Am I "Too Young" To Get The Sleeve?

[Kyrie 9]

My Dad keeps trying to talk me out of it because I'm "too young for somthing so drastic" and I "haven't tried every other diet out there." He seems convinced that after everything I've been through (I was on my first diet at the age of SEVEN (7)!!) there's still some magical diet that will make me lose all the weight and keep it off.

I don't want to spend the rest of my life dieting and going to the gym for hours everyday and starving. I don't want to have to excessivly count calories and carbs and such. Not for the rest of my life. I can't do that. Dad expects me to spend the rest of my life hungry and exauhsted from dieting, and that is just not somthing I can do!

I want to be able to eat like a normal, health-consious person. I want to be able to fill up on a peice of chicken and some salad. I want to be able to make healthy choices most of the time, but be able to eat "junk" a little bit of the time, too. Just like everyone else. I want to be able to wake up and take a 30 minute walk in the morning, without feeling like I've been hit by a truck. I'd like to be able to peddle my bike up more than 2 hills before gasping for air.

But even though the sleeve will be able to help me achieve the life I want, my dad is still firmly against it. I'm 18, so it's not like he can stop me, but I'd be nice to have his support.

Edited October 25, 2013 by Kyrie

[LumpySpacePrincess 594]

At 18 I was exactly where you are, even our weights matched up! I'm 33 now and wish I had taken advantage of the opportunity to get surgery back then, because it rarely gets better naturally for people like us.

I'm sure your dad is just scared of the procedure and projecting it in a judgmental light. My mother was also extremely judgmental at that age, just telling me I was lazy and that I didn't need the surgery. Now she sees how wrong she was and apologizes all the time. Do what you feel is right for you. Take control of your life now and you will be much happier in the coming years!

[Carlotta 57]

Why don't u find people close to your age that had the procedure and r successful. Maybe they can share info with your father that would ease his concern. What about the surgeon u may be interested in using, he may have young patients. Bring your dadwith u to thedoctor to hear his perspective. Having a weight issue since 7 must have been hard on u. In addition to the surgery, find a psycologist who specializes in eating issues. Deal with your physical and emotional issues. Hope this helps. Peace be with you.

[2Big2Skate 328]

Biologically, you should ask your PCP if there's any counter indicators that he/she sees. They know you best. I will tell you, my metabolism changed a lot through my high school and college years. You may have a change coming up. Unfortunately, for me, it was always a change for the worst!

If you have lost weight before only to gain it back, several times, thats a big indicator you might be ready. Once you arrive at the point where you say "I can't do this myself" then I think its a rational idea to consider weight loss surgery.

[PGee 318]

Without knowing you personally, I couldn't answer your question--I wouldn't have been ready at 18 to make these kind of changes for a lifetime.

I still have to exercise most days for an hour...avoid carbs.....and record activity/food on MyFitnessPal.......meals are just a few bites.....occasionally my head still wants a full plate of food.

Have you looked in the age specific forums on here? There may be a teenagers forum (I know there's a 20's forum, and you're nearly there)......check those out....

It might be helpful if your father goes with you to an informational session with the surgeon. His concerns can be addressed directly by the surgeon. (it helped my husband to come around, too)

Wishing you the best in this journey. Good luck.

[BriDawn 79]

Honestly, you're an adult. There is no big difference from now than when you're in your twenties. I'm 24 now, had surgery at 23. My age was a huge concern for me too. I'm so young to be forever altering my body. But then, should I wait till I'm 40 and 200lbs heavier with diabetes?

That was my logic... I wanted to have it done so I could get on with living a HAPPY and HEALTHY life while I'm still young and have a lot of time ahead of me.

If you were still growing (like 13) I would say to wait. But you're an adult and you know what is best for you.

I researched the crap out of this. I looked into how it might affect pregnancy (it doesn't, really) and any long term health risks (minimal, if any at all). That being said, make sure you're psychologically ready for this. That was so much harder than any physical problems for me.

I was so depressed the first month after surgery. My anxiety skyrocketed and I had several panic attacks, mostly fueled by "omg what did I do to myself?!" Now six months out, I'm down 65 lbs, feeling amazing and I'm eating almost anything I want, just less!

