almost banded...decided on sleeve

Hi Ivesberg
I will be impatiently counting down the days to when its my turn. Going on holidays in just over a week for 5 days so that will help with the countdown.
I think by this time next year, you won't know yourself. That will be such a great feeling. I have big troubles with portion control and emotional eating. If with the emotional eating I can only eat 4 bits of chocolate or a couple biscuits at a time , instead of a whole box a bbq shapes in one sitting I can limit the damage I can do.
I can lose weight, but keeping it off is another story and then the whole self hate thing comes into play and it becomes a viscious circle. Hate what I see....go eat some food....hate what I see.....go eat food....etc.

At the moment I am dieting.... been having 2 optifast shakes a day then a low cal meal for dinner. I'm so scared at the mo that I won't fit into the plane seat....but this will be the last time I will have to worry about that!!!
That will all go out the window on holidays, I'm going to enjoy myself and get back into the swing of it in readiness for the op.

Gee the last time I was a patient at geelong private was when it was Baxter house, nearly 40 years ago...I was born there...lol.

Glad that the staff and hospital itself are great.
Tess is wonderful and have already met with sally and she is lovely too.

Well not too long and you'll be back to the daily grind...so enjoy your mini holiday in hospital....if you can call it that...lol.

Ta ta for now


*Sorry mamaknows, have kind of hijacked your thread

Hi myeverest

That's a pity you could not get in sooner. The wait is agonizing, so I feel your pain! It got to the point where I thought it was never going to happen, and now that it's done, I feel I'll never be small. Don't know if this is a common feeling as most of us have dieted/healthy lifestyle/exercised/binged (but forgetting to purge... no good as a bulemic) forever with not great results, which is why we are here I guess.

I'm glad you are getting it done by George too! Tess his receptionist is fantastic, and so is Sally the dietician. If there is anything you want to know, feel free to ask. I'm happy to chat about anything! I will say that Geelong Private hospital is just fantastic and the nurses are all lovely. The view from the 4th floor (surgery ward) is amazing. At the moment I'm sitting in front of my huge window overlooking the bay watching sea planes and boats in a puddle of sunshine. Bliss.

Hardly any pain at all and I don't even feel tired and wrung out. I bought my mac with me with a portable net connection.

I may have a bit of a read now. It is weird to be lazing about reading and fart arsing about on the computer as at home I have 2 small boys and a husband and I work 4 days a week. I'll enjoy it while I can.

HI Ivesberg.
yep thats where I'm going as well and george is also my surgeon.
If I could have my way I would have had it done straight away, but his schedule was full and he is going away for 4 weeks in sept...so hence earliest I could get was november .
It was going to be nov 10th...but has been pulled forward to the 1st.

That was great that you could get it done so quickly (I'm not jealous.......much!)

Aww well...my turn will come

Hi myeverest

I'm in Geelong private hospital now and had it done by Mr George Kiroff (who is lovely by the way). I live in Colac, but George does not do sleeve ops there.

Very excited this morning as I got to have apple juice. Baby steps!

Just wondering why you are waiting so long for your surgery? I had mine booked within 2 weeks. Towards the end of that I was so excited I could not sleep!

Keep well

Hi Ivesberg and welcome to the site.

Congrats on getting the sleeve done I'm also in the Geelong area and would be very interested to hear about your journey.
Did you have the op in Geelong?

I'm booked in for 1st november and can't wait.

Hope your recovery is quick and painless and see you around the forum.

Hi, I'm new. So new I'm still in hospital after having the sleeve done yesterday. I'm actually feeling ok! A little sore, but not too bad. I'm in Geelong, Vic, Australia and I weigh about 103 kg.

It still feels a bit unreal, and I feel I'll always be big.

