BlackBerryJuice

Thank you for the thread. I am at 195 right now, planning to have surgery in 2nd week of August (will be booking Monday!). I've struggled with my weight since I was 6. Last year, I "changed my lifestyle" and lost 50 lbs. At 165 lbs, I would eat about 1000 calories a day and exercise 1.5-2.5 hours a day. Then one weekend I went on a trip with friends and had 3 drinks and 2 desserts over the course of 3 days. Even tho we went out to dance both nights, and I danced for hours on end, I put on 3 lbs that weekend. No matter how hard I worked out and how little I ate the following week, those 3 lbs wouldn't come off. Then one day I had a bagel with cream cheese, and I put on another stubborn pound overnight. Then one day I just said "Screw this." If I don't get this surgery, I WILL one day be 250, 300 lbs. Why not do it now, when I'm young and healthy, in good physical shape outside of the # on my scale (I'm athletic, even though people like us are seen by society as "lazy" and "unmotivated"), and when my skin is still elastic enough to mostly bounce back after the weight loss? Why wait til I'm older, bigger, and might actually need a tummy tuck and a boob job after the sleeve? I don't really want to have this surgery 10 years later and be happy I reached 195 lbs again.

Hi everyone, I am in Alberta and am planning to get sleeved in the 2nd week of August with Dr. Aceves - haven't booked a date yet, but will do so in the next 2 days. Anyone thinking of heading there in the 2nd week of August? Anyone from Alberta on this board?

Hey, I'm booking next week, so no date yet, but I'm going with Dr. Aceves. Hoping to have it done in the 2nd week of August. I'll make sure to check out that thread.

Hi! I've actually always wanted to visit Jordan, I've heard there are some great historical monuments to see. I was even thinking of doing a medical rotation there (I'm a medical student). Diabetes IS very scary - I don't have it, but I'm terrified of getting it. Hopefully your surgery goes well.

Thanks for the response. I see you also bumped up another thread that addresses a lot of these issues. I'm 100% sure I'm getting the VSG. When/where are you doing yours? I plan to have mine done in the 2nd week of August in Mexico - here in Canada, the prices are outrageous, and I'm a student who's paying for this entirely with my line of credit, so saving $10,000 is definitely a big deal.

Thanks for the thread, exactly the information I needed. My greatgrandmother had something very similar done to treat her stomach cancer. She was never obese, but she was definitely plump before the surgery - maybe 25 lbs overweight? She couldn't eat very much right after (just 2 tbsp of oatmeal and the like per meal). She lost all her excess weight (IIRC, she had 90% of her stomach removed), but while she's thin now, she was never emaciated and she didn't seem to have any problems with hair loss. It's been almost 2 decades now and she's capable of having moderate-size meals (bowl of soup with a slice of bread, or some sort of protein with a bit of grains and a small salad). Considering she was in her 70s and severely ill when this was done (many surgeons actually refused to operate - she was going into the surgery with a 10% risk of death), her recovery and subsequent lifestyle have been remarkably good. Once I connected the dots during my VSG research and realized that's basically what she had done, albeit to treat a different problem, I felt a lot less concerned about doing this.

Hi everyone, Just joined and thought I'd introduce myself. I'm 25 and live in Western Canada. I'm currently 195 lbs - after losing 40 lbs in a year, I've regained 30 in 6 months. I'm a medical student and recently attended several lectures on obesity. The specialist opened my eyes to the fact that the odds of me ever losing much weight and maintaining that loss are essentially zero. He also informed us that for obese patients, bariatric surgery is the only way to lose weight for good. As a medical student, I have the luxury of access to a large line of credit, so even though at a BMI of 33, I'd never qualify to have my surgery covered here, I'm willing to take the risk and make the investment. I'm hoping to one day end up at around 145 lbs. I'm quite athletic, so as long as my eating is under control, I think I'll be successful, which is why I'm opting for a lap-band. I am hoping to get banded before end of August - before school starts. I would love to hear from other Canadians. I am currently looking at some clinics here; there isn't a place offering private surgery in my area, but I'm considering some locations in Ontario. I was born and raised in Russia, and have family there, so I am also looking into getting banded there, as it is significantly cheaper. However, the procedure is still fairly new there, so most surgeons only do a handful of them a year, so experience is an issue.

Thanks for the replies. AlienBandit, it's encouraging to hear that people with BMI <35 can still achieve great success with the surgery. I'd be very happy if I could maintain a weight of 160 lbs! Unfortunately, in the past it's involved hours of exercise a day, not having any alcohol, any Desserts, and not having any sort of dinner, all with a daily caloric intake of about 1000...NOT sustainable! LauraLane, Mexico is not at the top of my list right now, but if the Russia thing fails, I am willing to look into it. I called the Russian clinic today, but the receptionists were quite rude and refused to offer any sort of information over the phone, so I'll have to send my mom over there and pretend to be a patient, so that she can actually meet with the surgeon him/herself. I sent her an e-mail, so hopefully she can do this sometime next week.