months out.

Doing it "on your own" is great and all, but statistically only around 5% of people who do it this way lose it and keep it off. How many years of your life did you spend trying to lose your excess weight? I know I tried a bunch of times. I'm almost 38 and have been either overweight or obese since I was around 16-17 years old and while I lost weight a couple times I was never able to maintain the loss. 

The sleeve significantly increases one's chances of maintaining. Making & keeping those healthy lifestyle changes that are required through doing it "on your own" are the same with the sleeve, but the sleeve gives you restriction forever making it much easier to be successful!

So, considering your reasoning for originally changing your mind I would say "have the surgery while this opportunity is here aka you have insurance and you are approved!" if you were to flat out ask me. Like I said before, though, this is your decision and you need to make it yourself.

Good luck trying to figure it out.

Just sharing, I have vomited only once ~~ because I didn't measure my food. Only had nausea two days after surgery. Medication helped with that.

You do need to feel completely comfortable with your decision to have WLS because major lifestyle changes will be required for healthy success. I think asking a group of people on the internet is risky so check out your feelings with real-life friends and family.

Good luck.

My nausea was not bad. I've never vomited. Two things contributes to this. My doctor had me take Enderm three hours prior to surgery. It is a very powerful chemo anti nausea drug that works for a week. Second I wore an anti nausea patch that I also put on three hours prior to surgery. Have you asked your doc what he does to help combat the nausea?