Taking the first step.....

Thank you. I do worry that they will say I am too fat to have surgery though   I know people here have had the surgery at my weight but it still freaks me out that they might

Hi Eclectic,

A great idea to get the PHI whilst you are still thinking about it. I know once I researched the sleeved and decided it was what I wanted I wanted it NOW and luckily I had taken it out the year before so only had 5 months to wait and that still felt like forever.

My advice would be to research the procedure as much as you can and read up on as much feedback about your local surgeons as you can find in this forum or similar places.  Oh, and Google image search "before and after gastric sleeve" as it's VERY INSPIRATIONAL! Sometimes if you click on the pictures they are part of people's blogs and you can read peoples stories.  

Everyone is different and so different things tend to worry each of us about the procedure when we are thinking about it - for some it's complications, for others it's lifestyle changes and for other's it's will I just end up putting weight back on afterwards - I was worried about the amount I was going to be eating as I didn't want it to be so small that I couldn't get adequate nutrition in and could maybe get ill long term. But in the end I felt that my health was suffering too much and that this was the best procedure available at this point in history to suit me so I made the leap.  Post-sleeve I am very happy and doing well (made it to 30kg lost this week, which is a few days short of the 6 months sleeved mark).  I can eat a little more than Bumbles as I could probably fit 2 pieces of thin based pizza in if I ate it slowly - that is probably 1/2 to 1/3 of what I would have eaten in the past.  Not that we eat pizza all the time, but it gives you an idea of the fact that different surgeons produce different results too.  I'm hoping that the extra capacity I seem to have doesn't translate to me being one of the people who puts weight back on in the future - I will be vigilant though.

Anyway, best wishes with your choice.  There will be heaps of advice, info and success stories (along with a few who are struggling) on here for you to explore as a start to your research. You will be an expert by the time your PHI kicks in and will hopefully have made your decision by then.

Cheers,

Hi Eclectic, you sound a lot like me when I first took that big step of signing up for PHI.

I was over 170kgs too, had tried every fad and program out there, pounded away at the gym till I lost more joint mobility than weight and got to the point I could only order my clothes online. I too didnt know when to stop eating, and it wasnt just junk food, any food, salad, veggies, just huge servings and I never ever got full.

Let me tell you, this sleeve will NOT let you overeat lol Ive gone from eating a whole large pizza and half a garlic bread to about half a slice, and I dont have the desire to even order it anymore.

I thought I would be living a miserable life, existing on rations and baby food jars of food, but its just not like that at all. I can still eat anything I want, just a lot lot less of it. We still go out to eat, we still have friends over and entertain , but now Im more interested in the quality of the food than eyeballing the bowls to see which one might contain more food. 

And in just over 4 months, Ive lost 38kgs, I can buy clothes and bras from department stores again, I fit back in the booths at restaurants, I have space between me and the steering wheel and while I still have a ways to go I have so much more energy. Not to mention the extra $$ in my pocket (well not really, now instead of a sneaky maccas run when Im alone its a sneaky run to the clothes store lol).

The choice is yours of course and you need to be at peace with the decision you made, for me, there was no other option, and once I got over the surgery I couldnt be happier - I hope you find your happiness too :)

So I took the first step this week and signed up for basic hospital cover from medibank.

So here goes...

My name is Nic and I don't know when to stop eating.

I weighed around 170kg the last time I was weighed approx. 5 months ago.

I know things need to change, but I am still not sure WLS is it, but I figure right now that I need to have the choice available so signing up for private health was a first step I needed.

I hate looking at that number up there. IT is horrible, horrific, ridiculous, more than TWO people should weight let alone one.

I am hoping that I can take the next few months to really reevaulate my life and work out what needs to change.