Hello Everyone! Thinking of the sleeve

Hello Everyone.. I am new here, and have been looking at your posts for 2 weeks now. I am still in the research stage about VSG and I am thinking of have this procedure done. I have always been over weight, the highest weight I reached, which is now is around 220 LBS although I don't weigh my self because I am so scared of the scale!! But I know no matter how much I diet or exercise I will always come back to this weight and some... because I have been doing this for the past 20 years!

My father just gave me a great opportunity, he told me that if I wanted to have this surgery done, he can pay for it because he knows how depressed I am about this... Well... I would love to have a success story like all of you guys,, but there are a couple of issues worrying me.

1) Food is basically my best stress reliever! I love just putting my kids to bed after a long exhausting sleep deprived day, and just take all the yummy snacks out and eat... I am scared about losing this comfort... do you really not feel hungry anymore after this surgery? Does this feeling change, that dependency on food for emotional needs?

2) The surgery its self is so scary... I am scared of things going wrong... did any body have this surgery done and regretted it?

3)can you guys tell me the bougie size you had done... and how did each feel about it?

thank you!

You will know you are ready when you realize your willing to give up things for the new life.  I'm in sales and eat and drink a lot for entertaining customers.  I had to change everything about the way I did that for this to be successful.  It was not that difficult because I was afraid of health consequences if I didn't do something.  I has dieted and failed and was ready.

I too am an emotional eater.  I'm going on 8 months and I still have to be very aware of my triggers.  I had those triggers for decades and they aren't going away without a fight.  They may never go away but know and recognizing them is half the battle.  

Do not regret my surgery at all.

No idea what size bougie I have, it was never discussed.

Good luck.

myphysical went away and has not returned. However,and it is a BIG,however,my emotional hunger is still there. It takes a daily effort to not give into emotional hunger. 

Any of the wls' s can be eaten around,if one really wants to eAt around it.

the boogie size is something the surgeon decides based on. His experience.  Many have a 34 French,which is what I have. 

Being successful in losing a significant amount of weight. And being able to keep it off,is a huge motivator for many,not somuch for others. Being successful sometimes helps with emotional hunger ,but not always. There are always going to be emotional events,it is called LIFE,and most of us have to learn to meet our emotional needs with something other. Tha food. Therapy.  Can help a lot with this. 

I have noregreT about having my sleeve and going onto convert to the DS. 

This surgery is done so. Often that it is like clock work. You are more safe  having this surgery than. You are driving your car down the road,seriously.

Thanks alot for the reply!! I am excited at the fact that I could lose weight more than i ever expected to lose... And also diabetes runs in my family, my uncle died because of it last summer, he was 47, and my mom is telling me that she wants me to do this surgery because she doesnt want me to get diabetes, or any other life threatening disease that is cause by food.

i just am a little scared of surgery, just want someone to give me the anesthetic right now and get it over with. When were does a person have the energy to start excercising after the surgery? Doesn't the lack of food make u feel weak? I have a 1 year and a 5 year old boys and they are very active.. Thats why i am concerened.

thanks!

weather the surgery is right for you is a matter of many things we don't know about

 how tall are you ,  what is your bmi , what other medical conditions do you have

you say you have problems with daprestion are you on meds for it many of these meds will make you gain weight (Lithium)

the first thing you should do is see your doctor and check  that your meds are not the problem and see if you are healthy enough for surgery

 then I would see a theropist to work on your eating disorder

 all wls are tools they will not stop you from eating junk and you will gain if you do

 the ds allows you to eat the most without gaining but no reputable surgeon is going to do a ds on you , your a light weight (unless your around 4 foot tall) or have major health problems , very bad uncontrolled diabetes  , very high triglycerides and cholesterol

 this surgery is not a easy way out it is a lot of work eating the right food and supplements

 and why are you sleep deprived during the day unless you work nights you should not need to sleep during the day an other thing to talk to you doctor and therapist about 

 depression makes to tired , you need to do a lot of work before thinking of surgery

 and going to one of the Mexican surgeons or a prepaid one that does the surgery in a few weeks is not for you you need the long haul 6 month supervised diet , pre op testing , support groups

I had my surgery just a week and a half ago, so I'm still very much a newbie. I will say that I get hungry, but I as long as I follow the plan, I am satisfied. Right now, the plan is full liquids with some purees as well. That being said, it's not like my desire for things I'm not supposed to eat has gone away. And I'm far too early to offer any real advice. However, I do feel this new tool (my smaller stomach) will help me to be strong and choose what I am to be eating more often.

