Grumbles life is just about to begin!

[grumbletumble]

Hello

I just want to start of by saying, thank you to everyone who has contributed on here, especially the diaries. They've really helped me have a clear picture of the ups & downs I will encounter, when I have the band. So thank you! :flowers:

I'll start of by saying a little about me & how I've come to my decision.

I'm 37 (I actually had to have a real think about how old I was then, I nearly wrote 34, wishful thinking!) I live in the south east near Brighton & Eastbourne with my partner & our daughter, who is 3. Life is pretty good apart from the restrictions of my weight, I'm 21 stone (gulp) & have struggled with my weight since I was 8!

From the age of about 18 I started dieting, weightwatchers, lighterlife, slimfast, calorie counting, slimming world, the cambridge weight plan. You name it, I've probably done it! I had quite good success with weightwatchers & then later on slimming world (which I still think is a great plan!) but I could never stick to it enough to get down to a healthy weight, I always slipped up, then left & carried on chowing down on everything & most recently binging.
This time last year, my Dad told me & my Mum he had cancer, he refused all treatment & was very stubborn about having any doctor involvement. It's been a very tough year of seeing him slowly get eaten away by the cancer & having to care for him & my Mum as well as my daughter. As always food was my crutch, but this time is went into over drive.
My Dad sadly passed away just over 3 weeks ago, the outcome for me was a lot of bottled up feelings & 5 stone heavier!

Time to sort my life out, seeing as my life seems to revolve around food & the restrictions my size has, that means time to get healthy & smaller!

I've been dipping my toe in the water for about 5 years , looking at surgery, but always thought, well I'm sure I can do it with dieting, which I do for about 6 months, then it all goes wrong & I put the weight back on plus some more!

This time I need to do it properly. I've bitten the bullet & made an appointment with the consultant!!!

9th September, now to write a list of questions. I'm so excited!!!

Anyway, enough for me at the moment, thank you for reading :hug:

 

[Gemmmmmmmmmma]

Hi

Have you decided where you want to go yet?

I live in Eastbourne, and chose St Richards in Chichester as it has an excellent reputation. And I know people who have had their ops there.

I'm still very much at the beginning of my journey though, but spending hours fantasising about the new me.

Gemma x

 

[violetangel]

Hello I just want to start of by saying, thank you to everyone who has contributed on here, especially the diaries. They've really helped me have a clear picture of the ups & downs I will encounter, when I have the band. So thank you! :flowers: I'll start of by saying a little about me & how I've come to my decision. I'm 37 (I actually had to have a real think about how old I was then, I nearly wrote 34, wishful thinking!) I live in the south east near Brighton & Eastbourne with my partner & our daughter, who is 3. Life is pretty good apart from the restrictions of my weight, I'm 21 stone (gulp) & have struggled with my weight since I was 8! From the age of about 18 I started dieting, weightwatchers, lighterlife, slimfast, calorie counting, slimming world, the cambridge weight plan. You name it, I've probably done it! I had quite good success with weightwatchers & then later on slimming world (which I still think is a great plan!) but I could never stick to it enough to get down to a healthy weight, I always slipped up, then left & carried on chowing down on everything & most recently binging. This time last year, my Dad told me & my Mum he had cancer, he refused all treatment & was very stubborn about having any doctor involvement. It's been a very tough year of seeing him slowly get eaten away by the cancer & having to care for him & my Mum as well as my daughter. As always food was my crutch, but this time is went into over drive. My Dad sadly passed away just over 3 weeks ago, the outcome for me was a lot of bottled up feelings & 5 stone heavier! Time to sort my life out, seeing as my life seems to revolve around food & the restrictions my size has, that means time to get healthy & smaller! I've been dipping my toe in the water for about 5 years , looking at surgery, but always thought, well I'm sure I can do it with dieting, which I do for about 6 months, then it all goes wrong & I put the weight back on plus some more! This time I need to do it properly. I've bitten the bullet & made an appointment with the consultant!!! 9th September, now to write a list of questions. I'm so excited!!! Anyway, enough for me at the moment, thank you for reading :hug:

A big welcome to this amazing site!! You're In the right place and you'll get lots of support, tips advice and friendship too.