Bit tired now. More tomorrow:)

thanks to those who are reaching out. I still belong to a group that has mostly lapbands
and love them. been there over 3 years off & on and they've been great as I tried to get to this place (pre-op). Now that I'm here, I naturally am inclined to share my journey but am not pushing any agenda. I am still at the "wait and see" stage but feel without a doubt I made the right decision in the sleeve. And while I was furious, then sad that my ins. co. wouldn't pay...now I am grateful because the sleeve wasn't even an option at that point. I have been told that this is only part one of another surgery I will need later. My dr. says it's a stand alone surgery. My BMI is just at 40. So I'm going with what he says in the hope that he is being upfront with me.
I am not the best at navigating this site (yet) but was wondering if there's a list of things I'll need to have when I get home. I'm sure I'll be bloated so I'll need my "big girl panties". But anyone have good pointers on things I may need post surgery.
Thanks, Di

Hi Mammaknows,
Great to hear of your impending Sleeve surgery. I was banded 5 and a half years ago and am about to undergo my 3rd surgery with the band:
1. band in 2005
2. tubing detached 2006 - needed revision surgery
3. In 2 days im saying bye bye to the beast and having it removed.

I know the band works for some but with statistics like a 100% failure rate at 10 years, it doesnt seem the logical choice to me anymore. I dont mean to diminish those who are happy with their bands and who the band has worked for...its just not my path to travel anymore.

So bring on the Sleeve I say and best of luck with your surgery.

Jiggly

Hi there, and welcome to the forum
I also looked into the band, and didn't know about the sleeve - but after researching, my decision was similar to yours.
I've been sleeved for over 2 years now, lost half of my highest body weight, and haven't had a moment's regret (oh well, except for when I went to a lovely all you can eat one time!)
Good luck!

I consulted with a dr. 3 years ago & was set to get a band but ins. denied me. Tried again this year & ins. approved. Started my trek in April but had a set back after a bad car accident. I forged ahead when I could get out & about in May. Now I am 3 weeks away from surgery. Had I gotten approval all those years ago, I'd have a band. And I went to first meeting fully expecting to proceed with that. Then I heard about the sleeve. So I researched...then researched some more. Talked to some folks who had the sleeve. It appears lots of "die hard" banders are under the impression it is not a stand alone surgery but rather the first of two or more. My dr. says it may be the first of 2 if the person has a BMI over 50 and only if they need it. I barely made 40 BMI so he says it's a stand alone proceedure for me.
When I heard all the after care for a band, I began to rethink. I don't want to have to get filled and unfilled or worry about slippage, erosion, heartburn, etc. I will see my primary regularly and he will monitor me to try to get me off my long list of meds. I like the permanancy of it as well. Banders have tried to disuade me with the fact that once the sleeve is done, that's it. Great!!!! I've been dieting for 30 years. I've been married for 38........permanent I can handle!
Now that I'm here...I'm glad I had to wait. Now the sleeve's an option for us & those who follow! 3 yrs. ago it wasn't. How lucky are we!!!!

welcome di!!

Many thanks for the welcomes. I will read!!! I have lots of questions and am getting close
to surgery date. Not quite sure where to start as I'm not used to this forum. But I'll do my best to navigate thru. I also post on a lapband site as I thought that's what I would ultimately have done. So most of my research and advice has been there except for medical/bariatric sites. I'm looking for facts more so then opinions. And advice from those who've been thru what I'm about to do.
I'm glad to be here. Have great hopes for gathering the info I need to get thru this and will hopefully make some new friends.
Stay Cool......Di

Hi Di

Lovey to hear from you...welcome to the forum and good luck as you prepare for the surgery...Gail and Maria are right....there's enough reading here to while away the days until your surgery....I also recommend you spend some time in the user galleries...which are absolutely fantastic inspiration as they show so many sleevers' stories in pix.

Look forward to hearing more of your stories....

S

ditto to what Tempest said... welcome and enjoy reading!

Hi Di,
Welcome welcome welcome.

I am one of the oldies now and can highly recommend this surgery.
Things to know about this site, it takes a lot of reading LOL

Go to the diaries and check out the gallery, we are all very open and honest so nothing is off limits. If you can't find the answer to your question already on the site just ask.

Good luck with the journey.

Hugs Gail

hello...my name is Di. After years of trying to get weight loss surgery (ins issues) I finally got approval. Surgery is 9/22 at 8 am. Originally I was seeking a lap band but now that I've gotten approval, consulted with my dr. and done lots of research, I decided to go with the sleeve for a variety of reasons.
Would love to hear good advice and things to expect as I get closer to my date.