hi everyone, have been reading all your posts for a few days now and i thought as i have some questions to ask i would sign up.  I am 34 years old and weigh 300lbs and want to be slim. In 2005 after 5 years of study i finally graduated from university with a first class honours degree in english and education, however even though deep down i was happy to have acheived this goal( before this i had no qualifications of any sort!) i knew that i looked awful in my cap and gown as i had had to have one oversized with a cap i could have carried  ten pounds of spuds in(of course their reasoning was if i was big enough  to need a special gown i needed an oversized cap, when in fact it took 80 hairpins to keep it on my head all day!)   Anyway, i have watched all my friends proceed onto teacher training  courses while i have done nothing.  I wish i had the confidence  to go up against the slim young people competing for the places but i am afraid that the panel will look at me and think fat = lazy and stupid and reject my application. SSSSSSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOO, i have decided to change my life, by having weight loss surgery.  I was up until last week going to have a lapband ( the bypass scares the hell out of me ) but i was told about the sleeve only the other evening and have been researching it like mad since.  I even manged to watch a video on the op thanks to a link off one of your members and although yes i did cringe, i wasn't to fazed out BUT i have a serious needle phobia, and haven't been near a doctors surgery in years but am really trying to overcome this cause i really do want the surgery.   Anyway i live in the uk and the sleeve is relatively new their ( everyone either has a band or the bypass) but it is offered by my surgeon to be Mr Shaw sommers.  I have my first consultation with him on Saturday at 12.30 in Harrow and i'm terrified but excited!  WIll let you know how i get on, but im going to ask him i think for the sleeve as it seems the best wls for me and thats what is the most important. Anyway thanks for listening to my rambling and soon as i work out how to upload a pic i will do so.   I have a pic up on the FatHappens.com website under truck_widow in my graduation robes, i weighed nearly 25 stones here but have lost  a couple of stone, but it is a real struggle to even maintain at this weight! keep up the blogs they are a real inspiration and thanks to you all for reading my blog

Hi!  Welcome, it's great to have you here! What a terrible thing about the graduation cap... It's so silly the way manufacturers can't handle large sizes. Congrats on your degree! I know how you feel with having a degree and not pursuing it because of your size. I have a similar story. I can't wait to start losing weight and feeling more confident about my appearance. Lindsey on this forum said it well - she said she's tired of looking sloppy even when she's dressed up. That's how I feel. I know that there are several people on this forum who have needle phobias... I THINK maybe Raimeegirl does, and some others. If you really want to get some support just make a post with something about a needle phobia in the title... many people will respond I'm sure. Best of luck with your appointment next week! Let us know how it goes!! p.s. It's a holiday weekend here in the States in case you didn't know, so there aren't as many people on the board as usual... So if you don't get a lot of responses, that's the reason. :)

Welcome and glad you came out of hiding. Good luck with the DR. visit. Hope it all goes well. Susan

A BIG congrats on your degree!!  What an awesome achievement.  It sounds like you are ready to take on another goal and are starting the right way - with research. I can tell you a bit about my cir****tances.  I had a Lap-band placed last August.  The MD that was to follow me for band fills sold his practice between the time I spoke to them pre-band and the time I needed a fill a few weeks later.  I have been unable to find a physician within a reasonable distance from my home, 4 hours or so, to do the fills.  I was frustrated and decided it was up to me to figure an alternative route to a healthier future.  That led me to reading lots about the VSG.  I have found it to be comparable in safety to the lap-band as far as complications.  In fact, the follow-up is much less complicated as there are no fills, no too-tight restrictions and no worries about a slipped band, erosions, etc.  For me, this is my next step.  I am very hopeful that it is the best choice for me.   I thought about a gastric by-pass for a short time...OK, maybe two minutes.  It is a very serious operation with very serious complication rates.  But, on the other side, many, many people have success with this procedure. About needles:  Any surgery requires an IV line to be inserted.  Focus on a song on an IPod, watch TV or talk to someone while it is being inserted.  Some people close their eyes...some talk to the nurse.  It is all a matter of a brief minute, then it is over!  You have overcome much more "pain" than that in your everyday schooling!!  (Think of all those sleepless nights studying!) Good luck in your quest! AnnieZ

