Hi I'm scared about my upcoming sleeve surgery

lizzy, it's natural to feel the way you do. you are aware so thats good. keep breathing you'll be right

I have 12 weeks till my surgery and I'm starting to get scared I keep picturing myself getting wheeled into the surgery room and having a massive panic attack. I have 2 young girls and husband I'm scared of not waking up. It does make me feel better reading all the success stories on here. Im so excited to have this surgery but Iam freaking out.

Robbie you're a gem! I really needed to hear this right now.

I know everyone's experience is different but I need to remember it might not be so bad when I wake up.

And 2 weeks of liquids is going to AWESOME compared to the misery that is optiarse!

Just 2 more days to go!

Mate I'm not taking the piss it really is very easy, I feel so awesome!

[quote="HappierAndHealthier"]

robbie_rotten wrote:

I now it sounds easier said than done but I can't help but reinfoce how easy the procedure really is! When I was at the hospital waiting to have my operation I was to the point of almost walking out because I'd had myself convinced that dieting is way easier however my wife reminded me that I've done the diets and just pile it all back on when I fall of the wagon she said you've done the band aid fixes now you need the solution. I feel so embarrassed how scared I was and like I say the whole process from start to now 4 weeks later has been really easy. This is the best thing to ever happen to me (health wise) 4 weeks on and I've now lost 11.2kg without ever feeling hungry. Your going to love it!! I can't speak for anyone else but I've had no pain from the day of the surgery up until now....


Thanks Robbie :) That helps a lot, will try to remind myself the same thing.

I hyperventilated whilst waiting to go in for surgery - thankfully I was aware of what was happening and bought myself down. It's so natural to be scared....but it's SO worth it. The first few days/weeks are shyte, but after that you'll be so damn glad you had the sleeve. Just look at how fabulous Peacey, Kateh, Kate and Michelle look and feel!!

[quote="robbie_rotten"]I now it sounds easier said than done but I can't help but reinfoce how easy the procedure really is! When I was at the hospital waiting to have my operation I was to the point of almost walking out because I'd had myself convinced that dieting is way easier however my wife reminded me that I've done the diets and just pile it all back on when I fall of the wagon she said you've done the band aid fixes now you need the solution. I feel so embarrassed how scared I was and like I say the whole process from start to now 4 weeks later has been really easy. This is the best thing to ever happen to me (health wise) 4 weeks on and I've now lost 11.2kg without ever feeling hungry. Your going to love it!! I can't speak for anyone else but I've had no pain from the day of the surgery up until now....


Thanks Robbie :) That helps a lot, will try to remind myself the same thing.

pharie, feel free to whinge, this is the forum :)

I now it sounds easier said than done but I can't help but reinfoce how easy the procedure really is! When I was at the hospital waiting to have my operation I was to the point of almost walking out because I'd had myself convinced that dieting is way easier however my wife reminded me that I've done the diets and just pile it all back on when I fall of the wagon she said you've done the band aid fixes now you need the solution. I feel so embarrassed how scared I was and like I say the whole process from start to now 4 weeks later has been really easy. This is the best thing to ever happen to me (health wise) 4 weeks on and I've now lost 11.2kg without ever feeling hungry. Your going to love it!! I can't speak for anyone else but I've had no pain from the day of the surgery up until now....

HappierAndHealthier wrote:

Hi everyone, I'm getting sleeved in 12 days...on 14 June... and wow am I nervous! It's great reading all your of support and advice, keep them coming please!

Tina

Hi everyone, I'm getting sleeved in 12 days...on 14 June... and wow am I nervous! It's great reading all your of support and advice, keep them coming please!

Tina

nic210780 wrote:

I'm due to be sleeved on the 29th of May & I'm really frightened too - have an amazing 1yr old daughter who I adore - I'm so scared I'm thinking of cancelling the surgery - right now I'm so unsure!!! I know the benefits & have read the amazing stories but there's still that "what if" playing on my mind. :(

I think the 'what if' thing is very normal. I was sure I was going to die, but I also knew that I wasn't truly living to my potential while being so big. It was a chance I had to take and now, three weeks after surgery, I am so glad I had it! I have lost 20% of my excess weight and am feeling great. The first two weeks were hard, but am happy now. Good luck Pharie and Nic. I am here if you have any questions.

