I'm pre-op and the negative comments worry me!

[sweetlover 1]

Prior to joining this website the only people I talked to are from the consultation company in Canada. I appreciate that their opinions are likely somewhat biased, but I have asked them many questions. They have never indicated that I may have some of the problems people talk about here - my biggest worry is that I won't lose the weight. Several are stating that they are eating according to program, no cheating, yet they are not losing much if any weight! They are also still hungry, craving, etc. etc. I'm putting aside the physical concerns but definitely don't want to spend almost $10,000 and lose 20 lbs. I don't have as much to lose as some of you do (50 - 60 lbs.). Might that be a good thing in being able to reach my goal weight? Appreciate any feedback you can give me. I am scheduled for Sept. 22nd in Mexico.

[MINI-Me 196]

I can't give any experience except my own. I have struggled with being overweight since birth - seriously - I was born at 10 lb 10 oz. I have tried diet after diet. I was always hungry, even when I was losing. And, I ALWAYS gained it back.

This is the first time in my life not to be "hungry". I'm working through head hunger right now, but I know I can beat it. I have lost so much and am thinner than I've been my entire adult life. I am quickly approaching my high school weight.

You will get out of the surgery what you put into it. This isn't a miracle cure - but it is an awesome tool. Work with your surgeon's plan and have a support system (whether at home or a board like this).

You can do this!

[SParkle 4]

Hi and welcome

I beg to differ... 'several' may say that, but what about the lots that post their weight losses and swear its the best decision they ever made? Just look at peoples tickers for the proof.

You may find that you're reading the threads which you're drawn to with the problems you have commented on.... hunger, poor weight loss, stalling etc.... but do check out the success stories too.

A lot of people are the type to only post here when they hit issues, gas pain, stalls, etc.... but there are many which are happily losing and just don't bother to post their joy.

I had about the same amount to lose as you do, I was a self pay.

I spent years yoyoing back and forth. There really was no alternative for me.... or I'd end up severely obese in the end the way I was heading.

You may lose it slower, as you may have a lower BMI, but you will lose it.

I did have what I thought was hunger... but realised it was acid. I have to force myself to eat now to make sure I get in my daily amounts... never ever before have i felt like that.

I lost quite quick to start with, then it slowed down, almost stalling for a while, now its picked up again and I'm loosing about 1-2 lbs a week, regularly!! I'm almost half way to my target of 140lbs after just 11 weeks.

This is the one place where we will not be biased, but honest with you... and I still think you'll find the opinion comes back where we're happy with the decision we have made.

Also I've yet to see a surgery site where they will be totally honest about all the issues you may encounter, I asked my surgeon about all of them and he agreed they could all happen to me..... but over all I still weighed up the risks and outcome and went thru with it. Its a serious life changing surgery, and you should be aware of everything you may encounter along the way so you can make an informed decision about it.

Good luck - and do fire away with any questions.... thats what we are here for.

Edited August 26, 2010 by SParkle

[MlkPas 5]

I'm a lightweight like you with just 60 pounds to lose. I am losing slowly, no doubt about it. I'm 5-1/2 months out and have lost 34 pounds, which by weight loss surgery standards is losing very slowly indeed. In my fourth month I only lost about a pound and a half and thought I would go crazy! But I took myself down to the gym and got myself a personal trainer and now the weight is coming off nicely again. I'm just a pound away from 130s, which I haven't seen since I got engaged to my DH, 12 years ago!

Bottom line for me is that I've been struggling with my weight since I was 9 years old -- that's FORTY YEARS of being obsessed with weight, food, and dieting every. single. day. This surgery has been a miracle for me, and even though it's taking longer than I'd hoped and expected for the weight to come off, I expect to be at my goal within a year of surgery and, more important, I expect the weight to stay off. I could never, ever, have done it without the surgery. Best money I ever spent.

[sleevesearch 14]

I love this post! Just what I needed to hear!

