Thank you vets!
I really need to say thank you to all the vets who stick around and tell us how it is. While researching this surgery, I consumed post after post on this forum trying to understand what post-op life would be like. While I firmly believe that you really can't fully understand until you are there, your posts gave me a clear glimpse and so much truth. It is not easy to hear that this journey is hard and takes commitment and work, but I am so glad you told me. It is hard, and in some ways it's harder than I thought and in other ways it's easier. I don't think I would have been fully prepared for any of this without you all and I thank you so much.
I am really learning, probably for the first time in my life, who I really am. I have covered myself up with food for so many years that I had no idea what was underneath it. This journey reveals everything and you can't hide from it. You have to face your weaknesses and your fears and learn how to deal with them instead of running away to drug yourself with a big pile of food. The reasons we have this surgery are varied but usually boil down to all of us wanting a better life for ourselves. The truth is the sleeve isn't a magic wand. It's more like the friend you have always needed. It's going to help you through, make things a little easier for you, but it can't do it for you. You still have to do the work and make the right choices and fight for your life because you deserve it. The more work and effort you put in, the sweeter and more plentiful your reward will be.
Maybe the successful vets not only provide input and support, but also get something out of it. Maybe that's why they're successful.
Thanks for sticking around. It helps.