Some people may frown on it but I do still eat chips, Pasta, bread, cake, etc. on occasion! Obviously Protein and fruit/veggies are first but I had this particular surgery because I wanted to be able to eat all the foods I still enjoyed.

Good luck! Do your research!

[DianaE 128]

I seriously believe that the majority of the people who have never been verweight are different than we are. There is no way that they can be getting the same signals we are and not over eat. Since my surgery I no longer have the tummy screaming at me to fill the bottomless pit. It is tiny and probably now after almost a year getting normal. I can eat small amounts of anything and I am satisified. I think that is the way it is supposed to be. I have lost over 100lbs in the year I have done this and have no regrets. I am much older than you but I wish I could have done this much earlier.. I missed out on a lot of life because of being overweight. I hope you get the support you need but I did this for me. I didn't care what anyone else thought and still dont.

good luck!!

[RebecaSparkles 247]

Do it!!! No you're not too you. You are just right. Young enough the skin will hopefully shrink, not too big yet, healthy enough you'll bounce back quick.

I was 28 when I had mine- but only bc of insurance & $.

I regret spending so many years being fat. I lost all my friends over time bc i was so big I was no fun.

allons-y

[aliekat55 157]

it is not magic. i know many people after a gastric bypass that are bigger than when they started. a full 40% of people after wls do not even reach the very easy goal of losing 60% of their excess surgery. if you are not willing to do the fairly minor things of measuring and counting your food and daily exercise i think you will be highly dissapointed. this site is full of people that are having a hard time losing after surgery even with exercise and counting their meals.

the one good thing for many of us is that the hunger changes, there is still head hunger, there is still stress eating, poor choices, poor planning, etc.

Of course this may only be my experience, but check out what the vets say, the successfull ones. I have yet to see anyone say that it was easy that they did not have work the sleeve, that there were periods of failure to be overcome by focused determination. in fact most of them say they wished they had worked harder, exercised sooner and harder.

[Kyrie 9]

I'm not saying I don't want to have to excercise ever, or not pay attention to what I'm eating. I'm saying I don't want to have to be obsessive about it.

I know it's not magic, and I know it takes work, I just don't want to be as obssesed with counting and measuring and weighting food as I was with eating it before I started this.

So, is a half-hour walk in the mornings and a ~15 minute bike ride not enough excercise? 'Cause that's all I can do. Maybe when I don't wake up in the morning with all my muscles screaming at me, but right now I can't see doing any more than that on a regular basis.

[cindymg 629]

My life has completely changed since my sleeve surgery 5 months ago. I no longer have that bottomless pit of a stomach that was constantly screaming for more and more food. Foods that used to "call to me" are no longer calling my name. I don't know why, but my tastes have changed. And even when I start to overeat, my sleeve saves me saying, "nope, no more. All filled up!"

As far as exercise, where I could only do about a 6 block walk in the beginning, and needed a nap afterwards, I now do 4-5 miles easily -- with no naps required. The gym has become fun again. I feel so much better with each passing day that it's easier to add another mile, or another exercise.

All this is to say that what is difficult now, will become sooooooo much easier after surgery.

I'm not young and when I was your age this surgery was not available. If it was maybe I wouldn't have wasted 40 years of my life carting around an extra 80 lbs., trying every diet, pill and program, feeling crappy, missing my life. Maybe I wouldn't have developed diabetes, high blood pressure and coronary artery disease.

It's a tough decision for someone so young to think about permanently altering your body. But, think about the possibilities for your life if you change the path you are on now.

Good luck with your decision. Let us know how you are doing.

[peachie86 63]

Whatever your age after surgery you have to be committed to exercising and changing your relationship with food! Good luck with your decision.

[aliekat55 157]

There are many challenges. will you think ahead and not put yourself in a place where you have few options but to eat poorly? how much alcohol is in your life? ( no judgement, just huge amounts of calories and bad choices if alot has been imbibed). will you tire of the limitation and being unable to eat like your friends and therefore stretch out your sleeve or will you eat slider foods? there have been very successful young people but they were willing to change their attitude to food and exercise. for me it was "am i willing to do whatever it takes?" i waited years to get the surgery until the answer was a resounding yes.