The important thing to remember is that surgery is a powerful tool, but it is not a cure for obesity. It will not help you not want to eat those "yummy" snacks. It provides you with an opportunity for a do-over. What you do with it is entirely in your control.

If you haven't yet, I recommend you attend a surgical seminar - most weight loss surgery centers have them. You may also want to look into attending some groups to see how people are doing/coping post-surgery. Talk to your primary care provider, if you haven't, about your weight concerns. Get a checkup to be sure nothing else it going on.

Any weight loss procedure is a huge commitment. Before you undertake it, make sure you are ready to be committed to doing it well so that you can be successful.

Best of luck as you decide what to do!

The reality of any wls is it is just another tool in the tool box. I left some point below

Hunger: Still have no physical hunger But I still get boredom hunger. I have found flavor ice light gets me past it.

Depresion: The biggest key for me is to listen to what your medical team says and follow it. All of the surgeon nutritionest, psychologist even the case worker.

Surgey: I'm my case I only had any pain the day of my surgery. After that I felt way better on day 2 and day 3 was like nothing happened. Keep in mind everyone reacts to the surgery different.

Regrets: I waited so long to have it done

Hope something in here helps.

Cliff

First..... Big props to you for doing the research, many don't or research after the fact.

I am 5.5 years out VSG my highest weight was 352lbs. and have lost just over 200lbs. I maintain a weight range of 148-155 normally but have hit 160lbs. a few times.

1- Identifying why you over eat and the bad habits is key and you have done that, you will have to work on those situations. My hunger is very pleasant post surgery, not that ravenous hunger like pre-op..... jidders and headachy.

2- Great question, and it's a question to ask your surgeon. The key would be like anything else, go to a surgeon the is well experienced with the lowest complication rate.

3- The VSG is NOT a standardized procedure and varies greatly in procedure, technique, aftercare and results can be all over the place as well. 

I am an absolute believer in smaller sleeves. WLS is not really about the WL, it's much more about keeping the weight off that you lost. I have on many occasions over the past few years eaten with other VSGers both from my program and others. Every person from my program eats in about the 3-5oz dense protein range. While others outside my program eat in a 3-10oz. dense protein range.

I have what is deemed a tight 32f bougie sized sleeve and know for a fact (for me) that if I had more capacity it would be much more traditional "dieting" and many more limitations in food choices.

Sure, in the big picture it comes down to what you put in your mouth..... I get that. My point is that for me I know it would be much much harder with a larger capacity.

Hope his helps.

frisco

1 - I'm sure that's the way it is for most of us, that we self-medicate with food.  I've worked hard to find other things that relieve stress.  I see a therapist weekly and I exercise a lot.  I don't really feel hungry, at least not in the same way as I did pre-op but, honestly, I didn't get to be super morbidly obese by eating when I was hungry.  I just ate.  Because I liked to eat.  (I still do like to eat.)  So, yeah.  When my dad's cancer moved to his brain and derailed my entire March, I gained about 6 pounds since I tried to console myself with food.  It didn't work super well, and I was then annoyed that I'd gained weight.  But I'm addressing these issues with therapy and I got myself back on track instead of descending into a spiral of gorging and weight gain.  

2 - For me, the surgery was super easy.  I got to sleep the whole time!  I had some pain, but it was well managed and my recovery was fairly simple.  I've never, even for a moment, regretted having surgery.  Sometimes I regret that I had to have surgery, but I don't regret that I had it.  

3 - Don't know, don't care, never asked.  

1) There have been points where I was in tears because I couldn't use food to make me feel better. Now that I am further out, I really COULD use food that way if I wanted to, but I am determined not to. Still, it will be a struggle for the rest of my life and surgery really won't change that. That said, it's a great opportunity to find other ways to cope with stress. Exercise is a much better coping mechanism, and losing the weight makes exercise possible!

2) Yes, surgery is scary, but I was really comforted to learn how very rare life-threatening complications are. I decided to trust in my surgeon and his medical team, and I was in good hands. Sure, surgery is scary, but I decided it was worse to go through life obese. The surgery was the best thing I ever did. It was a few weeks of discomfort traded for an amazing new lease on life.

3) I have no idea what bougie size my doctor used, I left that up to him!