Surgery June 4th...worrying I'll regret my decision. Any regrets about VSG?

[cristinlacey 1]

I'm scheduled for surgery June 4th. I honestly thought this day would never come. After 4 years, I have a surgery date. One of my biggest fears is feeling sick after surgery (after healing). Many times people feel bad or a just stay sick. My other fear is..will I regret this? Any tips or past experience would be very helpful.

[Losing in PA 26]

I did go through a couple of days where I said what the heck was I thinking but 1 1/2 months out. I have no regrets. I had sme nausea next day after only due to gas in my stomach. I am down around 40 lbs. You will not regret this. Energy, smaller clothes and satifaction.

[joatsaint 2,814]

My 1st week post-op I went through the, "What the Hell did I do to myself!" phase. But on day 8 or 9, everything got better and I've never regretted it for a minute. It was the best decision of my life and I'd go through every minute of it again without hesitation.

[starlight82 4]

I'm scheduled for surgery June 4th. I honestly thought this day would never come. After 4 years, I have a surgery date. One of my biggest fears is feeling sick after surgery (after healing). Many times people feel bad or a just stay sick. My other fear is..will I regret this? Any tips or past experience would be very helpful.

I just has the gastrectomy portion of DS (reverse staged procedure) in early March. I think that the only thing I "regret" per se is how much smaller my stomach is/how little it holds now. My weight loss has not been as rapid as other people here though so I am sure that if I were enjoying huge losses, I would feel happier about the whole thing. (I've lost 20 lbs over 10 weeks). The other thing I have found is that I am forced to no longer eat for comfort. I also avoid carbs like the plague since bread, rice, and Pasta all fill me up REALLY quickly (3-4 bites, max) and having DS, I need to get in a lot more Protein to survive. So basically, you need to find better "fixes" for comfort -- I've gotten my nails or hair done, gone for a walk, read a good book, talked to a friend, etc. But I can still find that it is still difficult in social settings. Over the weekend, for instance, I wanted to have a slice of pizza and could not finish a piece. Granted, I should not be eating pizza at all but once in a while, I want to be able to have those things and do not want to feel like I am going to throw up if I have one slice (especially since this was a relatively small size and not the large sized slices that a place like Sbarro sells).

Anyway, I don't mean to sound like the Debbie Downer here but I just wanted to be honest. I don't regret having the gastrectomy portion of the surgery at all, but I do get frustrated with how little I can eat at times. I also know that my stomach size is going to increase down the road in any case so I am learning to live with this.

(As a side note, be sure to discuss your stomach size with your surgeon. Mine decided to give me a 50 bougie pouch without discussing it with me. He typically does 60 bougie pouches for DS patients -- and this is what I was told I was getting in the general info session -- but decided to be more aggressive with me because of how much I had to lose. My understanding is that a lot of VSG patients get smaller pouches since they do not have the malabsorption to aid in their weight loss).

[BRG 39]

I'm scheduled for surgery June 4th. I honestly thought this day would never come. After 4 years, I have a surgery date. One of my biggest fears is feeling sick after surgery (after healing). Many times people feel bad or a just stay sick. My other fear is..will I regret this? Any tips or past experience would be very helpful.

Lap-band is reversible so if you regret it, it can be undone.

[McButterpants 2,846]

I will be 6 months out this week...my only regret is that I didn't have the surgery sooner.

My life is so much better now - my blood pressure is down, I am no longer on the verge of diabetes, I no longer have low-grade headaches every morning, I no longer have joint pain, I am not tired all the time, I feel more attractive to my husband, I am no longer embarrassed...I could go on, but you get the point.

This is a life-changing decision and waffling back and forth is totally normal. I did as well - I must have changed my mind 100 times between August, 2013 and November, 2013. I have had moments of "What did I do to myself!" I have had fleeting moments of "maybe this wasn't the right thing to do". I have moments of frustration that I can't eat more or faster or drink faster. Again, those moments are fleeting - doing those things helped me get to my high weight of 256 pounds.

Only you will know if you're ready. You're going thru a process - it's completely normal. Do your research, network with people on sites like this.

You got this! Best of luck to you.

[cristinlacey 1]

Thank you to everyone. It's hard to talk to others about this. This has really been helpful.

[starlight82 4]

I completely understand what you are going through. I will say this: even with my frustrations and slower-than-most weight loss, I would still have the surgery today. Just the fact that I have gone from 310 to 256 from the switch surgery (May of 2013) til today has made a world of difference for me and made me feel so much better. Feel free to PM me if you would like!

[ziggypbang 272]

I regret that I didn't do this sooner!!! Man, is it great to have all those "X's" gone from my clothes labels!!!

[starlight82 4]

I also no longer have diabetes (was very borderline for years) or GERD! Diabetes gets reversed in 98% of DS patients.

I like to Celebrate each and every "decade" of weight loss (e.g. Getting into the 260s, the 250s, etc.)

[AnnaMaria 13]

My surgery is June 4 too. I have days when I'm scared and days I can't wait for it. But I know we can do this, and it will be worth it.

[jjinWA 511]

Have you ever wondered if too much information is not a good thing. Ha.... No, I understand that all the advice and info we get from books, articles, and most importantly from the first hand knowledge that we get from sites like this one is very helpful....but.....I just read a bunch of posts here under surgery complications. I gotta tell ya they scared the crap out of me. My surgery is scheduled mid June, and I too am going from excited to petrified...every two minutes, back and forth. Having full knowledge of things that can go wrong is good...I think, but it does make me wonder if being overweight is as bad as what some of the post op patients are going through. Are these rare or the norm? I had thought a few weeks of discomfort is to be expected, and nausea, gas pain, difficulty getting in all the required Fluid are all parts of the recoup process. But man, the complications can be extremely serious and life changing. Makes me worry that I am headed down a yellow brick road that may not lead me to OZ! I too do not want to be a Debbie Downer, but really, I am now stuck on scared and not moving back to feeling excited nearly as quick!

[BRG 39]

Have you ever wondered if too much information is not a good thing. Ha.... No, I understand that all the advice and info we get from books, articles, and most importantly from the first hand knowledge that we get from sites like this one is very helpful....but.....I just read a bunch of posts here under surgery complications. I gotta tell ya they scared the crap out of me. My surgery is scheduled mid June, and I too am going from excited to petrified...every two minutes, back and forth. Having full knowledge of things that can go wrong is good...I think, but it does make me wonder if being overweight is as bad as what some of the post op patients are going through. Are these rare or the norm? I had thought a few weeks of discomfort is to be expected, and nausea, gas pain, difficulty getting in all the required Fluid are all parts of the recoup process. But man, the complications can be extremely serious and life changing. Makes me worry that I am headed down a yellow brick road that may not lead me to OZ! I too do not want to be a Debbie Downer, but really, I am now stuck on scared and not moving back to feeling excited nearly as quick!

If you're that scared then don't do it.

[jjinWA 511]

I will discuss with my dr when I see him for my final visit before surgery. I am going to show him some of the posts and ask him how he would handle each of the specific complications.... Sounds like some of the examples are more due to poor followup care then the actual complication itself. A good dr with strong follow through is essential. I think I will know where he stands by how he reacts to my questions.

[Rebellious Butterfly 91]

I'm scheduled for surgery June 4th. I honestly thought this day would never come. After 4 years, I have a surgery date. One of my biggest fears is feeling sick after surgery (after healing). Many times people feel bad or a just stay sick. My other fear is..will I regret this? Any tips or past experience would be very helpful.

had surgery yesterday and I'm doing gone I don't have any pain except for gas, I've been up and walking and sipping Water, it's true when they say walk walk walk, you will be fine