young and sleeveless....

[jennapenn 5]

Hey all,

I am 19 and have begun seriously considering getting sleeved. A friend of my mothers just had it done and I have been talking to her a lot lately about the benefits and such.

I had originally never thought about weight loss surgery... never once crossed my mind until a week or so ago when my doc mentioned it to me. Now that he did and I have found out about VSG, I am so curious for knowledge. I have been perusing this sight for a few days and decided to go ahead and make my own topic to gain imnput from you all.

Do you all believe that 19 is too young to become sleeved? I know all that it would it entail and I believe that it will greatly improve my life and make me healthier.

Since I have been considering it, if i decide on it I want the process to go fast as to get get pre-op, surgery and post-op done before i return to school in august.

If there is any helpful information or advice from any of you I would greatly appreciate it!!

Thanks A million!!!!!

Jenna

[emily_0192010 168]

Hi Jenna! I am 20 and I have met a couple people who are 21 and 23. I definitely do not think 19 is too young as long as you consider all of the possibilities and do your research (which you seem to be doing). Also, by the time you receive the actual surgery you may be 20 at that point. But really, don't make it about your age. I think it is great that you have the support of your doctor. I asked my doc for help when I was 18 and she put me on pills for a couple months and told me to "eat healthy"... it didn't work lol!

Also, I don't believe you will be able to get everything done before August... especially if you have insurance. I think if you start this process and are serious you will be able to make it work with school. You might have to line it up with a long weekend or fall break or Thanksgiving for your recovery. But people here have their surgery and go right back to work fairly quickly... and with school you could probably miss a few lectures and just make up the work. Your school cannot dock you for missed days for medical reasons.

I am still fairly early in the process as well. I have already gone to my first appointment with the surgeon, and seen the nutritionist. Next week I officially start my three-month physician supervised weight loss. So I am looking at an August/September surgery.

If you want to ask any specific questions or just chat, send me a message!

[Beadingnurse 116]

I don't think you are too young since your physician mentioned it as a suggestion and he/she is in a better position to assess your health benefits versus risks.. It is a huge, non-reversible decision though and you are deciding now at 19, how you will eat for the rest of your life. I love the sleeve and recommend it but it IS a major, major, major lifestyle change. You are unlikely to be able to drink alcohol much if at all after the surgery. Not really an issue for me but sure would have been when I was 19!!

Do your research and this Board is a great way place to start but don't just read the comments on here as some of us tend to be a bit Polly-Ann-ish (me especially) and you need a balanced view. Pregnancy might be in your future and you will want to read about how to manage a healthy pregnancy with WLS. Folks definitely DO and there is a great thread about it on here but it is just one more thing to consider.

Good luck with whatever you decide and please post any questions you have on here as you will find that everyone is very generous with their time and expertise.

[Amber 4]

Hey [: I'm 18 and will be having the surgery in about two weeks. I also asked the same question and got a lot of great responses. Here's the link.

http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/14864-getting-sleeved-young/page__p__126112__hl__%2Bgetting+%2Bsleeved+%2Byoung__fromsearch__1#entry126112

[Candace2314 117]

I'm 23 now, and I had the sleeve done about 5 weeks ago. I personally started looking into weight loss surgery at 19. That's when I got to college and my weight ballooned! I was a chubby kid growing up, and then when I became a teenager I guess all the baby fat fell off and I was always round 138 my highschool career until my senior year of highschool, that's when I got up to 185 and by the end of my first semester of college I was 264 lbs. It progressively got worse and I've tried many diets, I exercised, I did everything and I would lose some- and gain more back. It took going to see my doctor in January to get me to take the final leap. He left the room- I read the comments he put on my chart- it said extremely obese for each cause of every problem I was having at the time and I just was fed up. (I had went to a seminar like 8 months prior too), but now- I'm very glad I had the sleeve done. I think it will help improve the quality of your life tremendously. I would say look into going to a seminar or two, it really helps.

[jennapenn 5]

You all have been so helpful!!!

I have watched a couple of seminars online because I don't live near a center but from what the seminars say they just make me want this more. I have been overweight my whole life, since i was a toddler. Knowing my family and myself I know it won't get better all by itself. I have tried so many different things and I have never been able to lose more then 5-10 lbs and never been able to keep it off. I am ready for all the lifestyle changes that this will bring me. I know life will change and that is what I need. Something has to change, otherwise I'll just get worse, and I want to enjoy my younger years as well as my older ones by being healthy and happy.

I am going to try and be approved here in the next couple weeks and schedule an appointment in denver to try and get this thing going.

Thanks again!!

I'll keep you updated.