Loved reading your back story Hun and I wish you all the best at the start of your journey.

Xxxx

Sent from my iPhone using WLSurgery

 

[grumbletumble]

Hi Gemma

I'm going to Brighton Bariatrics to see the consultant there. I would have ideally gone to Chichester but we don't have a car & I think it'll be just too far to travel for refills & I don't want to travel home on the train after the op!
I'm just hoping that I will be impressed with Brighton. I've not heard anything about them, but have checked out the consultant who I'm seeing & he's on the GMC & has a very good list of training. I hope I'm making the right decision!

Have you had the op yet or still waiting?

x

 

[grumbletumble]

A big welcome to this amazing site!! You're In the right place and you'll get lots of support, tips advice and friendship too.

Loved reading your back story Hun and I wish you all the best at the start of your journey.

Xxxx

Sent from my iPhone using WLSurgery

Thanks so much Violetangel :hug99:

 

[Loving the Loop]

Welcome, we are all in this together.

 

[Gemmmmmmmmmma]

Hi.

I'm still waiting for my op at the moment. Just been told today it could be upto 9 months just to see the MDT :-(
I'm going to have the by-pass though, as I've been told the band wouldn't be suitable for the amount of weight I have to lose.

I don't blame you for not wanting to do all the travelling by train - I wouldn't either.

Have you decided what questions you want to ask yet? I've found some really good ones I never thought about on this site. Xxx

Xxx

 

[grumbletumble]

Hi.

I'm still waiting for my op at the moment. Just been told today it could be upto 9 months just to see the MDT :-(
I'm going to have the by-pass though, as I've been told the band wouldn't be suitable for the amount of weight I have to lose.

I don't blame you for not wanting to do all the travelling by train - I wouldn't either.

Have you decided what questions you want to ask yet? I've found some really good ones I never thought about on this site. Xxx

Xxx

I have a lot to lose too, I think I'd like to be around 11 stone (so 10 stone to lose) but to be honest, I'd just like to be healthy.
I heavily (excuse the pun ) considered the bypass, but being major surgery, it just scared me far too much. I hope the band is suitable for me.

I don't know what questions to ask yet, I need to make a long list! Have you any suggestions?

I really hope you get an appointment soon, it's really hard waiting when you feel ready & are raring to go.

 

[Gemmmmmmmmmma]

Hi

Maybe when you see your consultant ask about the difference in surgeries between the band and the bypass.

I was told that is you needed to lose more than 6 stone, the band wasn't the best form of wls. Saying that I do have a friend who had a band fitted 3 years ago and loves it. Though she does say the one thing about it is she can 'cheat' it.

This is one of the reasons I wanted the bypass. I don't want to be able to 'cheat'. I need restriction. I need a physical barrier to stop me.
Xxx

 

[weegie]

Welcome to the site.

First of all, condolences on the recent loss of your dad. Cancer is a terrible disease that affects the whole family. Sending you a big hug.

I wish you the best of luck with your WLS journey. Research all options would be my advice, talk to providers who offer more than one option and check the site here for peoples experience of living with each option. There are pros and cons to all of them.

Take care.

 

[Gemmmmmmmmmma]

Question I have so far to ask my consultant: (I'm sure there will be may more)

1. Which surgery would you recommend for me and why?

2. What are my other options?

3. How much weight will I lose?

4. How many operations have you done and what is your fatality rate?

5. What after care will I recieve?

6. How long will I be in hospital?

7. How long will I be off work?

8. How long does the operation take?

9. What pain relief will I be given?

10. How long do I have to wait after surgery before trying to conceive?

I hope these help. Xxx

 

[grumbletumble]

Hi

Maybe when you see your consultant ask about the difference in surgeries between the band and the bypass.

I was told that is you needed to lose more than 6 stone, the band wasn't the best form of wls. Saying that I do have a friend who had a band fitted 3 years ago and loves it. Though she does say the one thing about it is she can 'cheat' it.