I wish you the best of luck.

[ItsMe2033 143]

I don't want to spend the rest of my life dieting and going to the gym for hours everyday and starving. I don't want to have to excessivly count calories and carbs and such. Not for the rest of my life. I can't do that.

I want to be able to eat like a normal, health-consious person. I want to be able to fill up on a peice of chicken and some salad. I want to be able to make healthy choices most of the time, but be able to eat "junk" a little bit of the time, too.

It's hard to know much about someone from just a brief post on the internet, but here's my best assessment based on what you have said.

First, congratulations on deciding to get the sleeve. I don't think that you are too young. I do think that because of your age it's important to research this more someone might when the are in their 30s or 40s or later. So I think you should read thousands of posts on this forum, and other internet forums. Get all the information that you can. I think there is a real advantage in having the surgery at such a young age. That way you will do a lot less damage to your body than if you skipped the surgery and waited 20 years to have it.

Secondly, looking at your profile, your goal is to lose 100% of your excess body fat. You want to lose down to 170 pounds (BMI 25.8), which is just above the upper range of normal body weight (164 pounds) for someone your height. That is a very ambitious goal -- not impossible, but very ambitious. You should ask yourself if you will be satisfied with somewhat less loss. If you will not be willing to accept less loss, you should look at the other weight loss surgeries as well. Although I think that the sleeve is an awesome surgery, some of the other surgeries give somewhat more weight loss, at the cost of more side effects.

Right now, you probably have no way of losing this weight and keeping it off without surgery. Realistically the chances that you could lose down to 170 pounds and stay that way just through diet and exercise are almost zero. I think your dad is scared of this surgery and I can understand why. Try as best as you can to gently educate him about it. Have you gotten support from your parents in general, but just not about the surgery, or are your parents not very supportive in general?

I think that if you want to obtain the goal that you stated you will have to dedicate yourself for at least two years after the surgery to making maximal efforts. That involves maximal efforts in what you eat, and maximal efforts in your level of exercise, and maximal efforts in addressing any underlying issues. I'm sure you've heard that this surgery is a tool, but not a magical solution to problems. The difference between before the surgery and after is that without having the surgery there is almost no chance you can lose the weight and keep it off, no matter how hard you work. After the surgery there is a chance that you can reach your goal, but you must be willing to work with your tool as hard as is required if you want to meet your goals. So the surgery gives you a way to get to your goal, but it's up to you if you get there or not. If you are not ready to work as hard as is required for you to meet your goal then you are not yet ready to have the surgery.

I'm hoping this is crystal clear. After the surgery it will be much easier for you to stick to 1000 calories per day than it is right now. Maybe it will only take 3/4, or 1/2 or 1/4 of the effort, but it still takes effort. You must make sure that you are ready to put forth that effort and sustain it. It's not simply the case that you can have the surgery and a year or two later be at your goal and live your life normally from there on. After several months after the surgery you'll be able to eat any type of food that you want, and you will be able to have treats from time to time, but if you want to get to your goal and stay there, giving yourself treats should be a low priority matter to you.

You should be able to answer this question: What is more important to you, to weigh what you want to weigh, or to eat what you want to eat? You may not be able to have both.

There are many factors that enter into determining your body weight. One way to classify those factors is to divide them into physiological factors such as resting metabolic rate, endocrine issues (such as low thyroid), level of activity, etc, and psychological factors such as eating habits, eating disorders, using food for emotional comfort, etc. The surgery can help you with some of the physiological factors by reducing your appetite levels, but it is not surgery on your head. It does not address the psychological factors. It will be very important for you to work closely with a Nutritionist to help you learn how and what to eat, and a psychologist to help you address any eating disorders or any other psychological factors tied to food.

I wish you the very best of luck. Please stay in touch with this board and let us know how you are progressing in your journey.

[ljmasterdebater 71]

I was 17 when I had the surgery and now I'm 18 and down 103lbs and couldn't be happier. My philosophy is age doesn't matter the surgery changes your life for good. Since you are 18 i have a social group on here called Sleevin' Teens please join it and tell your story on there.

Edited October 26, 2013 by ljmocktrial2013