@brendajean316 @mmary925 and @sskulltulaa all I can tell you is that it is one of the best decisions I have made in my life. My BMI was around 41 when I had the gastric sleeve surgery in August 2016. Here's the pros & cons I have experienced.

Pros:
Knee, hip and back pain have gone away
Blood pressure which was borderline high is now perfect
Depression & anxiety symptoms have decreased and become much more manageable
If I see a shirt I like, I can now find one in a size that actually fits me
I'm not food obsessed any longer and no longer eat foods for comfort
After 42 years (my life until then) of being unable to make a baby, my wife and I have a beautiful son
I can go to a theater and actually fit in the seat and not feel like I am wedged-in
Clean eating & living has cleared the fog from my mind, it's razor sharp now and I don't forget things as frequently
I can run & play with my children (I have two step-daughters I have raised for the past 12 years)
I can tie my shoes without cutting off my breathing
I no longer snore like a grizzly bear
I no longer feel like crawling into myself and hiding when I go out in public because I felt like a fat slob
My acid reflux has gone from nearly daily occurrences to at most, once every couple of months

Cons:
The liquid diet pre-op to shrink your liver
Finding new ways & things to replace sitting around feeding my face
Dodging all the offers for donuts, cake & other junk that people bring into work

As I said, it is one of the best decisions I have made in my life. There is always the lure & temptation to eat junk food. You just have to make the decision to eat the RIGHT foods. I hope my words may help you and good luck whatever path you choose!

@Slimthickumz I'm glad I could give you some insight. I had never had ANY surgery prior to this procedure. While in pre-op, they put a shot in my IV they said would help me relax. Well, I was out! I next woke up after the surgery feeling sick to my stomach like I had to throw up. I fell back asleep and woke up when they were wheeling me into my room for the night. After a few hours, I was up and walking around the hospital every couple of hours. The next morning, they took me and the other patients down for an X-ray where I had to drink this nasty-tasting liquid while they did the X-rays. This was to ensure there were no leaks from my new sleeve. I was discharged that afternoon with a prescription for some painkillers and directions on when & how much to drink and a list of when to introduce soups, cheese etc.

While everyone is different, I wasn't hungry at all until at least week three. String cheese never tasted so good! The pain pills were giving me an upset stomach, so I stopped taking them after two days and just took plain Tylenol. There wasn't much pain. The best way I can describe it is if you pull a muscle in your chest/stomach area. I was tired for about three weeks which is normal and just didn't have much energy. Soon afterward, I was FULL of energy. I couldn't wait to get out and walk! The weight fell off fast. From August 2016 (don't remember the exact day ATM) until the beginning of June 2017, I had lost right at 100lbs.

Now you will have to eat right and put effort in after the surgery. It's not a magic fix. You can & will put the weight back on, even with the restricted amount of food you can eat at one sitting. After I had lost the 100lbs, we had to drive 130 miles round-trip 2-3 times each week to the doctors in St. Louis since my wife had a high risk pregnancy (Type-1 diabetes, age, bone & joint deterioration, etc.). After our little guy was born August 15, 2017, he stayed in the NICU for two weeks. During this time, I didn't eat right as I didn't have the time to do so. So I was eating chips & hot dogs from Quik-Trip, hospital food and drinking soda (yes, I can drink carbonated beverages without pain). When we came home, birthday's, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year and all the days in-between when people at work would bring in junk food took it's toll. My work uniform was getting tighter and I knew it. But I was back in that mode of eating whatever I wanted and not logging. I finally worked up the courage to step on the scale On January 10, 2018 and was shocked to see it say 231lbs. From June to January, eight months I put on almost 38lbs!

I went to work on myself immediately, going back to what worked during my early months after surgery. Protein drinks, protein bars, chicken, tuna, eggs and avoiding the carbs and sweets. Note I have completely kicked my soda habit. But where I was chugging down 44oz gas station Dew, now I drink a single 12oz can of Coke or something similar in the evening as my treat. As of March 25, 2018 - two and a half months after starting eating right again - I'm down 25.4lbs and weighed in at 205.6lbs. I'm looking at being back down to my lowest weight of 193 by the beginning of June, about where I fell off the wagon last year.

I've chalked it up to a learning experience and I'm telling you guys all of this to be open & honest. You can't delude yourself into thinking the surgery will do everything for you and that you will be able to chow down on French fries, greasy burgers, pizza and chug soda or whatever (I use these as examples because it's what I used to enjoy eating). It's a lifelong commitment and the surgery is a tool to get you started and help you on the path by A) Limiting the amount of food you can eat and Removing the part of your stomach that produces Grehlin which is the hormone that makes you hungry. Don't drink for thirty minutes before and thirty minutes after you eat. Measure your food. Log your calories and exercise.

My goal weight is 173lbs which puts me in the top end of the "healthy weight range" for my height. I started off 120lbs overweight (293lbs.) Gastric Sleeve patients typically see a 60% reduction in excess weight. For me, that's 72lbs. Right now even after my regain, I'm down over 87lbs. and at my lowest, was down 100lbs or a 83% loss.

Don't let anyone tell you that you should have the surgery or you shouldn't have the surgery. It's a deeply personal decision. All I can do is tell you my experience. Best of luck to you all and keep us informed here how everything goes.

And look at that cute baby boy in my profile picture! Never in a million years did I think I would receive a gift like him. It only reinforces how I made the right decision.