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[Swiftflow 6]

Keep in mind the only guarantee of the sleeve procedure is that it will physically limit the volume of solid food you can eat in one sitting. It is a tool. EDIT: some people also get the benifit of not feeling hunger due to reduced ghrelin production, but some get feelings of hunger back and some report not loosing hunger--however they can now feel full with just a small amount of food. If you graze all day or choose the wrong foods when eating, the tool is not helping you at all and not being used properly.

The stalls are a whole different story--everyone looses weight differently, does not matter if you are on a diet or have any of the weight loss surgeries available--if your body is going to stall it is just going to stall and adjust. There is frustration and impatience that stalls cause, but if you keep using the tool properly the weight will come off. Look at the studies and percentages with WLS some may have as high as 85% success rate--that also means that 15% of those in the study did not stick with the program and choose not to use the tool the right way.

You will do well with the VSG if you use it as a tool in your diet and exercise program. Diet and exercise alone has a 90%-95% failure rate so I like my chances much better with the Sleeve in my tool belt.

Edited August 26, 2010 by Swiftflow

[Papillon 7]

Thank you for posting your answers... I really appreciate everyone's candor. This is a huge decision and I get pretty jittery. I really need to remember what it is that brought me to this decision in the first place. I am hoping for the change I need!!! :tongue_smilie:

I am also willing to do the heavy lifting with the sleeve as my partner.

[DogBone 1]

I desagree the VSG is only about a small stomach. VSG is about HUNGRY, my hungry is gone!

[Swiftflow 6]

I desagree the VSG is only about a small stomach. VSG is about HUNGRY, my hungry is gone!

Understood, but its not a guarantee. Some people get the hunger back. Like you I don't have the hunger either so thats a bonus for us, but I never had to be hungry to eat pre-op either. We have to remember the only guaranteed result is the smaller stomach.

For those of you who do have hunger, that is not a bad thing as such a small amout of food now satisfies! We still have to choose the right food to satisfy though!

Edited August 26, 2010 by Swiftflow

[DogBone 1]

Understood, but its not a guarantee. Some people get the hunger back. Like you I don't have the hunger either so thats a bonus for us, but I never had to be hungry to eat pre-op either. We have to remember the only guaranteed result is the smaller stomach.

I don?t know about everybody. I can only tell for me. Hungry supression was why I made mine VSG.

I always was hungry before. Even the one day liquid diet was a pain for me. I could not stick in the diets. Now I?m in control, no hungry at all.

Edited August 26, 2010 by DogBone

[goodlife 3]

I'm one who wrote about my weight loss having slowed way down and being in a stall.....that was just me venting.

I KNOW the weight will come off...it simply has to. I have to learn to be patient and learn that my body is going to do it the way IT wants to do it. A big part of my frustration is that I've learned that I will only lose weight two weeks out of the month. That has to do with my cycle. I don't know if it's hormonal or what...but that just plum drives me nuts. From mid cycle (ovulation time) until a few days into my period, that scale is NOT moving. I guess I retain a lot of Water during that time...don't know what else it's doing but let me tell you...I could just fast for that entire two week period and I don't think that scale would move. MADDENING!

Now...aside from my frustration....I absolutely LOVE my sleeve and have zero zero zero regrets. I never for one second felt an ounce of remorse or wish I had chosen a different surgery or whatever.

I'm down 75 lbs from my high weight in the middle of March and I feel fabulous.

My husband says I'm so damned sexy he just can't keep his hands off of me...sometimes that is NOT a good thing..hehehe.

There have been so many changes and all of them positive.

I would do it all over again 10 times over! I'm 3.5 lbs away from my halfway mark and will be 4 months out on the 28th. I'll take it.

[sweetlover 1]

I am supposed to have my surgery later this month. My husband is totally opposed. He thinks I will struggle to live with the changes I will need to make to my lifestyle. He also questions what the long term effects of the surgery may be. I wonder if people who have been post op for more than a year hate the fact that they can no longer eat more than one piece of pizza or a Christmas turkey dinner (even if the portions are very small it would be impossible to have a taste of everything including dessert). Do you have regrets? If you had it to do over would you still do it? Is it worth the many sacrifices you have to make? I am flip flopping a dozen times a day - should I or should I not have the surgery!! I have about 50 lbs to lose. Would appreciate any help you can give me. Thanks very much.