This is one of the reasons I wanted the bypass. I don't want to be able to 'cheat'. I need restriction. I need a physical barrier to stop me.
Xxx

I honestly think I won't want to cheat it, at least I hope I would never want to cheat it. I've got into the frame of mind where I know it's not a quick fix, it's going to enable me to change the way I look at food, I'll be more aware of what I'm putting in my mouth, how it tastes & to actually enjoy the taste of food instead of shovelling it in my face & not even letting my taste buds get a look in!
I'm hoping that I can join slimming world a bit later on so I can concentrate on healthy & tasty cooking

Welcome to the site.

First of all, condolences on the recent loss of your dad. Cancer is a terrible disease that affects the whole family. Sending you a big hug.

I wish you the best of luck with your WLS journey. Research all options would be my advice, talk to providers who offer more than one option and check the site here for peoples experience of living with each option. There are pros and cons to all of them.

Take care.

Thank you so much, cancer is just awful, it's been a horrendous year & he suffered terribly. I'm yet to grieve, but have been refered for talking therapy, so hopefully I'll be able to talk through all my issues soon.

I've had a good old read about banding on here, but you're right, I will look into all options, I have a friend who had a bypass in January & she has had amazing results, I'm just a little bit scared of the permanentness (is that even a word!?) also, my mum is paying for this for me & the bypass is a lot more expensive!

Question I have so far to ask my consultant: (I'm sure there will be may more)

1. Which surgery would you recommend for me and why?

2. What are my other options?

3. How much weight will I lose?

4. How many operations have you done and what is your fatality rate?

5. What after care will I recieve?

6. How long will I be in hospital?

7. How long will I be off work?

8. How long does the operation take?

9. What pain relief will I be given?

10. How long do I have to wait after surgery before trying to conceive?

I hope these help. Xxx

They do, thank you so much <3 time to start writing out my questions

 

[grumbletumble]

2 weeks until my appointment. Hurry up!!!

Things I'm looking forward to.

Not worrying about scouting for chairs that will take my weight, some places I completely avoid as I'm too scared to go crashing through their chairs!

Being able to bend over properly to paint my toe nails!

Being able to jump up & down without feeling like I'm a lava lamp.

Not sweating so much.

Being in control of food, not being controlled by food.

Sitting on the bus without worrying about flab spillage onto the next seat.

That's enough for now, I'm sure I'll add more

 

[Gemmmmmmmmmma]

Two weeks will be gone before you know it
Great list by the way. I particularly agree with the sweating one. I definitely won't be missing that any time soon. Xxx

 

[grumbletumble]

Two weeks will be gone before you know it
Great list by the way. I particularly agree with the sweating one. I definitely won't be missing that any time soon. Xxx

I hope so

Sweating is atrocious isn't it!? I've seen people get injected with botox in their armpits to stop sweating before....I'd have to be injected everywhere to stop me sweating! I wouldn't be able to move a muscle

 

[Kar8858]

Try a product called driclor..I used it 20 years ago and I've never sweated from my armpits since..you can put it elsewhere obviously! It's amazing...I applied it for about a week all that time ago and that was it!

 

[grumbletumble]

Try a product called driclor..I used it 20 years ago and I've never sweated from my armpits since..you can put it elsewhere obviously! It's amazing...I applied it for about a week all that time ago and that was it!

Ooooooh! I'm so going to buy some of this, thank you....maybe I could buy a bucket load & dunk myself in it

 

[weegie]

Try a product called driclor..I used it 20 years ago and I've never sweated from my armpits since..you can put it elsewhere obviously! It's amazing...I applied it for about a week all that time ago and that was it!

Is it polyfilla for sweat glands? Is that a good thing?

 

[traceyb79]

Hi

I have my consultation on Monday. Your questions have given me an idea of what to ask. X

Thanks x

 

[grumbletumble]

Is it polyfilla for sweat glands? Is that a good thing?

I think if it stopped me sweating, I'd polyfill my whole body :giggle: