librarianlk

Where I am at this point is I'm meeting with the surgeon next week for the first time, so I'm just a newbie. My relationship with food right now is that I feel that I obsess about food: how much I'm eating, what I'm eating, feeling tempted, and basically feeling a lot of anxiety surrounding food. For you post-op people, do you feel that food is an obsession? I'm thinking specifically about the "diet mentality" - needing to count calories, weigh and measure everything, and having to think always about what I'm putting in my mouth. I'm worried that I'll still have to obsess about food, even post-op. I don't want to live the rest of my life obsessing about these things. Have food issues normalized for you? I want to put food in its proper place in my life, that it is not something to think about constantly, but I'm worried that even with surgery I'm still going to have to be on constant alert about food. Thanks for any insight you may have.

@@VSGAnn2014 those are good words, mindful and diligent. Good things to strive for!

Diligent is a good word. I hope that is my experience.

Librarian, early literacy specialist

I have been seeing a therapist for about a year and we have a good relationship. But she is very down on me having VSG surgery. I know it's not a quick fix that it's going to be a lot of work. I've explained this to her. She thinks I can do it on my own. I did lose sixty pounds on optifast a couple of years ago but gained it all back and thirty pounds more on top of that. Since then it's been a struggle. I've gone down eleven pounds in the last nine months, and it's very discouraging. I guess I'm hoping to hear from you that if I feel this is the right move for me, can I get a little encouragement? I've dieted for years and yet I keep gaining weight after I go off the diet. Is the sleeve worth it? How many of you were discouraged from pursuing it and what made it worthwhile for you? Thanks

Thanks for the good advice, everyone. I have a lot to think about, but I'm definitely going ahead and having my surgeon consultation on February 25. I have to trust my own experience.

Wow I so needed this thread! Thanks so much for posting. This is exactly what is causing me fear and anxiety about the surgery. I'm not too worried about the actual surgery anymore, but I am getting more and more worried as my surgery date approaches in less than four weeks. I am prone to binging and am addicted to carbs. I'm starting to have serious doubts about my ability to keep weight off after the honeymoon period is over. I feel very confused right now. Should I work on controlling the binging and food addiction first before even getting the surgery? Or can I use the honeymoon period to get those issues under control. I only have one shot at surgery and I want it to be successful.

I needed this post! So encouraging. I'm scheduled for surgery in less than 4 weeks and am running through a gamut of emotions. Lots of second third fourth thoughts about is this the right decision. Thanks for sharing your story.

Well now I'm officially thirty days away. Thinking about all of us October sleevers and I know we can do this! We've all been on our journeys that brought us to this point, but we have our whole lives ahead of us, and we'll be living those lives healthier and thinner. Great to have everyone on here sharing and caring. Some of you are coming up very soon. I'm thinking about you!

Nikalex, I'm in Tijuana on the 24th with Dr. Rodriguez. I'm also nervous and excited. I feel good about Dr. Rod. I feel like I made the right choice.

I'm terrible about weighing every day and I don't even have my surgery until October 24! But I'm going to make a sincere effort to go to once a week weighing. These fluctuations on a daily basis are driving me nuts and are totally frustrating. I hope to make this thread a weekly part of my weightloss life. HW 304 CW 276.3

Pammers, I'm in roughly the same situation. Turning 54 in October, and if I have goal of 150 that would mean 130 I'd need to lose. However, at my age is it realistic to expect that much weight loss I wonder? Sounds like your goal of 185 sounds very realistic. I'm thinking that if I set my goal weight a little higher that it will be more realistic, more doable, and less heartache if I don't reach the lower 150 number. On the other hand I see that many of you posting on this thread are older than me and have had great success. So that is encouraging.

My date is October 24! Sometimes that sounds so far away, but it really isn't! At first, I was nervous about the surgery itself. But now, I'm kind of not too worried about the surgery, but I am worried about what happens after the surgery, what happens a year from now...will I be doing all the healthy things I need to do? There's a lifetime of habits here that I'll need to change. It's really helped spending time on this site, I've learned so much. (LiveLaughLove, I'm also in AK, flying to TJ.)

I too have bipolar disorder. I finally got on the right meds just a few years ago. My manic episode symptoms usually involved great episodes of rage toward others. During rage episodes I was extremely intolerant of others. I urge the OP to see about medication management with her psych and make sure she's on the right dosages for her new weight. I personally am worried that with weight loss I'll have to have my meds adjusted again, and that I might become unstable before new meds/dosages can work. It's always something people on psych meds have to be diligent about. Best of luck!

Good for you!

October 24. I'm 11 weeks from surgery, which in my mind seems like a long time, but I bet it comes before I know it.

Chubtastic and Nurselori, I am also having surgery in Mexico with dr Rodriguez on October 24. Exactly 11 weeks from today. Using that time to get ready by learning new eating habits and trying to remember to sip water all day long. The water part is hard for me, so I've got to work on that.

1. Not fitting in an airplane seat. 2. Having to re-buy 3x clothes after I got rid of them after the last diet. 3. Metabolic syndrome and the prospect that with retirement 11 years away, I may not be healthy enough to enjoy it.

rose, how are you doing? I'm hoping everything went ok!

curious if anyone who had a long flight after surgery had any special advice or if drs did anything special to prevent DVT on the flight home. I'm being sleeved in Oct in TJ and will be flying home to AK. For some reason I'm fixated on this, maybe because occasionally (not often) my ankles swell on long flights. Am I just being paranoid?

Just heard from my surgeon, and he will put me on meds for this, put me in compression stockings and have me up and walking. If I don't walk as much as he wants he will even put a pumping machine on my legs.

My hesitation in getting surgery was that I felt it meant I had to admit I was a failure. After trying every diet and exercise plan and failing, I thought WLS was like throwing in the towel and taking the "easy" way out. What changed all that for me was research. Finding answers here, and doing research into scientific studies. But perhaps more importantly, I stopped thinking of myself as a failure, but rather the diets failed me.

Wow you had a long trip! Thanks for the advice, I'm definitely going to talk about this with my doctor.

Please let me know how it goas. I'm flying home SD to Seattle to Anchorage. Good luck!

Isereno, great advice on having a water schedule. I'm going to try it.