I should be a vsg sales rep

You may remember a post i made a couple of weeks ago about how to go about encouraging my MO brother to consider vsg. So I decided to just call him and tell him how well it had worked for me and changed my life and that i would feel wrong in not sharing this information with him. told him i wasn't going to nag or keep bringing it up. Emailed the lap sf website and this one so he could look at stuff if he wanted and get a better feel for it. Talked to his wife about it too though she may not be a good candidate due to other health issues. Anyway, left it at that. Well tonight he calls and tells me he has a doctor apt and is going to get a referral to the surgeon in his area (lives 2000 miles away) that does the sleeve the most. So we talked about how to prepare for this and have all family (read wife) on board for support and what steps will have to occur first and all such things. He is a diabetic but otherwise has surprisingly few health issues for someone with a bmi probably approaching 50. So i told him i was glad he was checking it out and to let me know how i could help and that he should come onto OH and look at the vsg forum and others because all the questions he could have are asked and answered. I sent him my "after" picture in which i must say i look like a total babe for being age 59. But it was really gratifying that my efforts may have paid off and he is considering the surgery. He has been overweight all his life like me and wls is the only realistic option. So if done right it is possible to tactfully approach a family member with this issue.  Now if I could just get hubby and a few others moving in this direction..........  d

well its great that he was open to it and great for him to have someone that he can call and have at the end of the phone to answer questions should they arise.. I think having someone in your court is important but it would be nice to know if you had any doubts that someone at the end of the phone has lived it.

Maybe if your brother does decide to have it, it might be another ball in your court for your husband to think about it...   How is he doing on his low carbing? 

I love hearing these stories. I have had 6 friends have VSG because I've been open about my journey and success. 5 are here locally, and one of my besties in Cali just had sleeve surgery last Thursday.

One of my bowling buddies just had her first seminar last week, and is so excited to start the process. I don't run around advertising my story, but if asked I'm open about it. All of my friends are military wives as well, and it's been great to help them through our insurance hoops since Tricare doesn't cover it outside military treatment facilities just yet. So, a lot of research, phone calls, appeals, and other hoops have been jumped through during the last 20 something months.

I'm really hoping that Tricare will pick up VSG as a covered procedure soon that way others that do not have sleeve surgeons at a MTF can have VSG by civilian surgeons and not be stuck with RNY or the band.

That is wonderful Diane!  I only wish MY brother would listen and we live in the same town and see each other fairly frequently so he's seen my success!  Poor guy probably weighs 450 or so and it breaks my heart to see him struggle to walk or get up out of a chair.  He says that what I did was too "drastic".  Well I say he NEEDS drastic at this point.  He's 50 years old and just getting bigger....so frustrating to see someone you love going down hill and there's nothing you can do about it. 

Laura 

yes, it was really good to hear that brother is at least looking into this and while i wish he would come out here to Dr. Cirangle, there are some good surgeons in his area in the midwest that i think will be good. He is 62 years old but better late than never. Just hoping it all works out for him as it did for me. So I think he will be on the vsg forum soon and going through all those beginner questions for which the forum is so helpful. And i think his insurance will cover it. so all is good. D

I feel your frustration with your husband.

My wife had lap band surgery about four to five years ago. She hasn't done well with it. Food gets stuck. Her weight loss has been dismal. She weighs about the same as the day of her surgery.

At first I was pressuring her to revise to the sleeve as we both had the same surgeon and he does revisions.

She's has a fear of having another operation. She has colitis and has been in the hospital several times for flare ups. She wants to avoid going to the hospital for another procedure.

Although the weight has caused her several other issues from aches and pains with her joints to back issues. She refuses to consider revision to sleeve. She's trying a new diet which is Medifast. She lost weight on optifast yet she gained it back. I'm frustrated because I hate seeing her live her life this way yet It's become a point of contention between us.

I've decided to back off. She's jealous of my success and I am hopping this will motivate her. As she has to come to this decision on her own.

She sees the many NSV's that I experience and many times I see her roll her eyes. She got upset the other day when her mother told her she has to step up her game as I was looking very handsome in new suit that I just purchased.

The funny thing...I was against her having the lap band surgery. As I tend to like large women. I was concerned about her becoming to skinny. Now I'm concerned about her health. And living a long productive life.

Thanks for your thoughts Mikey Mike. So funny, I call my husband Mikey too. I decided long ago that if he ever has this surgery it will be because he decides to and not because I nag him into it. So I don't ever bug him about it but I do cook low carb and he gets to eat what I eat only more of it. So he has lost maybe 50 lbs by going low carb which suits him well even though he eats all these atkins bars which i am not sure are the best thing. But even though I don't say anything, he knows i observe what he eats and he refers to me as the "food police" and when i go out of town I know he makes a "run for the border" or "has it his way". But for as heavy as he is he is in remarkably  good health but I just worry that could change suddenly as it did for my obese sister in law who had a heart attack.  But I guess we have both come to the same conclusion which is that we can't make them do this and nagging is destructive and it must be their decision. And really thats what it was for each of us - no one nagged me into this. But I am glad my brother is now looking into it and think it will be a good thing for him and the rest of the family will be supportive because they have seen my results. D

So True...The interesting thing was when she had her Lap Band. She suggested that I do it as well. But I wasn't at that point where I thought that I had not exhausted all my options and surgery wasn't the only option at that point of my life. I was still thinking I could do it on my own. I had another close friend that had the band. She told me you know yo're going to do WLS...The question is when. It took me a couple of years but I finally came to the conclusion that I needed to do it. Now I regret waiting so long.

I'm sure they'll finally come around

Yep Mikey, deep down my husband thinks he can do it on his own. plus i think he is disturbed by what he perceives as how little I eat. I think its hard for him to understand how I can be comfortable with such small portions when my dinner would be a couple of mouthfulls for him. But yeah, I am hoping both our spouses will come around. Wonder who will be first.  My husband has been to see Dr, Cirangle with me a number of times and has confidence in him and he is certainly one of the best so its not like he doesn't have the knowledge base or seeing what an easy surgery I had. Oh well. we will wait and see. D

My husband not only thinks he can do it on his own but that I could have too.

The other day he said "you lost all that weight because you had surgery" as if I did NOTHING to make it happen.

I wanted to kill him.