[DogBone 1]

What do have to understand is that the VSG also decreases your hungry so it's somehow easy to go with the small portions. On the other hand you don't have a lot to loose.

I'm only 19 days out, so maybe the 1yr> folks can say better.

[Lori21769 14]

I may not be the norm... but I can eat two pieces of pizza, I can eat a decent portion of a meal (half of what I consumed pre-surgery) and I am sure Christmas dinner or Thanksgiving dinner will not be a problem. Much smaller amounts, but you can spread those meals into several small meals and get all the things you like to eat.

[Stacy160 201]

DogBone, I just want to warn you not to get too excited yet about not having any hunger. You're not quite three weeks out... I had no hunger either to start with, but then at two months it hit me HARD. Thankfully that only lasted for about a month or six weeks (I don't remember). I think the people who truly have zero hunger in the long-term are the people who still continue to take a PPI every day to suppress their stomach acid. I don't do that, but I don't have that ravenous hunger anymore, either. I do get a kind of "empty" feeling every few hours that tells me it's time to eat, and I LIKE that. I feel normal, like a regular thin person would. Those little signals just remind me that I have CONTROL over them for the first time ever. So just beware, know that in a few weeks you may start feeling some hunger, and don't be too disappointed if you do... most people do seem to have some return, to varying degrees, but I don't recall anyone ever complaining about it after a few months out. If you get it, it'll calm down.... but prepare for it mentally so it doesn't freak you out when it comes. :001_huh:

Sweetlover: Your husband is worried about the long term effects of the surgery (like healthy BMI, good cholesterol levels, great blood pressure, more physical activity, better quality of life, extended lifespan, etc. etc. etc....) ... you need to remind him of the far greater risks to your health and well-being if you don't lose the weight (and chances are, if you're like most overweight people, the weight will just keep creeping upward). Without it, you're looking at possible heart problems, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, diabetes, arthritis and joint problems, early death.... you know the deal.

Don't worry about the holidays... I know it's impossible to understand or believe when you're pre-op, but you'll really be so full and satisfied that you won't even WANT to have everything on the spread. Plus, a few more months out, you will have room for a bite or two of everything, but will still be able to eat maybe only a quarter of what you did before, if that. You know that superb endorphin-releasing high that you get after stuffing yourself with a holiday meal and you know that if you eat one more bite you're just gonna hurl, so someone better roll you out the door right now? Well LOL... the sleeve will keep you from feeling like someone stuffed a football in your gut, but you will still have the same satisfaction of enjoying all those tastes and being full, because you WILL be full... just on much, much less food. You have to experience it to believe it and 'get' what I'm saying, but it's true. I mourned what I thought would be the loss of what for me, then, was the highlight of every holiday (gorging on all the great food)... until the holidays came and I didn't feel deprived at all.

I'm not sure what "many sacrifices you have to make" you're referring to. I've sacrificed my too-tight size 20 pants, I've sacrificed my lying, cheating, diseased traitorous stomach, I've sacrificed the sadness that comes with feeling hopeless and unable to do anything to change. What I've lost, physically, is amazing to me (being that it's the first time I've had any real success losing the weight), but what I've gained is priceless. I have absolutely NO regrets at all other than the fact that I couldn't do this sooner, and I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat. In fact, I'm slowly trying to steer my 21-year old son toward it, it's that wonderful.

You WILL lose more slowly than someone with a hundred or two hundred pounds to lose will, that's just a fact. You can't look at the pounds lost, you have to look at the precentage lost, and you'll probably hit goal in about the same timeframe as someone larger will. They may lose 150 lbs in a year, and you may lose 60 lbs in a year, but you'll both wind up losing about the same percentage of extra weight during that same time-frame... does that make sense?

Set your nerves aside--everyone deals with nerves and second-guessing--and look at it objectively if you can. Weigh the benefits of doing it now against the probabilities you'll face if you put it off, and see what your gut tells you. We can tell you that you won't regret it until we're blue in the face, but it's just something you have to experience for yourself to really understand how awesome this thing is.