Hi Hem,



I'm glad I am not the only one having family issues,my mother who is a recovering anorexic (dont tell her that though) and ex nures is getting on the diet and exercise bandwagon. I have autoimmune thyroid dissorder but they wont treat me for it as they keep telling me my levels are not low enough. So my mother jumps on the well I have a slow thyroid but I'm thin (my mother is underwieght and eats like a bird), my mother in law keeps trying to tell me that they wont do the procedure on me as my BMI is not high enough, I have a BMI of 34. They don't seem to understand it's not just because I am unhappy with the way I look, it's a whole lot of other health issues, I have a fractured vertabrae, which before pregnancy had a slip of 8mm and now is slipped 11mm, and to this day I still cannot turn my head to the left withouht pain all of which is not helped by the excess weight, and for the first time in my life I have high cholesterol. Anyway I am sorry this is not the forum for whinging.

I think one of the biggest things is I never want to be an embarresment to my little girl, I can remember how awful children can be to other children with overweight parents.

Thankyou all for the support

My 2cents: I think we all have abit of freak out about this surgery - well I did! My dear MIL thought having 2/3 of your stomach removed was drastic. My own mother was concerned I was 'going abit overboard' and couldn't I just try another diet (ummm done 30 years of that!). My husband was horrified by the stats on the handout from the surgeon. Having done stats at uni and working in health I tried to explain it to him (and tried to reassure myself). You have to remember the population of people having this surgery, nearly all of us are morbidly obese - my starting BMI was 44! Many have added health concerns - not limited to heart disease, blood pressure and pre/diabetes. If you looked at the stats for that group, totally forgetting about the sleeve or any kind of surgery, it doesn't look good.

My wake up call, came when I did my 24hr monitoring for my blood pressure - I was wanting to prove to the Dr I didn't have high blood pressure and it was just 'white coat hypertension'. Well it proved something but not what I had in mind! After 'sorting out' my blood pressure I asked the doctor to spell it out and soon realized it was lose weight or not see my precious son (my 10 yr miracle) grow up. I could die now having the surgery or die in 5 to 10 sick fat years not having it. For me part of equation was quality of life. I want to be a good Mum, play on the swings and do stuff with my boy. I now wish I could have done this years ago - life would have been much easier.

Learn everything you can about the surgery, talk to everyone you can and ask lots of questions. This website helped me heaps, by the time my surgery came around I felt like I knew more than most of the medical people I was dealing with :)

Good luck, Helen

I'm due to be sleeved on the 29th of May & I'm really frightened too - have an amazing 1yr old daughter who I adore - I'm so scared I'm thinking of cancelling the surgery - right now I'm so unsure!!! I know the benefits & have read the amazing stories but there's still that "what if" playing on my mind. :(

Thanks Helen for that info

Pharie I went to my pre admission clinic at the hospital today and as soon as I walked into the foyer fear just swept over me but once I got chatting to the nurse and she talked to me I felt at ease.

I agree this site is the best thing ever for all your fears and for all your triumphs

I was terrified, I was I had'nt been though because it was really easy!

Hi Pharie and welcome to the forum. Everyone is scared about this surgery at some stage it is just human nature. For me, I found reading from this forum and talking with other sleevers helped a great deal in overcoming my fear. On the day of my surgery I was very calm and had no worries at all. I was confident in my surgeon and his team. Ask lots of questions and read, read, read. Good luck

Kate

Hi Pharie
It is normal to be scared. I think most of us have felt the same way: scared of the actual surgery, scared of changing our lives and facing our demons and lastly of "being the one who may fail".

I felt all of the above although on the day I was feeling very calm and okay about it all. Keep reading on here and researching- the more knowledge you have the more confident in your decision you will feel.

I was sleeved just before Christmas 2011 and am now below goal and working on not losing any more weight and have lost 41kgs. I don't have cravings or feel hungry! Interest in food (eating and cooking) is minimal which is wonderful change to presleeve.

Wishing you all the best in your journey.
Messier

Welcome Pharie!

Ask us anything, and begin a journey by starting a diary. Even if people don't reply at first, it is good to look back and see how far you have come.

Hi,

Thanks so much for the support, and Hem thankyou that also answers my question about lifting my very tall 16kg 2 year old daughter, that was something I was worried about, my husband is going to take a week off work post op but that is all the support I'm going to have as after that I'm on my own with my daughter. I cant take the optifast as mostly it is not vegetarian, but Dr Couch said I can take another shake meal supplement but he said he was not to worried about it as I did not really need to loose weight before surgery. I know that it is going to be hard as since pregnancy I am hungry all the time, it seems my stomach is perpetualy empty and I have not been able to stick to the shake type diets in the past because of that very reason.

