HONESTY

I have not been here in a long time but, I really love what you are saying!!!! And there are some people that did not and are not sure they can be unhappy with how things are going. And they fear that others will judge them for voicing it. thank you for letting them know that it is SAFE and OK to say what is on their mind.

Hopefully you'll come back more often.... life must be good down there in WA.... so many of you are out living it....lol.  Everyone is missing Nano!  Is it spring yet?

Thank you for being honest!  I am having my sleeve in 5 days and it helps to go in with a well rounded opinion...  I know it won't be all smooth sailing and it is nice to hear the good with the bad!  It does not change my mind to hear the down side, it just makes me more aware of the decision I am making!  I can't imagine having this done without being able to read this board to prepare. 

I hope all goes well with your surgery.  You are absolutely right, this board is a wonderful place to prepare.  I've even sent my PCPs and their med students here to take a look at what a wonderful resource this is....   You must be on pins and needles... 5 days!  My surgery seems like it was so long ago... the months have just flown by!

I couldn't agree more! I WANT to hear all the negatives.... I mean, I already get the positives but for me the real decision maker is to hear all of the negatives as bad as they can possibly be and then if I am still ready to go ahead knowing how bad it could potentially be then I have made peace with my decision. So if anything, I actually wish there was MORE negativity (LOL) on the board.

i think you are right to open up this discussion...........folks that have been around for a while I would hope know to post whatever, whenever........ but for new folks, it is hard to know because we are such a family flavor board. supportive, yes....honest, yes...joking, yes.... not all families need drama to survive. :-) much love to you and everyone who posts their stories, good or bad!!  XO jeni

You always make me smile!  I sure hope I make it to Hawaii to meet you one day!

Thank you so much for this thread. I have been feeling "afraid" to post anything like this.



I think it is important that you see the "warts and all" with this surgery.



Last week I had a really bad week and after having 2 great weeks this was a big shock to me.



I had acidity that made me feel like my throat was constricted. I had waves of nausea that were so bad I started thinking "is this what its always going to be like?". I was so hesitant to eat because of the nausea that I had a panic attack, my hands went clammy and I broke into a cold sweat and nearly passed out in front of 5 workmates because I thought I was going to be sick in front of them. (they did not know about the operation). Every time I ate one morsel of food I wanted to throw it up and felt it sliding the whole way down.



I have thought things like;



"what have I done to myself?"

"I have destroyed myself and can never change it back"

"I am going to be miserable for the rest of my life"

"I wish I could turn back time"

"Does eating ever get better or will I always feel like it is stuck in my throat"

"I wish I got the band instead (cos its reversable)"



All sorts of things. I have even made myself so sick thinking about all this stuff I have dry reached over it.



I am not ashamed of any of this.



Does this make me a mental case? No. Does it mean I did the wrong thing? No. Does this mean I should never have done this cos I wasn't ready? No. I was ready for the operation and the life change, I know that. Adjusting to it is a different thing.



It just means that I am human and everyone thinks and feels differently at different times through this process. Some people are better at this HUGE LIFE adjustment than others and some struggle a little bit.



Do I love my sleeve? No, not yet and someday I hope I will. My good days are good days and hopefully one day they will outweigh the bad ones, each one is just a step at a time.

Your response is absolutely bang-on and very insightful.  It will be a great help to people who are considering surgery.  We all have days that are worse than others.... some are obviously bad days.  One thing I have learned is that every day and every meal can be different.  After awhile I learned to recognize patterns of how my day was going to go and I learned to adjust and adapt.  Some days I have an appetite... other days I have to remember to eat.  Some days I have no problem getting enough fluids... other days I have to remember to drink. Some days I have no trouble eating anything I want... other days I switch back to more liquids, because it feels like things aren't going down smoothly. Its become really important for me to: - Listen to my body and its cues regarding food - Slow down and take my time - Don't focus on the numbers.... sometimes it takes forever to see them change.... sometimes they go up and down like a roller coaster.  The end result is that they always go down over time. - Move everyday.... it is so easy to forget to get in those extra opportunities for movement...  I have to work at that frequently. Most of the time.... every day is better than the one before.... but there are days that aren't so good and I know that there will be a good day coming up soon.

There's actually another good reason to post the bad stuff. As one who has struggled for a while, and suffered through about three weeks of pretty intensive nausea, I had read some posts by a fellow Aussie (hey Mattman!) who had suffered strictures - one of the things I feared most.

I could then contact him directly and seek his advice. He also gave me the courage to insist to my Doc that something was wrong. An endoscopy and dilation later (my stomach had apparently kinked into a very tight V, and the nausea was so bad I was having serious trouble getting fluids in) things still aren't perfect - like Danielle I have good days and bad days. I'm hoping the good outweigh the bad eventually.

I had my second post-op consult this week and was telling the DoC about Mattman's suggestions, and he was impressed - said he'd diagnosed my problem pretty well because he was absolutely right! So there you go - post your problems and you'll no doubt help someone else, because none of us are Robinson Crusoe on this trip.

I guess when I feel rotten I don't always post (although I always put the full story in my blog eventually), but it's not because I don't want to spoil the party. It's more that I feel so bad I don't even want to think about it - it takes all I've got to get through the day, and if I dwell on it I know I'll feel even worse. My usual choice, when mind over matter just ain't working and distraction isn't either, is to get myself to bed and blessed sleep. That way I can just forget about it for a while.

I think I said in another post that I while I'm thrilled with the weight loss so far, I can't hand-on-heart say I love my VSG yet. But strangely enough, I still don't regret it (othr than a couple of pre-endoscopy moments at my absolute lowest, when I couldn't see beyond the nausea and felt that life just wasn't worth living if I fwas going to continue to feel so sick 24-7. It's melodramatic of course - seriously, I wasn't suicidal or anything, just miserable, and a tad drama queen-ish (ya think???!!!) 

But overall  I'm just keeping the faith that it will get better and better, and the good days will soon outweigh the bad.

cheers
Toni