After struggling with weight for 5 yrs and having lost and regained the same 3 stone three times in that period, suffering with weight related incontinence, shocking obesity related knee pain that has rendered it almost impossible to do anything but shuffle, let alone exercise. I have made the huge decision to have a sleeve gastrectomy.
I have a BMI of 41 so am clinically Obese. I feel like I am inhabiting someone else's body. Weight gain was very rapid and steroid related. (Steroids finished over 2 yrs but still can't shift it).
I have done a huge amount of research. Mostly reading the clinical outcome data from Imperial College Obesty research unit and Dr Rachel Batterhams papers on Bariatric surgery and long term outcomes.
I was referred and accepted on the NHS I simply can't bear to wait the two years it takes. I want my life back now. I am going to Europe because of money. It's 10k here (had a consultation with the NHS guy - he could do it privately next month) but simply do not have the money. I have found a clinic I am happy with in Europe, they can do it for a price I can afford. I have joined their FB group, been to support meetings for their English patients who have had it done. I've been three times to this meeting and have met over 50 people. All have had different rates of recovery average is week to ten days before returning to work. The thing that really encourages me is that not a single one regrets it.
The most common response being that they wished they had done it sooner.
I know that there are risks with surgery. There are risks with all surgery. Bariatric surgery has less risk than tonsillectomy and gallbladder surgery. I want this done for my health, my quality of life, my children, my husband and myself.
Anyone else out there travelled a similar path. ? I would love to hear your experiences.