Holy Crap...am I making the right decision

[deekaspor 89]

11 days away from my sleeve. I am so nervous. However if you were to ask me why I am nervous you would be surprised to hear it is not of dying but of being able to keep my stomach small and not back to large. I am an emotional eater, happy, sad, and mad, you name the emotion, and I can eat for it.

[longer-life 139]

You are not alone. I am a volume eater and keeping the pounds off forever is what worries me the most. However we have never had a tool like the one we will get, so we will have a much better chance at success. Best wishes!

[Denise's New Life 43]

I am also an emotional eater and have struggled with my weight for my whole life. (I turned 50 today ) and well I was concerened to. Had my sleeve 5 months ago and lost 110 pds. Iam not able to eat in bulk now and what you eat you want it to be good for You. You adjust and with the weight coming off it gives you a great incentive.

[Amanda131 214]

deekaspor-

I had the same fears and work with a therapist really helped me overcome those fears and make peace with some of my emotional eating demons. That therapist really helped a lot those first few months post-op when the emotional eating I had depended on my entire life was no longer physically possible. I would recommend working with a therapist to anyone with simialr issues.

Best of Luck!

Amanda

[longer-life 139]

Amanda did you search for a specific "kind" of therapist? Did you ask before hand if they had experience with bariatric patients? How did you go about it? Lots of questions. :-)

[Amanda131 214]

Amanda did you search for a specific "kind" of therapist? Did you ask before hand if they had experience with bariatric patients? How did you go about it? Lots of questions. :-)

I searched my insurance company's database of therapists "in network" (Aetna). In the database it listed each therapist's areas of expertise. The therapist I chose had "eating disorders" listed as an area of expertise. I had actually started seeing her well before I decided to have surgery in order to heal some childhood scars (which incidently were tied to my emotional overeating), but I knew when I chose her that my head issues with eating were something that needed addressing.

Fortunately, she had treated bariatric patients before so she was able to really help me through the process. We did a lot of work prior to surgery to get me ready for my new life. It was very eye-opening for me. She helped me connect a lot of eating issues to personal experiences and learn how to adopt new behaviors when emotions take over. And, an area where I didn't expect to need help but she was really instrumental was in learning to accept attention again as I lost the weight. It was very difficult for me at first when men began to actively check me out/hit on me. I felt very "exposed" for lack of a better word. I quit my weekly visits two months ago and I am still going strong on my own.

If you still have questions, feel free to ask. I'm happy to answer!

[longer-life 139]

Amanda, thanks SO much! I expect to have surgery In the Fall/Winter season and I tend to get "blue" at that time of the year. I think it will be beneficial to have someone to talk to while I recover. Sorry OP for hijacking your thread just a tad.

[peacequeen 434]

longer-life, along with depression and anxiety, I have seasonal affective disorder. It's a real illness. Read about it, a therapist can really help you.

deekaspor.. I am currently working very hard to get my head right before surgery, so many will tell you it's very important. It's been the best advice I've gotten here at vst. Good luck!

[longer-life 139]

longer-life, along with depression and anxiety, I have seasonal affective disorder. It's a real illness. Read about it, a therapist can really help you.

Thanks! I will talk to someone about it.