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Preparing for Gastric Sleeve Surgery, And Beyond

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By Susan F WeimerPublished 2 years ago 3 min read
2

I am making a series of posts about having gastric sleeve surgery. I found out this would be a long-drawn-out process, so I thought, why not make a series of videos to show everyone the planning involved when having gastric sleeve surgery and the rules you have to follow for eating afterward.

I will make a video about each step I take along the way. I will talk about my struggles, my appointments, and so on.

I need to lose 5% of my body weight before surgery to shrink my liver. If I didn't, the surgeon could lacerate my liver during the surgery. I'm sure there will be some struggles there, and I will talk about it all.

I have six months to lose 5% of my body weight. If I don't lose weight, I can't have the surgery. It's going to be a struggle. I'm sure of it.

My weight has been an issue for most of my adult life. My weight has been on a roller coaster ride. It comes down when I'm trying to eat right. But then I "fall off the diet wagon" and it shoots back up. I don't just fall off the diet wagon, though. I drive it into a tree, pile it with dynamite, blow it up, and watch it burn to the ground.

I need knee surgery for severe arthritis that has eaten away at the joint. It's painful. I can't get the surgery as long as I carry this much weight because the artificial knee will not hold up.

I started gaining weight after having my son. Since I could no longer do the activities I did before his birth, I could not maintain my weight. I couldn't walk 5 miles every day. My weight just started climbing up and up.

12th-grade group picture from 1982

As you can see in the above picture, I was of average size when I graduated from high school. I look back on that picture and think, what happened? I quit being as active. That's what happened.

After I piled on the weight, the struggle to get rid of it was disheartening. I tried every sensible diet on the market, even diet pills. I would lose weight, then get discouraged because I would always hit a plateau, at which point I'd give up, and the weight would come right back.

Now, I'm 57 living in a body that resembles someone 20 years older than me. My joints and the discs in my spine are all deteriorated. Some discs in my spine are no longer there. Exercising has become painful, even just walking.

At this point, I have run out of options. If I want to keep moving, I need to get gastric sleeve surgery to help me lose weight. There are risks, of course, but the biggest risk is keeping the weight on.

While deciding whether to have the surgery, I tried to find someone on YouTube who made a diary of the entire process. No one did. I could find videos of the procedure, of the recovery process, and of people describing how their lives changed afterward. However, no one did a video that walked you through the entire process.

Boom, lightbulb. Why don't I do a series of videos walking the viewers through the process I will go through. Great Idea. So, I downloaded some video-making software, took pictures of things in my binder, and poof. My first video was born. It was fun recording and editing the video. I think I have a new love. Being creative is something I love.

Anyway, I have appointments and support group meetings for the next six months, and I will make videos every step of the way.

So long for now :-)

Humanity
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About the Creator

Susan F Weimer

I live in a rural area in upstate New York with my fiancé and three dogs. Mine is a simple life filled with simple pleasures.

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