Welcome, Truck_widow! I am glad you have found our little community. We like this VSG, and encourage anyone who is thinking about it to read read read as much of the near 200 pages of archived question/answer pages, read our member Nano's auxillary unofficial site www.vsgfaq.com and ask any questions you have. With the vsg you actually have fewer needles than the lap band, really, because you have no after surgery port fills (I imagine those are done with needles). Anyway, any needles you have to deal with are worth it...to feel better, to fit into clothes without feeling always sloppy and the biggest in the room...to have the confidence to apply for the jobs you want. THAT is the way life is supposed to be.  Anyway, welcome! Mary Claire

Congratulations on everything! You are going to do fine, needles and all. Just turn your head, close your eyes and picture yourself as a thinner person - that should give you the inspiration to get through the needle part. Make sure you are well hydrated the day you need to get a needle, makes it much easier on the technician!

 

   thank u . for support........new @ this  site...so bear with me.......

Welcome!  Congrats on the degree!  You can do this!  You deserve to be healthy and happy!  This is the best thing that Ihave EVER done for ME!  YOU will be glad you did it!  If you can jump through all those hoops to get that degree you can surely do this to change your life forever!  Keep us posted!  AMY

Definately don't want a lap band if you don't want someone poking at you with needles!!! Maybe they can give you something for anxiety to take a few hours before the actual surgery?  Good luck and welcome.

I know exactly how you feel when you worry about going for job interviews.  I am in a similar boat.  I have been staying home with my 3 kids for five years now and I want to go back to work, but I just can't imagine having to deal with the high stress of job interviews and all of the new people I would have to deal with at a job.  I have always been shy, but I gained so much weight with each of my pregnancies that I think that is all people see when they look at me.  So, part of my reason for finally getting up the courage to go through with this surgery is that I need to build up my confidence before I can be the whole person I want to be and stop hiding in the house!

Hi and Welcome to the board.  It is always nice to meet someone new. Congratulations on your degree, also.  What a wonderful accomplishment. Good luck at your consult.  Maybe you can talk to your surgeon about giving you something to calm your nerves before any shots.  My sons room-mate is deathly afraid of needles also, and when he had knee surgery, they gave him something.  It really helped. I totally understand the lack  confidence and I know since I've lost weight I have much more.  You need to keep telling yourself you are a smart worthwhile person that any school would be lucky to have.  The fact that you have a degree shows that. Good luck to you. Susan

Hi Truck, CONGRATS on both, your graduation and your decision to become a healthier person.  i am sure that you will have a fantastic journey and we are here to accompany you! Let us knwo how did it go with your doc, and welcome to the Forum!

a massive big thank you to all of you that welcomed me onto the message board.  It was the biggest buzz i've had in ages reading all your messages , what a friendly bunch you are and i will definately be thanking milania one of the members on the fathappens.com website that led me towards this forum. well i have been slogging away all night at the posts looking for any negs about this surgery and i can't really find any.  It would seem that the only big issue with this surgery is getting the protein in daily. As i am in the uk, i'm not aware of some of these drinks you keep talking about, ie crystal lite and bullets! Does anyone on here come from uk and get their protein from a site in this country, thinking it would cost alot to ship from other countries, though i must admit, i like the sound of the choc cip mint one! take care all of you as when a question pops in to  my head i shall hit the site and leave you a post! love beckii

Welcome to the best place you could possible be................ OH first, and the VSG forum second. You are fortunate to have discovered VSG, as several of us did................. It is the future in WLS and everyone here will tell you that we LOVE our VSG's!! And, everyone of us knows that it was the right choice, and we all are grateful that we, too, discovered it!! Then.................Congrats on all that you have accomplished, and one thing I wanna point out...........If you could attend classes and go thru this graduation................you already have IMMENSE courage, my dear.................. You can accomplish ANYTHING!!  Choosing to make yourself healthier and thinner is a great step toward giving yourself self-confidence, but I think you have more than you realize, already!!  You are gonna do great, at whatever you decide to do..................you already have the desire amd the will.........so go for it!! Blessings, Karen

so pleased you found us and posted Becki, the members on here are the best, very supportive and you´ll never feel on your own. Keep us updated and good luck for your appointment on Saturday.

best wishes
Milania

thanks milania, but i couldn't have done it without you, thanks for taking the time to help me it is a very selfless thing you did and may you will be repaid tenfold  for your kindness beckii