Mystical Catfish

I'm June 19th, seems like quite a few of us! Nervous but excited. Sent from my VS986 using BariatricPal mobile app

It's been a while. I started with my first visit to the Bariatric clinic on July 13th, 2016 and went through all the steps to work towards getting approved to get a Gastric Sleeve surgery. My sister and my best friend had both had the surgery, and both were doing very well. I read everything I could get my hands on, trying to educate myself as much as possible about the procedure and the journey leading up to it and the lifestyle changes that had to go with it. I had been doing well, was a good candidate for the surgery, and thought I was ready- and then I had my second to last nutritionist's appointment and was told I could stop off in the front and schedule my surgery. I stopped off at the desk and told them, and was told I could have it in a matter of weeks. Less than a month, or that I could have it the next month and they gave me some available dates and asked which worked for me. I froze. My mind went blank and I panicked. I mumbled that I'd have to check my calendar at home and call them. And then didn't. I met one more time with the nutritionist and told her about having cold feet. She was very kind and reassuring and said I didn't have to rush into it if I wasn't sure- and that I had up to a year to make up my mind before I'd have to start over. I was so relieved to hear that, I almost cried right there in the office. I needed to wait. And I took the fear as a sign that maybe it just wasn't for me. And a month passed, and then I had 2 agonizing gallstone attacks and had to have my gall bladder out, and after that I didn't even want to think about having another surgery any time soon. Another month or two passed, and the scale was slowly moving up. I was gaining more weight, despite keeping up with my exercise, and I realized I had to be straight with myself- this surgery was my best chance for getting this weight off. Did I want to be this heavy for the rest of my life, facing the health risks that go with it- or did I want to face my fears and take the plunge and go through with the surgery. I took a couple of weeks, talked to my mom, my boyfriend, my son, my friends. And knew what I needed to do. Today I went to the Bariatric support group meeting at our clinic with my best friend, and after the meeting, I scheduled my surgery. June 19th my life changes forever, hopefully for the better. I'm still scared (really scared) but I'm hopeful. I'm glad I found this forum, because reaching out to people will help, I think. Reading other people's stories, making new friends, and opening up will be good for me. So, hi! This is my first post.