Hi Vegas,
I remember commenting on this earlier...so hunted down a reply I wrote about this 8 days post op
"My very tall 17kg, 2.5 year old wants to be picked up, but we are managing with lots of cuddles sitting next to Mummy and being careful her sore stomach. Today it's just the two of us home together for the first time- probably would not have managed this any earlier. We've a routine now for the change table, he helps by jumping on three and I just lift him straight up on to it. Though I'll add it's the only lifting I'm doing and since we're toilet training/using pull up nappies it's only been once or twice a day. Small nappy bag, handbag and normal weight shopping bag haven't been a problem. "

It is a hassle for us Mum's, it put me off the surgery idea for abit, wondering how I would manage. I'd actually only just stopped breastfeeding a couple of months prior to my op - we ended up feeding for 2yrs 4mths. My husband & I timed my surgery around our work week - I had my op Monday and our son is in daycare Mon to Wed while we both work. I arranged for Grandma to look after him on the Thur & Friday and by the weekend had my husband to help. I was fortunate that by a week out I was feeling very good, not everyone is so lucky. I'll also add I've done pilates for years and having had previous stomach surgery knew how to lift without stomach muscles.

Hi helen I get sleeved next Tuesday but was wondering how u went lifting your two year old. I have a 18 month old and have been told not to
Lift him for two weeks but I'm not to sure this is possible as hubby can not take time off work

Hi Pharie,
I'm one of Dr Couch's sleeves... I couldn't find any others on here when I joined but I know there is at least one other now. I'm now 14weeks post surgery and 19.3kg lighter than when I started this journey. As a lifelong dieter with PCOS and growing blood pressure issues (not to mention Rheumatoid Arthritis and other stuff) this has been a miracle for me. I'm doing stuff I haven't done since I was an overweight teenager like sitting cross legged. The hunger that had controlled my existence is no longer there and I'm beginning to feel like a real person. My little boy will be 3 years old end of next month and I can now play with him better - sitting, kneeing on the floor, getting up and down more easily. I've still a long way to go (about 30 odd kgs) but the health benefits are already happening.

I did a write up of my surgery in my diary if you want to have a look. I was only in hospital (The Mount) 2 nights and have really had a dream run. Mind you I've followed all the rules (well more of less... the odd Opti cheat - I hated it with passion) and work closely with my dietician (Amy Williams who works with Deb Wick). Please feel free to ask all the questions you like. I was very sceptical to start with, I spent over 30 years failing diets but I love my sleeve.
Best wishes Helen

Hi Pharie :)

I am also from WA but have a different surgeon. Like you, I put on 38 kilos when i was pregnant - 9 years ago now. I have failed to lose that and in the process of all the crash diets have gained an extra 25kilos on top of that :(

I am so so sooo scared also. Im almost a pinch of fear away from backing out as i still have until the 15th August until my surgery. I know I cant chicken out though, I need this and so does my son. We only have each other!

I jump on here everyday because I need to read about all the success everyone else is having and know that I will be doing the right thing.

Have a search for your surgeon and keep us posted.

x

Hi pharie, welcome to this site! I am from Adelaide so cannot comment on your surgeon, but there are sections on surgeons on here so you should find some info on him there. Type in his name in the search engine, to get some results. Also join the thread for people being sleeved in June, this support is so valuable as you will be going through your journeys together. Lastly, it is very normal to get scared closer to your surgery date, I went from being excited about the surgery to scared shite the week before and nearly canceled the day before surgery. I overcame it by thinking of all the benefits as my signature sums up. Wishing you the best for this journey.

Hi,

I stumbled across this site whilst I was looking into gastric sleeve surgery, I am scared stiff, I am booked for surgery on 12th of June with Dr Chris Couch, has anyone else had their surgery done by dr Couch? I was always very thin verging on underweight until I had my daughter in 2010, I put of 40kgs during pregnancy and am still 30kgs above my pre baby weight. this surgery is a last resort for me, as I am sure it is with everyone. Anyway hello I am from W.A I am a mum of 2 year old and I am hoping to be slim for my 40th birthday in December, I know it may be unrealistic.